Defying the Odds
Gender inequality is something that unfortunately continues to exist every day. For centuries, females have been restricted and prevented from attaining their goals. Traditionally, society and its outdated values have held women back from flourishing and reaching their full potential.
However, women are progressing, and as a society, we are learning to accept and encourage more females in more areas. One of those areas is sports. In previous decades, some believed women did not belong in sports. Over the years, women have started to showcase what females in sports are all about.
We sat with Isabelle Stimson, a member of Elon women’s club soccer, to ask her about her experiences as a female athlete.
Having had family members who were athletic, Stimson said she was encouraged to participate in sports. She recalled playing sports from a very young age, including dance, netball, and softball.
However, she said her experiences in the field have come with some moments that are hard to ignore, such as when she overheard a coach making bigoted comments about women.
“The worst example was [a boys’ coach] yelling out to his team during a game that they were ‘playing like a bunch of girls,’ as my team sat there supporting them, having won our game 20 minutes earlier,” Stimson said.
In addition to stereotypes doubting females’ athletic performance, the achievements of females involved in school athletics tend to go unnoticed.
“Throughout high school, the girl’s teams I was involved with won a total of 3 state titles,” Stimson recalled, “but rarely got recognition from our school.”
Stimson said she encourages others to end the stigma surrounding females in sports and takes initiative herself by celebrating her own personal and team achievements.
Male athletes can also join in the fight against these stereotypes. Stimson said their state teams, Adelaide United Men’s and Adelaide United Women’s, use the same social media account in order to promote an equal level of advertisement and respect. Now, isn’t that amazing?
Corporations and media organizations need to take steps toward equality by showcasing female athletes in the same way as their male counterparts. “The advertisement of female sports teams needs to stop being sexual,” Stimson said.
She further expressed that magazines should stop publishing covers of female sports players only when they are in bikinis or are talking about diets. “It should be about their love for the sport or where their drive comes from, and they should be displayed as the fierce sportspeople they are.”
Although there is still a long road ahead before gender equality in sports is achieved, there are already strong women working toward that goal.
In 2019, all 28 players from the world champion U.S. soccer team filed a gender-discriminatory lawsuit with the country’s soccer federation after a long fight for equal pay. This was one of the many steps that female sports players have taken to fight the stigma of females in sports.
“If you love something, don't let anyone stop you from doing it,” Stimson advised. “Find people who support you and ask for guidance when you feel stumped. In the end, it's all worth it.”
Photos by Joyce Llopis-Martell