by Alyssa johns
Sports have always been a tougher arena for female journalists. In a predominantly male profession, female sports journalists often fall under much harsher scrutiny than their male counterparts.
Recently, Houston Astros minor league infielder, Brooks Marlow, tweeted, “No lady needs to be on espn talking during a baseball game specially Mendoza sorry.” The tweet, directed at ESPN broadcaster Jessica Mendoza, was later deleted. The Astros stated that they “do not condone” Marlow’s behavior and issued an apology statement. Though Mendoza probably never saw the tweet of a minor league player, it’s the principle of the matter.
Mendoza is a former professional softball player, holds five Stanford records and is partially responsible for bringing Stanford to its first ever Women’s College World Series, according to jmendoza.com. Her website also details her story as a former member of the U.S. Women’s National Team and her win of both silver and gold Olympic medals. In 2008, she was named Women’s Sports Foundation Sportswoman of the Year. Needless to say, she is accomplished in the sporting world. She is currently a game analyst and appears on Baseball Tonight and Sports Center as a studio analyst.
Mendoza’s success in sports and sports media is inspiring. The scrutiny she faces from fans and players like Marlow likely affects young and upcoming female journalists more than it affects her. Little boys are not the only ones who look up to professional players and commentators. Girls make up a significant portion of the fanbase, and should be treated like the equals they are. Players and organizations should be more aware of the impact they have on young players and fans. According to Nina Mandell of USA Today, a woman thanked Mendoza for inspiring her daughter, saying, “Just thank you, she probably won’t even do this but just the fact that she can understand that there are things in this world that it doesn’t have to be what her friends tell her to do.’”
Mendoza isn’t the only female sports journalist that receives hate mail for simply being female and a sports journalist. A video by Just Not Sports showed men reading disgusting tweets directed at Chicago sportswriters Sarah Spain and Julie DiCaro. The men became so uncomfortable reading the tweets aloud, they apologized on behalf of their gender.
Unfortunately, there are too many instances where women in sports media are the victims of sexist hate speech. Support is growing however. Many players and others involved in sports media are standing up for women and the Astros stance on the behavior of its players is a start. The question is, when will gender equality in sports media become commonplace?
