Haley Ruyle
hruyle@lc.edu

For centuries woman have been fighting discrimination against them on the basis of sex. Today, a hot-button topic for the feminist movement is equal pay between male and female counterparts for the same career. Equal treatment is primarily viewed today as a necessity in many work fields, whether it be a sport or a common desk job. Woman have been forced to play harder and stronger to get what they want. The U.S. Women’s Soccer team, as well as many other female sports teams, agree that it’s entirely outrageous how male sports players get more money than women do. It is reported that a few women’s sports teams have begun to take legal action in defense of a fair wage for their work effort.

“The U.S. women’s soccer team has filed a gender discrimination lawsuit. The players are the latest athletes to demand equal treatment.” Maya Salam of the New York Times reported.

“The athletes, including the stars Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, and Carli Lloyd are not just taking issue with their paychecks but also with where they play, how they travel to matches, and the medical treatment and coaching they receive, in what they called institutionalized gender discrimination,” Andrew Das of the New York Times reported. “The women’s players argue that they are required to play more games than the men’s team, that they win more of them, and yet still receive less pay from the federation.”

It is a wonder to many people how women play more games in their professional leagues than men, and yet statistically the men are paid significantly more than women in the professional sports field.

In the end, the U.S. Women’s Soccer team, as well as many other female professionally played sports teams, should have equal pay to their male counterparts. The advancement of equal pay in the professional sports field would be a big milestone for women’s rights, and would undoubtedly make history.