How adding an ‘M’ highlights sexism and gender bias in sports

If you need an example of just how deeply rooted sexism remains in sports, take a look at a word frequently omitted from league names, tournament descriptors, and media coverage: “men.”

Society continues to treat men’s sports — often referred to just as “sports” — as the norm, with women’s sports relegated to a lower tier.

The YWCA of Canada is highlighting this ingrained gender bias with a new campaign that launched in March. Dubbed “Add the M,” the campaign asks people to consider the way men’s sports are continually treated as the default by “adding the M” to the logos for the NBA, NHL, MLS and PGA, the four largest North American sports where there is a comparable women’s league.

“When men’s sports are treated as the default for all sport, women’s sports get left out of the conversation,” Canadian soccer player Christine Sinclair said when the campaign was launched. “It’s time to add the M to shift perception and create change.”

Adding the ‘M’ doesn’t just challenge gender norms. It can also makes sports coverage factually correct.

The idea for the YWCA campaign was sparked in September 2021 after Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo became the top international scorer in men’s soccer history by scoring his 110th goal. Despite the fact that Ronaldo broke the men’s scoring record – Sinclair has the overall record with 189 international goals – many organizations (including UEFA) failed to include the word “men’s” when describing Ronaldo’s achievement.

Even today, when you Google “top international goal scorer soccer,” the first result is Ronaldo:

Men’s sports being centered as the norm is a widespread issue and the omission of the “M” is even more problematic when the organization leaving the letter out is the same one