Being a woman in a male-dominated field is never going to be easy.
In the world of sports, we like to think female athletes, presenters or supporters are starting to be treated equally.
Unfortunately, BT Sport presenter Lynsey Hipgrave is proof that the problem of sexism is still all too real.
For anyone who’s not 100% sport literate, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez were at the centre of a controversial Barcelona penalty on Sunday.
Lynsey decided to voice her opinion on the matter, tweeting:
Think that Messi pen is so disrespectful more I see it. Just let Suarez take the pen if you want to be such a good team mate.
— Lynsey Hipgrave (@lynseyhipgrave1) February 15, 2016
No problem right?
She’s a woman with an interest, who watched the game and wanted her say. Just like most other commentators would.
Except, she’s a woman – so she was instead inundated with some pretty horrific trolling:
*Warning – These tweets contain offensive language and some readers may be offended
Haha honestly no one cares what you think cos you have a pair of tits https://t.co/MRFlA5ODSH
— MÖ (@SheikhItHaris) February 15, 2016
why do they let women watch football loooool football has never been about respect bitch https://t.co/zcb0jodxlm
— – (@kzke10) February 15, 2016
And ladies and gentlemen, this is why we don’t hire any females unless we need our dicks sucked or our food cooked. https://t.co/rqJm3wFnmb
— Forest Echo (@ForestEchoNews) February 15, 2016
Fuck off you fucking titbag we need sandwiches not opinions you slag https://t.co/VhIX8KDHXt
— #IniestaOUT (@juanalbert098) February 15, 2016
Rather than allowing these bullies to air their opinions in private, Lynsey started retweeting them into her timeline.
While some deleted their tweets or accounts, others actually received numerous retweets and favourites… which is seriously concerning.
Explaining why she chose to expose the trolls, Lynsey wrote:
Most people in football get a fair bit of trolling, I just decided to retweet a few! I’ll be on #EuropaLeague tom as usual. Thx4 all support
— Lynsey Hipgrave (@lynseyhipgrave1) February 17, 2016
Just a very small taster of what we have to put up with. The crime was being a woman and expressing an opinion. Still a long way to go
— Lynsey Hipgrave (@lynseyhipgrave1) February 15, 2016
