Change will never happen if the cycle continues.
This week I have one topic in mind and one topic only. Last week, through social media, fans were informed of the luxuries basketball players would experience in the March Madness Bubble: a huge weight room and food for days. Well, that’s what the men’s tournament entailed. The women ? An extremely different and disappointing story.
Oregon women’s basketball player Sedona Prince took to social media to show the benefits of being a D1 female athlete. Originally posted on TikTok and then on Twitter, is a video showing the “weight room” that the NCAA thought was sufficient for women.
Like Prince said, if you don’t have a problem with it, you are part of the problem. It’s not about a nicer weight, or a nicer bar, or even a nicer water bottle station. This question reinforces the idea that men are and should be stronger than women. The NCAA contributes to the idea that women have no place in sports, through reinforcements such as unequal facilities. This issue is about the standard quality of a weight room and what the NCAA thought women would appreciate, light dumbbells and yoga mats.
Besides the weight room fiasco, the food initially served to the women was also substandard. Prince also took to TikTok to show his fans what they were eating. As the situation came to light, the NCAA corrected its mistakes. What if we didn’t make these mistakes in the first place?
Many athletes and coaches have come to the defense of women’s basketball teams and are calling for change.
If the NCAA, which hosts this women’s tournament, reinforces the idea that the women’s team is not as tough, strong or competent to get their attention, why would the nation go against its word? The NCAA was subconsciously letting fans know that men’s basketball is more important to them, regardless of their talent.
To say that the reason for the differences in weight room, food and equipment is that women’s sports “just don’t make enough money” is to flatly tell your daughter that she won’t have never as successful as man due to his biological characteristics. Components. It’s telling your girlfriend that she will never be more important than you because she is biologically different. These women work just as hard as the men’s team, but they’re “not athletic enough” to be entertaining on screen?
It’s unhealthy to grow up in a world of inequality, but the worst part of this situation is that the disparities come from the organization itself, the one that should promote both tournaments.
