Times are changing, but sports fans aren't

Art by Zadie Kang

Around three months ago, Ayesha Curry, wife of NBA legend Stephen Curry, went on popular podcast Call Her Daddy. Hosted by social media star Alex Cooper, in an episode titled "Marriage, Motherhood, & My Identity” she discussed her own struggle raising a family under the spotlight and finding her passion as a new business owner. In most regards, it was just a typical celebrity interview. Following its release, however, the internet (or more specifically, basketball fans) became enraged. Clips of her opening up about her life before meeting Curry, stating, “I didn’t want kids. I didn’t want to get married. I thought I was gonna be a career girl and that’s it,” surfaced, catching the attention of millions of fans. Videos of this interaction were followed by vicious hate comments calling her ungrateful, undeserving, and degrading her as nothing without her husband. Convinced there was something more, I went out of my way to finish watching the interview, confirming that these comments were not founded on any sort of logic. This is only one example of the misogyny that continues to run so deep in many sports fan bases. Ayesha Curry is just one example of this. Unwilling to grasp the idea that women have lives outside of their husbands, the parasocial relationships between fans and their favorite players escalates into levels of blatant misogyny that seem so contrary to current dialogue. 

On the flip side of the coin, we see examples of women who do meet the cookie-cutter standards that young boys imagine their favorite sports players worthy of, coinciding directly with the rise of “Trad wives”. The trad wife is terminology used for stay-at-home wives and mothers who dedicate themselves entirely to their family, something that has been dangerously romanticized by social media. This type of lifestyle is essentially only attainable for the wealthy, and more so, it sends a dangerous message that women are better as secondary to their husbands, best fit for domestic duties. Ann Maye (wife of Patriots quarterback Drake Maye) and Julie Cousins (wife of Kirk Cousins) exemplify this, gathering social media traction posting meals they make for their husbands and lifestyle videos. In isolation, there’s nothing wrong with this; it’s the response that becomes concerning. Young boys, following a pack mentality, start subscribing to the idea that that lifestyle is attainable and expected of women.

Even further, we can look at the spotlight that has recently been on women's sports. The WNBA recently experienced rapid viewership, garnering over 54 million viewers last season. Stars like Caitlyn Clark, Paige Beuckers, and Angel Reese propelled the platform to new heights, representing what we hoped to be a needed shift in attitude towards women's sports. The unfortunate reality is that this rise in popularity was closely followed by attacks on players rooted in both racism and misogyny. When women's basketball first started rising in viewership, it was largely attributed to the March Madness tournament featuring dominant Iowa State and LSU sides. The star power was led by Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, their rivalry broadcasted all across the country. Quickly, the tendencies of sports fanbases began to surface, the dialogue became increasingly hostile towards Angel Reese, pitting her against Clark in a way that’s been destructive to so many females in professional settings. Media painted her as a cocky, aggressive, and “ghetto” comparison to Clark who embodied the graceful white prototype of the female athlete they saw as acceptable. When Clark bathed in her wins it was deserved, when Reese did it was trashy. The subtle and the overt, undertones of racism and sexism in these comments were plain to sight. It’s so apparent in analyzing these cases (and there are many more), that the sports community remains trapped in the past in their attitudes towards women and their work. Even despite this, female athletes continue to excel, reaching new heights. They’re pitted against each other, ridiculed, and scoffed at yet the impact they make on and off the field remains unchanged.