An Un-Level Playing Field

As many might be aware, the FIFA Women’s World Cup occurred this summer in Canada. A casual spectator might think that women soccer players would have a relatively equal experience when compared to that of men. After all, women have been making major strides in sport—and advertisers have been profiting off of women athletes for years.

Of course figures like Lolo Jones and Anna Kournikova skew our understanding of what it means to be a superstar female athlete more towards supermodel. That’s what the world expects of women, that they be ornamental, but American soccer players are fierce and strong and intense, just like their male counterparts.

Adding to this pile of athletic misogyny is FIFA, the governing body of soccer, which has effectively created an inferior situation for women athletes on almost every front. FIFA rigged the seeding of teams to ensure that people would attend matches, fearing that no one would be interested in watching women play. The women compete on turf fields, rather than the grass that most elite players expect on a mere practice field. The president of FIFA, an admittedly ridiculous figure who pretty much bathes in the waters of corruption, has no idea who the best female players in the world are. He will not be attending the Women’s World Cup final match.  It would be comical if it was not so glaringly irritating and unfair.

Except these women are not jokes, just as women around the world who fight for equality in boardrooms, on stages, and in classrooms are not jokes. These are athletes who compete at the highest levels, in the most public of arenas, at severe cultural and economic disadvantages to men. These young women are not trading upon their looks or their sexuality, but rather on their incredible athletic prowess. This is a major feminist issue, make no mistake about it.

Equality as seen through laws and Supreme Court decisions is a beautiful thing, as we have all experienced this summer.  But equality is not something that courts or laws alone vivify. Real equality is a lived experience; it is entering a room and knowing that your brain is more important than your BMI. It is the knowledge that your words and actions carry more weight than your sartorial choices.

And yet we all have a voice here and a role to play. If you do not like the way that women are portrayed in the media, if you want women to be celebrated for more than their appearance, then watch the games. Add to the numbers. Sometimes it can feel like social justice movements are overwhelming, like if you’re not out in the streets, you’re not doing enough. In this case, we can make a difference by doing something that millions of Americans do every single day. Turn on the television, watch, and show the powers that be that you support these women and that you want to see more like them, that you want young women to have more opportunities to participate in a world that values their abilities more than their aesthetics.

My daughter is four years old (well, actually four and a half, as she would remind you). Her name is Alex. She watches the games, and she wears the jersey of Alex Morgan, star forward for the American team. She has no sense whatsoever that these women play at a disadvantage. We can say this is an insignificant issue, that there are bigger fish to fry, but don’t discount the impact that sport can make on society. Think, for example, of a Jackie Robinson, or the Williams sisters.  Believe in the power of a transformative public sporting experience. Seeing a woman perform at the highest levels proves to doubters that women can and should compete anywhere and everywhere.

Shame on FIFA for not supporting the women of the World Cup. And shame on us if we don’t watch them play.