CSU Women’s Basketball Player Reacts to March Madness Gender Inequalities

While CSU’s Women’s Basketball team didn’t make March Madness last year, Colorado State’s senior forward, Karly Murphy still had a lot of emotions when it came to the extreme disparities the women experienced while at the tournament. With the Mountain West Conference Championship Tournament quickly approaching, she hopes that female athletes are treated with the same respect as the men. Last year at March Madness the NCAA was exposed for obviously prioritizing the men’s basketball side of the tournament. As if having less fans and less media attention wasn’t enough, the girls also experienced worse food, a pathetic weight room (if you can even call it that), and less gear compared to the men participating in the exact same tournament. This all blew up after several social media posts from players and coaches pointed out the extreme differences between the male and female amenities at March Madness.

Men’s weight room (left) Women’s workout gear (right)

Women’s meal (left) Men’s meal (right)

Women’s swag bag vs Men’s swag bag

The media uproar forced action to take place. The New York Times goes into detail about the investigation that the governing body of college sports ordered after the tournament last year. in “Report: N.C.A.A. Prioritized Men’s Basketball ‘Over Everything Else.’” Karly Murphy, a sixth year senior for the Colorado State Women’s Basketball team expressed her emotions when she saw the distinct differences for women at March Madness. “We work just as hard as the men to make it to the tournament, we deserve the same respect that they get,” Murphy said. “It’s unfair and discredits us as athletes.” She described her emotions as “discouraged, angry, but not surprised.” These kind of inequalities weren’t new to March Madness, this is a reality that female athletes face everyday. “I’m excited for our conference tournament,” she said. “I hope that after last year, all organizations take us as seriously as the men.”

Many other athletes felt the same as Murphy. USA Today released an article that highlighted the reaction of some of the teams in the tournament. The message most players had to share was simply that women’s sports still has a long way to go when it comes to sports equality. Sadly, most players expressed that they weren’t surprised the men’s side has better items than them, but they were surprised that people actually spoke up about the differences.

“It’s been like that for years. It’s not something new. I think it’s worse now because we are in a bubble, and we can’t control a lot of the things that we normally would be able to control. We can’t leave. We have to use the amenities that they give us,” Texas A&M senior forward N’dea Jones said. Steph Curry even expressed his disappointment to the NCAA on Twitter saying, “wow-come on now! @marchmadness @NCAA yall trippin.”

Even with this huge media uproar, some people still didn’t see the problem with these disparities. Hate comments, discrediting the female athletes abilities and achievements filled social media posts. Some people even argued that since women don’t receive the same viewership means that they don’t deserve the same amenities that the men get. If you look through the troll comments you’ll see the argument that the women’s game isn’t as physical so they don’t need the weights or food that the men do. One of the top replies on Oregon Women’s Basketball players, Sedona Prince’s viral tweet highlighting the March Madness disparities said, “Well I guess it’s because the WNBA doesn’t even make a quarter of what the NBA does. Their biggest revenue stream is gonna get the better stuff. Not saying it’s right by any stretch of the imagination.”

When the Title IX law was passed, it stated that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation, in be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” This law was a huge step for women’s equality, and gave women the opportunity to participate in sports. Sadly, there are still countless inequalities that women face in sports. This year we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Title IX, but clearly equality in women’s sports still has a lot of room to grow. After last years events, the NCAA should be making some major changes to at least give the women equal opportunities at this years tournament. Only time will tell.

Karly Murphy shooting a basket, photo from csurams.com