THE national sports agency sportscotland, Commonwealth Games Scotland and almost all of the country's sport governing bodies enshrine the principle of gender equality yet, too often, this is little more than lip service.
Hence the launch in Glasgow yesterday of Scottish Women in Sport, a charity. They believe that sportswomen don't receive fair representation in the media and that there is not sufficient commercial investment in women's sport. SWIS aims to combat this by increasing awareness, raising profile and lobbying for change.
We support them 100%, but here is a reality check: sport in the media is mainly about professional sport and columns reflect the fact that well in excess of 90% of competitors in the professional arena are male.
Newspaper proprietors and sports editors (a largely male hegemony) have to make commercial decisions which are driven by readership. A reservoir of marketing data confirms the vast majority of sports-page readers are male.
Potential sponsorship and commercial backers' decisions are driven by the volume of column inches papers will devote to the object of their funds. Catch 22: poor media exposure means poor financial support. Changing media stereotyping and opinions will be an uphill struggle.
SWIS claim declining newspaper circulation can be reversed by including more female sports copy. It is a gamble they are unlikely to take. The fact that the English broadsheet which trumpets that it is "sports newspaper of the year" had a single inch (on women's tennis) in nine pages yesterday says it all. Their sole reference in 12 pages the previous day was a Strictly critique with a picture of the retired England rugby player Ben Cohen with a ballroom dancer.
SWIS claim there is one media story about women to 53 for men. We don't challenge their figures, yet I can personally testify that more than 55% of pieces I have written for this paper in the past year were about women. Lack of women's sport exposure, of course, is an unavoidable consequence of girls' disaffection with sport at school, and inappropriate physical education.
Making physical education more female friendly is a fundamental starting point. That dance and gymnastics should be available is a no-brainer. Addressing girls' PE disconnect is critical.
Defining "professional sportswoman" is an issue in itself. Olympians and many internationalists regard themselves as "professional", at least in attitude, even if they don't earn a living through sport.
So the 600 athletes accessing services from the sportscotland institute of sport would qualify. The quango says the institute gender balance is just about equal but acknowledge much remains to be done nationally.
SWIS is the brainchild of Maureen McGonigle, Scottish Women's Football Association administrator. She and the BBC broadcaster and reporter Alison Walker are founders of the charity and work unpaid. Judy Murray, the Olympic gold medallist Katherine Grainger, Olympic and world champions Rhona Martin and Liz McColgan, actress Elaine C Smith, and numerous other luminaries from sport, business, and politics supported the launch. Sportscotland endorse the venture "wholeheartedly".
Ms Walker spoke of raising awareness of sporting opportunities, highlighting positive role models, educating girls about positive life choices, and influencing decision-makers.
The Commonwealth Games Federation has three core values, one of which is equality. This was not evident when the Empire Games were first conceived in 1928. No women under 30 had the vote, and, when the Scottish team went to the inaugural 1930 Games in Hamilton, just a year after full women's emancipation, there were six sports (athletics, boxing, bowls, rowing, swimming and diving, and wrestling). Only Scottish swimming took women (four of them). Eighty years on, in Delhi, there were 83 women and 115 men.
A CGS spokeswoman said yesterday there was "no restriction" on numbers of women in Scotland's 2014 team "provided they achieve entry standards".
Theoretically at least, there could now be more women than men. The 2012 Olympics and Paralympics has raised awareness. With 2014, this represents the best, and possibly only, chance to trigger women's sporting potential.
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