Author:
Recently I have observed an unequal representation of women’s and men’s sports in the Oxy newspaper. Two weeks ago the article “Ultimate Frisbee 101” failed to mention the existence of a women’s Ultimate Frisbee team at Oxy. Last week an entire article was dedicated to the men’s cross country team’s victory in SCIAC. Although the team appreciated the acknowledgement of their hard work the article failed to mention that the girls’ cross country team also won SCIAC. In fact is was the first time in Oxy history that both the girls’ and the guys’ cross country teams won SCIAC in the same year.
Instead there was an emphasis on the girls’ soccer team and their unfortunate loss to the Regals in their SCIAC conference tournament. Not to say that the soccer spotlight wasn’t deserved or that because they lost they didn’t deserve such a large place in the newspaper, but it is disappointing to see such a clear bias in what sports are highlighted. Although certain sports may be more “spectator friendly,” like football or soccer, doesn’t mean that the hard work and dedication of other sports teams aren’t worthy of acknowledgement in the paper. And although I love to read about every single football game in the newspaper every single week, there are other sports out there that are doing well in their own arena.
I find it extremely rude, if not borderline sexist, to highlight the victory of a men’s team while disregarding the victory of a girls’ team in the same sport or as in the case of the women’s Ultimate Frisbee team, completely disregard the team’s existence all together. If you wish to continue to marginalize the efforts of women in sports perhaps you should rename your “Sports” section to “What Men Want to Know About Sports They Like to Watch.”
This article has been archived, for more requests please contact us via the support system.
