{"id":169835,"date":"2025-09-26T04:27:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T04:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/169835\/"},"modified":"2025-09-26T04:27:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T04:27:09","slug":"mocking-the-wnba-hurts-more-than-it-entertains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/169835\/","title":{"rendered":"Mocking the WNBA hurts more than it entertains"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Garima Chahal<\/a>, September 25 2025\u2014<\/p>\n

The WNBA has spent years battling for recognition and fair treatment, only to, once again, find itself as the butt of someone else\u2019s joke. At recent games, sex toys have been thrown<\/a> onto the court. What some dismiss as a crude prank may in fact be a marketing stunt<\/a> for a cryptocurrency website, a desperate attempt to \u201cgo viral\u201d by humiliating female athletes.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s be clear: no one is laughing except for the people profiting off this spectacle and the trolls who want to see the WNBA fail. For the players themselves, this isn\u2019t a quirky publicity moment. It\u2019s a degrading reminder that despite their talent and hard work, women in sports are still treated as sideshows in leagues dominated by men.<\/p>\n

Disrespect masquerading as humour<\/p>\n

When a sex toy lands on the court, it\u2019s not simply an interruption of the game \u2014 it\u2019s a blatant message of disrespect. The object isn\u2019t neutral \u2014 it is a deliberate attempt to sexualize and belittle women athletes. For players who spend their lives training to compete at the highest level of their sport, this intrusion isn\u2019t funny. It\u2019s harassment.<\/p>\n

What makes it worse is the speculation that this isn\u2019t just the work of a rogue fan but a coordinated marketing ploy by a crypto company trying to capitalize on controversy. If true, it reveals an ugly truth: the bodies and dignity of women athletes are being used as props in someone else\u2019s business strategy. In that sense, the \u201cstunt\u201d isn\u2019t just juvenile \u2014 it\u2019s exploitative.<\/p>\n

A league that deserves better<\/p>\n

The WNBA has always had to fight for legitimacy. Since its founding in 1996, critics have dismissed it as \u201csubsidized\u201d by the NBA<\/a> or \u201cboring\u201d compared to men\u2019s basketball reducing athletes to stereotypes instead of acknowledging their athletic achievements.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the players themselves continue to prove their worth. At the recent WNBA All-Star break, players held up signs demanding equal pay, highlighting their determination not only to excel athletically but also to push for the fairness and recognition long denied to women\u2019s sports.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The league has produced legends like Lisa Leslie, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore, athletes whose skill and leadership inspire not just young girls but anyone who loves the game of basketball. Current stars like A\u2019ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu are redefining the sport for a new generation. And yet, they remain underpaid and undervalued compared to their male counterparts.<\/p>\n

The average WNBA salary is around $120,000, compared to more than $9 million in the NBA. While the pay gap is often defended by pointing to revenue differences between the leagues, the real issue is how that revenue is shared. WNBA players receive only about nine per cent<\/a> of league revenue, whereas NBA players take home roughly 50 per cent. This disparity isn\u2019t just a matter of economics \u2014 it reflects systemic inequities: women\u2019s sports receive far less media coverage, sponsorship and institutional investment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that women\u2019s sports inherently \u201cdon\u2019t draw fans,\u201d but rather that the infrastructure has long been designed to keep them in the shadows.<\/p>\n

The double standard<\/p>\n

Imagine, for a moment, if something similar happened at an NBA game. If a sex toy were thrown onto the court during a Lakers\u2013Celtics matchup, the story would dominate headlines. The NBA would issue strong statements. Security would be tightened. There would be outrage on talk shows, op-eds in major newspapers and swift consequences for whoever was responsible.<\/p>\n

In the WNBA, the incident is treated as a joke or a quirky internet story. The lack of widespread outrage signals something important: society still doesn\u2019t take women\u2019s sports seriously enough to defend them when they are disrespected.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The same act that would be a \u201cscandal\u201d in men\u2019s sports becomes a punchline when it happens to women.<\/p>\n

Why this matters<\/p>\n

At a time when WNBA players are speaking out about pay equity<\/a> and demanding fair treatment, this incident undercuts their fight. It distracts from their message and reinforces the tired stereotype that women\u2019s sports are not to be taken seriously.<\/p>\n

For players, the stunt is a painful reminder that their careers are still undervalued. They already spend the off-season playing overseas<\/a> to supplement their income, something no NBA star has to do. They already face constant online harassment<\/a>, questioning whether their league should even exist. Adding public humiliation to the list is not only unfair \u2014 it\u2019s demoralizing.<\/p>\n

And for fans, it raises a bigger question: what does it say about us if we allow this behaviour to be normalized?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sports are supposed to be about athletic excellence, teamwork and respect for the game. When we turn a blind eye to sexism in sports, we undermine those very values.<\/p>\n

The bigger picture<\/p>\n

The WNBA doesn\u2019t need viral stunts. What it needs and what the players have earned is basic respect.<\/p>\n

The league has been steadily growing its fan base, signing new media deals and breaking attendance records. The 2024 WNBA season<\/a> had one of its highest average viewership numbers in history, with fans tuning in to watch the Las Vegas Aces, New York Liberty and other teams showcase elite-level basketball. The growth is real, but it\u2019s fragile as it\u2019s constantly threatened by the way sexism frames women\u2019s sports as \u201cless than.\u201d<\/p>\n

The truth is simple: women\u2019s sports aren\u2019t failing. They\u2019re being failed by media that undercovers them, by sponsors that undervalue them and by a culture that treats disrespect as comedy.<\/p>\n

Until that changes, moments like this won\u2019t just be embarrassing stunts. They\u2019ll be proof of how far we still have to go.<\/p>\n

This article is a part of our Opinions section and does not necessarily\u00a0reflect the views of the\u00a0Gauntlet\u00a0editorial board.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Garima Chahal, September 25 2025\u2014 The WNBA has spent years battling for recognition and fair treatment, only…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":169836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[461,49,48,87424,23900,82,630],"class_list":["post-169835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-basketball","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-gender-pay-gap","tag-pay-equity","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}