Wednesday, September 25, 2019
The U.S. women’s national soccer team recently sued the U.S. Soccer Federation for gender discrimination (click here for the article). This is the first time a gender discrimination lawsuit has been filed in professional sports. However, other reports have historically been submitted. What's interesting now is the strategy and timing of the filing, as the team won their 4th World Cup earlier this year, there have been a host of other filed claims, the media is covering the issue more-so, and the following key tactics are being utilized: aligning the entire team (previously individual players have made claims, but now the entire team is coming together), using data to show the quantitative dynamics of gender discrimination, three leaders (Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd, and Alex Morgan) are unifying the movement, and partnerships are forming (even with the men's soccer team). Mirroring Elaine Weiss' comments and our class discussions regarding the political nature of social change or progress (specifically how strategic it needs to be), this example attests to the ways in which reform is driven.
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The part of this article that stood out to me was #4: Look for Allies. As the authors describe the actions of the US Mens National team in standing up and supporting the Women's team in their quest for equal pay, I am reminded by the power of men who worked as allies and advocates of the suffrage movement. Although "gendered" support should not be necessary to achieving idealogical conviction for the issue at hand, it does prevent a compelling argument that the Men's Team was willing to stand up and support the "profound impact on the American sports landscape". I can't help but wonder if this same support would be given if it meant a pay cut to members of the mens team to reallocate resources according to revenue generated, or some other metric of success.
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