When Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd sank shots in the NCAA Basketball tournament, my family and I cheered! UConn is our home team, but more importantly, I imagined girls throughout the country rejoicing. Maybe they’d even decide to try basketball!
But I also wondered what the boys were thinking. Were they watching?
Role modeling is so powerful, enough to encourage kids to try new things. But had the women’s basketball team captured everyone’s attention? Or just people who already think women are worthy of attention?
Inspiration for girls to play sports
When my daughter first joined basketball last year, at age 8, I had considered exposing her to more female basketball players. Maybe I’ll bring her to a local high school game, I thought. Maybe we’ll try to go to a WNBA game. Like so many positive parenting intentions, though, they floated by in the hubbub of homework and packed lunches.
But the phrase, “If they can see it, they can be it” rang in my ears – the motto of the Geena Davis Institute. That is, when children see role models on screen, whether it be engineers, scientists, or soccer players, they self-actualize that possibility for themselves.
It’s not JUST representation, seeing certain faces onstage or in stadiums. It’s a small voice of encouragement that whispers: you can do it too.
The mere presence of women in sports has a major impact on girls trying a sport. A recent study showed that 66% of girls attribute their inclination toward a sport to the positive influence of female athletes.
Is the playing field even for women in sports?
Women have made great strides in sports in the last several decades. Good news item number 1: viewers are watching more women’s sports than ever before. The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup garnered 2 billion viewers, making it the most watched women’s sporting event in history. And the Paris Olympics in 2024 was considered by some as the “most gender equal” in sports history.
When we see Simone Biles, Serena Williams, and Caitlin Clark featured in advertisements for huge companies like Nike, Gatorade, Oreo, and Gucci, it seems like things are getting better. Maybe we’re reaching gender parity in sports. One survey even showed that sponsorship deals for women’s pro sports went up 22% last year. Maybe the playing field (pun intended) is starting to even out? Maybe women will finally get the pay they deserve?
But when you consider the disparity in sponsorships and pay between women and men in pro sports, it’s frustrating. Advertisers, networks, and sports associations still give women lower pay, fewer sponsorships, and less airtime than male athletes. Caitlin Clark, the highest scoring NCAA player (for both men and women), earned about $76,000 in her first year in the WNBA, but the number one draft pick in the (men’s) NBA gets $10 million. Meanwhile, the lowest paid male player in the NBA earns about $1.5 million – 20 times Clark’s salary!!
Why girls are still sidelined from sports
Sports have valuable impacts on ALL children, physically and mentally. Girls who play sports have higher self-esteem and lower levels of depression. They learn skills like teamwork and resilience, too.
However, girls in urban and rural environments are less likely to participate in sports, as are girls of color.
Body image plays a critical role, too. Teenage girls leave sports in large numbers – 45% of 14 year-old girls – because of low body confidence. Self-objectification, undoubtedly influenced by social media and pop culture, takes a toll on young girls. They feel too self-conscious about how they appear, how they look to others, to take part in an activity they enjoy.
The power of role models
But the power of role models is REAL. Can these heroes propel our daughters past those insecurities into sports? To inspire kids, not just through victories, but by their resilience after losses?
My daughter completed her first basketball season, approaching the game with caution and curiosity. She didn’t take many shots, but loved the team atmosphere.
Her second basketball season coincided with my mom’s enthusiastic new interest in college women’s basketball. My mom invited us over to the house on a Saturday night in February to watch the UConn women’s game. It was exciting and fast-paced. We all cheered for the team!
My daughter observed women dominating the court. And the screen.
The impact was palpable the very next day. At my daughter’s basketball game, seemingly propelled by the exciting game on TV the night before – she made her very first basket. We hooted, we hollered!
After the game, the coach singled her out. “That’s the first time I’ve seen you really want the ball,” the coach said.
There was no doubt in my mind. Simply watching the skilled, agile, and confident UConn basketball players on the court was enough to raise her own self-confidence. She, too, could be like these young women.
Boys need to look up to women athletes, too
We can probably all agree that women’s sports are great for girls. My daughter’s story isn’t a new one. Sarah Strong and Paige Bueckers made her feel like one day she could BE them.
But just as importantly, I wondered…are boys watching? Women in sports aren’t just role models for girls. We need boys to see women in pro sports just as much as men.
First, we need boys to care about role models who don’t look like them. Think of how many men fill your screen during the Superbowl: coaches, managers, referees, players. The only women you’ll see are entertainment: cheerleaders or someone singing the national anthem. Maybe the halftime act. But it’s basically a night celebrating men.
How often do children see women dominate the screen? Are boys’ books and television shows filled with girl protagonists? Do they eagerly await movies like Moana and Encanto, with female leads? Or do parents assume they “wouldn’t be into women’s basketball” so they don’t even flip it on.
What happens when boys see adults interested in women’s sports
Second, we need boys to know that adults care about women role models.
Related: 11 Female Role Models for Boys
Given the volume of Americans who watch the Superbowl – a record 127.7 million viewers this year – boys are likely to see the adults in their life prioritize this sporting event. A night of men, really. This can reinforce the rigidity of gender stereotypes that children learn from a young age. And the harmful idea for boys that anything feminine for boys is unimportant, bad, or unworthy.
But in order to raise boys who become men who value the experiences and perspectives of women (yes, feminist boys), they need the adults in their lives to care about women, too.
I think back to that first night that we watched the televised UConn basketball game as a family. Part of the magic was that my daughter observed the adults in her life (of all genders) carve out time to watch women shoot hoops. She saw them CARE. This is a built-in assurance for boys, who build confidence and entitlement knowing that the whole world pays rapt attention to men’s sports.
But when all children see adults watching women’s sports, boys don’t just receive inspiration from athletes, but the unspoken lesson that women are worthy and valuable of attention, too.
Leave a Reply