In recent weeks, the NHL’s Seattle Kraken named the league’s first female coach, a transgender/non-binary athlete made the US Olympic track and field team, as well as its first gay man, a Black rookie , the first WNBA player to succeed for 10 consecutive years. double-doubles, and the Team USA women’s gymnastics team is the symbol of racial and ethnic diversity with a Black gymnast, a mixed-race woman who identifies as Black, a Hmong American, a Dominican American, and a woman white.
In those times of heightened anti-DEI sentiment, you may wonder why those identities matter. After all, do they evidence the good fortune of the American dream?
Not really. In fact, all of those accomplishments are remarkable because many other people are still underrepresented in sports and still face barriers to good luck in terms of gender, race/ethnicity, sexuality, and class.
While those firsts and achievements constitute some progress, the fact that they are exceptions demonstrates the need for greater inclusion of women and racial/ethnic and sexual/gender minorities in sports.
Certainly, some types of diversity have worked well, in some respects, in some places. There are many black players in the NFL, NBA and WNBA, but not as many in the training ranks. There are few people of color in individual sports (with the exception of some athletics and boxing events). Tennis, archery, downhill skiing, swimming, diving, dressage, ice skating — at the elite level, those sports remain the domain of affluent white Americans.
Women’s basketball is having its moment, however, the disparities between women’s and men’s basketball, whether at the NCAA or professional level, are evident. Lesbian visibility is considerable in women’s basketball and softball, but how many gymnasts or gay men can be called out in the NFL, NBA, NHL or MLB? Just mention trans athletes, especially trans women, and watch the hate go viral on social media.
For women, in particular, participation in sports is determined from the beginning of school through family socioeconomic prestige, network socioeconomic prestige, and race. Low-income women, especially women of color, have fewer opportunities and are less vulnerable. more likely to play sports than other women and children.
This summer will be the first time in history that an equal number of women will compete in the Summer Olympics. It took 128 years.
While women’s football has gained some media visibility in recent years, media remuneration has not kept pace. Coverage of some women’s games can peak at certain times of the year, such as around the Olympics, but in general, turn on the TV or read the newspaper and you’ll find out the most about the politics of the men’s games.
Even when we can locate women’s sports, we run into advertisers who are more interested in women’s appearance or their relationships with men than in their athleticism. Of course, this isn’t all that surprising, given that sports media is predominantly white and male.
The media politics of Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark also demonstrate the sophisticated and not-so-sophisticated racial biases of sports commentators and writers. Much has been made of the blatant fouls of black women like Reese and Chennedy Carter against Clark, who is white. However, sports commentators express much less outrage when Alyssa Thomas, who is also black, throws Reese to the ground.
The lack of representation in the game has many negative effects on athletes. From the pay gap to the near-absence of other people of color at some games, the lack of representation in the game determines how athletes understand themselves (or don’t see themselves) as competitors.
Lack of representation can lead to what communications experts call “symbolic annihilation,” a phenomenon that leads members of an organization to see themselves as unimportant people or as belonging to an organization. The lack of representation also reinforces the cultural biases of the dominant organizations.
Lack of representation also has dramatic consequences. No women are on Forbes’ 2023 list of the 50 highest-paid professional athletes. Athlete salaries are tied to broadcast revenue, and women’s sports get a much smaller share of this pie, still accounting for only a small percentage of sports airtime.
DENVER, CB – JULY 14: Dee Gordon #9 of the Seattle Mariners moves to throw to first base for an out. . . [ ] after fielding a ball in the ground against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on July 14, 2018 in Denver. Colorado. (Photo via Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
Fewer and fewer black children are playing baseball. This is partly due to the high prices associated with youth baseball. This is also partly because young black men are not represented in Major League Baseball, where only 8% of players are black.
However, among trans female athletes, we see the opposite effect, which is the overrepresentation of the handful of trans women, like Lia Thomas, who win in women’s competitions. Although very few trans women or trans women participate in sporting competitions, the media has focused on the minority that includes women in women’s events, contributing to a trans panic in the game that is based on a series of misconceptions and lies. : trans women are men; each and every man is better at the game than all the women; Trans women have inherent biological benefits to all games.
The media does not represent the many trans women and women who compete in women’s games without winning, who are simply ordinary athletes like most other competitions. Our focus on elite athletes means that we are occasionally the vast majority of other people who play for laughs. without dreaming of the Olympic Games.
Media portrayal also overlooks the complexities of trans athletes. Bodies, like games, are complicated, and what’s true for one game and one frame may not be true for another. Our representations deserve to be more inclusive and complex so that we can see the full diversity of probabilities and issues of trans athletes. Otherwise, we do nothing but perpetuate destructive stereotypes about all kinds of women and girls.
On the other hand, representation has several positive effects. Seeing other people who look like them is important for prospective athletes, and seeing other athletes also has a positive effect on the culture at large.
Especially for young people, seeing others like them portrayed in the media can improve self-esteem, validation, and support. By seeing athletes who look like them, young people may believe that they are doing similar activities and achieving new goals. Possibly he would also feel a sense of network and triumph over the feeling of being alone or “the only one”.
Remember how girls’ participation in soccer increased after witnessing the good fortune of the women’s team at the 1999 World Cup?
Representation also helps eliminate stereotypes and prejudices by exposing others to others who are different from themselves. When other people look at athletes who are different in some way, their stereotypes about teams are challenged. In fact, observing other people can even help eliminate stereotypes and prejudices. Develop empathy and generate positive emotions towards other teams.
EUGENE, OREGON – JUNE 30: Nikki Hiltz reacts after winning the women’s 1,500m final on the day of the Olympic Games. . . [ ] Ten of the U. S. Olympic team’s track and field events. UU. de 2024 at Hayward Field on June 30, 2024 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
This means that watching Angel Reese, Nikki Hiltz, Jessica Campbell and Nico Young (black, female, non-binary, queer) is important, not just for women, black, trans and non-binary people or queer people. This is vital for everyone. of us because it is helping us to be more inclusive in our thinking about others.
However, while incredibly important, representation is only a starting point towards inclusion in sport. Functionality can easily become a symbolic act. If athletes are included as singles or just as a handful of group representatives, then no true inclusion has occurred.
Why is this important? Inclusion isn’t just a feel-good purpose for progressive people. Inclusion means more paints and better products. Research shows that greater diversity within teams contributes to greater creativity, higher performance, greater competitiveness, greater attractiveness to potential participants, and greater well-being.
In other words, greater diversity is smart for sport, and representation contributes to greater diversity. Pretending to be colorblind and acting as if gender and sexuality don’t matter is not the solution to the tensions of difference.
Instead, sports leaders deserve to actively structure – from recruitment practices to hiring, means and salaries – to increasing the participation and representation of diverse athletes. As individuals, whether enthusiasts or competitors, we will have to conform to and celebrate the social differences of athletes. If we, as a society that values play, make structural and individual adjustments to generate diversity in play, we will all benefit, at each and every level.
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