I think it's obvious that Clark has had a positive impact on women's basketball. The viewership numbers, attendance, and viral highlights make that clear.
However, I think I fall on Alisa's side.
If we want men's and women's sports to be treated equally, then that will come with extreme criticism (but also huge fandom on the opposite side) of individual athletes primarily because of the team they play for or their style of play. There is still probably undue criticism of Clark and other women's athletes or teams because they're women, but I do think that it's decreasing significantly, and quickly.
The conversation reminds me a little bit of some comments about Iowa girls' sports from the director of the IGHSAU. She said, "When you talk with young boys, they focus more on winning. (With girls) it has to be fulfilling." (
Article with quote)
In many ways, I thought that quote was simultaneously offensive to both the female high school athletes who want to win just as much as the boys do and also to the many high school boys who go out for sports for camaraderie more so than the competition.
That's not what Steph is saying about Clark, but I feel like some of the comments about Clark and the comments from the IGHSAU director might come from the same place--a feeling that women's sports need a different kind of treatment than men's in order for them to be successful.
That was probably true in order to get them started and get initial popularity. Maybe it still is true now. But in an ideal world with perfect equality, women's sports would inspire the same kind of passion as men's. In that world, for better or worse, players can be disliked and criticized primarily because of the jersey they wear, without needing to couch the criticism with "but I respect their talent."
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