Last week the United States women’s national soccer team (USWNT) defeated the Netherlands in the Women’s World Cup, their second consecutive title. And, last week, I (and much of the country) fell in love with Megan Rapinoe.
During the Women’s World Cup, as the US continued to win and make it to the finals, Rapinoe, co-captain of the USWNT, continued to be in the spotlight. Not only for her skills on the field, but for her activism off the field. Megan has been using her platform to raise awareness to issues of inequality, inequity and injustice.
I had heard of Rapinoe before last week, when she made headlines in 2016 for being one of the few sports figures outside of the NFL to take a knee in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick during the National Anthem. She explained her reasons for doing so in an essay, opening with the words “…I have to do something. Anything. We all do.” Since then, the US Soccer Federation has modified the rules requiring all players “stand respectfully” during the anthem. Megan has complied with this updated rule, but she does not put her hand over her heart as is typical with the song is played.
The World Cup win has once again allowed Rapinoe to use her platform to highlight what she stands for. When US teams win championships or national titles, a customary practice is to be invited to the White House. Rapinoe has made it clear that she would not accept an invitation to the White House if one were extended because the current administration does not align with her values. During a recent Meet the Press interview, Rapinoe said, “I think Trump’s message excludes people that look like me and that are me, of course. But it excludes a lot of people in his base as well, and I think that he’s trying to divide so he can conquer, not unite so we all can conquer.”
The USWNT victory has also brought to light, once again, the gender pay gap. The team’s fight for equal pay has received widespread support on a national level, and Rapinoe has been outspoken on this issue as well. During the same Meet the Press interview, Megan stated “I’m gonna fight for equal pay every day, for myself, for my team and for every single person out there — man, woman, immigrant, US citizen, person of color, whatever it may be. Equal pay, as the great Serena Williams said, ’til I’m in my grave.’”
The team earns well below what the US men’s national team would receive, which has yet to win a World Cup. Following the teams win, Secret, a USWNT sponsor, has committed to donating $529,000 to the team – becoming the first sponsor to publicly support the champions’ fight for equal pay. This is a start, and thank you to Secret for being an example. But more needs to be done to change systems. We all know that the gender pay gap is not unique to any one particular industry. In our recent series on “Let’s Get Practical”, Mary-Frances Winters offers some practical solutions to close the gap.
I am grateful to those with power and influence that choose to use their privilege in ways to promote equity, justice and inclusion. Megan Rapinoe made it clear that she prefers soccer over politics and that she is not sure she’s qualified to run for office (whatever that means these days). While my personal fantasy of a future Rapinoe presidential candidacy may never come to be, I am inspired by her passion, advocacy, and allyship, and if she ran for public office, I would be glad to give her my vote. I do hope that she will continue to use her celebrity voice to highlight these issues and promote inclusion.
We ALL have the power to do something to make a change…celebrity or not. Anything. It doesn’t have to be big. All it takes is one small act. I leave you with these words from Rapinoe’s victory speech: “This is my charge to everyone, we have to be better. We have to love more, hate less. We got to listen more and talk less. We got to know that this is everybody’s responsibility, every single person here, every single person who is not here, every single person who doesn’t want to be here, every single person who agrees and doesn’t agree. It’s our responsibility to make this world a better place.”
We ALL have the power to do something to make a change…celebrity or not. Anything. It doesn’t have to be big. All it takes is one small act. Click To Tweet
