Comparison of the WNBA's growth versus the NBA's growth and an examination of the attitudes surrounding the WNBA

The Women’s National Basketball Association was founded 27 years ago. Since its inception, the WNBA has played the same game as the NBA with only slightly different rules: a slightly smaller basketball, shorter quarters, and a slightly closer three-point line. However, it has not seen the growth and support the NBA received 25 years into its founding. Studies have proven that the WNBA, and women's basketball in general, is undersold and undervalued. Not only this, but a growing body of research has shown that women in sport receive far more harassment than male athletes do. The studies all trace these discrepancies back to deep-rooted patriarchal and misogynistic ideas baked into society, and often seen most explicitly in sport. However, the patriarchy and misogyny that women basketball players receive is varied due to the complex intersection of gender, race, and sexuality. Therefore, previous studies on women’s basketball have examined only one or a few ways that players are hurt or hindered by patriarchy and misogyny. Patriarchy is a system of social structures and practices, in which men govern, oppress, and exploit women. Misogyny is defined as hatred towards women. This paper instead synthesizes previous studies, research, and experiences by women’s basketball players to give an overview of the complex web of prejudice and sexism women basketball players face. For instance, this paper pulls from a study on football fandom in the United Kingdom as well the Kaplan Hecker and Fink Gender Equity Review in order to highlight how abundant misogynistic tropes are across all sports. However, this paper will not give a detailed and comprehensive view into every aspect of this web. Instead, it will provide a general overview of how societal norms, rooted in patriarchy and misogyny, influence people’s views and treatment of women in sport. Specifically, the paper will pull from previous studies and articles to detail how women basketball player’s media coverage, salaries, physical health, mental well-being, race, sexuality, and participation in sports are all interconnected and harmed by oppressive gender norms that are reinforced by society. The sweeping effect has been to stifle and stymy the potential growth and embrace of women's sports.