The @NHS_StudentSection Instagram Account and Sexism Within Needham High Sports

By Evie Lockwood-Mullaney

Published April 5, 2021

Despite not being “associated with Needham Public Schools,” it is undeniable that the @nhs_studentsection account on Instagram has made an impact on the high school community - but not necessarily in a positive way.

The account is student-run, and informs its followers about upcoming games for a variety of Needham High School sports, including football, basketball, and hockey. On the surface, the account seems to offer fairly equal representation for both boys and girls sports. However, with a closer look, it can be seen that posts for girls’ sports are only 5 of the 92 posts, with the rest updating the student body on boys’ sports. 2 of these 5 posts are for girls hockey, 2 are for basketball, and 1 is for volleyball. Additionally, all 3 of the posts from this year exclusively catalog boys’ sports.

To gain an initial feeling for people’s thoughts on the student section account, a poll was conducted on the @nhshilltopper Instagram account, the official account of the Needham High newspaper. The question posed was “do you think the @nhs_studentsection account is sexist?”

Out of 134 voters, 42% said “yes” and approximately 58% said “no.” The gender disparity between the voters presents another story. 80% of the male NHS students that voted said that the account was not sexist, whereas about 70% of current female students who voted believe the account does have a history of sexism. Although the latter vote is slightly more divided, the majority of females believe that the account is biased to some extent.

The lack of awareness males at NHS have toward sexism is largely unintentional, and is a reflection of the societal values that perpetuate a gender difference every day.

Casual sexism is a learned behavior, and unfortunately it manages to reveal itself often: here in a lack of hometown representation for female sports. It is up to the collective Needham High community to dismantle sexism when it appears- whether that means calling out friends for an insensitive joke, encouraging attendance at women’s games, or actively including female teams in the dialogue on athletics.

However, this alleged bias towards male sports extends past the Instagram account and the actions of students.

Maddy Foster, a three season athlete and a senior at Needham High, said that she thinks “most female athletes at the high school can relate to having to wait 30 minutes for a bus because the boys’ team got priority,” or “having to play a game on a grass field because the football team needs the turf to practice.”

A 2020 NHS graduate and 4 year member of the Needham Girls’ Volleyball Program, Daly Johnson, commented that she “was really upset with the lack of attention and excitement surrounding women’s sports in Needham High School as a whole. I can remember hearing about the girls’ lacrosse team going far in their tournament only after their season was over. Boys’ basketball and football would recruit large crowds, fan account posts, and local news attention for every game win or loss whereas a sport like women’s volleyball didn’t gain an NHS fan page shoutout until the state semifinal game after an undefeated season. It’s really disheartening to watch women’s sports work so hard and go much farther than male sports just to gain minimal recognition.”

While the difference in publicity may be unconscious, the negative impact it has on the psyche of female athletes is undeniable.

“Boys soccer often gets a lot more representation than girls soccer. I remember once this year girls and boys had a game on the same day and my friend was telling me she was nervous no one would go to the girls game because everyone would go to the boys,” said Christine Mittaz, a participant in the soccer, skiing, and track programs at the high school. She went on to comment that “it definitely can bring down team spirit when we are not appreciated or represented.”

This casual sexism in the media is not exclusive to the student section account. Although their numbers are slightly more equal, only 39 out of the 117 posts by the @needhamrockets account, the official account of Needham athletics, feature female athletes. Additionally, @theneedhamchannel, despite not usually posting about sports, posted 5 times consecutively regarding the football game. Meanwhile, successful female athletics programs at the high school, including field hockey and volleyball, have gone largely unrepresented. The page also consistently focuses on male-dominated Needham High sports.

It is undeniable that the town benefits from promoting sports such as football and boys basketball, as they are largely attended and provide a significant source of income for the town itself. However, presenting this difference as an entirely financial issue overlooks the broader theme of sexism in high level sports. This monetary gain from the attendance of male sports feeds into their increased publicity, creating a cycle of attention and fame for the programs. Female programs would reap equivalent benefits had they been subjected to the same sequence of dialogue, publicity, and fundraising. Instead, it is male sports that get the spotlight and are consequently regarded as more financially viable, leading to more representation. Less attended sports go through the same cycle, for example swimming or rugby, where they are given minimal media attention due to their lack of significant financial contribution to the town compared to sports such as football or basketball.

The issue of unequal treatment of female and male athletes was brought to the attention of a national audience recently, as photos illustrating the discrepancy between the weight rooms for the mens’ and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments went viral. Athletes spanning multiple genders and athletic fields condemned the asymmetry in the treatment of male and female athletes by the nationally acclaimed organization. This everyday sexism begins in high school athletics, and starts with unequal representation similar to that on the @nhs_studentsection account.

Foster also believes that the problem goes beyond what is posted on social media, remarking that almost “every female athlete at the high school has been told that their sport doesn’t matter or that their team is irrelevant, more often than not from the male athletes at the high school who are almost never held accountable for what they do or say.”

It is clear that significant changes must be made both on the account and in the Needham High School athletics system, as part of a larger effort to incorporate women into the dialogue on sports. Casual misogyny is often unintentional, so to combat it is an active choice made every single day by male athletes.

In regards to what changes she would like to see around representation for women's sports and how they are discussed, Foster said “I do think that changing the way male athletes talk about female athletics and the girls’ teams in general would have a big impact on the culture at Needham... I’ve seen it happen and it’s great when it happens, but there needs to be more of it and male athletes need to be held accountable when they say or do things that are blatantly sexist and misogynistic.”

Mittaz agrees, saying “I think there are many other things that need to change as well, including The Hometown Weekly and other news reports of high school sports.”

Speaking out against sexism, especially in the world of athletics, can be difficult for both male and female athletes. Nonetheless, it is a conversation that needs to be had daily, as well as a critical examination of how the media representation we see affects our perception of women’s sports versus men’s.

As a final takeaway, Foster concluded by saying “I think it’s really challenging to change the way people view high school sports especially when it’s so ingrained in people’s heads that the boys teams are better or more fun to watch, but I don’t think that supporting female athletes or girls’ sports teams in general needs to take away from how successful the men’s sports teams/athletes have been at the high school.” Equal representation is absolutely necessary for women’s sports programs to prosper at the highschool level and beyond.