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How The ‘Average’ American Sees It

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18 Jul How The ‘Average’ American Sees It

Posted at 11:48h in News, Press by

ESPN should be more sincere about the message it uses to intro its own award show. More sponsors should leverage their support for gender equity. More female athletes should find their voices, and proclaim their 51 percent representation.

 

By 

 

The Ad Council’s video, “We Are America/Love Has No Labels” featuring John Cena, had already gone viral weeks before the sports world’s equivalent of the Emmy’s aired live. The ESPYs opened with the full version of the PSA, championing a sentiment of patriotic unity and equal value for all Americans, in the wake of the tragic events of Orlando, Baton Rouge, St. Paul and Dallas.

 

The video set the stage for sentiments and political expressions made by several athletes who addressed the audience, keeping those in attendance and television viewers across the country focused on the role sports and athletes do, can and sometimes choose to play when influencing social consciousness. To his credit, Cena spoke with the “I am everyman” credibility reminiscent of frontline leaders of social justice causes decades ago, the kind of credibility a team of forensic scientists would not be able to find amongst our political leaders today.

 

Cena’s message was moving and salient on many points, particularly as it progressed to his “close your eyes for a second” challenge, when viewers were asked to picture the average U.S. citizen. As he began to reconcile the “average” image being conjured in the average mind, Cena speculated:

 

“So, the chances are the person you’re picturing right now looks a little different to the real average American.”

 

He went on to deliver statistics about America’s citizen profile, facts I am sure were surprising to some: 54 million Americans are Latino; 40 million are senior citizens; 27 million are disabled;18 million are Asian; 9 million are lesbian, gay, bi or transgender — more than the entire population of the state of Virginia (and 40 other states, as well). How many sitting in the Microsoft Theater and around their television sets knew that almost half the country belongs to minority groups? I have a daughter who is a standout at Ultimate Frisbee, but I had no idea that 5.1 million Americans play it.

 

One demographic statistic Cena stated was lost on the reality of the evening, an inequitable irony given that it was the first statistic he offered:

 

“There are 319 million U.S. citizens; 51 percent are female. So, first off, the average American is a woman. Cool, huh? Is that what you pictured?”

 

What followed from that opening video was a male-centric amnesia to that truth. Only three of the award presenters, Lindsey Vonn, Danica Patrick and Skylar Diggins were women — four if you include Billie Jean King’s tribute to the late great Pat Summitt. This paltry ratio was a theme continued when considering how many women graced the stage as award recipients, and the scant imagery of female athletes in the many video montages paying tribute to great athletes and great athletic performances. You would have had to been paying close attention to the “honorable mention” style announcements of award winners leading into commercials, to have realized any additional award recognition granted female athletes. Nearly 78 percent of the awards and honors given at the ESPYs went to men, who as John Cena noted by deduction make up 49 percent of the nation’s population.

 

Cena can’t and shouldn’t be held responsible for the production choices made by ESPN, but he had numerous opportunities to comment on this disparity in his comments and sketches. So too can be said of the many male athletes who dominated the ESPYs, especially given how several of them felt comfortable using the ESPY pulpit, to address the latest police shootings of unarmed African American men and gun violence.

 

One week before the ESPYs aired, Serena Williams defeated Angelique Kerber to tie Steffi Graf with 22 Grand Slam titles, and taking another chisel strike to etch her image onto the sports world’s Mt. Rushmore of greatest athletes of all time — female or male. 20 years after first stepping onto the court as a pro at 14, she still has a physique that looks like it was engineered by geneticists. And at an age when most male and female athletes wheelchair themselves into the retirement home of former glory, Serena still dominates and dismisses her peers. To look at her, she could knock down Mt. Rushmore. Yet, she failed to be nominated for best female athlete, proving worthy only of a few screen images, and a blurb mention of being recognized as the best female tennis player. This is where I not so unapologetically insert Bill Simmons.

 

Were it not for Abby Wambach receiving the Icon Award (alongside Peyton Manning and Kobe Bryant), and images of her heading goals into the back of her opponents’ nets, memory of the U.S. Women’s National Team capturing the World Cup last year (remember the ticker-tape parade?) was just a blur. That achievement distinguished that team as the only team from any nation to have won three Women’s World Cups. Their back story approaching the ESPYs — being denied the right by a federal judge to strike for improved wages and work conditions prior to the already plagued upcoming Olympic Games in Rio. The women’s national team earned $2 million dollars for winning the 2015 World Cup. The previous year, the men’s national team earned $9 million dollars, while failing to advance beyond the round of 16.

 

There were no female nominees for this year’s best play award. I Googled “best female sports play of 2016”. The first two entries were about the hottest female athletes. ESPN doesn’t have a single listing on the entire first page of the search.

 

Stanford University won the Capital One Cup for best Division I men’s college athletics program. The prize: $200,000 for student-athlete scholarships. Not a sigh or expression of disappointment or embarrassment could be detected by the audience, only applause. Four weeks earlier, one of Stanford’s male student athletes, Brock Turner, morbidly raped an unconscious woman by a dumpster. Obviously, the men’s athletic program was not disqualified from consideration for the grant, due to the actions of one of its male athletes.

 

I could point-counterpoint several other categories but some balance is due. One of the evening’s more redemptive gender-equity moments came when Sgt. Elizabeth Marks was given the Pat Tillman Award For Service. After serving as a combat medic in Iraq, and suffering debilitating injuries to both hips, Marks persevered through agonizing surgeries and rehabilitation to once again be declared “Fit For Duty”. She is now a world-class paraswimmer, and ranked No. 1 in the world for breaststroke. She also racked up four gold medals at this year’s Invictus Games.

 

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