What the columnists said

U.S. women’s soccer triumph drives push for equal pay

This victory “does something much bigger than just hand a few women a trophy,” said Sally Jenkins in WashingtonPost.com. It elevates all women who are constantly being challenged for “proof of competence.” These players were “genial and beautiful and blisteringly smart and totally imperturbable under pressure.” Yet while the U.S. men couldn’t even qualify for the last World Cup, the women are still “treated as some kind of subsidized junior varsity.” Consider the absurd pettiness of a system that, until 2016, even gave women players $15 a day less for meals.

“The equal-pay complaint is almost entirely bunk,” said Rich Lowry in NationalReview.com. Yes, the women make less, but their game “isn’t as popular or profitable.” The global soccer body FIFA raked in more than $6 billion from the 2018 men’s World Cup, while this year’s women’s tournament will make about $130 million. The teams’ separate collective-bargaining arguments are complex, making “apple-to-apple” comparisons impossible. Fortunately, the women are poised for an advertising windfall. They should keep the focus on being world champs, not “plaintiffs.”

These players “talk the talk and walk the walk,” said Lauren Peace in The New York Times. It was remarkable to watch Rapinoe, the top scorer, “arms stretched wide, chest puffed out, pinkhaired head held high.” She and her teammates were unapologetic about their dominant performance, and their fight for equality. Right now, “they’re the most American thing we’ve got going.”