Sports Attendance Shows Gender Bias at WWC
Callie Aerni | December 8, 2022
Brittney Griner is stranded overseas in a Russian jail. TikTok users comment hate on women’s athletics. The United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) demands equal pay. Superior facilities and promotional items given to men and women during the NCAA March Madness Tournament.
The list goes on; inequality remains steadfast. Women’s sports have consistently been less valued than men’s.
As a member of the women's basketball team at Warren Wilson College (WWC), senior post player Catherine Causby has personal experience dealing with inequality.
“The women’s teams will have better records than the men’s teams,” Causby said. “But the men’s games have more attendance.”
She explained that her experience in high school was similar to that of WWC.
“I had somebody tell me if we had a better record, they would come and watch,” Causby said. “The next year, we had a great record and we still didn't have the fans show up. It can be really disheartening as a female athlete.”
Causby has also experienced sexism while coaching in high school.
“There were three female coaches,” she said. “One of the coaches' husbands would come and help out when he could. And there was a game and we had to go into (overtime) and instead of talking to the head coach, or the assistant coach, [the referee instead] went all the way down the bench to talk to her husband.”
On increasing viewership and getting more fans out to the women’s basketball games, Causby believes that “once you have somebody come out to a game, they realize it's more entertaining than they thought it was gonna be. And it's easier to have them return after they come to one game. But you know, you can try to beg people to come but if they don't want to come, they don't want to come.”
Causby goes on to talk about the fans that do show up.
“It is disappointing to have the guys play after us,” Causby said. “None of our fans show up till halftime because they're just there to watch the boys.”
According to Robin Martin-Davis — Athletic Director and Head Coach of Women’s Basketball at WWC — women's sports have made some strides but still lag behind men’s sports.
“[The] Brittney Griner situation put the treatment of women front and center,” Martin-Davis said. “I think we see that kind of firsthand in a different context and away from sports. I still think WNBA is a long way away when [in] comparison [to the] NBA. I think women's soccer has made some significant strides as far as equal pay. So we've made some really good strides in certain areas as far as professional sports.”
Specifically at WWC, Martin-Davis said equality is harder.
“I think it just depends, women's basketball games are not well attended,” Martin-Davis said. “They'll come especially to doubleheaders you'll see a crowd come after like, you know, our second half because they're getting ready for the men's game. We have like a loyal following that comes but it's nowhere in comparison to like, coming to a men's [game].”
Originally, women’s basketball was seen as a completely different sport than men’s basketball. It didn’t become a full court five-player game until after 1971. Even though the rules are the same for women’s and men’s basketball from fouling to turnovers, women’s sports don’t get the recognition and support deserved by the public.
Women’s sports are making a comeback, but it is still challenging to women athletes to see the disparity in funds, attendance and respect.