Last week on Instagram, I saw something that was meant to be an advertisement for a podcast and instead was further proof that we still have much work to do on gender equity.
Shannon Sharpe1 took to Instagram to advertise his 76th episode of Club Shay Shay - an interview with Kandi Burruss, an ultra-successful singer-songwriter and tv personality. Shannon bragged that Kandi is the first woman guest on his podcast.
I doubt the exclusion of women from Shannon’s show was intentional, but it’s disappointing that a popular show helmed by one of the most popular sports figures did not interview a woman for 2 years. Without question, Shannon has access to successful men and women. He called the men. He just didn’t call the women. That’s a failure on Shannon and his team.
And…it should be embarrassing for Shannon that he (1) realized Kandi was his first woman guest and (2) thought this was a POSITIVE thing deserving of recognition.
It doesn’t mean he’s a bad person, but it does mean that gender equity and inclusion might be his blindspot. And if a person with all of his resources (and a team) can have this blind spot, it’s easy to think of ways that a lack of gender equity infiltrate sports and entertainment.
Don’t believe me? Two examples off the top of my head:
In the latest season of the F1 docu-series Drive to Survive, women speak only 1.54% of the time. This equals six minutes and seven seconds out of a total runtime of over six and a half hours.
The 2022 College Sport Racial and Gender Report Card notes that only 14% of Division 1 Athletic Directors are women.
Shannon Sharpe is an NFL Hall of Famer and sports talk show host. He has a side project called Club Shay Shay. It’s a YouTube show/podcast on which Shannon interviews popular people from the world of sports and entertainment.