Written by His name was Eddie… he was my first unfortunate experience of sexism in sport, before that I always felt safe on the swimming team and playing netball and softball with my classmates at my girls-only school. Eddie, whose image is forever burned into my memory, was a ‘little’ man and I’m not referring to his diminutive stature alone. He had a predilection for treating his female students like morons. He frequently indulged in public shaming and sarcasm to provoke embarrassment and in doing so attempt to elevate himself above the level of regard he actually deserved. Eddie continued to destroy my love of tennis until a fateful day that I stormed off court and locked myself in the women’s bathrooms, stubbornly fending off all efforts to coax me out – this was my earliest conscious introduction to sexism, I was probably only 13.
Jane Gilmore, columnist for a leading Australian newspaper, wrote in 2019 of the prevalence of trivialization, infantilization, and sexualization in Australian women’s tennis. She explains the psychology behind the ‘gendered lens’ whereby a sport is deemed either feminine or masculine, tennis is seen as both but still manages to sexualize its female players. When tennis reporter Bill Simons interviewed champion player Serena Williams in 2018 at the French Open, he based his questioning on a comment made by Donald Trump about Tatjana Maria in 2004. Williams’ win over Maria was less of a focus than Maria’s outfit which Trump had described as ‘alluring’. On the occasion of Williams being pitted against Maria again, Simons clearly thought it appropriate to ask if she was intimidated by Maria’s supermodel looks rather than focus his attention on her position as one the most successful athletes in the world.
It’s patently clear that the popularity of female athletes is very much dependent on their physical attributes, in fact a Google search of women in sport reveals a prominent page titled “Top 10 hottest women in sport”, a sad indictment of the general opinion of the relevance of women in sport even though the world has seen such prowess as exhibited by Williams.
Just last year Australian tennis super star Ash Barty and her fellow female players were relegated to the outer courts during the tournament scheduling for the Australian Tennis Professionals (ATP) Cup in Brisbane, in favor of the male players. Top player Maria Sharapova said the Brisbane event felt “second-hand” after high-ranking female players were banished to outside courts as the male competitors were granted prime court allocation. A sentiment supported by US Open winner Sloane Stephens. A similar situation arose at Wimbledon in the UK in 2018, prompting former tennis star Chris Evert to suggest that organizers could consider closing the tournament with the final of the women’s singles, as she believed that the current order reinforced patriarchal traditions which view women as second-class.
In 2015 steps were taken in the right direction in the creation of the Male Champions of Change in Sport (MCC) document which means to address the advancement of women in leadership roles, and “creating respectful and inclusive sporting cultures and pay equality”. However it remains to be seen whether the walk can be walked as easily as the talk talked, and until it is, the culture in sport will continue to be compromised by gender disparity.
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