Week #6

Author: Sky WonCreation date: Friday, June 26, 2009 5:08:26 AM EDTDate last modified: Friday, June 26, 2009 5:08:26 AM EDTTotal views: 26 Your views: 5
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Should professional women athletes be paid the same as men? My answer to this question is "YES" without a doubt. Sports have become arguably the single most important institution in our nation. They have over come issues of race, colour and class. However, one area that faces continual struggling is that of gender equality. More especially, areas of concern include male and female athlete marketing, perceptions, and pay. The inequity is visible in Golf, Tennis, Basketball, and car racing in which I have demonstrated in my project. I have illustrated the gender gap in wage earnings that has always been considered accepted by society because it follows the norm," men earn more money than women."
Times have changed in the world of sports, Sports Illustrated declared the Sportsman of the year were Sportswomen: this doesn't change the fact that women earn a fraction of the salaries of men. "The reality is women are paid far less than the men in a sport where the gender gap exist for the simple fact that men are bigger, stronger and sometimes faster than women "and therefore feel they are entitled to higher pay. Let's consider the entertainment value of a women, I believe people in general would rather see a women athlete perform than a man; this fact alone should close the gender gap in wage earrings. The Women's Sports Foundation agrees that inequality is visible in every sport. Here's an example of the wage gap, the total prize money for the LPGA was $50 million compared to the PGA tours of 256 million. Women's sports have come a long way and I have demonstrated through the wage gap that they still have a long way to go. The numbers actually speak for themselves.
I chose this project because equality is the real issue between men and woman. I have always had an interest in equality. Personally I feel men and woman should earn the same salary for doing the same work and their sex should not determine a wage gap. I experienced this first hand; I worked for a corporation where men reigned supreme. Women worked harder than men and men received more pay. I wanted to do this project to inform people about the vast difference in salaries between men and women athletes because it's time to bridge the gap. Another reason this project was chosen is for the mere fact that women are making progress as wage earners and men are loosing ground, this progress symbolizes the direction the salaries are heading in.
The Women's Rights Movement in 1840 to 1925 fought for equality for women, if women today do not continue to fight for their own rights then the information that Julia T. Woods wrote in her book on their behalf, would have then fallen on deaf ears. I believe Julia would say that we have a lot in common because we are both informing women about their gendered differences and their equal rights as women.
I would continue this project by using Biological, Cognitive and Cultual Analysis on male and female athletes to monitor and address their Marketing strategies, Perceptions and Pay.