When a male is invested in a sport, the overall encouragement from the coaches and peers is to eat more carbs. Make that muscle bigger. If you are bigger, then you are stronger.
Conversely, when thinking of a female athlete, the immediate thought goes to skinny, slim, girls. Women as athletes are encouraged to eat salads and keep their weight to the minimum.
Women are working just as hard as men in their sports, which is ignored. They are not taken as seriously. The main sports that people consume showcase men, and only men. Sometimes there will be a soccer or tennis match with female-identifying athletes, but this is rare. When it happens there are fewer viewers at the match, and fewer viewers watching from home. According to Adelphi University research, the pay rate for female athletes is incredibly lower than for male athletes and the list goes on and on.

Society is unthinkably discriminatory towards women. There needs to be a change. There needs to be equal pay for women and men when it comes to professional sports. There needs to be equal television time for both male and female sports leagues. At SPA, the achievements of female-identifying athletes need to be recognized; the main focus should not be solely on the football or the boys basketball team. This community needs to accept that not all great female athletes are skinny blondes- most are not- they come in all shapes and sizes. The SPA community should recognize this sexism that goes right under their noses. And we need to stand up to it. It can start with a small change. Not assuming that plus size women do not exercise. According to the Michigan Daily being aware that women in sports are much more likely to get verbally abused or sexually assaulted. Understanding that not all female athletes that go into professional sports need to look the part. These are all very attainable goals that one can work to achieve. Small changes to one’s mindset will make this successful.