Mattel’s latest Venus Williams Barbie doll has been on the scene recently, reminding the world of not only her impact on tennis, but also on young girls who avidly watched her sister Serena and her conquer the tennis world. There are multiple Barbie dolls representing trailblazing athletes from around the world.
Social media influencers, The Daily W, even created their vision for an athlete collection of American Girl dolls that we can hope to see someday. It included soccer sensation Trinity Rodman with pink locs and a pink Labubu, and WNBA Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers carrying a basketball and her ever-present iPad. While there aren’t yet these dolls, there is a Team USA collection, which will likely have new pieces as we get closer to next year’s Olympic Winter Games.
As WNBA players strive to gain more equitable pay, hopefully, the representation of female athletes in dolls can lead to future generations of girls and women who actually get respect and fair pay. While the current excitement around women’s sports is uplifting, we cannot lose sight that it’s still decades behind boys’ and men’s sports.
In recent days, a WNBA team owner commented that Napheesa Collier was wrong to make private conversations public. That’s long been a way of keeping women down — not letting the public know what female athletes actually deal with.
When Engelbert became commissioner of the WNBA in 2019, a veteran journalist said to me that she was the last shot at the league’s survival. If she couldn’t accomplish a significant upswing, the WNBA would likely fold. No doubt, much has been accomplished in these six years, but now is the time to address the needs of the people producing the product that makes the league so valuable.
Every few months, a story pops up online about Dena Head, the first-ever player drafted in the WNBA. Today, she works for Amazon. Head is one of many WNBA players who have moved onto careers far away from the sport. It is great that, in addition to many coaches, there are lawyers, entrepreneurs, administrators, and social workers, but only those who labored overseas every off-season have had any sort of cushion for adult life.
Little girls look at dolls that represent today’s shining athletes. These athletes who inspire generations, bring people into arenas, light up televisions, and excite sponsors deserve a paycheck that reflects their impact. That will make the WNBA sustainable.