Men's & Women's Sports - They Are Different!
There are always contentious issues when it comes to writing; let’s face it, it is all about personal opinions, and that will be the same with me, so it’s my turn to do just that and be contentious, as my subject is women in men’s sports.
I’m not a fan, to be honest, but that’s me and it’s just a personal choice. Some or many will say it is probably an old-fashioned misogynistic view, but not at all. We are all equals, and any man who practices hatred of any type or is violent towards a woman has no place in today’s society – full stop.
As I have mentioned, we all have choices. I have watched women’s sports, especially rugby and football, and it has been good to watch. I remember watching Manchester United Ladies a couple of seasons ago, and watching United score a fantastic goal from one end of the pitch to the other, and I got as much satisfaction from watching that goal as I would have had it been in the men’s game.
But it is just my choice that I prefer to watch male sports. I don’t look down my nose at women’s sports; I don’t laugh at it or mock their efforts. If anything, I applaud all the ladies for bringing their sports to the levels they are presently at, and they can only get better and bigger. And before I get accused of being sexist, I managed my daughter’s football team for four years before handing the reins over to my mate whose daughter also played for the team.
I started the team from scratch at the under-10s level, advertising the team for recruits in local papers, which led to being interviewed on local radio, giving up my personal time, and using my car and petrol to play away games (as did other parents,) and if you have a problem with women in sport, you don’t do that, yet I did it with enthusiasm and enjoyment. So please don’t accuse me of being sexist or misogynistic because I’m not, or just because I prefer to watch men’s sports. If a woman prefers to watch women’s sports with female presenters, does that make her a misandrist? I don’t think so, or few would make the accusations.
I don’t watch most American sports; I don’t watch test cricket, but I’ve attended the T20 finals day at Edgbaston, a great game. I like horse racing but never watch horse jumping. I play walking tennis but only watch bits of Wimbledon (men’s and women’s games, no other tournaments). Back to cricket, I would rather watch a ladies’ game of T20 than a men’s test match. I love darts and will watch any game on the TV; if that includes Fallon Sherrock or Beau Greaves, then I will still be happy to watch it.
So, there are some of my sporting preferences or not, as the case may be, and that paragraph could go on and on with many, many more examples, but hopefully you get my point here; it is all about personal preferences, not which sex is involved!
And yes, this does bring me onto the title, women’s involvement in men’s sports. And I am going to start with saying ‘that’s okay.’ But in my article, I wanted to ask, ‘in some broadcasts for men’s sport, why is it that women are in the majority?’
Watching the Darts Premier League a couple of weeks ago, which consists of 8 male players and three presenters, why were two of the three presenters females? I have watched several football matches recently, and between the TV guests and presenters, the people interviewing players and managers, and the commentators and co-commentators, again, the majority were females!
Fine by me
"Samsung Neo QLED World Cup" by TaylorHerring is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
No disrespect to the ladies involved; they are no better than their male counterparts, and nor am I saying they are worse. I have seen and heard good female presenters and pundits, and I have seen and heard some that are pretty poor, and the same applies to the men doing the same work; there is good and bad out there too, to the extent there are some male presenters I don’t want to listen to. This is just about personal choice, and we are all entitled to those choices.
Many will say we need equality, and we do, but we can still have an all-male team presenting male sports programmes, there is nothing wrong with it, nothing at all, and please let me tell you why.
Because there is nothing wrong with having an all-female team at a female broadcast, such as the recent Arsenal v. Chelsea Champions League match. I didn’t watch the game, as, due to personal choice, I was watching a very engaging drama on a well-known streaming service instead. Would I have watched it had it been the men’s Champions League – possibly, but mainly because that is a rare occurrence these days, not because it’s men!
Either way, I did flick about as we men do, as I was interested in the score, if not the game. And by doing that, I noticed the all-female team of presenters, and that was fine by me, but there was one question – where were the male members of the team? These experts that can bring their views to the table, just as women do at the men’s games.
Now, as I didn’t watch very much of the game at all, I am having to presume here that there were no male co-commentators, as in the short periods I did watch the game, I heard two different women commentating and no men! If I am wrong, I apologise, but I think you’re possibly getting the drift of my post here?
To me, it’s as if sports channels are becoming scared, yes, scared, to air male sporting events without female presenters, and that is through fear of being branded sexist, but why? If that is the case, and they air female events without male guests or presenters, then surely, they are still being sexist?
In my world, equality (any type) and sexism work both ways; if the situation arose, as a man, I could complain about both towards women. Please don’t tell me you want one and I can’t have it, because there will be an ‘ist’ in there somewhere.
And so I’ll go back to my age; part of me really doesn’t care either, because back in the day we just got on with things, and I still do. I will happily put up with females being part of male sports, but please don’t complain if there are none there, and to the sports channels, please don’t be scared to have a full panel of men at men’s sporting events, as the BBC had a full female team at the women’s Arsenal v Chelsea game in the week; equality and sexism and all those questions, most importantly - they work both ways.
It’s a bit like watching these sports programmes with news bars stating something like, ‘Manchester United have signed Charlie Smith (obviously a gender-neutral made-up name,) and as a men’s United fan I’m thinking. 'Who is Charlie Smith? But it’s not Manchester United that has signed that player; it’s Manchester United Ladies.
Men's and women's sports: there is a difference
Can we please accept that they are two different teams and they need to be shown as two different teams? So to those channels out there, please, if you are reporting like that, please don’t – please say, ‘Manchester United Ladies have signed …….’ And if Manchester United ever signs CR7 again, please don’t be scared to say, ‘Manchester United Men have signed Cristiano Ronaldo (again).’ Trust me, I won’t be offended, and I doubt too many other men will be. What we need to be realistic about is that they are two completely different teams, and we need to differentiate between the two when reporting, and this can be the same for many sectors and reporting nowadays.
But I wanted to finish with the quote from the Chelsea Women’s Manager, Sonia Bompastor, who has said the women's game needs ‘more respect.’ She voiced her frustrations at the standard of officiating in their Women's Champions League quarter-final first-leg defeat (a female referee,) including the VAR decision that saw a penalty awarded against her team. And I will say, at this stage, that I quite agree with her on the decision itself.
However, sorry, Sonia, that is not a lack of respect for the women's game; that is football! VAR has taken officiating away from referees, especially in the 18-yard box, or if I’m trying to ‘get with it,’ should I say the 16.5 m box? Referees are relying too heavily on the back-up of VAR to make a decision in the penalty box or not, as the case may be. We see contentious decisions every weekend in our men’s game, so you are not being singled out here - trust me.
And to prove my point, I will take you back to the Amad Diallo penalty claim in the recent Bournemouth v Manchester United game. A blatant penalty was not given, and while it was the opposite of Bompastor’s argument, an obvious penalty was not given, and other than VAR, I have yet to hear anyone who argues that point.
But Sonia, that is football, not women’s football. To back that up, watch Sky Sports’ ‘Ref Watch’ on a Monday morning, and you will see all the contentious decisions made over the weekend and debated by a presenter, an ex-footballer, and an ex-Premier League referee, so from all points of view. And you will see that maybe respect needs to be given all around and not just applied to the women’s game?
Thanks for reading
DJ
