All Eyes on Women’s Sports

Madison Square Garden: sold out. Not for Harry Styles, but for a faceoff between the New York Sirens and the Seattle Torrent, two teams in the 3-year-old Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL). More than 18,000 fans filled the stands as former tennis superstar Billie Jean King partook in the ceremonial puck drop. “This is, for a lot of women, and for me, the realization of a dream,” the pioneering female athlete told reporters.

It is hard to believe that just a month before this joyous scene, blatant misogyny within the very same sport was at the forefront of social media discussions. Controversy arose shortly after the USA men’s ice hockey team clinched Olympic gold in overtime against Team Canada. The women’s team had also won gold a few days earlier. From the locker room, the male players received congratulations from US President Donald Trump, who extended them an invitation to his State of the Union Address later that week. In this now-infamous FaceTime call, the President joked that he “had to” invite the women’s team as well lest he get impeached, and the men in the room laughed. Among those who laughed at or stayed silent about this highly misogynistic joke were the Hughes brothers, whose own mother played hockey (but never got the opportunity to be an Olympian due to the women’s category not existing at the time), and now works with the women’s team. The public outrage following this exchange goes way beyond the fact that the men’s team has won only two (non-gold) medals since their last gold in 1980, to the women’s six (including three gold) since the first women’s ice hockey tournament in 1998. Their laughter was a reminder that even in the most high-achieving spaces, women’s successes are still undermined.

This is all quite ironic, seeing as President Trump often spews the talking point of “protecting women’s sports.” To nobody’s surprise, the lives of women athletes only seem to matter when it is convenient for him. At no point was this clearer than when, early in his second term, he used the guise of protecting women to sign an executive order banning transgender women from participating in sports within federally funded institutions (such as schools and universities). For reference, the NCAA reports just ten transgender athletes across all its sports. Not long after the Olympics in Milan, the Olympic Committee announced a ban on trans athletes starting in the 2028 Summer Olympics. Let’s make one thing clear: an attack on trans women is an attack on all women. Trans people, including children, will face not only exclusion but also increased hostility and violence as a result. Yet, the impact of this decision is not exclusive to trans women; it opens the door to a host of other attacks on women’s athletes whose bodies will be under constant investigation. It is important to note that biological sex is a spectrum, as we all have differing hormone levels and expressions of “sex indicators,” regardless of what chromosomes we carry. In an activity where biological advantage is omnipresent, attempting to police what is and isn’t a female body will only serve to undermine women’s sports even further. In fact, this impact is not mere speculation, as we have already seen cisgender women athletes become victims of transphobic attacks simply for having more “masculine” features. Instead of “protecting women,” these types of restrictions simply essentialize womanhood to bodily expression and put already heavily scrutinized female athletes under even more intrusive examination. Female athletes will now be subject to genetic testing to prove their eligibility, which is not only expensive and intrusive but also opens up a host of other possible complications: from determining the fate of intersex athletes, to the public debate that will inevitably surround the tests, to what the process might be to appeal results.

One thing is for sure: the goal of right-wing figures like Trump is not, and has never been, to protect women in sports. It is particularly frustrating to see the weaponization of women’s livelihoods to marginalize other women, especially as the same decision-makers have shown zero interest in addressing real issues plaguing women in sports. For example, just a few years ago, more than 200 female gymnasts came forward about years of sexual abuse by USA Gymnastics sports physician Larry Nassar. The gymnasts claimed that the Olympic Committee and government failed to protect them for years despite reports of Nassar’s activities. And it doesn’t stop there: female athletes face more harassment on social media, are still consistently paid less than their male counterparts, and have fewer opportunities overall to play at a high level. Even their uniforms are a testament to their marginalization; overly revealing clothing mal-adapted to the biological needs of many women (such as kits featuring white shorts) highlight the lack of thought given to the dignity of these athletes–something that is finally being addressed, albeit slowly. There are so many deeply rooted threats to women’s sports that continue to be ignored simply because addressing them serves no political purpose for those whose platforms rely on fostering bigotry and division. And while appreciation of women’s sports has been growing exponentially, scenes like the one in the USA men’s hockey locker room shine a light on the persisting misogyny tainting this progress. Despite this being the 6th Olympics in a row in which women on Team USA outmedaled their male counterparts, female athletes still have to fight for the basic respect and recognition that male athletes get automatically.

These continuous attacks highlight a key reality: the system maintaining male domination relies on our continued acceptance of the narrative that women are weaker and less capable. These dynamics extend far beyond sports, reflecting society’s tendency to police and subjugate women’s bodies while systematically undercutting their achievements. And yet, faced with all these obstacles, female athletes continue to persevere and thrive. If the crowd at Madison Square Garden is any indication, everyone watches women’s sports. Women simply need to be given the chance to play, and not simply out of “political necessity” or as the offset for the “real,” better-funded men’s sports. From junior leagues to the Olympic Games, sports should be a source of joy and empowerment for all, not a site for bigotry and marginalization. For too long, (cisgender, heterosexual, white) male figures have been the default in virtually every field, from sports to politics to science. Everyone deserves to turn on the TV and see themselves represented in celebrated spaces. But even for those who do not dream of pursuing sports at the highest level, they are an invaluable source of community, a venue for cultural exchange, and a significant aspect of both mental and physical health. The importance of access to sports is even designated by the UN as a human right.

We stand at a crucial moment in the history of sports, where the massive growth of women’s sports coexists with persisting misogynistic attitudes. This tension has unveiled the degree to which our society has internalized patriarchal domination. The internalization of this marginalization is what allows people to continue writing off women in sports. These same forces permitted the Hughes brothers to partake in degrading women’s hockey despite being raised by a female hockey player. And this marginalization fuels the ignorance of the true issues facing female athletes that empowers misogynistic and trans-exclusionary discourse. As consumers of and participants in sports, we have a unique role in combating the marginalization of non-male athletes. Doing so entails addressing both blatant and subtle manifestations of patriarchal domination: whether by fighting the macro-level issues facing women’s sports, or refusing to stand by when people degrade them, or working to deconstruct our own biases. There are so many forces that continually seek to subordinate female sports, but women refuse to be pushed to the sidelines. Whether it’s Madison Square Garden, the Milano-Cortina Olympics, or the local junior league, women are breaking through every obstacle that attempts to keep them out of high-achieving spaces–and they certainly don’t need an invitation from President Trump to do so. However, female athletes should not have to fight so hard for basic respect and recognition. It is far past time that we upend the culture that makes the sports pitch a battlefield reproducing patriarchal domination, and instead recognize sports for what they truly are: a joyous celebration of global togetherness and human excellence, which should be open to all.