Calling Game: We’re Tired of Media Bias Against Female Athletes

When Alex Morgan, USWNT forward, mock-sipped tea after her huge goal against England in the 2019 FIFA semifinals, the internet was flooded with hot takes on how disrespectful and distasteful Morgan and the USWNT’s celebrations were. Piers Morgan even took to the Daily Mail to pen a piece declaring Morgan’s celebration went too far:

“Now, there are many things you can tease my fellow countrymen for,  from our silly accents and love of cricket to our badly maintained teeth. But laughing at our fondness for tea crosses an unspoken line. It’s been our national drink for centuries, the thing we all guzzle like Americans drink cola. In fact, we consume over 100 million cups of tea every single day – that’s 36 billion a year. It’s such an inherent, cultural part of Englishness that Morgan may as well have declared war on us.”

Taking Piers Morgan’s commentary for the absurdity that it was, the fact that he (and so many others) took this simple gesture so seriously was insane. And it’s a problem.

Now let’s take a look at ESPN-owned SportsCenter’s coverage of how “fired up” a male college baseball pitcher was after a big strikeout in the college world series.

Louisville pitcher Luke Smith was fired up. pic.twitter.com/O6PfQ8OL5h

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 22, 2019

In case your imagination fails you, SportsCenter blurred out Louisville pitcher Luke Smith yelling “f*** you” to the opposing dugout. After striking out a batter? On live television??? To even pretend that is an acceptable or normal way to celebrate a big moment is absurd. Can you imagine the amount of outrage (and fines) Alex Morgan would have been hit with if she yelled “f*** you” to England’s soccer team after scoring that goal? (It would probably be higher than what she’s currently earning.)

Speaking of fines, tennis superstar Serena Williams was recently hit with a $10,000 dollar fine for throwing her racket on a practice court in London during the 2019 Wimbledon tournament. Williams didn’t seem bothered about the fine, saying she doesn’t really know how it happened — “Maybe I’m super strong. I don’t know?” she speculated. Meanwhile, Italian tennis player Fabio Fognini was fined a comparably modest $3,000 for saying he hoped a bomb explodes on the Wimbledon courts after he lost a match to an American player.

Williams recently spoke about her feelings on the 2018 US Open Final versus Naomi Osaka, when Williams argued with the referee after he accused her of receiving coaching. He docked her a game in response. In an essay for Harper’s Bazaar, Williams said, “After the Open, I returned home to Florida. Every night, as I would try to go to sleep, unresolved questions ran through my mind in a never-ending loop: How can you take a game away from me in the final of a Grand Slam? … Why can’t I express my frustrations like everyone else? If I were a man, would I be in this situation?”

Williams actually apologized to Osaka after the game.

“People can misunderstand anger for strength because they can’t differentiate between the two,” Osaka replied. “No one has stood up for themselves the way you have and you need to continue trailblazing.”

Williams was considered angry but Luke Smith was “fired up.” Alex Morgan sipping tea was “distasteful”, but Jorge Masvidal falling to the ground and playing dead, a clear reference to the opponent he just knocked out, was the “celebration of the night.” The bias is evident. We’re Calling Game on it.

The standard that women are held to when it comes to “sportsmanlike conduct” is far higher than it is for men. And it’s time for that to change. Girls are simply taught to play sports differently. We have to be meekly respectful to male officials who are condescending. No swearing. No fighting with teammates, the opposing team, officials, or fans. No type of behavior that could be misconstrued as “overly emotional”, or labeled a “meltdown”– terms that have been so frequently used against female superstar athletes. Be gracious that we even get to play. Boys have sports as an outlet — they can let out all their aggression on the field. They can scream, curse, and fight to their hearts delight, and be praised as passionate.

Last year, Major League Baseball ran a set of ads with the tagline “let the kids play,” paying homage to the legend Ken Griffey Jr., who changed the game of baseball with his swagger and style.

It’s October. Let the Kids Play. pic.twitter.com/1igMtzVDO1

— MLB (@MLB) October 2, 2018

The ads celebrated the passion of baseball players that many older-generation fans and pundits scrutinize so heavily. It shows the bat flips and bizarre antics that baseball players indulge in. The point of the campaign: let the players have fun. They’re not hurting anyone. Stop micromanaging and over-analyzing, because at the end of the day, these athletes are just kids that fell in love with a game and never looked back.

So let the kids play. And let the girls play.

Calling Game is a weekly opinion column and podcast focused on media coverage of athletes. Written by two female athletes, we’re the sports news that covers the sports news. Calling Game came about after finding a staggering statistic that showed that only 4% of sports media coverage is focused on women. We’re calling game on the bias.

[Photo by Jean-Philippe Ksiazek/AFP/Getty Images]

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!