Women in Sport

It's recently come to light that women are extremely underrepresented in the media.

In fact, I read that women's sport makes up for just 2% of live sport shown on TV (obviously excluding coverage of big sporting events such as the Olympics).

I, for one, am very glad that this has finally come to the media's widespread notice. Considering the success of our British females in the Olympics (Jessica Ennis to name just one of the many successors), it makes a whole lot of sense that female athletes should be given their fair share of TV coverage.

Not that I'm saying that being an athlete should inevitably lead to fame, fortune and media access. Not in the slightest; more so that the gender gap should be brought to light in this circumstance, as it seems to be the last of its kind to be recognised.

Athletes like Ennis are inspirational for us women, and more so for our younger generation. Encouragement to partake in sport should be instigated within children from as early an age as possible, particularly young girls who perhaps aren't encouraged to get involved in physical activity as much as young boys are.

It's an inevitable pattern; the more that women sporting events are shown on TV, the more likely girls are going to lead a more active and thus healthier (mind and body alike) lifestyle from their impressionable beginnings.

That, afterall, is what the government wants for the generations to come. Right?

[Above image was taken from London Evening Standard online]