Mumbai: Equal remuneration for men and women in any given field should be an ideal situation, but it’s only one in a thousand cases that actually abides by the rule of equality,which for some reason is only normal to people. Sports is no different. Apart from the remuneration gap, there comes the age old tradition of getting too personal with women athletes. Her pictures in a bikini would probably get more likes and views than her record breaking feat.
This is not something which has developed or is fading overtime. There seems to be no graph or pattern to this sexist behaviour. It happens anytime, anywhere and to anyone, even to the best of the players.
Sexism is prevalent since the time we can date back to. American star athlete Florence Griffith-joyner who broke the American record for the 200-metre race at the 1988 Olympics had to face harsh unprofessionalism from journalists who for reasons unknown could never look beyond her uniquely long, decorated nails, some who would dedicate the first two paras of their article only to explain her jogging attire and some trying to cash in on her personal life with her coach husband. That was in 1988, almost three decades ago, when there was indeed crazy male chauvinism in every field and more so in sports. But not a lot seems to have changed over a timeline of 28 long years.
A recent example can be of the now infamous interview of Television anchor Rajdeep Sardesai asking World no.1 doubles player Sania Mirza as to when does she plan to settle down. This created quite a stir in media and on various social networking platforms with Sardesai at the receiving end. After all the backlash that he received from almost everyone, one thing that went unnoticed and was perhaps needed to give us a reality check is that such bias still exists, even in the age where women have achieved nothing less than their male counterparts.
The list can go on ranging from Steffi Graf, Gabriela Sabatini to Ana Ivanovic, Maria Sharapova and so on, with even more bizzare instances like the recent one wherein an official Rio Olympics commentator said, “She swims like a man” to Katie Ledecky of USA after her record-breaking feat in women’s 400-metre freestyle event, breaking her own previous set record. Also, in the Indian context, likes of Sania Mirza, Jwala Gutta or Dipika Pallikal have been noticed more for their looks despite having enough talent to be prominent, otherwise.
These are the things which are said in the heat of the moment by the best of the anchors, presenters and journalists, and it is only after you understand the depth of the statement that you realize women are still not on the same page as the men.
No matter how good they are or have been, have always been the subject of unwanted questions by media giving more weightage to their personal lives than their professional achievements. Whereas, the same would never apply to male athletes, unless of course, you are Virat Kohli or Cristiano Ronaldo whose personal lives are as coloruful as their professional.
Something along the similar lines that has been neglected enough for a long time or perhaps was not given much importance is the treatment received by Women Sports Anchors. Right from Mandira Bedi who was as good as any of her male counterparts to Mayanti Langer, they seem to be not taken seriously by the Indian audience.
Mandira Bedi, who gained prominence as an anchor after 2003 Cricket World Cup, thinks the stream is male-dominated with emphasis given to a woman anchor only on the basis of her looks and speaking skills. “No matter how much cricket has given me, it remains a male-dominated game. This is also reflected when we talk about female anchors in sports. When I started in 2003, social media was not as prominent, but even a slight slip of tongue would make headlines in my case, while for my male counterparts, it would go unnoticed or would be treated as a mere slip of tongue. So, female anchors never have it easy, and it was much later that there was a certain amount of acceptance- after I was a part of the World Cup. My experiences as a cricket anchor helped me develop thick skin. There was a time when it was irritating because I would work hard and people would still talk about the noodle strap blouses I wore.”
It’s a pity, for women who work so hard as sports presenters not just in India but all through the world, that even the top searches on Internet would lead you to links with headings- ‘8 hottest female anchors of IPL’, ‘Sexy Indian female sports anchors’ ‘top 10 hottest female sports presenters’ et al.
Mayanti Langer, started her career with Zee Sports for Football Café before shifting to Cricket. However, since then she has often been trolled with reference to her cricketer husband Stuart Binny. Most recently, Langer had to endure crass jokes online after her husband’s poor performance against the West Indies.
Here is an example- “Keep making fun of Binny. It doesn’t matter. At the end of the day he is the guy who gets to sleep with her.” Her reply to trolls was, “I don’t really pay attention to social media.”
Having thick skin seems to be a job requirement for female athletes or sports presenters, and they say no matter how knowledgeable they are or how good they are at their job, they are just known for what they wear and how much glamour they bring to the sport.