Women's Sports: What Everyone Needs to Know®

by Jaime Schultz

Although girls and women account for approximately 40 percent of all athletes in the United States, they receive only 4 percent of the total sport media coverage. SportsCenter , ESPN's flagship program, dedicates less than 2 percent of its airtime to women. Local news networks devote less than 5 percent of their programming to women's sports. Excluding Sports Illustrated 's annual "Swimsuit Issue," women appear on just 4.9 percent of the magazine's covers.

Media is a powerful indication of the culture surrounding sport in the United States. Why are women underrepresented in sports media? Sports Illustrated journalist Andy Benoit infamously remarked that women's sports "are not worth watching." Although he later apologized, Benoit's comment points to more general lack of awareness. Consider, for example, the confusion surrounding Title IX, the U.S. Law that prohibits sex discrimination in any educational program that receives federal financial assistance. Is Title IX to blame when administrators drop men's athletic programs? Is it lack of interest or lack of opportunity that causes girls and women to participate in sport at lower rates than boys and men? In Women's What Everyone Needs to Know ®, Jaime Schultz tackles these questions, along with many others, to upend the misunderstandings that plague women's sports.

Using historical, contemporary, scholarly, and popular sources, Schultz traces the progress and pitfalls of women's involvement in sport. In the signature question-and-answer format of the What Everyone Needs to Know® series, this short and accessible book clarifies misconceptions that dog women's athletics and offers much needed context and history to illuminate the struggles and inequalities sportswomen continue to face. By exploring issues such as gender, sexuality, sex segregation, the Olympic and Paralympic Games, media coverage, and the sport-health connection, Schultz shows why women's sports are not just worth watching, but worth playing, supporting, and fighting for.

Genres: Feminism

266 pages, Hardcover

First published September 3, 2018

Reviews

[Malcolm · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the many things that has frustrated me as a teacher over the years, not only in sport-related programmes, is the question, appearing to be rhetorical but functionally reactionary, about why we need to deal with feminist approaches , when women ‘now have equality’. One of the things that continues to please me is when other students pop the bubble of the asker with evidence – in those sport-related programmes of the ways that sport, despite the changes of the last few decades, remains a male preserve. My students cite media coverage, participation rates, sexual harassment and abuse, prize money and more. Jaime Schultz’s excellent introductory text, despite its US focus, is a powerful reminder, with a global consciousness, of how far we’ve come and crucially how much longer the road is. (In the spirit of commentator integrity, I add here that Jaime is a good friend and valued co-researcher in issues around sport & social justice: I don’t think that would stop me being critical where necessary – it doesn’t usually.)

Well-pitched as a way into the key issues surrounding women’s sport, the text follows the OUP ‘what everyone needs to know’ Question and Answer format to provide a judicious balance of depth and breadth providing social and historical context to lay out key and foundational issues as well as highlight contemporary dynamics. Exploring issues of sex, gender and sexuality as well as the arguments for or against sex-segregated sport Schultz unpacks questions of the experience of participation, dealing with issues including femininities, sexualisation, homophobia, sex testing, transgender athletes and the question of muscularity. This come in the context of a rich discussion of women’s sports history and (in the only US-specific with limited transferability chapter) questions of federal funding, education (the fraught and problematic story of Title IX of the 1973 Education Act) and with it the question of gender equity in sport.

She then shifts focus to a discussion that is built around the institutions of sport to explore the Olympic and Paralympic games, here opening out the question of sport for and by women with impairments (the language in this area is always tricky – Schultz opts for impairments in line with the advice of the International Paralympic Committee). Here, as elsewhere, she is very good at maintaining a focus on the differences within the category ‘women’ to nuance discussions to include ‘race’, ethnicity, class, faith and a host of other markers of social difference and distinctiveness. There is a great discussion of women’s sport and media coverage along with the questions of work in the sport industries for women, including media work. Again, although there is a US-focus here, which she justifies to keep the text manageable but notes as ‘regrettably partial’ (p6), many of the points, and certainly the themes and tropes, as transferable even if some of the data is not. She then draws all of this discussion together into a penultimate chapter exploring questions of health and sport, with a good discussion of amongst other things injury rates and eating disorders before wrapping up the health discussion with a powerful discussion of sexual violence, concentrating on the recent US Gymnastics Association case and the prosecution of its medical advisor Larry Nassar.

Throughout much of the discussion there is a two-fold critique and caution: first, sports institutions often act to defend themselves and protect their interests, and second, in many cases (such as in the discussion of injuries) we have so little data (being a ‘male preserve’ means much of the research has focussed on men in sport, often with the assumption it applies also to women) that care is necessary and many judgements are provisional. She then concludes with a pointed discussion of where to, exploring notions of sport as a human right, looking at sport for peace and development programmes and charting the contemporary political climate. This is not a bird’s-eye view with an ‘impartial’ assessment; this is a carefully balanced approach that argues that while progress has been made there is further to go then we’ve come (not that she puts it that bluntly, but the evidence presented makes that clear – to me at least!).

This is an outstanding introductory, state-of-the-play text that manages to be both outward looking and specific, contemporary and historically grounded. The one thing that would have improved the book is a ‘further reading’ section – but it looks like that is a publisher decision: I’ve not seen those in others in the OUP series, which is a pity. This, then, is great for introductory classes (and I suspect secondary as well as tertiary education) and good for general as well as educational readers. All in all, it is a cracker of a text, and highly recommended.

[Gemini · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fantastic, really it is. I was amazed at all the various angles of women's sports' issues that came up chapter by chapter. Although I shouldn't have been surprised there were definitely things in here that made me want to scream. It was infuriating to see how women are still trying to get to a level of being taken seriously & how certain laws just recently passed, in late 2010's. I mean come on, why has this been such an uphill battle? Because women are seen as second class citizens even in first world countries that are supposed to be more progressive. I just have to commend the author on being able to really get to the bottom of all the problems men have created for women trying to play sports. How they are able to get away w/ so much over such a long period of time is simply absurd. There is so much women have accomplished in history & sports is no different. They need to be commended for their efforts & be shown the respect they deserve. Stop discussing their appearance, it's ridiculous that it still happens in this day & age. All the male broadcasters need to cut the crap & stop making excuses for how well they're doing/playing. Women work hard to be professional, elite athletes & need to be treated as such & paid as much too. There is no reason why this shouldn't already be the norm, unfortunately this is the world we live in. The author does such a succinct job of going through everything you need to know & this book should be a mandatory read for every male coach, administrator, athlete, etc. I think she should change the title to make it more appealing though. Just go read it & give it someone too.

[lauren lozano · Rating 4 out of 5]

So happy to have finally finished this book for my Master’s! So many interesting stats and historical findings that highlight the lack of female coaches in The United States. I am going to save this book because I think it is going to come in handy during the rest of my coaching career.

I find it kind of sad that young girls often do not have strong female coaches, mentors, or leaders in their lives that they can look up to. It’s a sad reality. I hope to one day be apart of rewriting the narrative and helping inspire young women to become the best versions of themselves.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Required reading, especially chapters 6 and 9.

[Jacky Setlich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every person who has played, currently plays or is a coach should read this book.