It comes as no surprise to anyone that sexism has a strong presence in sports, especially with most sports having predominantly male athletes compared to female athletes. When Ultimate Frisbee was founded, it was made to be a sport for people of all genders to enjoy, but now it seems the sport is in fear of doing what every sport does to women. Leaving them behind, offering less opportunities and overall, blatantly favoring male athletes over female athletes and ignoring the founding principles of frisbee.
After talking to several members of the women’s team, I found that while they do not want to start an issue, it is becoming more apparent of the gender inequality issues on and off the field.
“Oftentimes during mixed tournaments the women find themselves not being thrown to and ignore an opportunity because the men are worried we won’t catch it,” said a member of the SUNY Cortland women’s ultimate frisbee team.
SUNY Cortland and college sports are no exception to this, with the SUNY Cortland’s men’s frisbee team nearly tripling the women’s team in size. While that can be intimidating, the women’s team practices with the men, and often participates in co-ed tournaments with them.
This has led to the women on the team realizing that the sexism in frisbee is not the fault of the sport or even the team as a whole, but rather the individuals who make up the men’s team in question.
“Although there are exceptions, some of them tend to be belittling and bad mannered,” said a second member of the women’s team
Most if not all the women on the team have at least one close friend on the men’s team that they have practiced and played with who helps stand up for the women by including them when their own teammates will not.
Some women on the Cortland club team have also spoken up about receiving sexual harassment–specifically unwanted sexual remarks–from the men on the team. In a heartbreaking interview it was brought to my attention that the words of some of the men have impacted the lives of the women on the team.
“I just wanted to play and have fun but they kept making fun of me and said things about what I would like and wouldn’t like about sex,” said a third team member.
Women have also expressed how much it saddens them to experience this in a setting that was originally supposed to be fun and safe. For the women, participating in the Ultimate Frisbee club has put them in a derogatory and sexist environment solely because of a small percentage of the men, ruining the team for the women around them.
From personal experience I can share how belittling it is to be seen as less of an athlete because of my gender, and watching men go so far as to drive women away from the sport. During my short season as a member of the SUNY Cortland Women’s Ultimate team, I found myself feeling extremely uncomfortable around some of the men. This discomfort led to my decision to no longer be a part of the team, because I grew sick of finding myself in uncomfortable situations that should have been safe and fun. It is beyond upsetting how many women over the years have left the frisbee team because of the way the men make them feel, and the fact that nothing has changed since I left the team speaks volumes.