We at Fit is a Feminist Issue devote a lot of copy to documenting discrimination and lack of parity between men’s and women’s sports. Sadly, we’re never at a loss for topics, as the inequities abound. They range from lack of funding for girls’ sports to barriers to participation to inadequate training and facilities in college, Olympic and pro women’s sports.
And then there’s the issue of inequitable compensation. It took years and a lot of work by a lot of people to reach an equal pay agreement for the US women’s and men’s soccer teams in 2022. You can read more about the agreement and history behind it here and here.
But it’s not just pay at issue; it’s prize money, too. And the disparities persist not just for the pros, but also for competitors at all levels. Okay, you might be thinking: offering bigger cash prizes to men’s fields in say, amateur sports might just be a function of greater participation, so larger pools of money are available.
No. Uh-uh. Not so. In fact, not. Nope.
Way back when in 2019, I reported here on the inexplicable decision by a local Spanish squash organization to gift the winner of the women’s tournament with a vibrator, and the second and third-place finishers with their choice of hair removal kit or electric foot file. Of course, once news got out, the local, regional and national Spanish squash organizations expressed their shock and dismay, attempting to foist blame upon anyone but themselves.
Then, in 2023, at a big Mother’s Day 7K race in Madrid, the winner received a food processor, and all the participants got 0% fat food products. I wrote about this event here. The promoters again were unwilling to acknowledge any responsibility.
“We understand that seen from a biased perspective, it can generate some controversy and we apologize if this has been the case and if any woman may have felt offended, but it is a product that we believe does not have a sexist character and that it is ideal for any athlete who wants to improve their nutritional habits.”
The organizers promised to “take measures” to avoid similar incidents in the future. I’m not sure what “taking measures” means here. In my view, they could just look to see what sorts of prizes men’s running races offer, and provide those. There you go– measures taken.
I wish… Fast forward to last week. Location: Germany. The event: ski jumping competition. There were prizes in the men’s and women’s divisions for those winning qualifying rounds, and then prizes for the winners of the divisions. Men who won qualifying rounds received 3200 Euros.
And then there were the women’s qualifying rounds. Olympic ski jumper Selina Freitag won her round, and received (drum roll please): a bag containing shampoo, shower gel–duschgel!– and four (count ’em!) hand towels.
Once again, the sports authorities in charge ducked and dodged.
They said the gift also included a voucher for a weekend of wellness treatments and “was certainly well intentioned, but it is understandable that it may have generated frustration and given a bad impression if seen as formal compensation for the victory. This was not the case.”
Oh, well that makes it all better. Seriously, how about “man, that was a bone-headed move on our part. Hans here is writing her a check for 3200 Euros right now. We are sorry.” Yeah, that didn’t happen. CNN reports more details about their non-apology responses.
Her Sport, an advocacy group for gender equality in sports, responded to the often-cited rationalization among promoters that women’s sports don’t generate enough revenue to merit equal prize money (or equal pay, or equal anything):
“We often hear the argument that it comes down to revenue generation, but … revenue doesn’t grow in a vacuum,” the group added. “It starts with investment & commitment to bridging the gap.”
Yes to this. And also, the revenue gap argument simply doesn’t hold across the board anymore. Women’s sports are popular and are generating lots of revenue. The time for equal pay is a long time ago, but now will do. And we can buy our own duschgel, thank you.