In Class we learned about the Profeminist Men's Movement. Dr. Spencer says Profeminist men believe men and women should have equal access to sports. Some examples of Profeminist men are athletes that support women by showing up to events such as WNBA games, NCAA Women's college basketball games, and even tennis matches Serena and Venus Williams play in. In my mind there a few Profeminist men that stand out. Geno Auriemma, in my mind is one of the biggest Profeminist men around. Auriemma has made the University of Connecticut's Women's Basketball Team a power house and one of the most respected teams in all of College Basketball, for all the National Championships they have won. Another Profeminist would be Bill Laimbeer. Laimbeer, now an assistant with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Laimbeer coached and the led the WNBA's Detroit Shock to multiple championships. Another example of a Profeminist would be Tennesse's Men's Basketball Coach Bruce Pearl. Pearl is an avid supporter of The University of Tennesse Women's Basketball Team, routinely attending the women's game shirtless with a painted chest. Many say society would improve when gains are made by women in sports. The question looms will women sports ever be popular? Rarely are women's sports such as the WNBA televised and if they are they usually can only be seen on ESPN 2. There simply isn't a market or enough interest for women's sports to become relevant. If society wants gains in women's sports then there needs to be more coverage of Women's sports on ESPN and ABC. Until more coverage is dedicated to women sports, it's popularity will keep declining and men's sports will always dominate.
There is no way that womens sports will ever have the same amount of popularity that mens sports do. It just will not happen because people want to see the best of the best and fans believe that mens sports is the best of the best. Granted there have been some cases that women have been better than men, but those cases are few and far between in comparison to the amount of times that men have been better than women.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I need to say that there are women's sports that are popular. Will women's sports ever be as popular as men's sports? I think that is not a fair question to ask. Men have traditionally had greater coverage and that is difficult to overcome. Remember the 1999 Women's World Cup in soccer? If you saw the excitement surrounding that game, there were people who rarely if ever would have followed soccer if not for that women's team. They did what David Beckham has not been able to do in the time in which he has been here. The thing that is most likely to turn around the popularity of women's sports is more fathers having daughters who want to play sports. The examples you gave were good illustrations as well.
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