#Carly Lloyd fought for equal pay

[hardtchill]

No, they wouldn't have. I don't like them but transracial adoption is REALLY a HUGE issue. Your white, European self needs to get out of that lane.

Dude, they would have. You need to do some digging if you think Sheabutter are in it to better the world.

[profeminist]

“In a joint statement, the U.S. Women’s National Team Players Association and U.S. Soccer Federation said they have “ratified a new collective bargaining agreement which will continue to build the women’s program in the U.S., grow the game of soccer worldwide and improve the professional lives of players on and off the field. We are proud of the hard work and commitment to thoughtful dialogue reflected through this process, and look forward to strengthening our partnership moving forward.”

In recent years, the players have raised issues about compensation and working conditions compared to their male counterparts, casting a shadow over the efforts of the most successful women’s team in soccer history and pitting the federation against wildly popular athletes, such as Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan.

In March 2016, the players  filed a federal complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, charging the USSF with wage discrimination. The case remains active.

Financial specifics were not immediately available, but people with knowledge of the pact said it includes:

Increase in direct compensation

Increase in bonus compensation

Enhanced benefits related to travel and hotels

Per diem equal to the U.S. men’s team

Greater financial support for players who are pregnant

Financial support for players adopting a child

Also, in a key gain, the players’ association will now control group likeness rights for licensing and nonexclusive rights in sponsorship categories where USSF does not have an agreement.”  

Read the full piece here

GOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!

See the full gifset here

More posts on women’s soccer

Solo: A Memoir of Hope, by Hope Solo

When Nobody Was Watching: My Hard-Fought Journey to the Top of the Soccer World by Carli LLoyd

The audiobooks for Solo: A Memoir of Hope and When Nobody Was Watching: My Hard-Fought Journey to the Top of the Soccer World are both available as free downloads via an Audible.com promotion! More info on the promotion, plus a huge list of available feminist books here.

[toriend]

The Shameful “Coverage” of Women in Sports

The struggle for equality all across the board, has been present for over a century now. It’s primarily seen within race, class, and especially gender. Since the beginning of time, males have been the hierarchy and have been rooted as the dominant gender. Whether it be the Bible or the language used to describe the human race as man, and not woman. The fight for women’s rights predates back to 169 years ago in 1848 and the fight for these rights continue to goes on in present day society, specifically within the workforce. An industry that is striving for progress and continues to fight for a change, is the women within the sports industry. Whether it be a women’s sports broadcaster, analyst, or athlete the inequality is relatively present. Female athletes have been shamed and shunned since the they were allowed to compete compared to their male counterparts. Now, Title IX, which was supposed to “solve the problem,” barely made any difference for female competitors at every level, especially professional. This is progress that women should be “satisfied” with and stop being so “greedy” and wanting more when in reality, these athletes have barely scraped the surface with improvement. For years, they have fought for equality and continue to receive very little in return. Now, this fight is louder than ever before as women such as participants from the US Women’s National Team and the National Women’s Soccer Leagues are eager to make moves within their realm of sport. To understand why these women are frustrated and deserve better pay and treatment will be examined through sports televised coverage such as ESPN and how the male patriarchy is still very relevant especially within this industry. The observation of ESPN coverage of female athletes and the strides the NWSL is making with A&E Network, will be seen through the eyes of a theoretical framework that is feminism with input from Michael Messner and Bell Hooks.

ESPN’s Coverage and The Manhood Formula

ESPN is the number one 24 hour sports news station in the world, and yet they refuse to thoroughly cover women’s sports for the reason they are obliviously exploiting, marginalizing, and trivializing them through the male patriarchy. Michael Messner, states this idea called the manhood formula in chapter four of his book titled, Taking the Field and describes it as, “A real man is strong, tough, aggressive, and above all, a winner in what is still a man’s world. To be a winner he has to do what needs to be done. He must be willing to compromise his own long-term health by showing guts in the face of danger, by fighting other men when necessary, and by giving up his body for the team when he’s injured” (Messner, 2002, pg. 106). Deriving from this quote, it makes sense as to why these men choose not to air women sports; due to the fact they are not a “man” and “aren’t as entertaining to watch as men are.” However, 2015 Women’s World Cup drew quite the crowd both in stadiums and viewers at home as “six matches on Fox and Fox Sports 1 that featured the U.S. team averaged 5.3 million viewers, a rise of 121 percent over the 2011 Women’s World Cup” (ESPNW). The US WNT has been making an impact on the movement and realized that speaking up only has so much power, so they are beginning to physically prove themselves by breaking records such as their final game against Japan which “drew the highest metered market rating ever for a soccer game in the U.S. airing on a single network, with a total audience of 20.3 million viewers��� (ESPNW). Despite the massive improvement these women are making within their sport, it still, apparently, isn’t enough for the men in power.  

The study that was done as described in the ESPNW article states that, “network affiliates in Los Angeles and ESPN’s SportCenter, a mere 2-3 percent of media coverage was afforded to women’s sports in 2014” (ESPNW). Personally, the surprising part is this article was published on ESPNW’s website, which is affiliated with ESPN. It’s like the strong feminist sister who is fighting to be heard by her male patriarchal brother who refuses to listen to her. Soccer is still the main focus, but to simply give another example of a women’s sport “the women’s College World Series averaged almost 440,000 more viewers than the men’s College World Series; both events aired on ESPN on the same days of the week, three weeks apart. (ESPNW). Although the men’s World Series has been around for about 35 years longer than women’s, it still doesn’t suffice that women receive less media attention compared to men. Furthermore, “when viewers are given an opportunity to actually see women’s sports, the respond with a rather amazing – yet too often ignored – interest, which could be capitalized upon even further through sponsorships, advertising revenue and improved media coverage” (ESPNW). This is the problem; the fact that this gender gap could be narrowed down, and even closed, if women were respected for what they do both on and off the competitive playing field.

Lifetime and NWSL

Another problem that arises due to lack of women’s media coverage is the failed professional leagues here in the US, specifically the soccer leagues that consisted of WUSA and Women’s Professional Soccer, also known as WPS. The recent league that still continues to live on is the National Women’s Soccer League or the NWSL for short. Yet, this league receives “financial support from U.S. Soccer, and the Canadian and Mexican soccer federations” (ESPNW). This begs the question, as asked by Washington Post reporter Liz Clarke, “will ‘a women’s pro sports league ever stand on its own?’” (ESPNW). The men’s league, the MLS, currently has been around for 20 years and holds 20 official sponsors whereas the NWSL “has just three sponsors and no national TV contract” and in 2015 and 2016, their games were only scheduled to be broadcast on YouTube. However, that is all about to change.

On February 2, 2017, the NWSL began a historic 3 year contract with A + E Networks who “will become an official sponsor and broadcast partner of the league in a three-year deal, beginning in April” (NWSL). Lifetime is a network that is most known for its scripted series, non-fiction series and movies. Since they’ve launched their Braod Focus initative in 2015, Lifetime has become “a curator of feminist content and conversations, as well as a place where women connect, learn and are entertained” (NWSL). Lifetime has never aired sports of any kind and to cover women’s soccer, is the beginning of something incredible for both A + E Networks as well as the NWSL. This is a massive move for the league and is said to act as the “media and commercial arm of the league, overseeing global broadcast and sponsorship rights” (NWSL). Be on the lookout for the NWSL this upcoming 2017 season and be sure to tune in every Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.

Women in sports, especially women’s soccer, have been making drastic improvement, yet it still seems to not be enough for the male dominance within the sports industry. It seems as if, “for generations, definitions (and practices) of masculinity were equated with what it meant to be an athlete. And as every tomboy knows, any female who participated in sports, especially at elite levels in team sports, risked being stigmatized as not a ‘real’ female” (ESPNW). Since this idea of a female athlete has been surrounded by this masculine interpretation, the ideology of a true female in sport, has built this misconception that continues to live on among female sports today. This negative framework is one of the reasons women in sports receive little to no support from their potential media supporters such as ESPN. If these women continue to be misportrayed through media as well as the male patriarchy, then improvement will not be possible for positive change. Bell Hooks mentions in her book entitled Feminism is for Everybody, “the aspect of feminist emphasis on work which did affect all women was the demand for equal pay for equal work. Women gained more rights in relation to salaries and positions as a result of feminist protest but it has not completely eliminated gender discrimination” (Hooks, 2000, pg. 49). Female athletes such as Ali Krieger, Becky Sauerbrunn, Carli Lloyd, and Hope Solo have stood up and spoken publicly about the gender pay gap between the US Men’s National team in comparison to their WNT which is massive. Hooks states that women such as those stated above continue to make the move in the feminist movement within the sports industry yet, the discrimination between genders continues to show prevalence. Hooks takes on the approach that feminism is not just for females, but is just as important to men as it is for women. In other words, these men need to realize that they are not being targeted as the enemy, instead, they are also involved in the movement and must strive to reduce the male patriarchy in hopes that someday it will be obliterated.  

It’s clear that women in sports have been striving to make improvements within their male dominant industry through the feminist movement by speaking up about the media coverage gap as portrayed through ESPN and the historic partnership with A + E Network. Theoretical frameworks as brought on by Michael Messner, and Bell Hooks through feminism are what will make the positive impact these female soccer figures, along with other women in the sports industry, are searching for. To apply this academic language through present day media channels will place emphasis on the solution to these problems such as eliminating the male patriarchy and male dominant ideology around the sports industry. This will give more attention to the female athletic voice and place them on a higher platform to finally make the change and raise media coverage among all women in sports. In order to do so, we must be open to discussing the situations with others, although we’ve been taught to keep opinions to ourselves. Now is the time for that discussion. So let’s get started.

Reference

Hooks, Bell. (2000). Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics. Cambridge, MA: South End Press.

Messner, Michael. (2002). Taking the Field: Women, Men, and Sports Sport and Culture Series. Volume 4. Minneapolis, London: University of Minnesota Press.

NWSL. (2017 Feb. 2). NWSL and A + E Networks Announce Historic Partnership. Retrieved from nwslsoccer.com

Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport Scholars. (2015 Jul 7). Even in the wake of a record-setting women’s world cup, myths still surround women’s sports. Retrieved from ESPNW.com

[alamante]

His constituents are complaining about the state’s crumbling transit system. His own party wants to strip him of gubernatorial powers. The soccer team he owns is living in dire conditions, and one of his sons has been in trouble with the law.

What’s a newly elected governor with no experience in elected office to do? He takes a vacation far, far away.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy raised eyebrows last week as he embarked on a swanky 11-day trip to Italy, where he owns a $7 million home he bought during his 23-year stint at Goldman Sachs.

The trip comes just six months after Murphy — a Democrat and former diplomat under President Barack Obama — was elected to the top job in the state.

The governor’s office initially declined the reveal where Murphy was going for his holiday, but NJ.com solved the mystery and reported that Italy was the destination. The state’s taxpayers will pick up the tab for protecting the governor while he’s on vacation, with the tab reaching as much as $100,000.

Trouble is, when Murphy returns, New Jersey’s problems will still be there waiting for him. Here’s a look at some of them.

Broken promises

Despite the governor’s promises in February to ease overcrowding and service issues on New Jersey’s transit system by adding extra rail cars, commuters are complaining that not much progress has been made to actually alleviate the problem.

The plan to add new cars was short-lived. New Jersey leased 10 rail cars from the Maryland Transit Administration to alleviate the overcrowding, but returned them just eight weeks later when the lease ended.

“If my Uber bill this summer is any measure of success, improvement would not be the term I would use.”

– New Jersey commuter Niklaus Gunter

“What relief plans? I haven’t seen any relief,” one commuter told NJ.com.

“If my Uber bill this summer is any measure of success, improvement would not be the term I would use,” commuter Niklaus Gunter seconded. (Users of NJ Transit often wind up paying for cab or Uber/Lyft rides when their trains and buses fail to show up as scheduled.)

For what it’s worth, the NJ Tranist system appears to continue to crumble, with nearly a dozen trains getting canceled on Tuesday morning alone, infuriating commuters. NJ Transit at first offered no explanation, but later vaguely said the installation and testing of a rail safety system called Positive Train Control (PTC) and lack of staff were the reasons for cancellations.

“NJ Transit has taken steps to address these issues by recruiting and training additional locomotive engineers. We anticipate a class graduating within the next couple of weeks that will add nine engineers to the roster,” the statement from NJ Transit reads.

“In addition, we have increased the number of current classes from two to four, running concurrently with staggered graduation dates, to continue the qualification of new engineers,” it added.

Power strip?

The New Jersey governor’s struggles to solve issues may also embolden already existing calls from within his own party to strip him of powers when it comes to deciding how much money various taxes and programs should raise each year, NorthJersey.com reported.

The power to set revenue estimates is crucial as it determines how much the state will need to hike taxes to fund spending priorities. Democrats suggest the role should be shifted to a three-member panel consisting of experts, a move that they say would take politics out of budget calculations and increase transparency.

But Murphy has fought back against the proposal, saying it would upset the balance of power between him and the legislative branch of the state government.

“New Jersey’s Constitution carefully divides the authority in the budgetary process between the Legislature, who has the power to appropriate funds, and the Executive, who has the authority to certify revenues,” Murphy spokesman Dan Bryan said in a statement to the outlet.

“Unlike his predecessor, Governor Murphy is committed to certifying revenues that are realistic, responsible, and sustainable, and feels that it is unwise to disrupt the separation of powers that has existed in this area for over 70 years.”

Soccer team under scrutiny

Closer to home, Murphy is also facing questions about a professional women’s soccer team he co-owns. The club, called Sky Blue FC, faces allegations that it’s mismanaged and provides poor living conditions and subpar facilities to its players.

“Some players were forced to live with an elderly man who repeatedly made inappropriate comments to the players and made them feel uncomfortable.”

– The Equalizer report on Murphy’s soccer team.

The team’s players include U.S. women’s World Cup star Carli Lloyd.

Carli Lloyd, a star on the U.S. women’s national soccer team, is among the players on Phil Murphy’s sad-sack Sky Blue FC club.

The governor bought the team a decade ago as a way to impress his daughter. According to NJTV, he “has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in this losing proposition” just so “his daughter, who plays soccer, could see that women can play soccer at the professional level as well.”

But the club’s training facilities lacked locker rooms or even running water, the Equalizer reported. The players have had to use portable restrooms and have worn dirty gear during practices because there are barely any laundry services.

Another report, published by the soccer news site Once A Metro, detailed the mismanagement of the team and how little interest Murphy actually has taken in it, though it has cost him nearly half a million dollars in recent years.

The report alleges the club failed to provide decent housing for some players, forcing them to sleep on couches, and use sheets of cardboard to cover broken windows. The Equalizer reported as well that “some players were forced to live with an elderly man who repeatedly made inappropriate comments to the players and made them feel uncomfortable.”

Murphy admitted that the conditions weren’t acceptable and said the team deserved better treatment. “I don’t find the status quo tolerable — and these players deserve better,” he said in a statement, according to NorthJersey.com. “They deserve to operate in a professional and supportive environment so they can do what they do best — play the game, inspire fans, and build community through the power of the world’s most popular sport.”

Troublemaker son

But Murphy’s rough six-month reign as governor isn’t his only headache. His 20-year-old son, Joshua Murphy, who relentlessly campaigned for him during the 2017 election, had multiple run-ins with the law since Murphy’s rise to prominence.

In June, prosecutors dismissed a complaint concerning the governor’s son, NJ.com reported. He faced charges of underage drinking and disorderly conduct as he allegedly shouted obscenities at a campus police officer on Halloween as he was partying with two young women. According to police, Joshua Murphy ended the night on the ground in handcuffs.

In February, the son drove off a steep slope in Connecticut, the outlet reported, citing police records. His SUV was found by a motorist. According to police reports, Murphy said he crashed the car at early morning and he was unable to contact anyone for help because his phone didn’t work after the crash.

The governor and his wife lashed out against the media for reporting about his son’s endeavors, saying Joshua “has been living a nightmare” thanks to media inquiries.

Lukas Mikelionis is a reporter for FoxNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @LukasMikelionis.

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