Institutional Artifact Project.
Artifact for Analysis: The sport basketball. Focusing on the WNBA, and the lack of recognition they deserve regarding salary and marketing.
The three concepts I have chosen to discuss this issue are: 1. Gender mainstreaming, 2. Gender Equality, and 3. Gender Stereotypes.
These concepts put emphasis on how the drastic the WNBA differs from the NBA. I myself am not someone who is completely into sports. However, I do believe regardless of gender, race, or sexuality people should be provided the same opportunities as everyone else.
Women in the WNBA do not make as much as the men in the NBA. For example, NBA super star Stephen Curry receives a yearly salary of 37.4 million dollars. The WNBA salary as a whole, as of last year, was $71,635. Phenoix DeWanna Bonner is the highest paid basketball player in the WBNA. She receives a yearly salary of $127,500. This relates to gender equality. It is clear that women basketball players are not getting paid the salary they deserve.
There really is not a lot of marketing for the WNBA. I believe this relates to gender stereotypes and gender mainstreaming. Basketball is mostly considered a male sport, therefore time and money is not put into growing the WBNA. An example of this is, the WNBA preseason is not broadcast, but the NBA preseason is. The WBNA has been fighting for more teams in order to “be more marketable.” They currently have 12 teams with 12 players, meanwhile the NBA has 32 teams with 15 players on each.
Something that we have learned this semester which I can apply to this draft is gender in social institutions. I believe the WNBA is also a great example to institutionalized discrimination and systemic inequalities. Gender is created, not just within families or interpersonal relationships, but also with structure of all major social institutions. These institutions shape and mold the experience of us all (DeFrancisco).
The WNBA is something that is widely known and women are still being treated unfair. Imagine the treatment of other working women/women in general. As I was doing research on this topic, I came across Quora. The answers regarding why the WNBA was struggling were disgusting. The answers, made by men, regarding this question were: “There is already a NBA,” “Players lack charisma,” and “Players are not talented.” This in itself shows how women are viewed, why things need to change, and how men feel entitled and bash women.
Hello Tiffany,
Thank you for sharing your feedback with us. I think this is an excellent topic. Do you play basketball? What made you choose this specific topic? You stated, “Women in the WNBA do not make as much as the men in the NBA”. I absolutely agree many women athletes don’t get the attention as much as men because men are much more “superior” at sports like his compared to men, some might say. I can’t wait for you to write your final draft and read what you have to say. Thank you.
Great topic and something that people have been talking about for a while so you should be able to find plenty of information. You might also look at how this has played out in soccer. The US Women’s National Team has filed a discrimination lawsuit (which a judge has denied), demanded an apology to black players for banning kneeling during the national anthem, and have won more world cups than then men’s team but still, make far less and are treated very differently. This addresses the question of men being “superior” because they quite frankly, aren’t. It could be instructive for your paper, or not.
Hello Tiffany, I am glad you mentioned that because I am big fan of sports and you can really see that there is a huge difference between the NBA and the WNBA. Men are getting much more money than women even though both genders do the same trainings and face the same risks. I will like to read your final draft and see the solutions that you propose to stop this. Thank you!