"Wales Women" and "England Women"

[Heratnumber7]

Pissed if at the casual sexism that means female rugby teams are called "Wales Women", "England Women" etc, but the male teams are caked "Wales" and "England".
It's not just those countries, they are just two examples.

Athletics has the men's relay, women's relay, men's breaststroke, women's breaststroke and other sports (tennis) are also less casually sexist.

Who do I address this complaint to?

The RFU of the country you're most upset by?

When I was playing, it was Scotland Ladies, England Ladies, the women bit is a step up.

Wales Women v England Women at Cardiff Arms Park. Followed by the Wales Men v England Men at the Principality. Almost too scared to watch.

I maybe missing something here but isn't it just the prominence and longevity of participation of the sex that has played it the most?
If you just said 'England Netball' team or England Roller-Derby team, you'd automatically assume they were women. To differentiate, you'd have to say
Say 'England Mens Netball' if you were referring to the men's team.
As you say, in athletics and tennis, (and many others) women have always been just as prominent participants so you always have to prefix with 'Mens' or 'Women's' to differentiate.

I maybe missing something here but isn't it just the prominence and longevity of participation of the sex that has played it the most?

Possibly, but that doesn't mean it's not sexism.

Having excluded women from playing a particular sport professionally does not justify continuing to treat the women playing that sport as an aberration.

Am I allowed to interject as a male?

It bugs the life out of me. It's the same with the cricket. It's as though the games aren't seen as important. From a cricket point of view, often the women's matches are far better.

I've written to the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) but can't get a reply. I don't want my daughter (a budding player) thinking the game she plays is second class.

Sorry if my comments aren't appropriate but it is something I feel strongly about.

Vestal. I don't know why women have only recently started playing some sports professionally. If they have been excluded then that's terrible.

But to get back to how the teams are described - part of the point of the description is to differentiate between the male and female version of the teams. In some examples where it's entrained in the national psyche you just don't need to specify male as the female version is so much less prominent. Eg If someone says FA cup final you know it's the men's not the women's.
If someone says Field Hockey Olympic gold medalist most people will assume it's a woman (one of whom is a friend of mine! 😊)
If it's the 100M final you need to know if it's mens or women's
If it's Netball you just assume it's women.
It's just whatever is most prominent at the time.
Now you can argue that women's soccer and rugby should be more prominent (I would certainly like that) but that's a different question.
On a slightly related point, is it sexist to assume a nurse will be female unless you ask for a MALE nurse?

Women have been playing rugby for 100 years!

Ffs does it REALLY matter?!

Why? Do you object to people chatting about it on a chat forum?

It's probably down to the men's team being the pinnacle of national representation. They represent the best players from that country.

At other levels, there are various disqualifiers that create different representative teams.

The U20 side is made up of the best players under 20.
The student side is made up of the best student players.
The women's side is made up of the best female players.
The amateur side is made of the best amateurs.
The national side is made up of the best players.

Perhaps in order to be entirely fair, international representation should be open to anyone. And any woman who is good enough should be allowed to represent her country at the highest level. But we would be a long time waiting for the first women who is able to compete at the same level as male players, let alone excel to the point of becoming an international.

England have never been England Ladies. Though Wasps still refer to themselves as a Ladies team.

And the point you've entirely missed is that men's sport doesn't have to inevitably be considered the pinnacle of national representation.