The 2024 Olympics are underway.
Simone Biles has made history – receiving the most medals ever won by an American Olympic gymnast.
The U.S. women’s rugby team won a bronze medal, the first ever.
The U.S. men’s gymnastics team won a bronze medal.
Rapper Flavor Flav, a sponsor for the U.S. women’s water polo team, said treading water while trying to catch the ball is no joke. When asked what Public Enemy song best describes water polo, he said, “Harder Than You Think.”
Third Time’s A Charm
Paris has hosted the Olympics three times. In 1900, women were 2.2% of the Olympic athletes competing there. In 1924, women were 4.4%, a twofold increase over 1900. This year, for the first time in the Olympics, females are 50% of the athletes in competition. The headlines will say there is “gender parity,” which ignores that gender is a social construct. It is important not to confuse parity with inclusion and equity.
The International Olympic Committee has issued its third set of guidelines called the “IOC Framework on Fairness, Inclusion and Non-Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity and Sex Variations.” I encourage you to read Section 5, “No Presumption of Advantage.”
Equal Pay
The Equal Pay for Team USA Act, signed in 2023, requires:
All athletes representing the United States in global athletic competitions receive equal compensation and benefits in their sport, regardless of gender. It requires equal payment for medical care, travel, and expenses.
The Act applies to 50 different national governing bodies for sports, like U.S. Soccer and USA Volleyball, along with the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC).
It also requires the USOPC to conduct oversight and report on compliance with the legislation.
Therefore, the 2024 Olympics will start a new era in which U.S. men and women competing in the same sport are guaranteed equal pay and benefits.
The more I mature as a policy researcher and advocate, the more I understand the power of “political will.” We have legislation that guarantees equal pay for women athletes representing the U.S. in competition, but not for women who produce the goods and services that support the America COMPETES Act. If equal pay is just for women Olympic athletes, then equal pay should be mandatory for the auntie, daughter, mother, and wife working to keep America competitive in a global economy. Perhaps now is the time for a political effort to achieve equal pay for the real Team USA.
But maybe Flavor Flav is right. Political will is “harder than you think.”
I’d like to wish Elicia Cowins, a member of the WISER Board, a happy birthday (8/3).
