Francesca Hodges
The case was described as “a classic example of gender discrimination.” One would be shocked to hear that such a team as the U.S. Women’s Soccer team was until only recently denied their rightful, and equal, pay as their male counterparts.
The success of the team is undeniable as they brought home the 2015 FIFA World Cup and are currently ranked as the #1 women’s team in the world. So why is it that until recently equal pay was not being rewarded to America’s golden (medaled) girls?
The background of the story goes as such: five top players from the team, Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Rebecca Sauerbrunn, and Hope Solo, asserted that they were falling victim to systematic discrimination. The complaint was made against U.S. Soccer and was with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commision; the EEOC is a federal agency that oversees employment equality and discrimination.
Turning to the stats it is obvious that the U.S. Men’s Soccer team’s pay overshadowing the Women’s, regardless of results, of quality of work, of performance. The pay for the 20 “friendly” games played prior to international competitions has a difference of about 30,000 dollars between the men and women if the teams lose all of their games. If the ladies win all of their games, the difference rises to over 150,000 thousand dollars. For the World Cup for making the team, the difference between the men and women’s pay is about 40,000. Such distinct dissimilarities cannot be overlooked.
However, the controversy still remains. Only recently the Women’s team has brought in a higher annual revenue in comparison to the Men’s team. The teams have different seasons and qualification routes; to qualify for the World Cup the women play in a two week tournament whereas the men travel around the globe on a two year qualification trip. But upon investigating, one can find that the Women’s team in the past four years has played more games and had a better record with 88 wins out of 110 games while the men only have 44 wins out of 76 games.
After a long fight and period of social and gender injustice, the Senate has passed an Equal Pay Resolution, and called upon the U.S. Soccer Federation to end the gender inequity and treat all athletes with the respect they deserve.
This win is probably one of the highest the Women’s Soccer team has scored, regardless of the 2015 World Cup Final. It is not just a win for the team, but for women everywhere as we step towards the future as a united society.
