Why Do We Ignore Women's Sports?

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Picking from the pool of olympic sports, the only sports I would prefer watching womens as opposed to the mens counterpart would be volleyball, gymnastics, and diving.

I've actually attended quite a few collegiate womens college volleyball games and those girls are damn athletic, and the sport is very engaging.

Gymnastics and diving I relatively enjoy, but will only watch those two sports once a year ( at the olympics )
 
I don't think we do at all. Handball is pretty popular here which is mostly a girl sport and then we got Tennis which, without me knowing shit about tennis, always seems to have just as big a focus on the women side. However with something like football the level of play is just so bad, even the best just seem bad. But hey, it can be entertaining sometimes.

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WoodenLung said:
I don't think we do at all. Handball is pretty popular here which is mostly a girl sport and then we got Tennis which, without me knowing shit about tennis, always seems to have just as big a focus on the women side. However with something like football the level of play is just so bad, even the best just seem bad. But hey, it can be entertaining sometimes.

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Ouch, ruthless.
 
I only watch sports when the home team is winning the games and everybody wants to go out and get drunk over it. That's when I watch sports and unfortunately it doesn't happen with women's sports because I could always use more things to go out and get drunk over in a positive context.
 
Honestly, a top international team in Women's Soccer would get absolutely destroyed by a 4th league team in Belgium...Like others said in this thread, people want to watch the best of the best.
 
This is as simple as "people want to see the top athletes perform at the highest levels of the sport", right?

Like if the men's team or men in general would wipe the floor with women in the sport, than it's like watching the minor leagues or some college team play. It's cool that they are good amongst their own group...but you know they wouldn't stack up at all to the best in the sport in general. It's not as impressive because you know what you're watching isn't as good.

In sports where women can equal or best the men, they get the attention over the men, easily.
 
Any sport where the women leagues are without a doubt much worse in quality than the mens leagues are just too boring. Hockey, basketball, soccer, etc. all show that.

Any sport where the quality is more comparable or better, such as with tennis, diving, figure skating, gymnastic, skiing, volleyball, etc. is much, much more interesting and compelling to watch female athletes
 
Perhaps its because every popular sport today was created by a man for men? Baseball and basketball are two examples with different regulations on ball size and weight and rules. I don't even need to mention football.

Just an observation, leave your pitchforks in the shed.
 
In most sports I think, you can just find a higher quality of play in the men's version. That's certainly true for the sports with the highest interest, like football, American football, tennis, golf, basketball, cycling, ice hockey, cricket and athletics
 
There is a higher (general) quality of play in male sports as well as established traditions and rivalries between teams. Quite a lot of it arises simply from the fact that male sport has been around for so much longer in an organised fashion. I think for individual sports - tennis or golf, particularly - this is less of an issue.

There are also some issues with physicality - just look at many female goalkeepers, for example, but I would not consider this an important reason.
 
Cause it's (mostly) bad.

Any sport where the quality is more comparable or better, such as with tennis, diving, figure skating, gymnastic, skiing, volleyball, etc. is much, much more interesting and compelling to watch female athletes
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Tennis? It might be more entertaining (especially nowadays when the same 4 guys play for a slam) but quality wise it's not even close. I do agree on skiing, haven't seen enough of the other sports to comment on them.
 
i don't watch any women sports because it's not on a particular high level, for example top female tennis players would lose easily against a good 16 year old boy.
 
I always wondered why we don't see more female golf or snooker players. I don't think there would even be a need to split the sexes into individual leagues.

Diprosalic said:
i don't watch any women sports because it's not on a particular high level, for example top female tennis players would lose easily against a good 16 year old boy.
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That sounds incredibly exaggerated.
 
I basically only watch women's sports during the World Cup and the Olympics. Women's curling is awesome!

Then again, I rarely watch any sports at all. Though I will partake in some car racing from time to time.
 
Kinyou said:
I always wondered why we don't see more female golf or snooker players. I don't think there would even be a need to split the sexes into individual leagues.


That sounds incredibly exaggerated.
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Well of course not against any 16 year old boy..but someone like Nadal at that age.

Generally speaking he's right though, I remember a coworker telling me that their Sub-16 football team beat our womens national team handily.
 
If they ever had a football, or baseball(not softball), I would give it a shot. I dont like soccer, golf or basketball, so womens league in those sports dont appeal to me. I do watch tennis every once in awhile.
 
Sean said:
I very much enjoyed watching Gina Carano lay waste to every opponent put before her in women's MMA. That was exciting imo and she could've popularized the sport. But then after her first loss she retired to do movies / photoshoots and crap.
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Ronda Rousey has the looks and the talent to be the next mega star to potentially popularize women's MMA. She is also expected to be winning the Gold in Judo at this year's Olympics so I'm near positive she'll at least make it onto some talk shows after the games
 
If this comes off as sexist I apologize because it's not intended to be, but does anyone actually think making all sports 100% co-ed is a good idea?

I mean just thinking about the physical aspects here, but how many women out there could take a hit from a 350lb line backer in football, or go rounds with someone like Dos Santos in MMA?

I'm not saying that some sports could not make it work, but the difference in size, raw power, and physical ability makes it seem like women entering some sports in a co-ed fashion is a problem waiting to happen.
 
Jay Sosa said:
Well of course not against any 16 year old boy..but someone like Nadal at that age.
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you can go waaaaaaaaaaaay lower than nadal. nadal beat prime federer at 17, he would wipe the floor on the womens tour at that age winning the Grand Slam without dropping more than 1 game a set.
 
They're not as skilled. That's pretty much it. And in things that they ARE as skilled or more-so, then they get the attention...like gymnastics or diving or dance. It's just the flexibility/fluidity sports get no attention but the physical sports do. We like our violence, speed and agility not so much the arts, flexibility or dance. Marketing has a lot to do with it. Men love their sports more than women, so they tailor sports coverage to them.
 
Perspicacity said:
Ronda Rousey has the looks and the talent to be the next mega star to potentially popularize women's MMA. She is also expected to be winning the Gold in Judo at this year's Olympics so I'm near positive she'll at least make it onto some talk shows after the games
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I love Honda but she's only shown one aspect of her game so far. She'll have a lot to prove against Cyborg. That's kinda the state of women's mma--the best are good at some aspects or in one case is so roided out that she literally is as muscular as male mma fighters.

But mma is a young sport and the men weren't much different a few years ago.
 
Jackson said:
Because women's sports are only considered entertaining (to the masses) when grace and finesse are more important than physicality and endurance. Such as Ice Skating, Tennis, Gymnastics, Golf, etc.
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This is some bullshit. Watch women's weightlifting. Every bit as exciting as men's, but for different reasons. Sure, they don't get into the "I lifted an Isuzu" weights, but the technique is outstanding. Same with the lighter men.

Men's gymastics also doesn't get enough appreciation. Those guys are some tough little bastards.

Sean said:
I very much enjoyed watching Gina Carano lay waste to every opponent put before her in women's MMA. That was exciting imo and she could've popularized the sport. But then after her first loss she retired to do movies / photoshoots and crap.
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Gina got out at the right time. She didn't really have the full skillset to stay with the sport as it grew. Cyborg decimating her was the best way for her to go out. More recent women competitors like Ronda "Diaz Sister" Rousey wouldn't be better matches for her, as she'd try to break off arms rather than just punch and kick.

shanshan310 said:
I imagine having better women's role models would help a lot, especially since a lot of girls think 'MA is for guys'. Back in the Sydney 2000 Olympics I went to see Lauren Burns compete for Australia in the Tae Kwon Do (She was the first person to win a TKD Olympic Gold), and I still have the reply for the letter I sent her. I know that sure helped encourage me. Martial Arts is a great example of a sport that is just as great to watch with women. But girls are still being streamlined into dancing instead of competitive sports. I was one of three girls in my MMA class of 30 kids. As a consequence you don't end up with 'the best of the best' because most people never even try.
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Women's Olympic Taekwondo is no joke. Those girls go to war. I will be cheering for Yang Shu-Chun. I think what they did to her at the Asian games was a fucking travesty.

Women's Olympic Judo is also pretty exciting. You can't fake that technique.

legend166 said:
If that was the only reason, why do people watch college sports?
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I can't link to Youtube, but if I could, I'd be linking you to a Toys 'R' Us ad.
 
Because women's sports is a subcategory.

There shouldn't be anything called "men's" 100m, any human is technically allowed in that race, it is just that the males of the species are stronger and more athletic that no female can compete.
 
Mr. B Natural said:
They're not as skilled. That's pretty much it. And in things that they ARE as skilled or more-so, then they get the attention...like gymnastics or diving or dance. It's just the flexibility/fluidity sports get no attention but the physical sports do. We like our violence, speed and agility not so much the arts, flexibility or dance. Marketing has a lot to do with it. Men love their sports more than women, so they tailor sports coverage to them.
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Not even slightly true. Skill level has nothing to do with it.
 
An Education on the WNBA

For anyone who cares, this article makes a few great points about how even though the quality of players in the WNBA is top notch, the quality of play is most often lacking. And it offers some thoughtful suggestions as to how that could be remedied.

If all you want to do is think that women aren't interesting to watch, then this won't change anything for you. But I learned from it.
 
Wafflecakes said:
Not even slightly true. Skill level has nothing to do with it.
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It has everything to do with it. There are some activities/sports that women excel at more than men, but most of the more popular sports favor men because of the physicality required.

On average men are stronger and thus are more physically capable when it comes to sports.

People enjoy watching peak performances and womens athletics are most often not the top of their craft.

If women were equally capable we would not need separate leagues. If you really want to assert that women are just as skilled then lets combine all of the sports leagues and see how everything plays out.

I don't see how this is even an argument as it is natural and dictated by genetics. There are things that women do better than men and there are things that men do better than women. We were built differently get over it.
 
Juice said:
This, shamefully. I don't watch much in the way of sports, but when I do I want to see the best of the best compete. I'd rather not have gender-exclusive leagues at all and have all major sports just be co-ed. As long as women are relegated to a second-rate league, they'll be competing for attention with minor-league equivalents for male leagues.

Is this obvious? Am I nuts?

Seems like the truly feminist position is to make all the pro sports non-gendered.
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I don't think that is possible. If you were to merge the NBA and WNBA, it would tragic.
 
Dunk#7 said:
It has everything to do with it. There are some activities/sports that women excel at more than men, but most of the more popular sports favor men because of the physicality required.

On average men are stronger and thus are more physically capable when it comes to sports.

People enjoy watching peak performances and womens athletics are most often not the top of their craft.

If women were equally capable we would not need separate leagues. If you really want to assert that women are just as skilled then lets combine all of the sports leagues and see how everything plays out.

I don't see how this is even an argument as it is natural and dictated by genetics. There are things that women do better than men and there are things that men do better than women. We were built differently get over it.
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That is not skill fool.

Its natural ability. Genders have different natural abilities yes. That has nothing to do with skill in any way. Skill is something acquired and trained which is NOT the reason why women cannot compete with men.
 
Wafflecakes said:
That is not skill fool.

Its natural ability. Genders have different natural abilities yes. That has nothing to do with skill in any way. Skill is something acquired and trained which is NOT the reason why women cannot compete with men.
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If you have less ability then you are less skilled at that task

You don't say that two people are at the same skill level just because they have both worked equally hard. You would not say that Lisa Leslie (I think that is a WNBA player) and Michael Jordan have the same skill level.
 
Dunk#7 said:
If you have less ability then you are less skilled at that task

You don't say that two people are at the same skill level just because they have both worked equally hard. You would not say that Lisa Leslie (I think that is a WNBA player) and Michael Jordan have the same skill level.
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You are wrong and you should feel bad.

"A skill is the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both."

MJ did not learn to be more athletic than Lisa. He was born that way.
 
I've never heard of this woman but to be honest, I'd never heard of Floyd Landis until he won the tour and was later stripped of it. Some sports just get NO exposure outside of people who participate them or are paid to watch them.
 
I love watching women compete if it is a sport that Norwegians are competitive at, such as cross country skiing, biathlon, handball, etc. But other than that I could hardly care less about women's sport. The few sports where they could compete on the same level as men aren't sports that appeal to me.

shanshan310 said:
Well, tennis has been mentioned a lot. Martial Arts, swimming, surfing and other water based sports, and soccer I would say. If you count things like motorsports or equestrian as sports there's no physical advantage there.
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Bullshit. Athleticism is extremely important in soccer. To imply anything else is ignorant imo.
 
Wafflecakes said:
You are wrong and you should feel bad.

"A skill is the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both."

MJ did not learn to be more athletic than Lisa. He was born that way.
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Oooo you want to play the definition game. You should look up "skilled" instead.

The learning of one particular skill is one thing, but some people are more skilled at a task than others are.

Skill is a combination of natural ability and work over time. You are not born with any skills. You develop them over time and some are more prone to developing certain skills based on genetics.
 
Jackson said:
Because women's sports are only considered entertaining (to the masses) when grace and finesse are more important than physicality and endurance. Such as Ice Skating, Tennis, Gymnastics, Golf, etc.

Every single sport where women athletes can excel in popularity (not talking Danica Patrick outliers here) is related directly to this reason.

When physicality and endurance are more important than grace and finesse in sports like soccer, football, boxing, etc. people turn to men. (Women's professional soccer is not popular, the USA league died... twice!)

All sports actually require all 4 of these attributes but some sports put more emphasis (real or imagined) on one side or the other.
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I think this answer mirrors my opinion.

I will generally watch women's tennis over men's. I LOVE women's gymnastics. If figure skating is on, I'll usually watch it.
 
Depends why you watch the sport. If you watch to see the top athletes, that will almost always be the men. It's really as simple as that.

Of course, that doesn't in the least justify unequal funding. It just means there is no logical reason for anywhere near equal viewership when pretty much all the top athletes are on one side.

Having said that, there are many other reasons to watch a sport than that the "top athletes" are in it. How impressive it is to watch, "beauty" of the sport, storylines, rooting interest, seeing the "peak" for each gender, etc. The reason women's basketball is so unpopular is probably that the sport itself isn't beautiful (women's soccer or tennis are much better) or particularly impressive (like gymnastics).
 
Wafflecakes said:
You are wrong and you should feel bad.

"A skill is the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both."

MJ did not learn to be more athletic than Lisa. He was born that way.
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Ok... then how about men's natural advantages/abilities allow them to utilize a whole new set of skills unattainable by most female athletes... which is another way of saying "[women are] not as skilled" as B. Natural was pointing out.
 
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