The “Women’s” Moniker in Sports – The Terms We Use

Billie Jean King & Bobby Riggs

Women in the sports’ world are nothing new, as they have been doing some sort of exercise as long as men have. With that being said, there has always been a gender bias in sports because there is a perception that women are not as strong or as fast as their male counterparts. In several instances in the 20th century this has been proven wrong; the most notable being Billie Jean King verse Bobby Riggs in “The Battle of the Sexes” in tennis.

MMA Fighter Gina Carano

In the past decade, those barriers have been crumbling down. Danica Patrick has been successful in the male dominated sport of racing; Gina Carano proving women can fight as well as the guys; and the WNBA getting its own league.

With the success of women in modern sports, there has been some talk as of late about the way we phrase it. MMA fighter Roxanne Modafferi wrote an open letter to the female sports world (which will be published next week on Fightergirls.com) talking partly about how the use of the “women’s MMA” moniker isn’t warranted.

“I'd like to re-define the term ‘WMMA’," Modafferi states. “I don't do ‘women's MMA,’ or ‘female fighting.’ There is only ONE kind of MMA, and I'm a woman who does it. So from here on, I'm going to stick to saying 'female fighters'."

Why the uproar on the placement of one little word? It’s about equality in sports.

Although there has been some rule changes in certain sports because of the perception that women can’t go as long or as hard as men without getting injured; sports like MMA, soccer, tennis, and football most of the time adhere to the exact same rules as men. Same time limits, same penalties, same playing field, and same scoring system. Some people associate these sports as “women’s sports” in a negative light, as if they aren’t as exciting or important as the men’s side of things. This is not the case.

How do we get around this? Most sports use divisions to describe certain aspects of the sport that are different; amateur division, 145 pound division, semi-pro division, and the like. Saying there is a women’s division of the sport helps to curb the stigma of what is seems to be on the surface as gender bias of the sport.

The gender gap is closing in fast, and if MMA has anything to prove, it’s that women can entertain just as much as men in the same sport. So don’t think of them as a participant in a women’s sport. Think of them as women who play a sport.

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• Martial Arts, MMA, Discrimination/Title IX, Media/Marketing, Rules of the Game