By Jess Sorentino (University of Delaware)
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Have you ever noticed certain sports are entirely more popular than others? Let’s disregard the fact that Jared Allen is the epitome of man with his rugged build and awesome mullet and just looks like an American athlete. Let’s also disregard the gender aspect for a minute and ignore that most of the televised sports are male competitions, and just compare all sports to football, baseball, basketball and golf. These are ESPN favorites, yet there are so many other sports and athletes that are talented enough to be recognized for their athleticism. Take figure skating, for example.
Johnny Weir. Ever heard of him? Probably not, unless you follow figure skating. He is an American figure skater who incorporates pop culture into his routines. But figure skating is one of those “feminine sports” that if men excel at stereotypes are placed upon them.
Granted Johnny Weir is a little weird. Besides the fact that he wears tights because he skates, he also pretends to be Lady Gaga, and he does a damn good job. While I don’t know a single girl who would look at Johnny Weir and desperately wish he proposed to her, he should still be more well known for his talent. He’s so entertaining!
He is not the only one who the sports world does not fairly represent. Some sports themselves are also underrepresented. Take, for example, Major League Lacrosse. It is still a fairly new organization, having it’s first official season in 2001, but those games are not nationally televised or covered by the newspapers, and lacrosse is one of the most masculine sports that could be played.
So is rugby. Rugby is literally ranked to be one of the most masculine sports a person could play. I mean that makes sense, since they pummel each other the same way football players do except without any sort of padding or protection. Protection is against the rules. That’s not televised either. I had to look up whether we have a professional league for rugby in this country. We, in fact, have the Rugby Union, which is not fully professional yet (it’s semi-) and is supposedly growing. I’m not disputing that, I’m just saying who would know? We don’t see the games or know the teams or players. It’s sad.
On the flip side, dance and gymnastics are considered top feminine sports, but the only dancers shown on television are reality stars on shows like “Dancing with the Stars” and “So You Think You Can Dance.” Hello…these shows feature both men and women dancing. But they are televised together. Dance is shifting into more of a less feminine and more co-gendered sport, but is hardly televised seriously unless it is a reality competition. Gymnastics is only televised or covered by the media during the Olympics.
Believe me when I say I love baseball. And football is fun to watch too, but I would much rather watch a game of lacrosse. Or see what Johnny Weir is going to come up with next. I just think the sports industry would be considered less gender-segregated if they featured a larger variety of sports. Besides the fact that the season is so short, not everyone loves football!
