The WNBA's Problem Is Sex Differences In Sports Interest, Not Sex Discrimination
Women really don't care about competition the way men do.
Research on sex differences finds that men compete directly and overtly in a way women do not. Generally speaking, of course. Women tend to compete covertly, with backbiting and gossip and other hidden weapons.
Psychologist Anne Campbell, like others who study female competition, explains that women seem to have evolved to avoid physical confrontation, which would endanger their ability to have children or fulfill their role as an infant's principal caregiver. (Ancestral Daddy couldn't exactly run up to the store for baby formula.) So while guys will engage in put-down fests as a normal part of guy-ness, even women's verbal aggression is usually sneaky and often comes Halloween-costumed as compliments or concern: "Ooh, honey, do you need some Clearasil for those bumps on your chest?"
Men, on the other hand, are comfortable with hierarchy and jockeying for hierarchy in a way women tend not to be. Men and boys and women and girls, that is.
I write about the research and thinking of psychologist Joyce Benenson and her fellow researchers in sex differences in my old New York Observer column:
The upshot of the research on sex differences, Ms. Benenson explains, is that men evolved to be "warriors"--the defenders of the species--and are prepared to do physical battle and do battle in the boardroom in a way that women, the "worriers," who evolved to care for vulnerable children, are not.Men have far greater muscle mass than women, far more physical strength, and far more of the hormone of aggression, testosterone. Even very young boys show a love that girls do not of play fighting, of declaring an "enemy" to battle, and of weaponry--to the point where Benenson reports that they'll shoot "bullets" out of a doll's head if no toy gun happens to be available.
Men also seem most excited by watching competition -- possibly as some sort of "training," Benenson speculates.
Which brings us to what Lyndsey D'Arcangelo writes at HuffPo:
It's been often said that the main Achilles heal of the WNBA is the lack of interest from men. That's part of the reason why previous attempts to soften the WNBA's image were brought up in marketing sessions by WNBA league-heads. I interviewed Brittney Griner a couple of years ago for a magazine story in which she revealed that the league was contemplating shorter and tighter uniforms. This cringe-worthy idea would have done nothing to improve the quality of the product, and would have played into the stereotypes that so many female athletes are trying to break down. The fact is a lot of men don't want to watch the WNBA because they think it's boring. How do I know? I've asked. They are used to high-flying dunks and blocks and fast-paced wheeling and dealing on the court. That's what they want in a basketball game. But the only female baller that can really throw down is Brittney Griner. And guys think she's too manly. But they want dunks. Yet they don't want girls to be overly athletic.See the catch-22?
I'm not here to rationalize or talk about all the reasons why men won't watch the WNBA. Graham Hays of ESPN did that for me already, with this well-written piece for PAGE 2 about why men are afraid of the WNBA. Trying to attract men who already have preconceived notions about the WNBA or female athletes in general is fruitless. These are the guys who make fun of WNBA players, and then kiss their daughters good night and tell them they can be anything they want to be when they grow up. They will never be fans.
What I want to focus on is what I believe to be the crux of the WNBA's problem. And it isn't men. It's women. Why aren't more women paying attention to the WNBA? Why do more women tune into Scandal or The Real Housewives of Wherever for water cooler fodder instead? I wrote a column about this, about getting women to care about sports when they simply don't. It's a hard task. I've pitched sports stories to female publications before and they are just not interested. It's not the right audience, they say. But if women aren't the right audience for women's sports, then who is?
And that, you see, is the real issue. The WNBA, and women's sports in general, need more women to care. Notice I didn't just say women. I said more women. The WNBA's audience is 75 percent women. But those 75 percent make up a small fraction of the population. We need more women to read, watch, and soak up women's sports the same way men do men's sports. Think about it. Half the population in the United States is made up of women. If every woman in the country tuned into the WNBA, it could stand on its own two feet. It's one thing for women who have no interest in sports in general not to care about the WNBA. But I've encountered women who actually play basketball and played in college, and they are "meh" about the WNBA. Even females who are actually interested in sports balk at the WNBA, including professional sports writers. Stacey Pressman, who writes female affirming and supportive prose in ESPN Magazine's: The Body Issue, wrote this (far) less than glowing review of a WNBA game. And she isn't the only female writer to do so.
Last year, in a bold yet seemingly desperate move, the WNBA launched a marketing campaign that focused on LGBT fans, holding public events at lesbian clubs and pride parades. While I get why they are focusing on inclusion and targeting this particular market, it's also very narrow minded. When I say "women," I don't just mean gay women. I mean all women -- straight, gay, married, single, athletic, non-athletic, etc. For some reason there is a disconnect between women and the act of consuming women's sports, particularly the WNBA.
It's like male fashion bloggers. Their core audience is gay men, straight men seldom care. Which is why they don't make near as much money as female fashion bloggers.
— Yeyo (@RealYeyoZa) September 3, 2019
via @RealYeyoZa
But the only transwoman baller that can really throw down is Brittney Griner.
Fixed it for original author.
As far as bouncyball goes, I've never cared, because I never really understood the rules beyond broad strokes. And I'm left wondering why this person can take about 8 steps without dribbling and not get called for travelling. Oh, s/he's a big name star and can get away with it?
I R A Darth Aggie at September 4, 2019 6:47 AM
And here we see yet another example of the Left's favorite negotiating tactic -- insult and shame the people you're trying to convince. Yeah, that always works.
I've watched a few WNBA games. Yes, they are boring. They are less fun then men's high school games. The things that are exciting about basketball are the speed, the power, the reflexes, the no-look passes, the fast breaks, the steals, the dunks, the long 3-pointers. The women's game has almost none of that. And I don't think it's just a muscle-mass thing either. Being a good basketball player involves a certain presence of mind; being able to keep track in your head of where other players are and where they are going. It's a spatial-processing thing, that some studies have shown that men in general have more skill at.
The WNBA admittedly is in somewhat of a catch-22. Brittney Griner was mentioned; the problem is that sports fans don't like watching athletes that they suspect are "unnatural" in some sense. That's what the baseball steroids scandal was all about, and the damage it did to baseball's reputation continues to be a problem for the sport today. Few people want to watch women who look like men. If that's what you want, you simplify your life and just watch the men's game.
It's not like men in general are not willing to watch female athletes in general. Women's tennis, for one, out-draws men's tennis. As we have recently seen, women's soccer can out-draw men's soccer, and nobody watches men's beach volleyball. (Admittedly, there is a cheesecake factor in the latter, but I think it would draw even without that.) In many racing sports, women compete alongside men and they have their own fan bases, and a lot of those fans are men.
I refuse to be guilted into watching something for political-correctness reasons. (The opposite is true... I'm less likely to watch something if the arbiters of PC insist that I'm supposed to.) The WNBA would not exist if it wasn't subsidized by the NBA, under pressure from the media and (at some level removed) the government. There's a reason for that: it's boring. Sorry, but the truth hurts. It's the entertainment business. It has to be entertaining. And it isn't.
Cousin Dave at September 4, 2019 6:47 AM
Sailer had a bunch of tweets about this last month. Paraphrasing— The new, obliviously butch demeanor of lesbionic players in the WNBA appeals to no one.
I barely watch men's basketball... Mostly seven-second clips on twitter. Lesser physiques make lady ball players, whatever their grooming habits, look like children compared to the (my) established mental model. It's not pleasant to watch. They have to work too hard to do nominal stuff.
Crid at September 4, 2019 6:50 AM
And the inevitable thought-that-I-had-right-after-I-hit-submit: why should a woman be obligated to watch just because she shares the same basic body parts with the players? That's a bullshit reason. The Left tries to guilt women with "sisterhood" and "solidarity" a lot, and I think most women see through it. There just aren't as many women who are interested in sports. And of the ones who are, my observation is that they generally watch the same things that the men watch, for the same reasons.
Cousin Dave at September 4, 2019 6:51 AM
Don’t watch basketball. Do watch tennis. Prefer women’s tennis which to me is a different more interesting game than men’s tennis.
The WTA doesn’t seem to have these problems. Maybe the problem is basketball? Which seems to be losing it’s appeal to the American sports fan?
Isab at September 4, 2019 7:00 AM
So how come tennis is so popular? It's also competitive and muscular and stuff. Venus and Serena don't exude warm maternal femininity.
NicoleK at September 4, 2019 10:23 AM
Few men watch college basketball either, and WNBA games are even less dynamic. That's the issue, not the player's attractiveness - there is no catch 22.
And I suspect that most of the women who do watch women's basketball have athletics backgrounds, from which they've developed a specific interest in the WNBA.
Others have mentioned women's tennis as an exception - Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is another example. Viewership of women's fights isn't equivalent to men's, but it much closer than most other sports. And there hasn't been an attempt to sex-up the women's circuit or personalities.
melmo at September 4, 2019 10:25 AM
I think the athletic background is key... women watch tennis because a lot of women play tennis. I know American women who follow women's soccer... don't know any Swiss women who do... American women grew up playing soccer.
I think the fantasy of being able to imagine yourself in the winner's shoes is a big part of the appeal
NicoleK at September 4, 2019 12:11 PM
It is simple.
Being an elite athlete will, all things considered, help a man get sex from women. OTOH, being a top competitive athlete will not increase the sex appeal of a woman to a man. E.g., Linday Vonn will get sex whether or not she skis. But being a champion snowboarder definitely helps Shaun White's short, red-haired, freckled ass get laid.
Also, the best JV high school boys' teams would do very well against the WBNA's players. Why is there no outcry against the lack of TV time for high school JV games?
Jay R at September 4, 2019 12:37 PM
One more thought ...
I'll wager that more people watch high school boys' JV basketball games in person than watch the WNBA games in person and on TV.
Jay R at September 4, 2019 12:43 PM
But, but men should want to watch women's B Ball or they are sexist and discriminatory!! These whiners refuse to accept the fact that people engage in leisure pursuits that please them. People don't waste leisure time on activities that they don't find entertaining.
You can't guilt people into getting excited about things they find boring; no matter how disparate the resulting male/female ratio turns out.
Jay at September 4, 2019 12:43 PM
Men are most of the audience for all athletic sports. Women's golf, tennis, and arguably gymnastics and figure skating are profitable only because they provide the male viewer with eye candy.
jdgalt at September 4, 2019 7:50 PM
"Women's golf, tennis, and arguably gymnastics and figure skating are profitable only because they provide the male viewer with eye candy."
I think part of it (and part of the answer to NicoleK's question) is that you don't have to be a physical freak to excel in these sports. Whereas in basketball, you pretty much do -- if you aren't at least 6'6", with less than 4% body fat (Charles Barkley aside), you aren't going to make it in the NBA. And I think it's more socially acceptable, by both men and women, for a man to be a physical freak than it is for a woman to be one. It's the same reason that there is somewhat of an audience for men's weightlifting, but not for women's.
Cousin Dave at September 5, 2019 7:32 AM
Although, at 6'3", Steph Curry is the exception that proves that rule. He cannot play inside and, without his outside shooting skill, would not be in the NBA.
The NFL has similar issues. Quarterbacks must be at least 6' tall while linemen must weight at least 300 pounds. We accept, even celebrate, these anomalies in men since they further these mens' missions.
At 5'10", Doug Flutie could barely get an NFL team to look at him until he'd proven himself in the USFL. Without Flutie, Russell Wilson, at 5'11", would probably have had to go to Canada and prove himself in the CFL. Still, Wilson struggles inside the pocket of 6' linemen and often has to roll out see the field and make a pass.
So, there's great masculine benefit to being a physical anomaly - tall, heavily muscular, etc. On the other hand, there's very little feminine benefit to being tall or muscular. Watch Allison Janney sometime. She uses her 6' height to comedic, and sometimes dramatic, effect - this despite being told by her agent that she'd never play anything but lesbians and aliens; still, she rarely plays the soft, feminine damsel role.
Conan the Grammarian at September 5, 2019 9:37 AM
"Women tend to compete covertly, with backbiting and gossip and other hidden weapons."
And they love to watch other women compete in the same way, which is why the WNBA is struggling while The Bachelor is ratings gold.
bw1 at September 5, 2019 5:11 PM
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