Personal Research Papers
01
Gender Discrimination in the 2024 Paris Olympics: Possibilities and Limitations of Equality By Fiat
The gender pay gap in sports remains a persistent issue despite increased attention and policy changes. This paper examines gender discrimination in athletics, focusing on the 2024 Paris Olympics. While this event achieved numerical gender parity in athlete participation, disparities persisted in media coverage, sponsorship opportunities, and financial compensation. By analyzing viewership data, endorsement deals, and media representation, this paper highlights systemic inequalities that limit female athletes' earnings, opportunities, and participation. The findings suggest that structural barriers, including biased media narratives and historical discrimination, continue hindering female athletes. Ultimately, the study argues that while policies have been implemented, there are still clear disparities that emphasize the need for culture and media change.
02
Gender Inclusion in STEM: Feminist Perspectives on VEX Robotics
The K-12 educational experience is increasingly dominated by participation in competitive extracurricular activities, from physical sports to debate teams to robotics. Among the key issues facing student organizations is the role of diversity and equity in competitive spaces. This essay uses feminist theories of organizational communication to examine the gender inclusivity efforts of VEX Robotics, an international high school competition. VEX has implemented a wide range of inclusion efforts, yet still faces routine criticism from female participants who argue that VEX competitions are rife with toxic masculinity. This essay first considers the application of foundational feminist theories to the extracurricular competition space, then evaluates the choices made by VEX to achieve meaningful gender inclusion and equity. Specifically, I use a combination of ethnographic and autoethnographic rhetoric to evince the experience of women in VEX as a means of illuminating the continued struggles of female participants. While many institutional changes would suggest VEX to be above the curve when it comes to inclusivity, resistance is baked into the institutional framework of competitive activities, which yields continued challenges for women.