I Could Care Less About What Athlete I Would Sit Next to on a 9-hour Flight 

I was the one outside throwing a football in my front yard with my dad. I was the one dragging my dad into DC to see all the live sports I could. I was the one with too many sports trophies, that I needed a second self in my room. I was the one being told that I was “the son my dad never had.” 

When, in actuality, my dad has a son. I have a brother. He just wasn’t that into sports—I was. And still am. 

So, why am I the “son?” Why can’t I just be my dad’s daughter, who happens to like sports? Why can’t I look at my social media feed and see athletes who look like me? Why do men’s sports get all the attention? Why is there an ESPN and an ESPNW? Why is mainstream media still pushing the same gender stereotypes that told everyone that I was “the son my dad never had?” 

As someone who consumes more sports media on a daily basis than might be healthy, I think about these questions daily. And in all honesty, it grinds my gears. Truly boils my blood. Platforms like ESPN, Bleacher Report, and Sports Center, with their seemingly neutral titles, you would think they would have damn near equal coverage of all aspects of the sports industry, but because there is no “W” or “girls” attached to it, I’m shit out of luck on that equal coverage. 

If you scroll through ESPN’s Instagram, what do you see? A bunch of posts updating its millions of followers on sports. Let’s be more transparent: you only see one side of the sports industry. In a growing time for women’s sports and women’s athletes, we are still seeing a lack of equal media representation on mainstream platforms. This lack of representation has caused a wave in the creation of new women-run and women-centered sports media platforms. This wave is great. It’s exciting. It’s empowering to see. However, some of these platforms have begun to take this new “girly” side of sports a bit too far. 

This new, so-called “girly” sports media may seem harmless or even empowering on the surface, but it ultimately does more destruction than good. When some of these new women’s sports media platforms create “softer” content with flowers and pinks or use more “feminine” structures throughout, it sends the message that women in sports should continue to conform to that narrow, gendered idea of what it means to be female. This is damaging not only for women athletes but also for how society views women’s sports in general. It perpetuates the idea that women should fit into prescribed gender roles, especially in a field that already has women behind the curve. 

Why are these platforms more concerned with these “girly” and “fluffy” content instead of highlighting key games, analyzing performance, or discussing real-world issues, like every other male-dominant platform? I could care less about “Which NFL QB matches my zodiac sign?” or “Which MLB star would I sit next to on a 9-hour flight?” Oh, and you can see the infuriating difference in each platform due to its appearance. NEWS FLASH: Not every girl likes pink, flowers, and rainbows. Not every girl wants to label the Bills going 3-0 as “so slay” or “very demure.” Why are we perpetuating the idea that all women should fit into prescribed gender roles, even in an industry that already has women behind the curve? 

While there is room for lighthearted content in sports and my intention is not to diminish these accounts, like Sports Girls Club, that make some engaging and fun posts. I aim to bring to light that this overwhelming focus on the “girly” content belittles the real stories that matter: the grind, the talent, and the relentless determination that define athletes. It’s a subtle but dangerous shift. By relegating women’s sports to this “girly” centered content, the media sends a clear message: that women’s sports aren’t to be taken as seriously as men’s. 

This type of content not only underrepresents women’s athletic achievements but also fuels the idea of what women’s sports are. Content covered in pink bows, focusing on what is trendy to wear to a game, or looking at cute quarterbacks is not the women’s sports content that deserves to fill the mainstream media. It cheapens the narrative, drowning out real issues like pay equity or discrimination while missing insane game highlights or groundbreaking victories. In a space where women athletes already fight for equal airtime and respect, this kind of shallow media coverage reinforces the false notion that these women athletes’ value lies more in their personalities or appearance than their talent.