parity | trent alexander-arnold²

eighteen.

fragilities & strengths of the sexes

13/01/20

After the squad completed yet another training session, Trent found himself back in an empty house rather fatigued from the intense training. With the way Liverpool was carrying themselves throughout the season so far, their first PL title wasn't far from their grasps so every time the squad came into training, they were always pushing themselves over their physical limits, knowing their hard work will work out in their club's favour.

With his brothers out with their friends and Wynter out with Claire, the scouse decided to station himself at home seeing as he wasn't in the physical mood to venture Liverpool at the moment. Once he got changed into his attire for the evening, the scouse situated himself in his living room as he switched on the TV, the sports news sounding softly from the TV's speakers acting as background music while Trent scrolled through his phone to pass the time.

Though as soon as Wynter's voice echoed in the living room, Trent jumped in his seat only to place a hand over his heart when he realised that her voice sourced from the TV, the segment looking like an interview. Along with the regular interviews the french player had to take part in for football, it also came to the scouse Wynter had a sport docuseries (which she filmed after the Women's World Cup in Paris) where she explains the motions and hardships of her career, interviewers of all ages asking all sorts of questions—this episode's questions asked by young teenage girls.

Seeing as he hadn't watched the particular interview, he decided to discard his phone to the side and turned up the volume on the TV so he could listen to his girlfriend's advice and words given to young fans, including subtitles since the interviews were conducted in the french player's mother tongue.

"How do you, like, define your movement in football?" one of the girls asked.

Wynter tilted her head in thought. "I think depending on your perspective of my participation in men's football, some may believe that I'm trying to be one of the boys or and others may assume I'm trying to outdo men's athletic abilities in football and while there isn't anything wrong with the second reason, it's not my main point. Here's my main point—if women are given not equal pay, but equal opportunities and importance within football or any other sport in general, then the idea of gender inequality in sports wouldn't exist.

"Let's take me and Kylian Mbappé as an example – I played in the World Cup last year, just like he did. I got coverage during that particular tournament, the same amount he did and it's still the same for when we're playing for our clubs. I ended up receiving endorsements from sport companies just as he did. You guys see the pattern here?" In sync, the girls nodded.

"While he, I guess you could say, broke out during the World Cup, french football fans knew who he was beforehand because he played for Monaco and then PSG – France's favoured football club. My extent of fame due to football before the World Cup didn't match with his because unfortunately, women's football isn't given much attention by football executives, meaning football fans themselves have slim knowledge on individual female players.

"And so if female players aren't acknowledged by fans or if they aren't seen as some kind of figure within their league or whatever, then it's less likely that they're going to receive endorsements—all these factors together contribute to the conversation about equal pay though to tackle such a heavy topic, you have to look at the issues with equal opportunities.

"So I guess my movement within men's football is to show like hey if women are given fair opportunities which can include a variety of factors such as coverage, funding, simply being prioritised too by those higher up in the system then they can perform out on the pitch just like the men. 'Cause that's exactly what I'm being given now playing for Liverpool and France's NT and I believe it's safe to say that my stats align with those I play with and against."