A recent game concerning Yale University hockey teams prompted a closer look into gender disparity in sports. There is a claim that the difference in fan attendance between men's and women's games contribute to this "disparity," not to mention the large wage gap between men and women coaches in general.
The incident referred to were to separate games that occurred in Ingalls Rink, Yale Daily News reported. Celebrating their Senior Night at The Whale, the men's hockey team was drowned in the applause of more than 3,500 fans during the event. A similar event, held by the women's hockey team versus Cornell University just a week earlier, only prompted a mere 444 fans to show up.
They also noted of a wage gap that exists, with a difference of up to $40,000 between head coaches of men's and women's teams. This is reported to be the second-largest wage gap in the athletic departments of all Ivy League institutions.
The same source addressed a "larger societal trend" as the cause of such notions of bias, noting that women sports teams in general get less than men. A federal complaint from the United States Women's National Soccer Team even put a figure on it: a whopping 40 percent difference, to be accurate.
There is clearly a disparity with regard to game attendance between teams. However, Dave Huber of The College Fix disagreed with the viewpoint and stated that this is neither an indicator of "disparity" nor of "societal and cultural bias." While Huber recognizes that people may consider gender as more a sociological term than a biological one, the fact remains that men are objectively better than women when it comes to sports.
An interesting comment to note is that sports tend to naturally gravitate towards men, just as the beauty industry tends to focus more on women. Whether Yale University (or people in general) sees it as gender disparity or not, it is likely that this trend of fan attendance, at least, will continue in the years to come.
