© Catalina Fragoso | 2019 Jul 8
To say that Megan Rapinoe disagrees with Draymond Green’s recent take on how women are not taking enough action to bridge the wage gap in professional sports would be an understatement.
This all started when Green sent out a series of tweets on March 27, which were a bit of a mixed bag. He seemed to be arguing that those responsible for underpaying women are the same companies that often publicly make claims about women’s empowerment, and that the WNBA as a brand must grow in order for the earning potential of the players to grow as well. More controversially, Green went on to say that it’s on the players themselves to change the behavior of these companies and brands, and that they are not doing so. Green tagged a number of prominent female athletes in these tweets.
Green then doubled-down a few days later, saying he’s tired of seeing women complaining and not doing anything to help their cause.
"I'm really tired of seeing them complain about the lack of pay, b/c they're doing themselves a disservice by just complaining."
Today Draymond talked about his Tweets about women's sports that received criticism from athletes like @mPinoe & @Layshiac @kron4news #DubNation pic.twitter.com/7iUQ982jx9— Kylen Mills (@KylenMills) April 1, 2021
On Wednesday, Rapinoe, the most outspoken member of the United State’s Women’s Soccer Team and one of the leading voices in the equal pay movement, strongly responded to Green, claiming he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Here’s her quote in full:
“It’s really unfortunate, in the position [Green’s] in, having all of the resources that he has and the ability to have a much more educated opinion, that he just hasn’t,” said Rapinoe, who has been at the forefront of the USWNT’s quest for equal pay. “And then, drag all these other people into it by tagging them and speaking at a time when the [NCAA] tournament is going on and all that we saw with the lack of resources and funding.
“That’s frustrating that’s the take you have. You obviously showed your whole ass in not even understanding what we all talk about all the time — WNBA players and us on the national team. Like what Sue [Bird] said, you tagged the wrong people. You don’t think we asked for more money? I mean, what are we screaming about? Nonstop!
“We are getting obnoxious to ourselves, to be honest. And then two or three days later, to completely double down on it is really frustrating. We know all this, about all social movements and all people who are marginalized, whether it’s by race or gender, religion, sexuality, whatever it is, it is not just their job to be the ones fighting oppression. We need all of the other people as well. So to have someone who does know what it is like to be oppressed, in many ways, to heap that all back on female players, or people who play female sports, it is just really disappointing.”
Rapinoe’s wife, Sue Bird, also responded, saying that Green is calling for women to do the exact things they’ve been fighting for.
?? @Money23Green read ur “thread” (@Jack help! ?) The things ur saying are the EXACT things we’ve been fighting for. We don’t ask for NBA money, we point out the discrepancy to highlight the lack of investment & coverage. You got the problem right, you just tagged the wrong ppl https://t.co/H5wc706BfE
— Sue Bird (@S10Bird) March 29, 2021