A paradigm that shouldn’t still exist

Women athletics face a number of obstacles, many more than men, and these gender differences can be seen in most ages from youth competition to professional leagues.

While women’s sports are slowly increasing in interest and are starting to receive more limelight, especially when compared to how it’s previously been, they are still far from having a sporting chance when compared to men’s sports.

With social constructs, the idea of being an athlete as a woman can be conflicting. You have a strong sense of pride because of the stuff that you’ve done like weightlifting, conditioning and sacrificing yourself for the game. At the same time, there’s a level of uneasiness because you are deemed manly but also still less than men.

But along with female’s own ideas of how they should feel about being an athlete, the world also puts them in a very small, constricting box. Like why do we place women on a different, lower platform than male athletes by adding an unnecessary word? Lady.

The use of lady when referring to mascots for women’s sports teams at many schools is quite odd in all honesty, which is almost ironic given most women who play sports are far from the common image of this term, and in the best ways.

These women are powerful, intimidating and if given the chance, could probably win a fight against anyone who attempts to insult them.

So why do we insist the use of lady when referring to female athletics?

You don’t need to differentiate the athlete when there are both genders for most mascots.

Bulldogs. Lady Bulldogs.

Eagles. Lady Eagles.

These mascots and others have both genders under the same name, so why do we insist on the use of “lady?”

I also feel like this escalated the idea of women being weaker than men in athletics, which is also not true.

Yes, I know plenty of male athletes that fight through injuries, but I know females who have done the same just so they wouldn’t be benched in nail-biting situations.

Women power through days of conditioning, weight room practices, morning practices and hot gyms.

But because they don’t have to practice in direct heat in padding for a sport they aren’t allowed to play in many locations, they don’t face as many struggles.

Volleyball players can still face heat stroke if the gym gets too warm during any summer training they may have. Basketball players receive elbows to the face and have to deal with concussions. Softball players earn massive bruises and welts if they wear a fast pitch to the side.

Despite all the things these women have gone through, they do not get the appreciation or recognition they deserve with smaller viewership and less media coverage.

It’s unfortunately noticeable at this campus when you see the size of a crowd at a home football game versus a home volleyball game.

Even basketball double headers, there are a number of people who stroll in for the men’s basketball, despite the fact that they could’ve showed up two hours earlier to watch women play the same exact game.

Or the fact that professional women leagues in the United States don’t have remotely close to the same number as male sports and things like the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) doesn’t receive nearly as much media attention as the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Just take the time to appreciate women who are in athletics and even excelling in those sports, they’ve been through so much more than you might believe.

Just remember the times women have excelled like the 2018 winter Olympics in PyeongChang, Korea, that saw excitement and pride rise for the USA women’s hockey team as they excelled to take the gold medal, facing Canada for the final match. The men’s team, on the other hand, technically finished seventh.

Even Nebraska Huskers during fall 2021 saw its volleyball team soar all the way to the championship round while the Huskers football team could barely scrape in three wins.

Why haven’t we surpassed the social construct of women being weaker than men?