Women in sport
We hear about sportswomen when something big happens. When Cathy Watt wins at Barcelona or Lisa Curry brings home gold from the Commonwealth Games, it's news.
For a brief moment, these women are heroes. Splashed across the airways and newspapers, they are hailed as quintessential Australians — symbols of our country's strength, determination and endurance.
But the myth doesn't match the facts.
Women athletes continue to be awarded less prize money, less media coverage and fewer positions on sport-policy committees. At Barcelona, discriminatory sex testing continues, aimed at squashing speculation about women whose appearance and physical achievement is at odds with their "femininity".
At home, Australia Post recently paid homage to the view that only men get sweaty. Their Olympic stamp issue features a weight lifter, a blind high jumper, and a pair of cyclist's legs. All were male. This was despite Australia Post's brief to include at least one woman.
So why didn't they?
"They forgot", said a spokesperson from the philatelic department. And this is probably true.
Despite great achievement, women's sport is largely ignored. How many Australians know that while just 19% of our past Olympians have been female, they have won 40% of the gold medals, including 11 out of the 14 medals in track and field?
In the suburbs, where most of us exercise, things are no better. Here, sport is still a game for the boys. For most women, sport is something to be squeezed in between doing the shopping and washing her partner's football jumper. Or it is experienced second hand: he plays tennis while she cheers at the sideline. Or, due to lack of time and money, she doesn't play at all.
The recent federal inquiry into the status of women, "Half Way to Equal", found that women's sport receives a mere 2.5% of print media coverage. And much of this is about physical charms or defects. Reports on our Barcelona uniforms complain about short skirts showing the unfeminine leg muscles necessary to win! Calls for more female coaches at the next Commonwealth Games are falling on deaf ears.
Things are starting to change. Slowly. Groups like Womensport Australia and Sport Action Victoria are now monitoring gender biases in sport reporting and lobbying hard for a better deal.
But while women's participation, funding and profile in sport are controlled by domestic constraints and male-dominated media and funding bodies, the playing field will not even begin to look level.
By Angela Matheson