BY MICHELLE RUIZ VOGUE March 12, 2020
Photo: Getty Images
The U.S. Women’s National Team is in the middle of a situation: playing for the U.S. Soccer Federation, the very organization it is suing for gender pay discrimination. And so, in an awesome act of protest, at Wednesday’s SheBelieves Cup against Japan at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, the reigning World Cup champions, including stars like Megan Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd, found a way to silently, yet powerfully, protest: They turned their warm-up jerseys inside-out, effectively hiding the USSF crest logo.
https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1237894501848346624
The move came at a contentious time for the team’s legal battle, in which the female players are seeking $66.7 million in back pay, alleging they were systematically paid less than the men’s team, even as they outperformed them on the global stage (the women are four-time World Cup winners, including in 2019 and 2015, while the best the men have done is fourth place, back in 1930). In a court filing earlier this week, which quickly went viral for all the wrong reasons, USSF argued that the men should be paid more, because, biologically speaking, the male team “requires a higher level of skill based on speed and strength.”
“The job of a [men’s national team player] carries more responsibility within U.S. Soccer than the job of a [women’s national team] player,” the filing went on to say, due to “indisputable science.” Hot tip to U.S. Soccer: This does not help to prove you’re not gender biased.
The U.S. Women’s National Team is in the middle of a situation: playing for the U.S. Soccer Federation, the very organization it is suing for gender pay discrimination. And so, in an awesome act of protest, at Wednesday’s SheBelieves Cup against Japan at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, the reigning World Cup champions, including stars like Megan Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd, found a way to silently, yet powerfully, protest: They turned their warm-up jerseys inside-out, effectively hiding the USSF crest logo.
https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1237894501848346624
The move came at a contentious time for the team’s legal battle, in which the female players are seeking $66.7 million in back pay, alleging they were systematically paid less than the men’s team, even as they outperformed them on the global stage (the women are four-time World Cup winners, including in 2019 and 2015, while the best the men have done is fourth place, back in 1930). In a court filing earlier this week, which quickly went viral for all the wrong reasons, USSF argued that the men should be paid more, because, biologically speaking, the male team “requires a higher level of skill based on speed and strength.”
“The job of a [men’s national team player] carries more responsibility within U.S. Soccer than the job of a [women’s national team] player,” the filing went on to say, due to “indisputable science.” Hot tip to U.S. Soccer: This does not help to prove you’re not gender biased.
USSF president Carlos Cordeiro apologized, but the damage was done. “The team was very upset, obviously,” Rapinoe told ESPN. “We have sort of felt that those are some of the undercurrent feelings that they’ve had for a long time, but to see that as the argument—sort of blatant misogyny and sexism as the argument against us, is really disappointing.”
Cut to: the jerseys being turned inside out. It was only the team’s latest act of expert protest. At their ticker-tape parade through New York last year after winning the World Cup, goalie Ashlyn Harris flew a paper airplane made from a page of the pay gap lawsuit into the victory party, shouting, “Pay us, bitch.” After the World Cup championship game in Lyon, France, fans chanted, “Equal pay!” Their lawsuit is headed to trial in Los Angeles on May 5, and if it plays out like the team’s soccer games, USSF should be concerned: These women have a way of winning.
https://twitter.com/linzsports/status/1148977018899509248
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