As women start to shine in the Olympics, Lizzie Armitstead raises sexism in sport

thereandbackagain wrote:

Another is how do you actually get into sports riding?

My thought is that you get people on to bikes first, make it something people "do" and the sporting interest will naturally follow.

I'd kicked a football around long before I got my first kit or boots or had even seen a football pitch.

@thereandbackagain

How about you actually determine the number of women taking up pro or club cycling (or even training seriously) and women watching sports? Both are MUCH, MUCH lower than the number of man in each of these categories.

I happen to work in a bike shop and what I can say is that about 90% of my customers are men. How can you expect sponsors to invest their money in women's cycling then?! Please bear in mind that the prices of equipment and other costs related to sponsoring are about the same in women's and men's cycling, so the return of investment is much lower in women's cycling.

Like I said, this has nothing to do with any kind of hostility. It's just a simple and measurable fact that the women's sports market is way smaller.

mikroos wrote:

@thereandbackagain

How about you actually determine the number of women taking up pro or club cycling (or even training seriously) and women watching sports? Both are MUCH, MUCH lower than the number of man in each of these categories.

I happen to work in a bike shop and what I can say is that about 90% of my customers are men. How can you expect sponsors to invest their money in women's cycling then?! Please bear in mind that the prices of equipment and other costs related to sponsoring are about the same in women's and men's cycling, so the return of investment is much lower in women's cycling.

Like I said, this has nothing to do with any kind of hostility. It's just a simple and measurable fact that the women's sports market is way smaller.

You've misunderstood my point. All you're doing is arguing for the status quo.

From my professional experience, I know that you can generate demand by sending out the right messages, encouraging people to think about what they want, what they can expect, then support those expectations. That's how you get people to change behaviours, at least in part.

Perhaps the heavy weighting towards men in your shop is partly due to the bias in your marketing, your customer service, your merchandise selection? Have you surveyed women to understand what would stop them from coming in and buying?

On a separate point, costs per media exposure are going to be way, way lower for women's cycling than men's there's not such a premium placed on the sport, so it'll be a very cost-effective sponsorship opportunity for the right brand.

Commonly, women feel intimidated by the attitude of bike shops, and that lack of confidence will put them off. Also, most manufacturers women's product lines are appalling.

Like I said, someone is going to realise this eventually, and actually start marketing effectively to female cyclists. Based on your attitude, that's not going to be where you work, unfortunately.

Quote:

It's got nothing to do with sexism or hostility towards women, it's just a matter of popularity and business.

Does that statement infer there is an inherent problem in society?

If you like. Or it's biology.

People tend to watch the best in any given area of sport, and women are less likely to be the best - in some sports (e.g. weightlifting), because of basic physiology, in others (e.g. motorsport) because you need investment/encouragement from an early age and parents are less likely to give that to girls because it's simply less likely to occur to them that their daughter could be world champ some day, so it's self-reinforcing.

You can either have a sport open to men and women will almost never rise to the top - or separate, you have prominent women athletes, but a smaller audience because you don't have the best.