Although the Indian constitution guarantees every woman will be provided with equal rights and without any discrimination, that is not how the real scenario is. The government of India has secured multiple laws for women’s rights but, even today, women in many parts of our country face biases, discrimination and are deprived of their rights. The sports sector is no exception to this, as India is one such country where sportswomen are still not given the same rights or pay as their male counterparts. To address this problem, we have to first understand the root of this issue. Gender discrimination is something that starts from our home itself, a girl child is always taught differently from a boy. There are very few households in India where their daughters are encouraged to play sports from childhood.
A girl child is always taught that they are delicate and not strong enough for sports and their ability has to be shown in the report card. Sports is never a part of their lives and as many of you will relate, the men are always watching the sports channel in an Indian house. Sports is generally thought to be a subject that a girl will never understand. Hence, most girls grow up believing they’re not cut out for the field and often become reluctant to play any sports over time.
While there is great love for sports in India, the sad part is that there are very few dedicated viewers for women’s sports. Other than the discrimination that leads to this gender bias, the media is also responsible for such little exposure when it comes to women’s sports. Even when we turn the newspaper in the morning to check out the sports page, it is only on rare occasions that we find any news regarding a women sportsperson.
The most difficult part is the unequal pay-cheque that a female sportsperson receives. Also, the lack of sponsors not only makes it difficult for women in the field to earn a living but is also very demoralizing for them. A female sportsman gives the same amount of hard work and dedication to their sports as a male but still, they are not appreciated for that due to these strict social stereotypes.
Even if you ask any sports enthusiast to name their favourite sportsmen it is always the name of a bunch of male sportsmen like Sachin Tendulkar or Cristiano Ronaldo but hardly anyone takes the name of a female player. The current captain of the Indian male cricket team is Virat Kohli and the retired captains such as MS Dhoni or Saurav Ganguli are brand ambassadors to many renowned brands and we often see them promoting their product on TV or online. But the female captains of the Indian cricket team like Mithali Raj or any other retired female captain never receive the same opportunity or recognition.
Now, women are breaking boundaries and flourishing in various filed of work. They are trying to voice their opinion about varied matters but still, this issue of gender discrimination in sports is never raised or discussed by many people. The belief that sports is a masculine domain is so deeply rooted in our minds that we often overlook this problem.
Yet, there is hope for Indian women regarding sports as the likes of Mary Kom or Mirabai Chanu continue to bring glory to the country in the ultimate milestones like the Olympics. It is ironic that in a country where women battle against gender discrimination every day, even in sports, the only medal so far has been brought home by a woman in Tokyo Olympics 2020. Times are changing for women sport’s identities as slowly but steadily they are making their place in the minds and hearts of the sports’ enthusiastic community. But we still have a long way to go till we can proudly say, sports in India is not contaminated by gender discrimination.
