Women are not allowed to be casual sports fans, and when we know our sports, we are still talked to like we are children. This is not something I have decided without facts – I have lived it.
My junior year of high school was JJ Watt’s second year in the NFL, and after watching the Houston Texans’ season opener, I decided he was my favorite player and I became a Texans fan. Fast forward to the end of the season, I remember going to a sports store to find a JJ Watt jersey. On the wall, there were jerseys for virtually every player you could think of, except the one I was there for.
I asked the man at the counter if he had a JJ Watt jersey, and he scoffed and asked who that was. I rattled off stats and facts such as that Watt was just given the title of Defensive Player of the Year. He asked why I knew all of those facts, then promptly told me I should do something better with my time. Before I could do anything, my brother, red-faced and grumbling, pulled me out of the store. (I bet that man feels dumb now.)
When I go into sports stores, people always ask what size the man I am shopping for wears. When I wear sports attire, men come up to me and say things along the lines of, “You’re only wearing that because you think a player on the team is hot.”
Which one, no I am not, and two, who cares if I do? It is not like men are not heard saying they only go to sports like volleyball and softball to stare at the women who play those sports.
Women are required as sports fans to be die-hard, in it for the guys/a jersey chaser or only fans because their boyfriend coerced them into watching a game. Women are not allowed to be casual fans, and even when we can list off stats and hold legitimate conversation about the games, it is automatically dismissed.
Amber Lee with Bleacher Report notes one of the things women hate as sports fans is we are constantly having our motives questioned and being condescended to. As a female sports fan, I wholeheartedly agree. The constant motive men believe women like and watch sports is because we only like sports to look at men, and we do not care about skill or stats. Maybe women like sports because a fun, fast-paced competition is thrilling and exciting; though it does not necessarily hurt if an athlete is easy on the eyes.
Even when we know a sport or team better than the back of our hands, we still somehow manage to get the sport “mansplained” to us. It has happened to me on multiple occasions, especially when it comes to hockey, my favorite sport.
I have had a man who has admitted he knows nothing about hockey try to explain off-sides to me, though I have managed a hockey team and have avidly watched the game for a while now. I have experience and knowledge, yet a man who has neither feels the need to “educate” me on something I am very well versed in.
We are required to know the head coach’s cousin’s pet goldfish’s name, and if we do not, we are not “real fans” – whatever that concept is. However, I can see a man walk down the street with a New York Yankees cap on and see him not get questioned about it. I am going to let you in on a secret: he is only wearing it for fashion. I have asked men before about the team they are representing, and sometimes they have no clue about the team.
When you see women wearing sports merchandise (and no, not the pink stuff teams think women like, which we are really sick of because we actually want our team’s colors), chances are, she is repping her team because she is passionate and could probably tell you a lot about it.
While this is great and makes my heart grow three sizes, it should not have to be like this. Women should be allowed to be casual fans without having to name the whole roster, practice squad, equipment staff and everyone else involved. Women should be allowed to like sports because they think an athlete, or athletes, are attractive without criticism. God knows guy are allowed to.
According to Liz Hampton with Reuters, 45 percent of the NFL fan base is female. The female presence in the NFL has grown substantially in the last 10 years, and will only continue to grow more. The fact women are dismissed as sports fans and marketed to as only wanting pink, tight clothes will ultimately hurt teams and leagues who rely on female support.
Women should be able to like sports enthusiastically or casually without facing backlash, mansplainers or questions. We make up a huge part of fan bases, and it is time we get the respect we deserve as fans.