Women In Sport: One Step Forward, Three Steps Back?

F1 Academy series

For years women have been under-represented across all sports, from football to formula one. In recent years, we have improved much more, this is with F1 Academy being introduced in 2023, the popularity and audience of women’s football increasing and Formula E’s recent all-female test. Inspiring a whole new generation of females to pursue their passion. But is the way women are being treated and portrayed in sports media not improving at all?

The TikTok Awards were held on the 13^th of November which resulted in two main headlines for Women in Sport. An award was won, and a project was revealed.

The 25-year-old, Lissie Mackintosh, a popular content creator and presenter, won the Sports Creator of the Year Award. This wasn’t Lissies’ first incredible achievement as she was featured in Forbes 30 under 30 this year, as well as being announced as working with Sky Sports for the Formula One 2025 season. Lissie has been and is a significant figure in the development and expansion of women's voices and accessibility in sport, with a following of 340k followers on Instagram and 430.8k on TikTok- So it’s safe to say she is popular amongst social media, where most influence is shared.

 F1 shared results of an article on a global fan survey they created, “based on more than 100,000 responses” and across “186 countries” and stated that in the US “70% of the gen-z respondents engage with F1 content daily” majority through social media. Proving why Lissies' online presence has led to her success and created inspiration amongst many consumers.

During her acceptance speech, she stated “i will continue to work to make sports more accessible”. With her interviews with F1 drivers like Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris and her partnerships, there is no doubt about that fact.

However, not all news was received so lightly.

Sky Sports unveiled their separate platform called ‘Halo’, especially created for female fans. This is their way of “amplifying female voices and perspectives”. Yet many fans have not interpreted this as Sky hoped for, as they believe that the account is unnecessary and is belittling to females. As they wanted it to be “a safe, positive space for women to connect, comment and celebrate sport and culture together”, however the overuse of pink, sparkles and the bio of ‘Sky sports lil sis’ has portrayed contradiction. The idea of women needing their own account that explains sport in a stereotypical manner with the colour scheme and aesthetic has erupted negative feedback, the account in 24 hours has struggled to reach 2,000 followers.

The term ‘lil sis’ makes it seem like Sky sports is the older more dominant brother. Is this hinting that Men are more dominant in sport? - But isn't that the problem we are trying to balance? Well yes, diversity and accessibility have been in the discussion with sport for years, feminism has been mentioned in sport, for women and men to have equal recognition. Many fans believe this should have been completed on the main account rather than a whole separate account.

I asked fans on TikTok what their opinions were on the account ‘Halo’ and here were some responses:

@a.zzra3: “I don’t get why we need an extra channel. Get us involved in the existing one and do not create another channel for women. Build awareness with the ‘normal’ channel. Our voice should be heard there not like this.”

@dwohtlcver: “I feel like it’s just feeding into the stereotypes that women don’t watch sport for the sport, but actually for the ‘hot men’, and that they only care about sportsmen's partners and the aesthetics rather than the sport itself”

But what do you think, is this a genuine idea with good intention but interpreted wrong or was this a typical act by a male dominated area?

Written by Emily G