Here's a quick homework assignment. Google your local newspaper and click on the sports section. Count the number of articles profiling female athletes. Count the number of articles profiling male athletes. Take out your calculator and do the math.

The answers are not in the back of the book; they're right in front of you.

Thirty-six years after Title IX brought national attention to gender discrimination in school sports, "the mass media still spend a grossly disproportionate amount of time covering men's sports while ignoring, marginalizing, or trivializing women's sports," says Michael A. Messner, author of Taking the Field: Women, Men, and Sports. This is not so different from 1970, when "gender inequity [in sports] appeared so natural [to Messner], it was invisible." At that time, our mothers and grandmothers could participate in intramurals, cheerleading, and a few other loosely organized athletic activities. But they lacked uniforms, funding, official teams, favorable press coverage, and most importantly—respect on the playing field.

Since then, women have worked hard and played hard to gain widespread recognition for their athletic talents. Still, women's sports achievements often appear invisible to the mainstream media.

Here's your next homework assignment: analyze this trend in a broader context.

Does the shortage of women's sports coverage reflect that fewer women care about pro sports? That fewer women play sports? That there are fewer paid positions in pro sports for women? That the press doesn't care as much about women's sports? That their target audience doesn't care as much about women's sports?

Short answer: yes.

Next question: why?

Old habits and expectations are difficult to change. Girls need female sports role models. They need to see their heroines on television and in the news. They need to see professional opportunities for female athletes. They need to see that others actually care about women's sports.

Parents need to see this, too. If our culture doesn't demonstrate that women can gain respect through athletic prowess, then why would responsible parents encourage their daughters to pursue sports?

Fortunately, we've got lots of young girls and women willing to challenge archaic belief systems about femininity and athleticism. Not all of these women approach sports from a feminist perspective. They might not care about social history or gender politics. Some girls just like the feeling of sweat pouring down their mud-stained faces, muscles driving forward across the field. Some girls do it to win, training months or years for that moment when they cross the line first. Some girls just want to play, and they won't listen to any excuses about why they shouldn't.

Lack of prominent female role models in sports? Perhaps. Lack of girls and women muscling their way past social disparities and kicking butt on the field? I think not.