I have lots of friends who are very invested in the sports world. I come from Green Bay, WI, so sports are a big deal, especially football. Growing up, it was a weekly tradition to gather together with family and friends to watch the Packers football games. All of the men would be shouting in the living room over the game and how a play was flagged unfairly, while the women would be huddled together in the kitchen or dining room drinking beer and giggling about their silly husbands. This always rubbed me the wrong way, but it’s not like I was super invested in the football game, so I didn’t mind sitting in a separate room away from all the screaming.
However, lots of my childhood friends grew up to love football. One of my friends from middle school just got a job as a sportscaster. Another one of my friends spends much of her hard-earned money to go to every Packers game that she can. I’m so happy that they can pursue what they love, but they can’t seem to pursue it without prosecution by other sports fans.
When I see women discussing sports, their opinions always seem to be treated as lesser than a man’s, even if they’re more involved or educated in the subject. I see lots of comments on my friends’ sports blog from men accusing her of faking her love of football to attract guys. When I don’t see comments accusing her of faking her interest just to seem attractive to possible suitors, I see other men quizzing her on incredibly detailed sports history questions that would be impossible just to casually know. I see these trends even with professional female athletes; when they post a picture of themselves competing, men flood the comments with challenges to face off against a male player, quizzes on sports history and events and accusing her of not actually being a real athlete.
It seems to me that women, in the eyes of many male sports fans, can’t just casually enjoy sports. It has to take over their entire being for it to be considered genuine; they have to eat, live and breathe sports. Otherwise, their interest isn’t considered valid. Female sports fans are held to a double standard, and I think that’s silly. It would benefit everyone who enjoyed sports to encourage a positive community, even if that means someone just has a casual liking of the sport. Ridiculing, isolating and harassing fans based on outdated gender stereotypes is only dividing the sports world and lessening the support that many hold for it.
