I've been reading a lot of grumblings about the unequal pay for the men and women U.S. soccer teams; how the women won the World Cup but still receive just a fraction of the men. Of course when something like this happens the reasons are rarely just black and white terms. The New York Times has a great article discussing the differences in how men and women are paid and why. Most interesting is the women's team only became more profitable than the men's because they won the World Cup, yet men still receive four times the viewership at home.

It's really down to revenue. Although the women are clearly better than their male counterparts, if their attendance isn't as high and even more importantly the people aren't watching as much at home, sponsors aren't going to come in. That's where the real money is at. The counterargument would be if the U.S. soccer league just promoted the women more heavily (put their games on T.V. instead of youtube, advertise more), they would get more fans and recognition to play. But I'm not certain. Although as a society we've moved away from sports being simply a boy's activity, as a whole women just aren't as interested, nor are men as interested in watching them.

Undoubtedly sexism is involved, don't get me wrong. But there is justification in the league's decisions. I'd say raise the women's pay so they aren't forced to take a second job, but simultaneously it's understandable if the men get more, even if they are the shittier team. It's where the cashcow is, and until that changes I don't think anything'll be different. Yeah, the women made more money this year, but who's the guarantee they'll win the World Cup the next one? Or the one after that?

I've been thinking about transgender people and sports. They usually divide the sexes because men will almost always dominate women in terms of scoring. If you're a man to woman trans, you still technically have the male body even if that's not what you identify as. So would it be fair if you join a women's team? It's interesting to ponder about.