According to a recent Global Sport Matters feature, just 11.5 percent of sports reporters in the United States and Canada are women, and women’s sports represent only 4 percent of total sports media coverage.

These numbers are staggeringly low, especially given that women make up a big share of the viewers and fans.

On top of that, the women who do participate in the sports world—journalists and athletes alike—are routinely subjected to sexism and misogyny by male colleagues and fans.

So sports writer Julie DiCaro decided to write a book about it.

Today, she joins guest host Liz DiNovella to discuss Sidelined: Sports, Culture, and Being a Woman in America, which outlines the online and workplace harassment women face in sports media, examines the sexist scrutiny of women athletes like Serena Williams, and argues that it’s time to smash the patriarchy in the world of sports and beyond.

Julie DiCaro is a sports journalist and editor for Deadspin. Her latest book is Sidelined: Sports Culture And Being A Woman In America (Dutton Books, 2021).

Cover image by anncapictures from Pixabay / filter added