This is not about pay, it’s about a message.
A message that was communicated loud and clear from the U.S. Soccer Federation that women are inherently inferior to men.
Since last year when the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team filed a gender-discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation, the USWNT has been fighting for equal pay while still training for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
To give you a sense of how wide the pay gap really is between men and women’s sports, here are some numbers. According to ESPN, “Making a World Cup team will net a men’s player $68,750. A women’s player will make $37,500 for making the World Cup squad.” ESPN goes on to state that if the men’s team loses a game they get $5,000 while the women would receive nothing having lost.
The battle for equal pay is not only within soccer. Similar numbers and trends are also seen in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), as well as other top-ranked women’s sports teams.
But it’s not just about pay.
Last month in a court filing the U.S. Soccer Federation stated, “The job of a [men’s national team player] carries more responsibility within U.S. Soccer than the job of a [women’s national team] player,” backing this with the “indisputable science” that men are bigger, faster, and stronger than women.
In other words, men carry more responsibility because of the biological differences that they are born with.
Male athletes are competing against other male athletes who are on the same starting point that they are. A woman’s starting point is completely different from that of a man. The starting point itself represents nothing. Where an athlete goes from their given starting point is what represents their level of responsibility.
Mia Hamm, a legend in women’s soccer said, “To read that in print was a gut punch. It was one of those feelings that I’ll never forget and I hope I never experience again. In print, you saw for the first time, our deepest and darkest fear of what they felt about us. Not only as a player, but as a human being.”
The message that the U.S. Soccer Federation is sending to young women around the country is that they are inherently less than men. As a woman, no matter how hard you work, no matter what you achieve, you will never carry as much responsibility as a man does or be equal in their eyes.
“This is what women everywhere are experiencing. The insidious, unsaid thoughts. It’s the insidious, unsaid things that turn into less than behaviors, actions, pay and jobs,” Abby Wambach, a retired USWNT player said.
According to USA Today and CBS Sports, the USWNT has brought in more ticket revenue than the U.S. men since 2015. And yet, they are still being told that they are less, and being paid accordingly.
This particular group of women have won two consecutive World Cups and are also taking a huge hit for the battle against sexism.
If the U.S. Soccer Federation wants to weigh responsibility, they should take into account that these women are putting themselves in a courtroom full of entitled, condescending men who do not recognize or respect the work and sacrifices that they have made. And these women are doing this all to fight for a step toward equality.
Hunter Casperson is a sophomore Journalism student.at Chico State University. She also plays soccer, a goalkeeper, for the Chico state women’s program.
