Despite a fresh focus, the media overlooks the darker story concerning women in sports.
While the mainstream media continues to focus on the games politicians play, this column will focus on the games women play, such as cricket, tennis, football, hockey, and athletics, and how the media covers their problems and accomplishments. International Women's Day (IWD) has just passed, and women in India are being praised, their achievements celebrated, even as they continue to be targeted for consumer goods, or suffer from'mansplaining' as erudite 'experts', usually all men, hold forth on what should be done to promote women's equality. All of this has become an annual, somewhat predictable ritual. However, the ritualistic recognition of one day for women was not always the norm. In fact, when I worked for a national daily newspaper in the mid-1980s, I tried to persuade my editor to run an editorial commemorating the day. This was a moment when Indian women's groups were out on the streets, seeking reforms to laws affecting women, such as rape and dowry. To his credit, the editor agreed that the day warranted an editorial comment. Although IWD is widely recognized, the majority of Indian women continue to fight misogyny, sexual harassment at work, violence in their homes and on the streets, unequal pay, low employment, poverty, and other issues throughout the year. However, certain things are changing gradually. One cannot help but note the remarkable increase in print media coverage of women's sports. Is the media finally recognizing that these women, too, need attention? More likely, the emphasis is due to major money finally supporting several women's sports, such as cricket.…
