The United States Women 's National Team

Hope Solo, a goalie for the United States Women’s National Team, as well as the Seattle Reign FC in the National Women’s Soccer League, is widely regarded as the best goalkeeper the women’s game has ever seen. With over 100 career shutouts on the international level, and numerous individual and team awards including two FIFA Golden Glove awards and a World Cup, it’s hard to deny her prowess. Solo has been on the national stage for over a decade now, and while heralded as a world class player, her career has been fraught with controversy. Solo: A Memoir of Hope was published in August 2012 and provides a unique look into the major events in Hope Solo’s life through her own eyes.

Though there have been some minor improvements of the inequalities of women in sports, there are still many more changes that need to be made. The controversy of the topic allows a wide range of research. From the issues of Title IX to the issues of society and its gender roles, there are still inequalities of women in sports.

Soccer is a sport that many know and love. It has been globalized through the ages, and has brought many people enjoyment by watching, and playing the sport. While soccer has brought many people from around the world together, it has also driven a wedge between males and females in society. This sport is controversial for many reasons. It brings about controversy because of the fact that some people can clearly identify the separation of equitable treatment between the genders, while others are oblivious to this idea. Many people from around the world have joined in on this topic. This not only shows the connection of globalization to the gender inequalities, but it shows the link between

Twenty-seven Division I colleges participated in a study where researchers found male athletes received almost six hundred dollars more in scholarships than female athletes and coaches of male teams earned around 190,000 dollars more than coaches of female teams (Kenschaft & Clark, 2016: 355). To earn almost 200,000 dollars more for coaching males instead of females, is only contributing to the sexist theories of women in sports. We wonder why so many female teams cannot find strong coaches but they are all headed to coach the men’s teams to receive more money. The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team received two million dollars for winning the 2015 Women’s World Cup, while

Most think the U.S. Woman’s National Team does not deserve equal pay. The number one reason for this opinion is due to the fact that people are not as interested in women’s soccer as they are in men’s, however the USWNT has become extremely popular over the past couple of years. In 2015, the Women’s World Cup final match broke the record for the most watched soccer game in United States history between men and women’s soccer. The average number of viewers for the entire match was around 25 million viewers. This number fluctuated over the course of the match and had a peak of 31 million viewers, which almost doubled the amount of viewers than the previous set record. The original record set by the USMNT during the 2014 World Cup at 18 million viewers was completely demolished because of the

Lopiano complains that there’s too much of a salaries gap between man and women playing the same sports. “The right to play has been established. However, the issue that has been confronted is the barrier to being treated equally when it comes to money” (Lopiano 1). Most people will say women’s tennis matches are more exciting than men’s matches; men’s victory purses are still considerably higher than women’s victory purses. Top women tennis players earned 59 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts. The average total purse was $63,031,000.00 for top men players and $41,000,000.00 for top women players (Daniel Frankl 2). In soccer, the Women’s World Cup soccer team was promised $12,500 if they won compared to the $300,000 male players were to receive. The payout for women players was increased to $50,000 because fans protested the unfair payout gap between the male and female players (Lopiano 1); it’s still 1/6 the payout

When it comes to sports men and women are rarely given equal opportunities to excel. This is the case in soccer specifically, as many individuals over look women’s soccer. Women are having to play on turf fields which is causing more injuries compared to men playing on natural grass. Men also make more money per match and they receive money if they lose, whereas the women do not receive any money if they lose a match. While women are becoming more successful, the men’s team has been around longer and bring in more media coverage and endorsements for the league. Despite the discrepancies found in media coverage of both teams, the US soccer federation and Federation International Football Association should provide equal opportunities for both men’s and women’s soccer teams.

The pay in both the professional women's soccer team and the professional men's soccer team is very unequal. The players on the women's team get paid nearly a fourth less which is very surprising considering how good they are. Both teams play the same game do the same sport and represent the same team so why aren't they payed the same? I believe the women's team should be paid the same as the men's or even more because of their amazing results.

From a young age, children are conditioned to always think about what they want to be when they grow up. Many of them dream to be a ballerina, firefighter, or an astronaut. With age comes maturity, and those aspirations pass, but simultaneously new, more realistic ones arise. To reach these new goals, these children work toward their dream through dedication, which can be seen in the studying or training they do. In today’s society females have more opportunity to do what they dream. There are young women who are assiduously working to get a college degree and a steady job. Then, there are also women who are training to become a professional athlete, with the aspiration of becoming a member of the United States Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT). In today’s society, women can pursue their goals, however, if compared to men’s sports, there can be differences seen that keep women from reaching full potential, equality, and their dreams.

The US women’s soccer team are only paid about a fourth of what the men are paid, even though they actually preform at a level well above that of the men’s, and create more income for the corporation; In fact, the women’s soccer team made approximately $20 million more money in revenue than the men’s soccer team ("U.S. Women's Team Files Wage-discrimination Action vs. U.S. Soccer"). Another instance of the men’s team earning more money than the women’s team unfairly is that the women were only paid $2 million dollars total when they won the world cup in 2015, while the men’s team (who got to round 16 before they lost) were paid a total of $9 million dollars ("U.S. Women's Team Files Wage-discrimination Action vs. U.S. Soccer"). That means that the women’s team was paid approximately 22% of what the men’s team was being paid, creating a wage gap that is even larger than what the one from the 1960’s. If you go by the logic of paying someone based on the worker’s effort and skill, as it is stated in the Equal Pay Act, than the women’s team should be paid significantly more than the men’s team, not the other way

Equality between people is what makes the United States of America different from other nations. Ironically, in the United States professional soccer leagues there is a dearth of gender equality. This can be seen through the gender difference in salary. In 2013, professional women soccer players were yearly being paid $15,000 each, about nine times less than the men earned (Bloomberg BusinessWeek). Just like the United States, Australia also faces unequal pay between men and women in professional soccer. Many professional women soccer players that can’t support themselves off their salary. This not only makes the players want to quit, but also makes future generations not want to take part in women’s soccer. Sadly, for more than two decades, women soccer players have experienced unequal pay. Over the years, many players have to find another job to support themselves or they quit playing soccer. Leaders of the Women’s Professional Soccer League have made fruitless attempts to resolve this problem, by giving women the same amount of tournament prize money as the men’s team, by raising the women’s salary a few thousand dollars, and by obtaining sponsors for the women’s soccer league. The way to fix the inequality within professional soccer in the United States is to give equal pay to both genders. To accomplish that, the leaders/board members from both the Men’s Soccer League and the National Women’s Soccer League would have the men soccer players’ salary will be lowered to

The development of civil rights women since the 1950’s and 1960’s has been tremendous, but there are still some things that have not changed. Before, women were prohibited from many of the everyday things in our society. Women could not obtain credit cards; they could not attend Ivy League schools, or go on birth control pills. Recently, on March 30, the U.S women’s soccer team filed a complaint to U.S Soccer for wage-discrimination. The individual players of the team earn as little as 40% of what players on the U.S men’s soccer team earns. Not only do they earn significantly less than the men players, but they also play on damaged and dangerous fields, such as the one during their World Cup Victory Tour friendly against Trinidad and Tobago. Even

Comparing the U.S. women's national team(USWNT) to the U.S. men's national team (USMNT) seems pretty easy. They play the same game but against different genders. One thing people do not realize is how large the pay gap is. Even though they are playing the same game, the USWNT players receives $3650 less than the USMNT earns for a loss. These numbers never balance out, and they should. Women's soccer is gaining popularity, and the USWNT does a better job at representing US soccer in terms of tournaments and wins. Although they play the same game for the same team, there is little equality between the USWNT and the USMNT.

Women’s equality is an issue that has been around for awhile. While women have been given many rights to increase equality, including the right to vote and go to college, the problem hasn’t completely vanished. One area that still sees this is in sports. Women’s sports do not draw nearly as many fans and are not covered in the media as much as men’s sports, pay differences between male and female athletes are large, and female athletes have to wait longer to start their professional career than men, which risks their professional career before it even starts.

In every country, soccer stars are celebrated, they are young children’s’ heroes, and they inspire nations. Soccer is played in small villages in Africa, suburbs in America, and the arctic tundra of Russia, it can be played anytime, anywhere. It is the only sport that serves as a universal language, citizens in every country know the basics of soccer. Anyone, of any age, can play. It serves as a common connection for humanity and the players set examples for most of the world. If women are not being paid equally on the only platform that has the ability to reach the entire planet, it is no wonder that so many countries do not believe in women’s rights. However, if they were paid the same as men, they would be setting an example for the entire world. Many countries would begin to better understand that women are equal. After all, so many of life’s lessons are taught to children through games, especially games like soccer. This sport is a very rare, if not the only, opportunity to teach the entire world that women are just as equal as men, and not just on the soccer field. Women’s soccer could serve as the messenger to the world, and “kickoff” a new attitude for the equal treatment of women and really get the ball rolling on equal pay for women. This sport has the unique opportunity to use its influence to change attitudes that will seep