The power of narrative (and women's sport)

Twitter is pretty much a cess-pool these days (I'm more convinced than ever that beyond having some astute observations about growth industries, Elon Musk is an example of the confluence of starting capital, high risk appetite, and survivorship bias) but I'm glad I saw this incredible advertisement on it this morning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVNZRHIZVL8

For context: my wife is Australia's most successful ultimate frisbee athlete of all time, and her sister has played 7 seasons of AFL football, so women's sport is a central conversation in our family.

The video above is a wonderful example of the fact that the action on the field of women's sport is every bit as compelling as that of men's. I'm not denying there's variance too, of course. Men have physical attributes that mean they can do things women never could... some displays of strength in gymnastics, for example. That said, there are many counter-examples (women's flexibility in gymnastics, for one, or the wonderful fact that at the absolute extreme end of ultra-endurance sports—running, cycling, swimming—women emerge as superior to men).

Even when physical attributes mean that certain body types dominate a sport (as heavy, muscular bodies do in boxing, for example), we've long demonstrated that we're willing to stratify competitors into categories and appreciate them for the different characteristics they exhibit (featherweight boxing is a very different sport to heavyweight boxing, but equally popular).

To me, this seems evidence that it's not the action on the field that separates men's and women's sport (and the advertisement above is a wonderfully illustrated example of that).

So (other than garden variety misogyny), why do people still seem overly attached to men's sports?

I'd argue a key component is the effect of?narrative.

Lots of sports are, to be honest, pretty boring. Nobody is ever going to convince me that a game of men's cricket is more visually interesting than a game of women's footy.

The difference, however, is that men's cricket has?history. Each game of men's cricket is another chapter in a long and interesting?story,?and often it's the story which is compelling for the viewers, more so than the action.

The Gold Coast Suns and GWS Giants were introduced to the men's division of the Australian Football League in 2011 and 2012 respectively. They both appeared with no history, and no compelling stories or narrative to speak of. Both were derided as sterile, corporate husks by football fans.

In the decade since, GWS has developed into a bona fide part of the competition. They developed a reputation as a team overflowing with audacious talent. They rose through the ranks to make it to the 2019 grand final, demonstrating their relevance in the broader competition. Additionally, they developed an exciting?rivalry with the Western Bulldogs as the two clubs pickpocketed important players from each other and contested several heated encounters over the years.

In short, GWS are now more than a football team, they're a story.

Gold Coast, on the other hand, have not thus far managed to craft a compelling narrative. They've not made themselves relevant on the ladder, they've not made themselves a consistent rival to anyone. They remain a corporate strategy, rather than a compelling story.

I think the main problem with growing women's sport (other than garden variety misogyny) is much the same. The problem is not that the sport is somehow inferior, because it isn't (just as featherweight boxing is not inferior to heavyweight boxing, even if a featherweight would lose to a heavyweight 999 times out of 1000).

Many women's leagues and teams are so young that the stories and narratives are still developing. Where the narratives are established, the sport is compelling:

• the imperious dominance of the US women's national football team;
• the rise of first Venus and then her sister Serena Williams to become the best women's tennis player in the world (arguably ever);
• Australia's Sam Kerr is the darling of world soccer and probably best goal-scorer on the planet (whose popularity inarguably rose the day she unceremoniously dropped a pitch-invader on his arse with a well-timed hip-and-shoulder);
• Daisy Pearce (against whom I used to play amateur volleyball in Eltham back in the day!) returned to fitness after the birth of twins and led the Melbourne Demons to a famous premiership, while simultaneously becoming known as one of the most astute commentators and coaches in the world of Australian football.

I believe the proverbial dam has broken, and women's sport is destined to succeed, because the story of each league, each team, and each athlete, is what the fans?really?care about... because honestly, why else would anyone watch cricket or baseball!??

https://www.colfink.com/articles/the-power-of-narrative-and-womens-sport