Let women’s sports be a tailwind to a better society
Now that Caitlin Clark has changed the future of women’s basketball, the challenge is on.
Can the tidal wave of support for women’s sports that she set off continue off the court? Can this feel-good momentum be harnessed in favor of change for how all women fare?
There are plenty of reasons to be dubious.
Clark’s well-deserved accolades won’t necessarily mean that women everywhere are suddenly going to see their value in society recognized, rewarded or cheered. But let’s insert a hopeful asterisk.
Sports have long been an important component, an accelerator, to society’s hesitations. Think Jesse Owens and Wilma Rudolph in track striking at anti-Blackness sentiment and the stark segregation and racism that was so prevalent during their eras of Olympic performance.
We think of Jackie Robinson for breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball, leading to denouncements of hate and bias.
Billie Jean King’s impact on women’s sports only accelerated after she trounced Bobby Riggs in 1973. She was a huge force in arguing for equal payouts between male and female winners of major tennis tournaments.
Still, most women aren’t being measured for their skill in such high spectator arenas. They’re showing up at work daily for far less celebrated schedules. They’re playing by far more nebulous rules and are being judged with more wide-ranging conclusions.
As the “Barbie” movie made painfully clear in that much repeated dialogue delivered by America Ferrera, women are often labeled as “too” as in too aggressive, too meek, too persnickety. Or, they’re simply assumed to be lacking in skills, especially if they’re women of color.
This harsh summary of the work experiences of too many women is no shade on Clark, as well as the phenomenal attention that she, the Iowa Hawkeyes, and the triumphant NCAA winners, the South Carolina Gamecocks, helped bring to women’s college basketball.
The title game between South Carolina and Iowa drew an average of 18.7 million viewers, topping out at 24 million, according to reports of early data by Nielsen. That’s more eyes than on any NBA game in recent years, going back to 2019.
Clark was the top pick in the WNBA draft. Even before the pick, ESPN was reporting the Indiana Fever was seeing an uptick in ticket demand. Presumably, they want to watch Clark play and hit some of those long-range 3-pointers.
The highest paid WNBA woman is Jackie Young of the Las Vegas Aces.
She earns $252,450 per year. The lowest paid NBA player is Mouhamed Gyueye of the Atlanta Hawks. He just signed a four-year contract worth $7.64 million.
And yet, the cheers for
Clark, for so many women in sports, is a moment to build upon.
My own city just built the first soccer stadium for a professional women’s team, the Kansas City Current. Every game has been sold out. It’s just as common to see men and boys wearing the team’s teal colors and emblem as it is for women and girls.
Yes, there are plenty of statistics to douse the enthusiasm. Virtually everyone can nod at the often-cited numbers that women earn about 84 cents on every dollar men earn.
We can also point to the fact that the U.S. has never elected a female president as well as the statistics about who controls the c-suites of corporate America
But the present moment, coming off the enthusiasm generated by Clark and other female athletes, combined with the excitement about the Summer Olympics, does matter. This opportunity hasn’t been this widespread, this teed up, for several decades.
Allowing the goodwill, the applause and support to spread to women outside of sports can happen. We either squander the opportunity or leverage it.
Because there is another factor: Younger generations of girls saw Clark and other female athletes glorified.
Clark’s amazing talents fed their souls, aspirations, and expectations of fair and equitable treatment. Let’s meet them with the respect that all women and girls deserve.