While women's football continues to make great strides in organisation and popularity around the world, it still has some way to go before it can rival the men's game, which has had the benefit of a huge head start and billions more in sponsorship deals.
The men's World Cup, currently taking place in Russia, is probably the biggest show on Earth and is a hugely profitable event for FIFA, the global administrators of the game. FIFA argues that the men get far higher prize money simply because of the much greater profit that is generated in comparison to the woman's world cup, the next of which will take place in France next year.
This argument was clearly not enough for Twitter user Charlotte Clymer. She made a point of the inequality in prize money, to which people had various reactions. “Pay disparity had to arrive at this point from somewhere,” she told Bored Panda. “It simply doesn’t occur to these men to examine how gender roles and investment in sports early on plays into the present gap for professional athletes.”
While some supported her view that the way the women's game is treated is unfair, others gave pretty convincing economic arguments to discredit her feeling that FIFA is discrimating against women, and that gender doesn't really need to enter the discussion here. “The “market viability” argument is the easiest answer for them,” she told us. “It doesn’t require they do anything. It doesn’t challenge them.” To be fair, she discredits herself somewhat by saying how much she enjoys 'trolling sexist men,' after being confronted by facts, and the whole thing descends into a petty and childish dispute. “It’s been a hell of a lot of fun stirring things up with these tweets. It’s hilarious that so many men get instantly pissed over this particular subject and wound up that they miss the point.”
What do you think? Scroll down below to read the exchange for yourself, and let us know what you think in the comments!
Charlotte Clymer recently started a discussion about gender equality, citing the prize money disparity between men's and women's football world cups
This poster disagreed however
Other people added their own opinions to the discussion
