tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post1954250301402970136..comments2019-05-15T23:59:20.159-07:00Comments on Feminist Legal Theory: Women in professional sports- fantasy or reality?Lisa R. Pruitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16469550950363542801noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post-29367599993385281052012-09-26T13:14:33.178-07:002012-09-26T13:14:33.178-07:00One reason we may not see very many women's pr...One reason we may not see very many women's professional sports on television is that professional leagues usually do not exist for women. While there have been attempts at forming women’s leagues in a variety of sports, many have failed. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_professional_sports) One interesting follow-up to this blog post might be an analysis of why some women's professional sports leagues have failed, while others have survived. For example, despite the popularity of women's soccer after the 1999 World Cup (we all remember Brandi Chastain's sports bra incident), the Women's United Soccer Association lasted only a few seasons before the organizers suspended it (see their Wikipedia article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_United_Soccer_Association). In contrast, the WNBA seems to have survived and some games even make it onto one of the ESPN stations. You can also view the WNBA games online and through local channels. <br /><br />It seems that those women’s leagues that do exist are not popular enough to gain mainstream media slots; yet because they do not have those slots they may not be able to reach a broad enough audience to sufficiently increase their popularity to gain those slots or even survive. Maybe having online and on-demand viewing is one way the WNBA is able to survive? Could a new women’s soccer league be more successful with a broader range of viewing options? <br /><br />Finally, the two professional women’s leagues that seem to be the most popular and successful are women’s golf and tennis. As a golfer, I can barely watch golf on television without becoming bored, so why is it that women’s golf can make it beyond the Golf Channel to ESPN and NBC from time to time? Women’s professional tennis also receives relatively significant television time on major networks. I hope that the popularity of these sports and thus their ability to be aired on major networks does not derive from the fact that they can be played in short skirts.KBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14517191832417555528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post-74595333405959836542012-09-06T00:30:49.600-07:002012-09-06T00:30:49.600-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.KBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14517191832417555528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post-34913332511067011942012-09-03T14:09:22.589-07:002012-09-03T14:09:22.589-07:00A post by Marlo Thomas in the Huffington Post in J...A post by Marlo Thomas in the <i>Huffington Post</i> in July really stood out to me. This year marked the first time the U.S. Olympic team included more women than men. It was also the first time there was a female representative from every country, and the first time every sport includes female athletes. So momentous were these three firsts that <i>Time</i> proclaimed this to be "The Year of the Woman"(http://olympics.time.com/2012/07/29/the-year-of-the-woman-the-london-olympics-strikes-early-for-gender-equality/). <br /><br />But you raise some important points. There is just not enough societal support for women sports. Less money is thrown at women sports and is defended by saying "they just don't attract an audience." When asked what the average person can do to help, Marlene Bjornsrud (CEO of Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiatives) always starts by saying lets get "butts in seats." <br /><br />Lastly, we need to target women's access to sports when they are young. The studies show that participating in sports helps women in their future career success (http://lifeinc.today.com/_news/2012/06/29/12459328-playing-youth-sports-helps-women-in-their-careers?lite). For a variety of reasons, women's participation in sports decreases once they get into Junior High School and High School, not to mention the lack of access to sports for girls in low income communities. As a society we need to continue to engage women in sports throughout their lifetime for their own personal empowerment, physical well-being, and future career success.Patricijahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07301065108893875589noreply@blogger.com