Criticism of women’s sport is healthy, but the right balance can be hard to find | sports australia

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Criticism is as inevitable as breathing, or so TS Eliot would have us believe. But the debate over whether criticism is applied fairly to women in sport continues to make the rounds, questioning why our female athletes aren’t criticized for their mistakes in the same way as their male counterparts. The problem is of course that this question stems from the assumption that we have equality in sport in the first place. That it’s just a lack of fair criticism that keeps women’s sport from reaching its peak.

With the rise of women’s sport over the past five years, you don’t have to look far to see female athletes described as “golden girls”, role models or being compared favorably to male athletes for their behavior. and their composure. Personalities like Ash Barty, Ellyse Perry and Liz Watson are often cited as examples of how talented and successful an athlete can be, while being graceful and humble.

While this may seem complementary for these women, it only adds to the message of what is acceptable for girls and women. It conjures up an image of an elementary school teacher scolding boys for misbehavior and praising quiet, obedient girls. It tells girls and women that you have to be submissive to be successful, but even then you won’t get the same opportunities as your free-spirited male counterparts who are rewarded for their misdeeds with more media coverage. and a higher salary.

The other problem arises when our “golden girls” fail. When Barty leaves a tournament on his debut or Perry drops an easy catch in the outfield, the instinct is to preserve their reputations, to avoid criticism lest we recognize that these athletes we put on a pedestal don’t are actually just humans.

For those who have followed and nurtured women’s sport for years, there is a strong desire to break out of this limited view and embrace the humanity of female athletes, but we are wary of outsiders who approach and demand the right to criticize. As much as we want sports to be taken seriously, every potential critic brings up memories of comments on our stories telling us no one cares about these sports that we have invested our hearts and souls in. We protect athletes because we have followed their careers, we understand their sacrifices and don’t want to throw them to the wolves who want the right to belittle their skills and pass judgment on their appearance.

Alanna Kennedy after the Matildas’ shock exit from the Asian Cup. Photograph: Thananuwat Srirasant/Getty Images

If Pat Cummins screws up his field ratings or declares too late to guarantee a result, people can speak up and point out his mistakes without critics emerging to suggest the men are probably not suitable for Test cricket. If Tom Rogic misses an open goal, it can be discussed without anyone saying he’s ugly and suggesting he should go back to the kitchen. Male athletes can make mistakes that only represent individual failure. When female athletes make mistakes, bad faith critics hold them up as an example of their kind, a reason why women don’t belong in the cutthroat world of sport. Criticism is good and wholesome, but criticism of women’s sport is so often rooted in misogyny that there’s an understandable fear of opening up the sport too much.

The balance is hard to find, but if you look beyond the back pages of mainstream newspapers, you’ll find nuanced and contextual reviews. Analysis of critics who understand that while male cricket captains have 10 tests a year to hone their decision-making, women are lucky to have one. Who knows that an AFLW season is made up of shortened games, no full season back and forth, and played in the height of summer by athletes working full-time jobs around their football. Who can see the lack of control applied to the often all-male coaching and selection teams whose decisions have as great an impact on the situation on the pitch as the mistakes made by the players.

So how do we solve the problem and allow more constructive criticism of women’s sport? The answer is simply greater coverage of more diverse voices. When women’s sport takes the same place in newspapers, websites and TV newscasts as men’s sport, there will be no possibility of falling back on stereotypes because there is space to bridging, which means more than one story needs to be told. When people who cover sports in mainstream media have the proper context and understanding of the sports they follow, that space will be filled with legitimate analysis.

As is the case with almost any perceived problem that can be found in women’s sport, the first step is to level the playing field. There is no silver bullet, the only solution is the equality.

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