On 20 July 2023, Australia’s national football team, the Matildas kicked off the Women’s

World Cup in front of a record crowd. Months later, Mattel named ‘women in sports’ Barbie’s

Career of the Year. It seemed like a triumph for feminism — female athletes have been fighting an uphill battle in the world of sports for decades, and conversations on inequality

were finally turning into tangible change in 2023.

Nonetheless, Mattel themselves said women were still “severely underrepresented” in the industry, and representation is one in the long list of factors underscoring how the women’s game lags behind the men’s. Has 2023 brought us closer to gender equality in sports or has it been just another perfunctory attempt to close an impossible gulf?

While gender equality remains a monumental challenge, it is undeniable that women’s sports has made huge strides forward in 2023. This was the year women smashed viewership records — attendance at the Women’s World Cup reached 1.98 million, the Women National Basketball Association (WNBA) had the most watched regular season in 21 years, and tennis player Coco Gauff’s US Open tennis final recorded almost 50 per cent more viewership than the men’s.

The growing recognition of the value of women’s sports has translated into increased revenue and investments as well. The Women’s World Cup generated an unprecedented US$570 million, breaking even for the first time. Similarly, after the Matildas became the first Australian team, men’s or women’s, to reach the World Cup semi-finals, the government unveiled a US$128 million fund to create safer environments for women and girls to play sports. While these improvements have propelled women athletes into the spotlight, real equality with men still remains elusive.

Despite breaking records, women’s sports continue to lag behind men’s in wages, resources, and more. For one, the gender pay gap is still alive and kicking. The prize pool for the US Women’s Open National Golf Championship was half of the men’s despite rising to US$11 million, and the average WNBA player’s salary was 110 times less than that of her male colleagues. Even with the historic year women’s football has had, their World Cup prize pool remains a quarter of the men’s.

Beyond money, women in sports do not enjoy access to the same resources for career development that male athletes do. One example is the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) crisis which sidelined countless top female footballers before the 2023 World Cup. Female athletes are up to eight times more susceptible to ACL injuries but dedicated medical research and support for this remain lacking. Even at top clubs, female footballers reported inadequate playing facilities, medical care, and data analysis, factors which the men’s game are not exposed to, showing how the issue remains entangled in broader inequalities.

Prejudice and gender stereotypes remain entrenched in women’s sports as well. A survey by Women in Football showed that 82 per cent of its members have experienced some form of sexism, sexual harassment, or gotten derogatory comments, which they felt have impeded their careers. This came across acutely during the 2023 World Cup when the US Women’s National Team was eliminated early during the tournament, receiving vicious backlash from the public, most with an unsettling sexist subtext.

Another case in point would be the Women’s World Cup winners, Spain. Prior to the tournament, the spotlight landed not on the team but their manager Jorge Vilda for his controversial practices such as requiring players to leave their hotel rooms unlocked for bed checks. This led to players refusing to play under his management. Even after the team emerged victorious, their celebrations were cut short when the head of their federation, Luis Rubiales, planted an unsolicited kiss on player Jenni Hermoso. When called out, Rubiales refused to resign because of “false feminism”. Eventually, he was handed a three-year penalty from the sport. On the other hand, Hermoso paid the price for speaking up — not only did she receive public threats, she was not called up for the next national squad in an attempt to “protect her”.

Female athletes continue to live in a world of constant negotiation where they have to justify their presence and the value that they bring to sports. For women, choosing a sporting career thus means having to carve out a space for themselves in a male-dominated industry but the fight for equality should not be theirs alone. After all, all athletes deserve equal respect for the skill they bring to the game, and that should be reason enough to support all women athletes regardless of which field they belong to.