For sports players, injuries are the most fatal and devastating setbacks to their careers. Not only do athletes fear the consequences for their team, but they also live with the constant fear of re-experiencing the pain again.

ACL injury, which involves tearing of the anterior cruciate ligament, is frequently observed in sports. However, it is also found that females are six to seven times more likely to be exposed to the risk of ACL injury compared to males. Just in one season, there have been 60 major league injuries reported among female soccer players. 

Despite the evident surge of ACL injuries among female athletes, the absence of systemic change and thorough research seems to be the epitome of indirect sexism. While the European soccer’s governing body, UEFA, has been running injury surveillance studies on male athletes for more than two decades, the same study is only in its beginning phase for females. 

Concerns regarding female ACL injuries have been raised regularly by professional women athletes. However, the sports industry prevails with cultural stereotypes, structural preferences, and institutionalized practices of sexism. Male athletes continue to be the default measure for providing funding, research, and welfare. 

The sports field is a reflection of our male-default society, sharing many similarities with other industries. It has been common for male bodies to be considered the default measure. From designing soccer boots to testing out new medicine and experimenting on car crash dummies, safety research has been focused on the male body. 

In sports, it may be ACL injuries, but in the medical field, drug dose trials are heavily conducted on male participants which trigger side effects among female patients. In terms of city planning, urban transportation is designed to benefit abled, working men. Injuries, like any other obstacle in life, may not discriminate, but our societies do. 

Through the glass ceiling female soccer players encounter, we can see that it is time for action. Expecting a one-size-fits-all solution to uniquely different problems will not be enough. 

신시은 강남포스트 학생기자  webmaster@ignnews.kr

<저작권자 © 강남포스트, 무단 전재 및 재배포 금지>