Women have always fought to be considered the equals of men. From the right to own property, the right to vote, the right to have an abortion, and a more recent phenomenon, the right to equal opportunities in sports. Traditionally, the tough competition of sports has been reserved mostly for men; however, women have been pushing more and more for equal funding for athletic departments in schools, endorsement deals, and the development of professional leagues. And although equality is certainly something that is worth fighting for, if someone made it their life mission to see equality among men and women in sports before they die, they better live forever, because it is not happening. There are several factors that lead me to say this. First of all, at the highest levels of every sport, the athletic abilities of women and men are, to say the least, incomparable. This in turn leads to the fact that less people follow women's sports and players.
Chicago girls at Sokol Sports, Prague, Austria (L...
Woods at age 2 on The Mike Douglas Show. From left...
Tiger Woods during a practice round at the MastersAnd because less people follow them and they don't have as many fans pouring money into their teams and leagues, their salaries are much lower and there are not as many endorsements opportunities. Lastly, in many schools, sports is a huge revenue generator, and incidentally, the overwhelming majority of this money comes from men's sports. The result is more funding and a higher number of athletic scholarships for men. Unfortunately for women, they may be able to fight for equality and achieve it in many other areas, but as far as sports goes, female athletes will never have the same opportunities as their male counterparts.
In most of the men's professional leagues in the United States, you know that the athletes are the best in the world at their respective sports. They are competing at the highest levels...