Women vs. Men

The Detroit News had a piece last week on women making inroads to male-dominated sports like auto racing - "In male-driven sports, women forge ahead" (7/28/05). On July 20, Frank Deford of Sports Illustrated wrote that this trend is not good in "Bad mix :Women's sports takes a hit when Wie faces the men"  Deford argues that women playing in men's tournaments/matches/games takes attention away from the women's tournaments/matches/games. This is true, although I would argue it also brings attention to the women's game in a round-about way. Deford rehashes an old argument used by many sports columnists/editors for lack of women's sports coverage ...

"Women complain all the time that their sports don't get enough attention. It's true that many of those people in charge of providing attention to sports -- the editors and writers and producers -- just happen to be of the old male persuasion. But it really isn't true that they are anti-female sports. They just cover what sports people want to read about and see and hear about. Who, pray, would ever have guessed that sensible human beings in these post-millennium times would crave to watch other people playing poker? But that's what, with apologies to Mencken, the boobus televisionus Americanus wants today, and so that's what we give 'em.

Unfortunately, women don't support their sisters playing games nearly as much as men watch their brethren in athletic pursuits. Women don't boo very well at all. Understand, this is not another case of "frailty, thy name is woman." Instead, verily, it is tribute to the sensitivity of the daughters of Eve that they have their priorities so much straighter than us benighted guy sportaholics. Good grief, should we ever get women's sports radio, then it really will be time to hand this whole earthly kit and caboodle over to the Philistines." (7/20/05, Sports Illustrated.com)

I hope in my work over the next few years to find out if this is really true. Maybe it was true 20 or 30 years ago when women first starting breaking out into sports, but does this argument still hold today? When was the last time sports sections or TV sports shows polled or held focus groups with their viewers to see what they wanted? Just the recent example of letters to the Houston Chronicle and New York Times about lack of coverage of the WNBA shows that there is more interest out there than many sports editors realize. If it is true that women don't have an interest than why don't they? With so many women now growing up participating in sports, starting at a very young age, why aren't they turning into sports viewers?

P.S. In reference to the last sentence of Deford's quote - it appears he hasn't heard about the first all-women sports radio show that is now broadcasting on USA Radio Network.