Women’s Sports Too Often Are Their Own Worst Enemies

 Women’s Sports Too Often Are Their Own Worst Enemies – RedState

"In the fight for athletic equality women’s sports have been hurt less by men than by their infighting.

"Over the past few years, we have been served with the next wave of gender equality. From #MeToo to pay inequality,to every inequity being blamed on toxic masculinity, there has been a desire to wage anew the Battle of the Sexes. Look at the strained effort to get the Equal Rights Amendment finally passed, although that strikes me as odd. I’m not sure how you are advancing women’s issues by adapting legislation from 50 years ago.

"One of the other issues in this realm has been the fight to get respect for women’s athletics. There have been some legitimate complaints, such as the NCAA women’s basketball issue at last year’s final tournament, where the men had a sprawling workout room apparatus at their disposal, yet the women’s teams were granted a solitary rack of free weights. Other battles, however, have brought less obvious arguments.

"In women’s soccer, there has been an ongoing battle with USA athletics to get compensation for the women’s team equal to the men’s team. The demand has long been centered on the equal-pay-for-equal-work premise, despite the fact that the disparity is a result of unequal results. The reality is the women draw far less in attendance and ratings — a reality the women obviously do not want to address.

"Also hurting their cause was the very avowed activism, especially from star Megan Rapinoe. She has led the team with her pronounced kneeling during the national anthem, something that has both caused some discord on the roster and has blunted support for the team in general.

Former star goalkeeper Hope Solo mentioned that it was used as a force in the locker room. “I think the kneeling thing can be very divisive,” Solo added. “I’ve seen Megan Rapinoe almost bully players into kneeling.’’

"This had led to backlash. Going into the Tokyo Olympics, the women’s team appeared bent on diminishing any of its recently earned public support. They failed to show up for the opening ceremony, and the consistent kneeling before the Games even began led to a number of Americans rooting against the team, and taking pleasure in their missing the Gold Medal Game due to a loss.". . .