'I've been told to hide my emotions': Basketballer Liz Cambage on double standards in sport
By Natalie Oliveri|
"Every other week I'm told that I'd have more sponsors, that I'd make more money, if I'd just shut up every now and then," says Liz Cambage.
"But the only way we're going to get change is if we use our voice."
The Australian Opals star is a force to be reckoned with.
Standing at 2.03 metres, she's physically strikingกชbut her mouth is just as powerful as her legs.
Cambage, 27, is one of the leading voices for gender equality in sport and is refusing to keep quiet when told to by the powers above her. Even when it gets her into trouble.
She's received six technical fouls จC the penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct or violations by team members on the floor จC while playing for the Dallas Wings in the WNBA.
"I've been told กฎHide your emotions, suppress your emotionsกฏ, to keep it all inside since I was a teenager, but I'm not like that at all,กฑ the athlete explained at an International Women's Day panel on Thursday. "[My emotions] gets me ejected, they get me in to trouble."
During the event, hosted by Future Women, ICC T20 World Cup 2020 and Twitter, Cambage said there was a clear double standard around how male and female athletes express themselves.
"Men take their tops off, they fist pump the air. I slap my heart because I'm so passionate about the game, I'm so full of love but I get tech fouls for that,กฑ she said.
Cambage referred to the backlash that erupted when Serena Williams lost her temper at the US Open final, smashing her racquet and arguing with referee Carlos Ramos. Ramos imposed three code violations, which resulted in Williams forfeiting a whole game in the second set?and losing the final.
Much of the commentary surrounding the incident argued the punishment would never happen to a man of similar standing in the game, and Cambage agrees.
"I've never seen a man treated that way. I don't understand why men can be aggressive and smash racquets but for a woman to be aggressiveกญ I got punished for being myself,กฑ she said.
Megan Schutt, bowler for the Australia Womenกฏs Cricket Team and Adelaide Strikers, seconded that.
"That happens, that's the emotion in sport," Schutt said.
"I think as women we should be able to show that."
Courtney Gum, midfielder for the GWS Giants, added, "I think, in life, it's important to be genuine. If not, the only person it affects is you."
Cambage, Schutt and Gum were joined on the 'Why women and sport do mix' panel by sports presenter Mel McLaughlin, with their discussion focused on the barriers female athletes face.
Yet it's not all bad news; thereกฏs been a massive shift in attention, and interest, towards women in sport.
"The rise around women's sport is unprecedented, with a 50 to 100 per cent rise in [Twitter] followers alone," Suzy Nicoletti, the managing director of Twitter Australia, told the audience.
"The rise in conversation is indicative of where we're going in the future. The highs, the lows, the challenges and everything in between, deserves our attention. Equality can only come with visibility."
Gum said a "cultural change" is needed to improve the image of women's sport, but admitted it'll take a whileกชwith teaching the younger generation that women are just as good as men a crucial element.
"My four-year-old son, Buzz, thinks AFL is a women's sport," the footballer told the audience.
Gum occasionally takes her son to training, but said clubs need to do more to support female athletes who have children.
"There's quite a lot of work to be done, they need to provide in-house babysittingกญ it is very difficult for women,กฑ she added.
She also made reference to Williams, who returned to tennis after taking maternity leave after welcoming daughter Alexis Olympia.
"Having that responsibility and the lack of sleep and trying to be an elite athlete at the same time, some men havenกฏt had to deal with that as much as women,กฑ Gum said.
Cambage argued the need for a bigger conversation within sport about women and children.
"One thing we donกฏt talk about is starting a family and will we have the support to come back to the sport," the basketballer said, admitting having a child is something sheกฏd hope to do in her กฐearly thirtiesกฑ.
"But will I be able to come back and play again? All that's going through my head."
