With
that being said I am appalled with the double standard that some newspapers,
for me notably the Minneapolis Star Tribune, have with some of the major
sporting events. The day after the Wimbledon’s
Women’s Final the Star Tribune reported it on the inside of the Sports
section. I think it was page four or
five. This is regardless of the fact
that Wimbledon is probably the premier tennis event in the world, both of the
finalists were ranked outside the top ten, and other aspects that would, a
person would think, warrant a front page placing.
I
could understand the editors burying the story if they were consistent. After all tennis is a second or third tier
sport that does not have a huge following.
Minneapolis, St Paul, and the rest of Minnesota are football, baseball,
and hockey bastions. Driving around
towns you see many more empty tennis courts than you do basketball courts.
However,
the Star Tribune, and I imagine other papers, are not consistent. The day after the men’s final at Wimbledon
the Star Tribune has a huge picture of one of the finalists and an article that
starts on the front page of the Sports section.
Granted, this was the first time in decades an Englishman had won the
tournament, and there were some interesting stories about the two finalists,
but I have to wonder what makes the men’s stories and final so much more
important and interesting that it deserves the first page of the sports page
while the women’s finalists and final deserve a spot and headlines that may not
be seen because people do not have time to look past the headlines on the front
page, or they just think it is just not important because of its location and
lack of pictures.
I
understand the newspaper business is often driven by ratings just as the
television stations are driven by ratings.
I also understand that many people are not necessarily into women’s
sports that much. I will admit twenty years
ago I probably would not be writing this, but twenty years ago I did not have a
daughter. Even though I prefer to watch
and read about men’s sports, I realize the need to try for parity in reporting
on sporting events.
By
showing such obvious partiality to the men’s events I wonder how girls and
young women process this if they are paying attention. What I believe is happening is that a message
is being sent that women in sports do not deserve the same attention as the
men. Does this then get processed into
ideas that women do not deserve the attention they should get in relationships,
work, community activities?
One
last thought before I go. Theologically
we need to remember that men and women were created in the image of God. One is not better than the other. We may be different, but that does not mean
one gender is better than the other.
Little items like where stories are placed in the sports section seem to
elevate one above the other. While the
focus of this article is on inequality in sports we can see it going the other
way notably in the way men are treated on sitcoms, but that is an article for
another time.
