The saying goes, 'When you're accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.' Sometimes, it's worse than that: when you're accustomed to privilege, even meagre attempts to work towards equality can be interpreted as unfair. This attitude is evident in conversations about affirmative action and quotas. And it's often evident in the way we talk about sport.
The latest talking head to echo this attitude is former AFL player Kane Cornes, who said on SEN SA Breakfast earlier this week: 'I don't think there's any sport in Australia that has been given as many leg-ups as what AFLW has been given.'
The most basic problem with Cornes' statement is it is simply false. Even a cursory look at Australian sports history shows that, through both direct and indirect advantages, dominant men's sports have had a far more significant 'leg up' than any women's sport. From government funding and public policy, to access to sponsorship through old boys networks, to media coverage, to historical cultural norms, men's sport did not gain its dominant place in our sporting culture through a pure meritocracy or a diverse market of options.
Rather, a number of different structural advantages gave sports predominantly played by white cis men a significant advantage. It is precisely men like Kane Cornes who have benefitted from this massive cultural 'leg up'.
The development of Australia's sporting culture is intimately linked to traditional ideas about gender roles. The place of most dominant Australian sports was cemented in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is unsurprising, then, that the few sports where women's competition approaches men's for popularity are the games and sports in which women's participation was permitted in that era. Tennis and swimming are notable examples of this.
But the 'big four' Australian sports of Australian rules football, cricket, Rugby league and Rugby union were sports that were almost exclusively played by men. While there were some early female competitors, they were often seen as a novelty (see Brunette Lenkic and Rob Hess's excellent Play On! on this history of women's participation in Australian rules football). Cultural and legal forces restricted the opportunities for women to participate in the game.
Meanwhile, the men's games grew. Facilities were constructed, often on the public purse. Media norms were established. Early incarnations of what we'd now call lobby groups appeared to petition for government support and funding. This all happened during an era in which women were specifically excluded