While women have been fighting the #MeToo battle on different fronts like in the business of movies, in offices, on buses and trains, and flooding social media with their stories. One battle front has been left unguarded. Sports has been neglected. And it is not wonder, when girls are handed dolls, instead of balls and rackets when they are toddlers.
The growing chasm between the genders is very visible with Forbes’ annual list of the 100 highest earning sportspeople. Not one female featured on it. So, no woman in any sport is paid as much as her male competitor, even when she puts in equal efforts in training and nurturing her skills, while battling even greater odds of societal obstacles.
The retired boxer Floyd Mayweather has reclaimed first place from Cristiano Ronald. Our very own Virat Kohli features in the list. Kohli, the only sportsperson from India to be featured in the list, is ranked 83rd with earnings of USD 24 million. This year the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named Kohli as one of just five players to receive the newly-created A+ contracts, which guarantee an annual retainer of more than USD 1 million.
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It is a wonder how no woman makes the mark of merit to be paid enough to be on the list? India’s Mary Kom, P V Sindhu, Anjum Chopra, or Geeta Phogat, none are paid as much as their male counterparts, even for playing equally well, and acquiring equal, if not more, laurels for the country.
Serena Williams, who was on the list, lost her place because of pregnancy. her prize money dropped from USD 8 million to USD 62,000 after the birth of her baby.
The huge funding disparity between male and female sport means that women have had fewer opportunities to play sport, have suffered from inadequate coaching and facilities compared with those enjoyed by men, and have been paid meagre sums, even for playing international sport.
The roots of this discrepancy lie in the birth of modern sport, 150 years ago. Victorian society viewed sport as inseparable from the philosophy of Muscular Christianity, which defined itself against femininity and softness. Even today athletic women are seen as less feminine. Why cannot a girl have her frills and her biceps too. It is an irony that while there is so much pressure on women to look good, there is none on their physical fitness or ability of self-defence.
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