Women in Sports: Sexism or fair play?

In February, Sandesh Jhingan’s throwaway comment caused waves. The Indian international was walking off the pitch after a frustrating match and the line, loosely translated from Hindi as “I have played a match with women,” was caught by happenstance. Jhingan apologised later, as he should. He probably didn’t mean it, the words just slipping out without thought. It’s none too unfamiliar for anyone who has spent time in or around a field.

In March, the ICC Women’s World Cup was in full swing when Twitter was set ablaze. Granted, it takes little to stoke that fire where 280 characters are wielded with venom. But this time it was on the righteous side. It was a Twitter post from a handle, probably desperate for traffic and scraping the bottom of the creative barrel. A comparison, across gender, between the feats of a cricketer. Alas, if only this was a novelty!

The exasperating truth is that such comparisons are common. It’s part of the everyday. Misogyny and sexism in sport are like dust and patchworks on Bengaluru roads — ever-present and so commonplace that it is often unacknowledged. But what is interesting is that such comparisons are more rampant in team sports than in individual sports. PV Sindhu’s smashes are seldom compared to Kidambi Srikanth’s or Kento Momota’s. Sania Mirza’s forehand faced no threat of being juxtaposed against Roger Federer’s. Elaine Thompson-Herah and Ariarne Titmus coexist peacefully with Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps. This is not to say these topics are not broached in the purview of an individual sport, it is more muted. Misogyny, after all, is hardly selective. Ultimately, it has to do with history that has moulded the culture around the sporting realm.

“Historically women’s team sports were less popular because a lot of team sports were seen as aggressive and physical, even in the late 19th and 20th century, and it did not sit well with the feminine ideals of the time. Women started late in these sports,” says Dr Fiona Skillen, senior lecturer at Glasgow Caledonian University.

“There is no doubt that sports like football have historically been associated with men and constructing masculinity. Women do have a history in such sports, it is important not to neglect this. But this is also riddled with attempts to repress their participation,” adds Dr Stacey Pope, Associate Professor at Durham University.

In the Victorian era, women were sidelined due to ideals of Porcelain doll femininity. And once women’s football gained popularity in the early 1900s, England banned them from playing in the 1920s. Reflecting colonial power, similar efforts were made elsewhere — like Brazil, a country obsessed with football, banned women from playing the sport in the 1940s. It was only in 1981 that the ban was officially revoked. Bear-Spalding rules for basketball were invented for women to play without running and avoid ‘stealing’ because it was un-ladylike. Despite that, there were female celebrities like swimmer Gertrude Ederle in the 1920s and Mildred Didrikson in the 1930s but even they had to subscribe to the image of femininity of the time. It was an apology, an unspoken social transaction — to grow hair, wear make-up, wear short skirts — to feminise themselves to live in a man’s world.

Breaking into male bastions

Even in representation in the arts, women are often painted individually while men have images at war and in parliament among others. Sexism is innate in our ways of seeing. Football, rugby, cricket and others have been predominantly male bastions. Societal concerns of the time of women playing the sport included motherhood, worries about what it would do to a woman’s body and the ‘perverse mind’ of a woman who wants to participate in ‘masculine sports.’

Women — often burdened with the responsibility of running the house, managing work and motherhood — have also found it hard to find the time and numbers to play team sports as well. All this meant that non-contact sports like tennis, track and field and team sports like netball and volleyball were the more acceptable choices.

“People play team sports for different reasons. The idea, going back to the Victorian era, is that women play for friends, to be the ideal woman. Men play to develop the right character and help in business. For women, it is harder to organise team games because of the responsibilities around the house. It was easier to do individual sports,” says Dr Fiona. “Tennis is one of the few sports both genders played historically and played together as teams. So there is a recognition of the skills. Historically, these sports have been more open to women in terms of scheduling, media and money. There is that history in the sport of both genders playing together, women pushing for themselves, of revolutionaries and pioneers,” adds Dr Fiona. Even in India, there is evidence of societal structure making a difference. Kunjarani Devi, Sanjita Chanu and Mirabai Chanu in weightlifting, MC Mary Kom and Sarita Devi in boxing and Kalpana Devi Thoudam (judo) — all from Manipur — have succeeded in sports that can be hardly considered feminine. Hockey and football also see a big presence in this part of the country.

Manipur women were allowed to participate in sport by their queen eons ago and this has led to a semblance of equality that even a foreign football coach like Steve Darby noticed. The sight of girls playing football with boys is not a novelty — Bala Devi is perhaps the most famous exponent of this culture. They have also had figures like Kunjarani and Mary Kom who inspired the next generation.

“Compared to other parts, girls (in Manipur) are very independent,” says Margaret Devi, an international footballer alongside upcoming superstar Sweety Devi. “They have a right to choose their way. There is nothing like you can’t do this, you can’t cut your hair, you have to marry after this many years. We don’t have such walls. In Manipur, there are a lot of athletes, historically. There is a passion, we play in the evening on small grounds where everyone gets together.” It’s a society that encourages sport. The topic of women’s sport has gained relevance now with them making inroads into sporting arenas, even the most extreme ones. Former UFC Women’s Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey remains one of the most popular mixed martial artists years after leaving the sport while Amanda Nunes, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Rose Namajunas are all pay-per-view headliners.

A false comparison

Women’s team sport is also becoming more commonplace and mainstream with FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 breaking records. More and more, women are playing historically male-dominated sports.

“It is a false comparison because individually, maybe, everyone assumes women are not as good athletically so there was no comparison. Now there is an obvious parallel because they are playing the same sport,” says Dr Fiona. “My research based on responses from 1,950 men football fans showed that men with openly misogynistic attitudes were the most dominant group, with 68% of respondents,” says Dr Stacey.

“Making direct comparisons between men’s and women’s sport — in terms of ticket prices, audience viewing figures and the relative standard — were used as a strategy to undermine women’s sport.” “Team sports such as football, cricket and rugby remain associated with masculinity. In many countries, it operates as the last bastion of masculinity, where men can still be ‘real men’. Women participating threaten to diminish this space and therefore face a lot more obstacles. In sports like tennis, figure skating and track and field events, it does not represent the same threat to male dominance, hence there is less need to undermine women’s participation.” Add to that the societal stigmas ranging from ideals of desirable feminine beauty to focus on skin colour and musculature.

“Women have challenged the status quo and what women can do, challenges the patriarchy. Hopefully, in time we can all come together and get better equality. (But) it’s not that straightforward,” says Dr Fiona. It’s not all doom and gloom either. “There is a growing recognition of women’s sport. There is more media, crowds and funding is increasing slowly. There is a shift in society’s attitude,” she says. The call for more media coverage is often met with the retort that there are fewer commercial returns. While athletics, tennis and other individual sport often demand the same hype, it’s different in team sports. Women being relatively new in the commercial space, it does not enjoy the similar history of that of the men’s sport.

The Ashes, the Old Firm, Kolkata Derby all have historical and social significance that goes back half a century or more. It is ingrained in the fabric of society and thus becomes a marketing juggernaut. Women’s sports are, largely, in the process of creating similar histories. It’s easier to sell the narrative in an individual sport. Graf-Seles, Ledecky vs Titmus. “It’s a bit of a chicken and egg situation for the audience and commercial side. But someone has to make a move,” says Dr Fiona. “Women’s sport has a long history but it is often overlooked. It’s not celebrated as much. So people think that women’s sport is new. It is changing,” she adds.

Any society, tackling predispositions, will take time to come to terms with shedding cultural bias. While the change might not be as quick as the younger generation demands in an era of instant messaging and 10-minute food delivery, it is happening. What a rock needs to erode, more than anything else, is time. It will take time to erode the bias too.