Equal Pay to Male and Female Athletes
Back in 2008, ESPN announced that they were going to pay equal prize money to male and female athletes. This was a bold announcement that heralded the acknowledgment of male and female equality in the realm of sports. About the news, female X-gamer Sarah Burke said, "Every female athlete is pumped for this. It's a huge step. ESPN is the leader in action sports, and I think that (by) announcing equal payouts, everyone else is going to feel the need to keep up."
Some opponents believe that female athletes should not get paid as much as male athletes in sport competitions because people perceive that women cannot perform as many interesting tricks or outrageous stunts. However, the acknowledgment of equal pay shows how far women athletes have come in a realm where action sports have been traditionally dominated by men. It proves that female athletes can perform awesome tricks and compete on a level just as high as male athletes. With equal pay, the X Games have set a standard for others to follow.
My question to you is in an industry that is talent-based like the X Games, do you believe that male and female athletes in the X Games deserve to be paid equal prize money? If male X Gamers draw more attention and viewership and can perform more outrageous stunts, should they be paid more?
Article from USA Today, written by Sal Ruibal on November 18th, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/action/2008-11-18-x-games-equal-pay_N.htm
After finding the article on equal pay, I began to delve deeper into the effects women have had on the X Games. As I was looking through pages on the internet, something very interesting surfaced. When I did a search for "Female X Games Athletes," websites came up on my computer screen boldly proclaiming titles such as "Hottest Female Athletes." I clicked on the link, which took me to ESPN's website. On the list of the "Hottest Female Athletes," I saw names like Danica Patrick and Maria Sharapova. Also on the list was X-Gamer Gretchen Bleiler. Gretchen is a snowboarder and she has had many accomplishments in her career so far including creating the first all-girls Halfpipe competition, taking the silver medal in Halfpipe at the 2006 Torino Olympics, and winning the Superpipe competition at the Winter X Games in 2003 and 2005. She is also an active spokesperson concerning climate change. ESPN's website gave a quick overview of her career highlights and then said that Gretchen "really caught our attention when she scantily posed for the February 2004 issue of FHM magazine and for ESPN's X Games Website." After reading this, I was very surprised and it got me thinking. Even though women are making a big splash in the X Games arena and are performing tricks that are truly awe-inspiring, is our society focusing on their sex appeal rather than their athletic abilities?
Why is this image of Gretchen Bleiler more attention-getting than this video of her talent?
Article from USA Today, written by Sal Ruibal on November 18th, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/action/2008-11-18-x-games-equal-pay_N.htm
After finding the article on equal pay, I began to delve deeper into the effects women have had on the X Games. As I was looking through pages on the internet, something very interesting surfaced. When I did a search for "Female X Games Athletes," websites came up on my computer screen boldly proclaiming titles such as "Hottest Female Athletes." I clicked on the link, which took me to ESPN's website. On the list of the "Hottest Female Athletes," I saw names like Danica Patrick and Maria Sharapova. Also on the list was X-Gamer Gretchen Bleiler. Gretchen is a snowboarder and she has had many accomplishments in her career so far including creating the first all-girls Halfpipe competition, taking the silver medal in Halfpipe at the 2006 Torino Olympics, and winning the Superpipe competition at the Winter X Games in 2003 and 2005. She is also an active spokesperson concerning climate change. ESPN's website gave a quick overview of her career highlights and then said that Gretchen "really caught our attention when she scantily posed for the February 2004 issue of FHM magazine and for ESPN's X Games Website." After reading this, I was very surprised and it got me thinking. Even though women are making a big splash in the X Games arena and are performing tricks that are truly awe-inspiring, is our society focusing on their sex appeal rather than their athletic abilities?
Why is this image of Gretchen Bleiler more attention-getting than this video of her talent?
Other searches of female X-Gamers such as Kristi Leskinen (freestyle skier), and Fabiola de Silva (inline skater) reveal similar scantily-clad photographs. It begs the question are female athletes really being taken seriously? We live in a world where male athletes like Shaun White are respected and admired and draw huge attention for their skills, talent, and innovative tricks. We idolize NFL football players and NBA players for their skills yet hardly anyone watches the WNBA. Most men seem to like Danica Patrick for her looks rather than her attempt to infiltrate a sport completely dominated by men. Yet she garners attention with her GoDaddy.com commericals, perhaps hurting her chances to be taken seriously and not rely on her looks.
Are female athletes in sports like the X Games really admired for their talent? Or has our society paid attention to female athletes because of their attractiveness, making their skills just an added bonus?
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