{"id":3086,"date":"2012-04-29T07:18:07","date_gmt":"2012-04-29T12:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/?p=3086"},"modified":"2012-04-30T14:00:54","modified_gmt":"2012-04-30T19:00:54","slug":"inequality-in-the-stands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2012\/04\/inequality-in-the-stands\/","title":{"rendered":"Inequality in the stands"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Tom Wheadon
\n<\/strong>managing feature<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Historically men have been perceived as more athletically inclined than their female counterparts. Since the 1970s this perception has been gradually shed as women sports have gained in popularity, though some do believe that there is still unfounded negativity towards female athletes and teams. At DHS there is a host of both girl and boy teams, and while they all have varying degrees of success, there are some who do not believe they are treated and viewed correspondingly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can almost guarantee you that not all teams are treated equally by fans based on gender,\u201d senior, soccer player and swimmer Joey Knoff said. \u201cIf you look at the attendance levels of sports like basketball, swimming, and soccer, you will notice that the male teams have dramatically higher attendance levels than the female sports.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior Kelly Wilson has been playing for DHS\u2019s SVL winning varsity soccer team since her freshman year, as well basketball. She has also noticed a significant difference in fan turnout for boys and girls teams. <\/p>\n

\u201cGirls teams are looked over completely; I wish people would attend our games,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cFor basketball we rarely had any fans besides parents and a couple students. For soccer we get more fans, but not nearly to the extent of the boys\u2019 sports.\u201d<\/p>\n

Athletic Director Bob Wellman, who used to coach JV boys basketball and currently coaches girls varsity basketball, contributes this disparity in audiences to fallacies and the differing styles of girls and boys sports.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoys basketball has received a larger fan base than girls even when the girls had a more successful season, the reasoning there may be because the boy\u2019s game is a faster game,\u201d Wellman said. \u201cYou get an overall larger fan base at boys\u2019 events and I believe that is primarily because most fans don\u2019t feel the girls\u2019 game can be as exciting, in which I think they are wrong. Both boys are girls athletics are a lot of fun to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior and tennis player Kelli Close has made similar observations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that females are just thought of as being less athletic which I definitely think is a misconception,\u201d Close said. \u201cThere are so many great female athletes at DHS who are continuing on to play in college but for some reason it just is never as big of a deal as a male who goes on to be a collegiate athlete.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior Sean Cushman, who plays both varsity basketball and baseball, is another who shares this mentality. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people watch female sports they tend to make fun of the people playing more because they expect that girls aren\u2019t as good as the guys,\u201d Cushman said.<\/p>\n

Senior and varsity tennis player Patricia Bartlett believes this stems from the past perception of female sports.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that the boys sport teams receive more support from fans and the Charger family than girls\u2019 sports,\u201d Bartlett said. \u201cTraditionally there were only boys sports, therefore more publicity and support have been given to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Junior Rachel Arthur, who\u2019s a member of DHS undefeated girl swim team, also cited publicity as a potential reason for this.<\/p>\n

\u201cGuys sports get a lot more hype than the girls do even though, for [swim] at least, the girls are more consistent with victory,\u201d Arthur said. \u201cI think maybe because it is advertised more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others, such as senior Marcus Hjalber who has been on soccer and tennis teams, thinks that the difference in fan bases result from the more physical nature of male supports. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think most fans watch more male sports as opposed to female sports because they are more intense if it\u2019s a contact sport,\u201d Hjalber said.<\/p>\n

This is a statement echoed by sophomore Christina Auyeung, a former DHS tennis player who now competes in tournaments outside of school. <\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that male sports have a higher reputation mostly because they play more sports, like for example girls don\u2019t play football or wrestle usually,\u201d Auyeung said. \u201cAnd also because some people don\u2019t believe that pom or cheer is a sport, so that also takes away some of the reputations for female sports.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior Susan Fennell, who earned MVP last year for varsity softball and is also a player for the varsity basketball team, has a similar mind set.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe difference between playing basketball and playing softball alone is huge,\u201d Fennell said. \u201cYou can\u2019t even compare it. It\u2019s not necessarily a bad thing, but obviously some sports will get more attention than others and some sports are more intense than others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knoff is under the impression that it\u2019s not necessarily purely girls teams that get poor attendance, but rather a number of girls and boy sports.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe one thing that frustrates me with sports at DHS is that the teams continuously perform at the top level in the state, like our swim teams and tennis teams, hardly have any support at their matches,\u201d Knoff said. \u201cI\u2019ll be honest, I\u2019m a culprit as well, seeing as I\u2019ve never watched a tennis match, but it is sad that the teams are under appreciated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knoff attributes this to the lack of popularity or hype surrounding these sports in comparison to others.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are teams at Dow that get the attendance just because they are the stereotypical \u2018Jock\u2019 sports, and that to me is disappointing,\u201d Knoff said.<\/p>\n

Fennell agrees with this.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, I think the fan base for both guys and girls sports is spectacularly poor,\u201d Fennell said. \u201cWhy does this occur? One, we don\u2019t have time; and two, we don\u2019t really care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hand in hand with attendance comes treatment and respect. four year varsity swimmer JT Ludington believes all DHS students generally act positive in regards to teams and athletes regardless of gender.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I believe the teams are treated equally,\u201d Ludington said. \u201cI\u2019ve found that generally, the Dow High student body has high regard for their student athletes. This comes in part because so many participate in sports, and respect the other athletes, and want to continue the support given to them. This does not necessarily mean that the team gets large numbers of spectators at an event, but it does mean the student body supports and respects the team, and its accomplishments.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Athletes open up about gender inequality and fan base in sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[45],"class_list":["post-3086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-3-sports","tag-dow-high-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nInequality in the stands - UPDATE ONLINE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2012\/04\/inequality-in-the-stands\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Inequality in the stands - UPDATE ONLINE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Athletes open up about gender inequality and fan base in sports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2012\/04\/inequality-in-the-stands\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UPDATE ONLINE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DHSUpdate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-04-29T12:18:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-04-30T19:00:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Update\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@DowHighUpdate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@DowHighUpdate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Update\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/inequality-in-the-stands\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/inequality-in-the-stands\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Update\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/be39f258dafaaac3e98f5951fe5e9198\"},\"headline\":\"Inequality in the stands\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-04-29T12:18:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-04-30T19:00:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/inequality-in-the-stands\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1055,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Dow High Sports\"],\"articleSection\":[\"SPORTS\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/inequality-in-the-stands\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/inequality-in-the-stands\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/inequality-in-the-stands\\\/\",\"name\":\"Inequality in the stands - UPDATE ONLINE\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-04-29T12:18:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-04-30T19:00:54+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/inequality-in-the-stands\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"UPDATE ONLINE\",\"description\":\"H.H. Dow High School's award winning news source\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Update Online\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/Wordpress-icon.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/Wordpress-icon.png\",\"width\":256,\"height\":256,\"caption\":\"Update Online\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/DHSUpdate\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/DowHighUpdate\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/dowhighupdate\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/be39f258dafaaac3e98f5951fe5e9198\",\"name\":\"Update\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/bickmorebd\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Inequality in the stands - UPDATE ONLINE","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2012\/04\/inequality-in-the-stands\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Inequality in the stands - UPDATE ONLINE","og_description":"Athletes open up about gender inequality and fan base in sports","og_url":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2012\/04\/inequality-in-the-stands\/","og_site_name":"UPDATE ONLINE","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DHSUpdate\/","article_published_time":"2012-04-29T12:18:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-04-30T19:00:54+00:00","author":"Update","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@DowHighUpdate","twitter_site":"@DowHighUpdate","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Update","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2012\/04\/inequality-in-the-stands\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2012\/04\/inequality-in-the-stands\/"},"author":{"name":"Update","@id":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/#\/schema\/person\/be39f258dafaaac3e98f5951fe5e9198"},"headline":"Inequality in the stands","datePublished":"2012-04-29T12:18:07+00:00","dateModified":"2012-04-30T19:00:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2012\/04\/inequality-in-the-stands\/"},"wordCount":1055,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/#organization"},"keywords":["Dow High Sports"],"articleSection":["SPORTS"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2012\/04\/inequality-in-the-stands\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2012\/04\/inequality-in-the-stands\/","url":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2012\/04\/inequality-in-the-stands\/","name":"Inequality in the stands - UPDATE ONLINE","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-04-29T12:18:07+00:00","dateModified":"2012-04-30T19:00:54+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2012\/04\/inequality-in-the-stands\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/","name":"UPDATE ONLINE","description":"H.H. Dow High School's award winning news source","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/#organization","name":"Update Online","url":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Wordpress-icon.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Wordpress-icon.png","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"Update Online"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DHSUpdate\/","https:\/\/x.com\/DowHighUpdate","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dowhighupdate\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/#\/schema\/person\/be39f258dafaaac3e98f5951fe5e9198","name":"Update","url":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/author\/bickmorebd\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3086"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3099,"href":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3086\/revisions\/3099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}