Money Smart Athlete Blog

March 2019 Editorial: Women Athlete Issues

Mar 1, 2019 | Editorials

1 March, 2019

Sport is a universally shared human culture and as such it should be equally shared by men and women across the globe.  Women’s history in sport is fairly new though, it just dates back to the 19th century.  The first time that female athletes participated in the modern Olympic Games, was the second Olympic Games in 1900; just 12 female athletes out of a total of 1,066 athletes from 19 countries.  Gender inequality in sports is, unfortunately, a fact and it gives rise to a multitude of issues.

Issues faced by women athletes include the limited professional opportunities in sport, the gender pay gap in professional sports, balancing an athletic career with family life and raising children, as women are still seen as the primary caregivers, and the list goes on and on.  Even though progress has been made in promoting gender equality in sports there are still many challenges to be addressed.

This month, the Money Smart Athlete team aims to address the issues faced by women athletes and offer insight and guidance on handling them as best as possible.  We envision a sports industry where women athletes are given a fair chance and we want to empower women athletes to use their voices in the ongoing battle of the gender pay gap, their continuous objectification, and their inequitable media coverage.  Our ultimate goal is to see women athletes equipped with the tools which will eventually allow them to achieve true equality in sports!

Athena P. Constantinou

E-mail: [email protected]

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