Does Sexism Exist in Pickleball?
Last Edited
Sep 24 2024
Category
Community
The pickleball community touts itself as the most inclusive sport in the world. "Accepting," "approachable," and "welcoming" are all words commonly associated with it.
But what happens when hundreds of women report condescension and, in some cases, flat-out harassment from male counterparts on the court? Do those positive words above still reflect pickleball?
A couple months ago, I came across a Reddit post in r/Pickleball titled, "A note for the men of pickleball." The post itself has since been deleted, but the comments remain visible.
The post contained descriptions of one woman's experience on her local pickleball courts in which men talked down to her, offering unsolicited advice, making inappropriate comments about her appearance, and other acts that made her feel uncomfortable and came off to her as obviously sexist.
I cannot directly quote what the post said before it was deleted, but I remember clearly the nature of some of these interactions the OP described because, as you can see in the link above, literally hundreds of other pickleballers chimed in to share similar experiences.
"I’m a lady player and have experienced all of this and complained about it in this forum as well. My husband stands up for me, and I often play with just people I know, but still can’t avoid occasionally playing with weirdos and jerks in open play. I will say there’s a small minority of men who, when confronted, do apologize and try to change their behavior. I appreciate that." - One commenter
The existence of so many reports about similar behavior is alarming.
But not wanting to talk about a potential problem without offering solutions, I did pay close attention to the responses in that reddit thread and to glean what specific microaggressions are most common on the court.
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How to Make Pickleball More Welcoming
In addition to what should be obvious–no touching, no oggling, no inappropriate comments–here are a few other behaviors these reddit users hope to avoid, especially from men:
- Gushing over a woman's good shots
- Profusely apologizing for a body bag in a competitive game
- Unsolicited advice of any kind
- Refusing to serve hard to a woman opponent
- Assuming that your woman opponent/partner isn't very good and queueing on a different court as a result
- Assuming you know more, or have more experience when playing with a woman in a pickup setting
Pro Pickleball Double Standards
According to some, the rhetoric used at the pro level can also be unfair.
Player Lea Jansen just gained some fans (and detractors) recently when she directly replied to a Facebook post calling out her on-court behavior.
"There are few things more entertaining in pro pickleball than watching Lea Jansen lose."
That was the extent of the post, but the subtext played out in the comments.
"I find it extremely humorous to watch a professional athlete act like a child anytime something doesn't go their way. She's consistently immature and acts entitled, very easy to root against," the OP replied to a comment asking for clarification.
So, Lea fired back.
"Glad you tuned in and love all my fans! Let me know where I can catch you performing at a high level!" she said, to great applause from other commenters.
"...Often times it seems females' behavior is bashed upon where the guys' isn’t as mentioned...when Lucy started finger wagging & people couldn’t believe it, but it had been what guys had been doing for years....I don’t cuss on the court or really go after people...after the [recent] loss, I shook Paris' hand and told her how well she played."
Lea was not the only one to point out that the OP didn't seem to take into consideration the antics of many male players who act in this way.
"I just feel she gets a bad rap and others get a pass for far more unsporting behavior," said one supporter.
We could dive into piece after piece of evidence in favor of Lea or not. There's certainly no shortage of footage of pro pickleball players who, regardless of their gender, engage in chirping, hand gesturing, stomping, paddle throwing, and other behaviors that would make longtime tennis fans clutch their pearls.
Male players have in fact been called into question before. But Lea's point seemed to examine the way in which her behavior is called into question vs. other male players' behavior.
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I won't name the OP of that Lea post and do not know him personally. It is a possibility that he did not intend for his post to come off in the way it was taken by Lea and many others.
But to quote Lea's final comment in the post: "I’ll look forward to your posts about males' behavior in the future."
Author Note: I recently came across some social media posts in which women report sexist interactions with men on the pickleball court and in pickleball forums. These issues tend to be viewed through a political lens, but it was not my intention to do so here. I believe we should be able to bring attention to these womens' experiences without devolving into politically-fueled rants.
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