Women’s sport is finally becoming more visible. Next month will see the start of the NRLW, Pacific Four Series, Tauihi Basketball League and Fifa World Cup. Each of these sports will offer entertainment, community and inspirational athletes. However, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, andthis is never more plain than in the comment section.
The detractors are hardly creative. Any time there is a post online about women’s sports or a wahine athlete, it is always some version of the same. They will tell us no one cares, that it’s just not as good as the men’s version, that we should be grateful, we should make them a sandwich. They will comment on a player’s appearance before they mention her performance. At best, this vitriol is terribly boring, and at worst, it will chase talent out of our sport.
Negative commentary isn’t unique to women in sport but studies have shown the volume is. Areto Labs ran an analysis on online abuse during last year’s Wimbledon and found women received 2.6 times more attacks on their identity than their male counterparts. In New Zealand, research conducted by Whispa in 2021 reported 80 per cent of elite female athletes believed social media was the main source of pressure on their body image.
An international rugby player, who participated in last year’s World Cup, echoed that sentiment. She lamented to me that the engagement on her posts where she wore fewer clothes always outperformed those where she chose to show more personality. A senior player, she worried about the message that could send her younger teammates. Particularly when income, in the form of sponsorship, relies on such metrics.
This has led to some opting to simply log off. The AFLW’s Steph Chiocci spoke out on her decision to remove herself from social media after being the target of abuse.
What would it take for sports to adopt the same zero tolerance towards misogyny as we’ve seen introduced to tackle racism? Is it enough to share posts and let the comment sections rage on?
Our best moments in sports and life are when we are seen as the best versions of ourselves. More often now, we are seeing a wider range of people get that moment in the spotlight.
Social media has given us the opportunity to capture, replay and share some of these feelings. It has also opened the door to a raft of uninformed and tedious commentators.
We need to help our wahine athletes find a more even path to walk through this online space. We need to moderate, not tolerate, any more online hate.
