The Bowdoin Orient

I write from the perspective of a male athlete. I have been blessed to never once have my participation in a sport questioned. I have never had my body type critiqued by others for not looking a specific way. I have never had a hard time finding idols in sports. The same cannot always be said for women. For all of the positive effort made in the last 43 years under Title IX, we as a society still do not treat male and female athletes the same.

I, like much of the student body, read Coach Slovenski’s “Boys on the sidelines: the girls caught up fast”  and felt mixed emotions. I believe he is spot-on when he speaks to the importance of sports in everyday life, whether it be improving self-confidence or instilling discipline. All people, no matter their gender, the color of their skin or their sexuality, should be given the opportunity to participate in sports. Yet I struggled to wrap my head around Coach Slovenski’s belief that discrimination in sports has “passed into another era.”

 How has discrimination “passed into another era” when Serena Williams, one of the greatest athletes of all time, is questioned for her body image no matter how much success she garners? How has discrimination “passed into another era” when female athletes are asked about their love lives and crushes in press conferences while men are not? How has discrimination “passed into another era” when some women are asked to twirl after a win? Coach Slovenski is correct to assert that equal opportunities for men and women should be afforded. I simply contend with the opinion that there is gender equality in sports today.

As a member of the Bowdoin Student Athlete Advisory Committee (BSAAC) last year, I voted against Coach Slovenski’s proposal for a Boys in Sports Day. My reasoning was that I did not see the merit to the event. I freely support establishing a Community in Sports Day, where boys and girls participate together with Bowdoin athletes. I did not, however, see a need for a Boys in Sports Day. Women in Sports Day was established nationally in order to combat gender discrimination and to show young girls that they could be collegiate athletes. Boys have never had that issue. Every single day, a boy can turn on SportsCenter and see his idols. Girls cannot. According to a 2014 Purdue University study, only two percent of SportsCenter’s coverage focused on women’s sports. Young girls need role models and for many young Maine girls, the Bowdoin female athletes are just that.  

Yet women are still underrepresented in participation. While many schools have the same number of male and female teams, the amount of members each team is allotted is not equal. According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, there are 1.3 million fewer high school opportunities and 63,000 fewer NCAA opportunities for women. And the NCAA published in its report, NCAA 2011-2012 Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates Report, that from 2004-2005 to 2011-2012, more new sports opportunities were given to men than women. I do not argue that male athletes should be denied participation for the sake of promoting female participation. What I have instead tried to show is that we are not at the stage yet where we can claim that male and female athletes are treated equally in sports.

Many of us were fortunate enough to see the impact of female sports last week with field hockey, volleyball and rugby hosting conference championships. I can honestly say that the best Bowdoin sports event I have seen was this past Sunday, when volleyball pulled off an awe-inspiring comeback to win the NESCAC title. With women’s rugby winning a fourth straight NESCRC title, women’s soccer qualifying for NCAAs, and women’s field hockey winning another NESCAC, Bowdoin female athletes are inspiring the community beyond simply their gameplay. They are inspiring young girls to believe that one day, they will be out on the court or field.

I cannot reiterate enough that I am not seeking to challenge the notion that men and women cannot have equal value in sports. All I have sought to show is that we still have much to do. I hope that my opinion has helped to create a discourse that will lead us all to better understand the opposing sides. I also believe that we all have the opportunity and right to express our opinions, whether it is through a snappy Orient response or one on one. We should debate how to reach the next stage in gender equality, as there are many different opinions that should be brought forth and discussed. I will, however, say that in my humble opinion, it is not being politically correct to say that men and women do not currently have equal access to sports. It is fact.