Editorial: Inclusion of women in sports benefits community
People in 2015 were seen as “pushy” or “overly-sensitive” for openly defending equality. What should be seen as progress and a push toward inclusiveness of all peoples was mocked.
With equality comes inclusiveness, and that goes for every group of people, regardless of any demographic.
Universities can sometimes threaten inclusiveness, especially when it comes to gender.
Many different university groups aren’t as open to change, even in a supposed progressive era where people are more vocal about lack of equality. One common extracurricular in particular has upheld sexism and misogyny.
Athletics are, some may argue, the pinnacle of colleges because they bring people together for entertainment and provide profit to schools.
Women’s athletics are often belittled or ignored completely. Rarely is there much media coverage for women’s athletics, even if certain teams do better than men’s. Women athletes also don’t get paid nearly as much as their male counterparts.
Statistics show that even 40 years after the passing of Title IX, a law stating that schools receiving federal funds can’t discriminate based on sex, male college athletes still earn $190 million more in scholarships annually.
USD is a good example of a school that showcases athletics on both spectrums. And with the women’s basketball team accumulating more wins than losses this season, it allows them to earn more respect as not only athletes, but people, because sex doesn’t determine work ethic.
Women are also gaining more notoriety in sports that have traditionally been male-heavy. One example of this is mixed martial arts (MMA), which has seen an increase in women participants over the years, most notably in boxing.
Though it’s becoming more popular, women’s boxing also is controversial. A stereotype of women being “submissive” or “weaker” than men is sometimes perpetrated in the media and in society as a whole — usually by those people who don’t like feeling threatened by a woman’s strength.
USD’s Tau Kappa Epsilon is including six women in this year’s TKE Fight Night, a slight increase from 2014, when only two women participated. This increase demonstrates that the fraternity stands for diversity and inclusiveness and reflects positively on USD.
Something as simple as recruiting more women into participating in TKE Fight Night helps to open more doors for women on campus. USD does a good job of practicing diversity on campus and with the participation of women contenders in its annual fundraising event, the men of TKE have also shown that they are open to inclusiveness.
Universities shouldn’t allow sexist discrimination, because it belittles women and purposefully excludes them. Groups on campuses need to change for the better, and be inclusive for all genders to enjoy their experiences, because diversity can only work when inclusiveness is apparent. In the case of USD and its student organizations, students and administration officials have shown through their actions that the university and other organizations are on the right track.
