Sidelined: Sports, Culture, and Being a Woman in America

by Julie Dicaro

“Sidelined is the feminist sports book we've all been waiting for.”—Jessica ValentiShrill meets Brotopia in this personal and researched look at women's rights and issues through the lens of sports, from an award-winning sports journalist and women's advocate In a society that is digging deep into the misogyny underlying our traditions and media, the world of sports is especially fertile ground. From casual sexism, like condescending coverage of women’s pro sports, to more serious issues, like athletes who abuse their partners and face only minimal consequences, this area of our culture is home to a vast swath of gender issues that apply to all of us—whether or not our work and leisure time revolve around what happens on the field. No one is better equipped to examine sports through this feminist lens than sports journalist Julie DiCaro. Throughout her experiences covering professional sports for more than a decade, DiCaro has been outspoken about the exploitation of the female body, the covert and overt sexism women face in the workplace, and the male-driven toxicity in sports fandom. Now, through candid interviews, personal anecdotes, and deep research, she's tackling these thorny issues and exploring what America can do to give women a fair and competitive playing field in sports and beyond. Covering everything from the abusive online environment at Barstool Sports to the sexist treatment of Serena Williams and professional women's teams fighting for equal pay and treatment, and looking back at pioneering women who first took on the patriarchy in sports media, Sidelined will illuminate the ways sports present a microcosm of life as a woman in America—and the power in fighting back.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, Feminism, Audiobook, Memoir, Womens, Biography

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 16, 2021

Reviews

[Lorene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Decaro's book should be required reading for anyone connected to sports, including fans. We know women in sports media are often treated poorly by athletes, team personnel and their own employers, but this book offers details on the variety of ways and the degrees women in sports are treated horribly. The author provides examples of her own experiences, as well as many examples of other women in sports media. This book is well written and hard to put down. I highly recommend it.

[Jenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Between my time as a competitive athlete and a sports lawyer I've spent over half my life as a woman in this industry so I know just how tough it can be. I think it's important that a book like this book exists b/c women's voices are so very rarely heard in sports. For that, I'd give this book 5 stars. But as for actual content? Meh.

This book's biggest failure is that we don't actually get a good overview any of the topics this book purports to cover. On the subject of women sports reporters in America, our view is limited to women reporters covering the NFL, MLB, and the NBA. That's just a subset of a larger group of American women sports reporters which include women who cover amateur sports (men & women), women's sports, and international sports.

DiCaro's discussion of female athletes and the institutional struggles they face for support and equal pay is also extremely lacking. We only get a look at the WNBA and the NWSL and how they have not received the same institutional support and investment as their male counterparts. The fight is larger than those two pro sports leagues, and it further boggles my mind that a reporter can write about institutional failures without discussing the Nassar scandal--arguably the largest institutional failure in the history of women's sports.

These are just two examples of how this book fails to even given a proper overview of all the subjects DiCaro tries to tackle. I know it sounds like I'm just being picky here, b/c one book can't possibly cover all the issues women face in sports nor can one book discuss such issues as they exist in all the sports disciplines. But I don't think it's unfair to criticize a book described as a "look at women's rights and issues through the lens of sports" for failing to mention some of the biggest issues in women sports in this country, and the women (GOATS) who have been pioneers both on and off the court.

Ultimately, what bothers me the most about this book is that in trying to advocate for women in sports, DiCaro ends up perpetuating the bias she is attempting to dispel. By largely excluding sports that men often deride as not being sports (i.e., gymnastics, ice skating, cheerleading, etc.), she is perpetuating a very male definition of what counts as "sports." By not discussing women reporters in the realm of women's sports she defines success for female sports reporters as covering the sports that men are watching. Yes, it is important for women to succeed in sports that have traditionally been male spaces, and it is important for women to be able to report on men's sports. But shouldn't women also get to decide how we want to define what counts as sports, and how we want to define success for any woman who is in this industry? Why is it that curling gets to be an Olympic sports but cheerleading doesn't? Why is that women who succeed in traditionally female dominated sports are treated differently than women who succeed in traditionally male sports? If we limit ourselves to the universe defined by men, as this book does, then we've already lost.

Women deserve better.

[Melanie Springer Mock · Rating 5 out of 5]

DiCaro's book is well-researched and well-written, and names many of the ways women are discriminated against in sports, at the professional level; in sports media; and by fan groups who cannot fathom that a woman might have something interesting or important to say. I will be recommending this book to others, including the men in my life who, while well meaning, still betray their sense that women cannot be good athletes and don't deserve our attention.

[Amy Lively · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I was rating this book on the importance of the topic, I would give it a 10 out of 5 stars. The sports worlds is littered with misogynistic assholes and dude bros who are very threatened by a woman knowing as much — or more — than they do about sports. DiCaro covers some of the most well-known of these horrific offenses, including her own experience with harassment simply for having the audacity to exist in the sports media world.

However, I wish this was a better book. It was obviously thrown together fairly quickly, given the references to Covid, and it shows. It has a bit of a high school research paper feel. It’s not an academic book, so the lack of academic sources is no surprise, but I did expect a higher level of writing. This is an important topic and hopefully DiCaro’s book opens the door for more books on the subject.

[Jennifer Schultz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read if you: Want an honest and eye-opening look at the injustices women in sports face, in both media and the actual playing of sports. DiCaro has an engaging writing style and writes with authority and passion.

Librarians/booksellers: Purchase if you need titles about contemporary issues in sports.

Many thanks to Dutton and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Monica Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sad reality of reading this book is that while I was hearing stories I may not have heard the specifics of before, the storyline is always the same. It’s dangerous to be a woman in sport and in the case of this book, sports media. DiCaro didn’t have to win me over; I live and breath this stuff. I’d recommend this to anyone interested in sports, no matter the gender.

Ps. DiCaro ruthlessly calls out male athletes and media personalities. Sorry not sorry if your favorite gets a callout.

[Sarah Boselovic · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was tough, but so important to read. Even if I became so enraged at times while reading it. Already, this book has taught me to look at the sports world differently. As a former female athlete and now a female coach (and one of young women at that), one of my biggest goals in life is to give women a bigger, stronger voice in the sports world. Books like this help me see that WHY and give me some hope for the future.

[Harriett Milnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title summarizes this book. Very good. The chapters about the online harassment she received are hard to read; what she went through is terrible.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

listened to this at work yesterday for my sports book club. the first three quarters of the book was basically like, “hey, did you that know sexism and misogyny and patriarchy exist in sports media?” with the author giving many examples of this from sportswriters who came before her, her own career, barstool (they get a dedicated chapter because they suck so much) and some of the many abuse/assault/rape scandals and reactions to them in the general public as well as in the sports media world she worked in.

DiCaro worked for a major sports radio station in chicago, and wrote about her experiences with unequal work and pay and just not being taken seriously, even when her physical safety was threatened by misogynistic sports fans, which are very real experiences. She was covering Chicago sports in 2015 during the Patrick Kane Scandal - I remember this incident (and how quick the team, league, sports writers, and other fans were to protect him) very well and it was so upsetting to 17 year-old me, that it was the reason I stopped watching the NHL. She wrote some things and got a huge amount of pushback - I remember reading these things, but I didn’t remember who she was and it was a cool (but also sad) experience to read her perspective of everything in her book and to learn more about her in general.

The majority of the book focused on united states professional men’s leagues, so a very men and US-centered definition of what is even included in sports. This means that success for women in soorts media was really about success for women in sports media in the sports that men care about. It took until chapter 9 (of 11) for DiCaro to even mention women’s sports. This chapter was more focused on athletes and equal pay, rather than women covering women’s sports and their experience. She talked about the WNBA and the national soccer team in comparison to the MNBA and the men’s soccer team. the US women’s hockey team boycott was briefly mentioned, but there was no mention of the PHF or PWHPA. I did get kind of emotional listening to that chapter, knowing that now the PWHL exists, the soccer USWNT has equal pay, and Unrivaled basketball was going to start their first season later that day! It was cool how much has gone out of date in just a few years in terms of opportunities for professional women athletes and fans of women’s sports. Chapter 10 was about a trip to author took to Pakistan with a sports organization, and the writing about it felt white savior-y. I think the author thought of everything through the lens of sex and gender discrimination, with some acknowledgement to racism and homophobia, but that analysis certainly could have gone wayyyy deeper. Overall I found it worthwhile for an overview of the topic, even though I didn’t learn a ton. I would recommend it to anyone who likes sports, especially men.

[Emily Rogde · Rating 3 out of 5]

Learned a lot, resonated with a lot, and was inspired a lot. Definitely was more tailored to her experiences and personal narratives, which isn’t bad I just was more expecting it to be a self-help-y kind of book going into it? But I did really enjoy it and felt incredibly empowered as a woman in sports myself! Still lots to be done in the industry.

[Jordan Freud · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4/5

This was my obligatory nonfiction book of the month. I wanted to like this more but I thought it was just ok.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd not heard of Dicaro before seeing a recommendation on this. She's a lawyer turned sports media professional. This is a combination of personal and attributed quotes and details about things that will make your blood boil. Acceptance of violence and abuse of women by athletes and sports "celebrities", toxic work places for women in sports reporting, literal sidelining of women in sport roles and the punitive actions taken by people in defense of the bad actors. Ugh.

Any sports fan (and I consider myself one) are complicit in this when we continue to support teams and leagues that have players that have committed atrocious acts against women and keep the TV on when the announcers who have done the same are shown. Money talks and until we stop spending, this is going to go on.

Interesting that she wrote quite a bit about online trolls and in the first page of Goodreads reviews at the time I wrote this found two 1 star reviews with demeaning comments. Those two profiles have no pictures and have rated no other books. Trolls at work.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

boy oh boy! in all honesty, i was going to give this 4.5 stars bc i kind of disagree w her on some things she says and how she talks ab certain topics, but i don’t think i can morally give this any less than 5 stars. i preordered this book when it first came out and then it has sat on my bookshelf for almost 3 years bc i didn’t have it in me to read it. part of me wishes i had read this while i was in the trenches of being a Woman in Sports Media, but i’m also really glad i didn’t. i never really had that fear ab being a woman in sports bc, even w all the faults of That Place, i feel like it did make an effort to make women feel comfortable being in the sports j program. so would this have made me leave sports j sooner? yes. would that have necessarily been a good thing? i’m not sure. i think reading this after being out of that environment for almost a year was really good and the best way i could have consumed this book. also in all honesty, there was a point in my life where i had to unfollow miss julie dicaro on twitter bc she was kind of depressing me ab being a woman in sports. we’ve all made dumb mistakes as young gals! i was a baby sports j girly and i had a lot of hope and i didn’t like to see all these bad things ab the industry. baby me wasn’t ready for this book if we’re being 100% honest. but i think this was an extremely important book for me, and everyone else, to read. it made me very confident in my decision to leave sports media and most likely never go back. so thank you, miss julie <3 also. the chapter on b*rstool was magical and awesome and perhaps my favorite thing ever. she said in the beginning of the chapter that she would probably go on to regret writing it bc of all the hate she would get, but it was really awesome to get to read ab b*rstool from that perspective and all the bullshit they do to women. so once again, thank you miss julie!!

[Marissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a woman who spent a few seasons working in sports, 'Sidelined' really hit home.

I was lucky in my career: I worked with many women who were supportive of other women and we were respected by our male colleagues. I never experienced sexual harassment or had my knowledge of sports questioned by any coworkers.

The general public was a different story. As I would meet new people and explain what I did for work, I would be approached with the classics, "Name 5 players on the team" and "How many players have you slept with?," as if I couldn't possibly go to work to do a job with no ulterior motives.

This book explores how sexism touches every woman in sports - women in sports journalism, women working for a team, women who are athletes themselves, and even women who are sports fans. Julie DiCaro explores these heavy topics with a sense of humor and personal anecdotes that make this extremely readable.

My heart broke at many points, thinking of my female-identifying friends in the industry who may have experienced many of the things DiCaro discusses in the book.

This should be required reading for sports fans (and especially for my college professor who told our Sports Marketing class that 'women have no business working in sports.')

Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of this book.

[Kim Berkshire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Initially wasn't thrilled with this one. Dicaro sourced material from so many other books I thought ''well I should just read those.'' But she won me over with her candor and personal experiences without over dramatization (which would have been well within her rights). My background was in print sportswriting and thank goodness I got out before the social media bonanza. I probably would be in therapy to this day.
Barstool Sports makes me want to vomit.
Kudos for keeping the Kobe chapter. I have always been conflicted with the worldwide worship of him.
Kept waiting for a mention of Bobby Knight.
Let's hope things get better.

[Steph Carr (LiteraryHypeWoman) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a comprehensive look at what it's like to be a woman in sports media, and man is it brutal. It can feel like complaining at points, but that's the tough reality of the world we live in. The parts about abuse and harassment are hard to read, but they need to be addressed. I'm glad it takes a more inspirational perspective at the end to help balance out the heaviness.

[Victoria Waddle · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Sidelined” consistently focuses on the place of women in American sports culture. The author, Julie DiCaro, worked in sports media before losing her job during the 2020 COVID pandemic. In the introduction she tells the reader that working in sports talk radio is “like working in a frat house” and goes on to prove it. There are very few women in sports talk radio. When they want to write about some of the larger cultural stories surrounding sports—social justice; the inequity in treatment between male and female athletes including equipment, venues, and pay; sexual harassment of the women who report on men’s sports; cases of sexual assault and domestic abuse perpetrated by male athletes—the station can shut down the story to avoid upsetting an important team or client. Stations also continue to have as guests male athletes who have been repeated and credibly accused of sexual assault because hey are popular. Some even employ these men as commentators.

DiCaro begins with a history of women reporting on men’s sports and includes stories about access to male locker rooms (while raising the question of why interviews are even done in locker rooms). Early on women had buckets of water thrown on them and jockstraps thrown at them. Today many sports reporters are ‘sideline’ reporters who report from the field when there’s a lull in the action. Few have their own sports shows. Even if they are in the studio, they solicit the opinions of the males on the program.

One of the worst aspects of the job for a female sports commentator today is the blowback on social media, where they are cursed out, called slurs, and even receive death threats. A complete chapter covers the toxic, misogynistic environment of Barstool Sports which has a vast following of “Stoolies” who use social media to stalk, troll, and harass women.

The very sound of female voices calling sports make some sports fans irate. Because of all this, women in sports often self-police, following all the rules, leaving off personality, which is so important in sports talk media.

The second half of the book deals with female athletes and women’s sports including double standards for behaviors (the treatment of Serena Williams stars in this section), the fight for equal pay (with an in-depth look at soccer) and finally the state of women’s and girls’ sports in other areas of the world relative to the United States.

DiCaro makes suggestions for female sports fans to support both female athletes and reporters such as tuning in or listening in when females are playing or reporting.

All of DiCaro's discussions are backed with facts, stats, and examples from life.”Sidelined” iIncludes both a bibliography of sources and a helpful index for those looking to do their own research.

[Omar Zahran · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really excited to read this book. It is a topic that I feel is very important and criminally under-reported: the struggles of women in sports. There are so many layers to dissect in the topic: the sexism, harassment, limited opportunities, lack of support, and so on.

DiCaro covers a lot of these topics in her book, and sometimes she does it very well. For instance, her chapter about the history of women reporters in locker rooms is very thorough and well researched. Additionally, her chapter about her trip to Pakistan and her experience of women sports there is equally engaging and sheds a light on the difficulties faced by women in other countries to gain acceptance for playing the sports that they love.

My issue with this book, and what prevents me from giving it a higher rating, is that I think that in certain respects she could have gone deeper on the topics discussed. This is evident in her chapter about covering athletes that are accused of sexual and domestic violence. It is the longest chapter in the book but I was left wanting more from her analysis, as she recounted a few instances that she covered (Kobe Bryant and Aroldis Chapman to be specific) but did not go into more depth on her proposed solution for policing these cases in the future.

On the whole, a lot of this book felt like a little bit of a vent session more than an informational one at times. A showcasing of poor experiences that DiCaro experienced, which lands for a few of the topics like online harassment but misses in other aspects like the coverage of women’s sports where she contradicts herself at times. I find myself wishing that she would have delved a little more into the societal aspects of the struggles that women face in sports media, the importance that key relationships play in decisions.

As it stands, this is a good book that gives the reader a good idea of the struggles that women in sports like DiCaro, Jemele Hill, Sarah Spain, Kristen Ledlow, and others face and continue to face. I wish she would have gone deeper on the link between toxic environments between networks and the leagues they cover, but maybe that is a book for another time. This is a good but not a great read about a topic that needs more coverage, and I am ultimately glad that it exists.

[Eudora Linde · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I’m not sure where men got the idea that sports is solely their domain, but it’s as antiquated an idea as men going to college while women go to finishing school. We won the ‘should women do a sports?’ argument back in the 1970s: We’re here to stay. Get on board or get bent.”
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Physical and emotional harassment. Literally swinging genitalia. Job instability, online trolls, Stoolies. Angry tweets, threats to children and family, having to face sexist remarks on live tv or radio and keep composure. Being the only woman in the room. Being the only sports reporter who also happens to be a woman at a major radio station. That’s “Sidelined.”
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Wheewwww this book. It was church. When I first introduced “Sidelined” on this blog, I shared why I was drawn to it: I’m a woman, I’ve worked in the media, I’ve worked for a company mentioned multiple times in this book (that was especially cathartic), and I’m still frequently the only woman in the room. If you find yourself defending your fandom of a team based solely on your gender, or if you have been the only one of your gender in a room, office, or building, pick this up. It’s rampant, and it’s bullshit. Books like these should be held close to the heart as a reminder that dividers seek to make us feel isolated - and there’s a whole group of women out there who know exactly what we’re talking about. Thankful for my girl gang; cheers to them, and cheers to Julie DiCaro for being brave enough to write this book. Bang that gong, be noisy, fight like hell, and never ever give up.

[Alyssa Tomlinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote a very long, impassioned review about how this should be required reading for anyone in sports media and, really, any sports fan… and then my Goodreads app crashed just as I was about to submit it. So my poorly and succinctly written review now should in no way portray anything less than overwhelming feelings of “Oh my gosh, I wish I could make every person in my life read this book.”

I worked in sports production and later as a credentialed blogger for a hot minute before leaving sports altogether due to instances that mirror what Julie so astutely shows is really just sports culture in general. And I’m exhausted by how many times this year alone I’ve had to argue with men who I had always considered friends about the importance of women’s sports (one of whom is the “Father of a daughter” which he somehow brings up to justify.. being an ass about sports? Anywho, I digress).

This book is both validating and, of course, stirring to read and I wanted to audibly yell “Yes, thank you!” more times than I can possibly count.

Cheers to the women and nonbinary sports media and reporters who stuck it out and continue to do so despite mountain after mountain of challenges stemming from discrimination and toxic masculinity. They are my heroes, even if I myself could not stick it out for the long haul in sports. This book probably hardly scratches the surface of all they’ve endured, but gosh, it does a phenomenal job of unpacking the realities that continue.

[Brooke Williams]

I'm struggling with a star rating for this one, because it's a ⭐⭐⭐⭐ for most of the book, particularly the damning indictment of sports media overall, the (lack of) #metoo reckonings in sports and sports media, and my personal favorite, coverage of the WNBA. If you love women's sports and are wondering why you hate reading/listening to sports coverage, this is the book for you!!!

However, my recommendation is to skip chapter 10 altogether. It was so incredibly cringeworthy and tone deaf about women athletes in Pakistan (and the author's general lack of knowledge about the country and other parts of the world she considered "dangerous") that it's hard not to have the terribleness of that chapter influence my view on the overall book. The author is a US sports journalist, so in my opinion she should have kept it US-focused and not veered outside her area of expertise. Alternatively, an editor should have left this very white-savior-y and pearl clutchy chapter on the cutting room floor. It barely fits with the overall book narrative and detracts from it, in my opinion.

That said, I'm not going to be the woman giving the first of its kind book about women in sports & sports media a one ⭐ review!

EDIT: I do want to put in recommendations for two related-but-totally-different books about sports, and some book about women's rage that DiCaro cites frequently in the book, all excellent:

"Things That Make White People Uncomfortable" by Michael Bennett
"Rage Becomes Her" by Soraya Chemaly
"One Life" by Megan Rapinoe

[Dominique · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

Super interesting, well-researched dive into a topic that doesn’t have a lot written on it: women and sports culture. Given that DiCaro is a female sports reporter, athlete, and former sports radio host, she has a lot of personal experience when it comes to the topics she writes about (and a lot of examples from other women in the sports world, too) — namely harassment of female sports reporters/journalists & lack of equality and unfair treatment/respect when it comes to women’s sports. But, for example, she also touches on other important topics, such as how domestic and sexual assault in the sports world are extremely prevalent issues, but yet male athletes who are accused of committing an act of violence are often lightly penalized and still revered by their fans (especially if they’re big names). I could sit here and list every topic she writes about, but rather than do that, I’m just going to say that this is a book EVERYone should read if you consider yourself a sports fan — women and men alike — as it truly is an important and necessary read. It’ll infuriate you, but that’s the whole point.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must-read for anyone interested in sports--particularly women, but men would definitely benefit from reading this book. DiCaro, who started as a lawyer before transitioning into sports radio and commentary, discusses the history of women covering sports, how sports covers things like domestic violence and harassment, the online harassment women get while covering sports, and whether sports and sports media will have their own #MeToo moment, but also has important chapters on supporting women's sports around the world and how that's beneficial to girls and women as well as the importance of women supporting each other. I particularly appreciated reading her thought process about the coverage of Kobe Bryant's death, as I had many similar thoughts at the time (and still do).

Knocked down a star because the writing comes across as too casual? Informal? DiCaro is clearly emotionally involved in her work, as it should be, but there are times when it's to the detriment of her arguments, I think.

[Genevieve · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve read quite a few reviews here that say they would rate the importance of the topic of book very highly but wouldn’t rate the actual content of this book so high. I have to agree.

What this book does best is describing the misogyny that DiCaro and other women face while working in sports media. It will definitely get your blood boiling and I found that part of the book the most compelling.

But other chapters that are focused around the struggles of female athletes were somewhat lacking. They weren’t awful and she did offer some good analysis but there wasn’t as much depth as there could’ve been. To me, it would’ve made more sense to write this book solely about the experience of working in sports media and leave the stories of female athletes to another book. The way this book is set up makes it feel a bit fractured and not cohesive.

However, I still think this book is important and worth reading. I learned a lot and would still recommend reading it.

[Trianna/Treereads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would consider myself a sports fan even though I only watch (1) sport so I was interested in this one. I found it informative and interesting, but not the most engaging of books. It was very factual and the chapters were longer than I would've liked.

As a woman who watches sports I already am conscientious of how few women are in the sports media content I consume and I did appreciate that Dicaro shared some ways to support the few women in sports media. But, I didn't find anything majorly groundbreaking (not that I expected to?, but I thought it would be at least a bit more interesting)

Please note that parts of this book are quite triggering since what she is describing in terms of harassment really happened.
TW: sexism, misogyny, rape, sexual assault/violence, death threats, online harassment (major; graphic)

[Savannah Hightower · Rating 4 out of 5]

if you aren’t angry about the patriarchal structure and misogynistic culture of sports, read this book and you will be.
favorite lines:
“harassment is, in the end, about silencing women, which is why we get much more of it when we take a stand on certain issues than when we read sports scores. sports scores are objective, lack any real thought, don’t make men uncomfortable… women are allowed to exist in a sports-only space, for the most part, as long as we’re young enough and hot enough and appeal to men.”
“sports are teaching girls to find their voices. once those voices are raised together, the society that has held them back will never be able to shut them up.”

[Darron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone brave enough to write about st00l gets five stars in my book. Honestly though books like this are so important - we need to understand what it’s like to live and work in male dominated spaces and places; not just abstractly, but via accounts of lived experience, if we are ever going to progress past where we are today.

[Emily Kraft · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars, I loved this and had to read it for my Cultural Aspects of Sport course. It was eye opening to hear from someone else things you have experienced your whole life, and more specifically what it’s like being a woman in a male dominated field (sports). It was also extremely disheartening that this is the field I’m entering into. If you’re looking to gain a broader understanding of what it’s like to be a woman moving through the world, particularly through the lens of sport, this is it.

[Asja Abron · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took me forever to pick up again, but I’m glad that I did because I learned a lot about women in sports media! Sidelined tells necessary depictions of how different and difficult it is to be a woman in a male-dominated field, and honestly even as a fan. If you’re into sports or journalism, I’d definitely recommend!

[Leah Waller · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is more about being a woman in sports media than a woman in sports. Still an interesting topic and I did enjoy some parts, but it feels rushed and poorly researched. I also think the author talks way more about herself than necessary.