The Unfortunate Realities of Being a Woman in Sports

By: Lars Gjelhaug

On July 16th, fifteen former employees of the Washington Football Team made allegations stating that they were sexually harassed while working for the team. The claims that were made traced back to 2006 and include rude comments about women's apparel and two reporters who faced sexual harassment. 

After hearing about the incident, it made me realize (unfortunately) that situations like this occur more often than made publicly and it has to come to an end. It shouldn't take a scandal in 2016 regarding Larry Nassar and his involvement with the United States Gymnastics team. It shouldn't take situations such as the Baylor University Football team and the Duke University Men's Lacrosse team to make people realize that this is not okay and society needs to discontinue normalizing these cruel, unnecessary behaviors. Many men no matter the profession and myself included need to become more educated and aware how often this happens which is why I chose to write this article. 

It’s saddening to know there are women in the industry that have just as much passion and knowledge about sports as I do, but feel uncomfortable holding the same exact roles. Nobody should be worried about wearing certain clothes that may expose them too much or automatically be put at a lower level/standard than a coworker with equivalent qualifications and experience because of their gender.

A great way to understand this concept is to take a look at the facts which have been researched by the Women’s Sports Foundation. Listed below are some of those stats which begin at such a young age and go all the way up to leadership roles:

The numbers don’t lie but those do not explain what it is like to be in that position. I spoke with a successful group of women who reside from all over the United States, have different roles, and share what they think has to be done to head into the right direction in and out of the workplace.
 
Sydney Large

Thoughts on the releasing of the Washington Football Team allegations? 

I think it was really important that they were released and what was happening within the organization was brought public. Unfortunately, there are a lot of these stories about sports organizations with harassment/assault issues, USA gymnastics and the Dallas Mavericks also come to mind. Stories like this hurt more than the organization, they hurt women’s dreams of working in sports. 

Do you think women fear entering the sports world knowing they will be the minority?

Personally, coming into the industry I expected it to be dominated by males, however I have found a lot of fantastic women in the industry and feel that it’s about a 60% Male to 40% Female ration from what I’ve experienced. I think the negative headlines have a significantly stronger impact than the good headlines. It was sad to see that the Washington allegations were getting significantly more press than Alyssa Nakken being the first MLB woman to coach on field. A lot of teams are doing a great job for pushing for equality, and that needs to be seen as well. 

Was there a particular spark that made you motivated to begin “Support Women in Sports”?

The first tweet. I expected maybe 5 stickers sales off the bat, and was shocked by the positivity and support. It made me want to start something that was more than a sticker. I want to use the platform for positivity and be a safe place for women in sports to connect & help uplift each other.

Madison Hedding

Do you believe that certain sports are more likely to have sexual harassment incident than others? 

“I totally believe that any atmosphere is likely to face sexual harassment incidents. I don’t believe that it’s more so one sport/company/business than the other. It’s really all about the character of people you hire for your work place, and what you allow to go on. You’d be naive to think that these issues won’t happen if you hire the right people. But it’s all about the administration/managers who nip issues like this before they become something worse than it is. If you don’t have the right people up top to manage any issue, especially ones regarding sexual harassment; firstly you don’t want to be working there, and secondly it will continue to condone that behavior, rather than completely making it clear that those actions are unwelcome and will not be tolerated.”

What is the biggest action that people can take to advocate for women in sports?

“The biggest actions that people can take to advocate women in sports are:
1. HIRE WOMEN.

• Don’t discredit someone who’s applying for a job just because they’re female, and “won’t know enough about sports to do the job”. I have known PLENTY of women in my life and this industry who know FAR beyond what men know. Not that it’s a competition by any means, but do not automatically put women in the category of not knowing sports, just because she is female

2. BELIEVE IN WOMEN.

• It truly starts with men in any industry sticking up for women. Yes, that includes women sports I.e. women’s soccer. I KNOW that men say they support women, but bash on women’s soccer or basketball. Like it’s not a two way street, either hop on the train of pushing women forward in this industry or hop off; we don’t want you pulling us back. If you believe in women, you will support us in any facet; not just in the job world.
  

3. BE ENCOURAGING TOWARDS WOMEN.

• Follow women on social media who work in sports. Republish work that women post online. Share women’s stories of their struggles and what they went through to get to where they are now. Even just be encouraging in what you tweet that has things to do with women in sports.

My final thoughts on this issue are that women have just as much of a right to work in sports as men do. Women are just as if not more knowledgeable, bright, understanding, creative, intuitive, hard working and talented, than many men who are in this industry. I believe that people just need to give women a chance. Give them a platform, give them an opportunity. 
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It should NOT be about the sex of a person to determine who is the best candidate for a job, rather it should be about who is the best overall candidate, (fit, experience, personality etc.) for the position. Sex should NEVER be a factor. EVER.