is this that yuri on ice people talk about

#hopefully this is not too overly general. i am not very familiar with much of men or women’s sports (op)

It is overly general, and to be honest while trying to have a conversation, hurtful. While you do see more out players at pro levels in women's sports (speaking primarily about American leagues) there is still vicious homophobia at the fan and player level.

I never played professionally, but I played softball through college and shit was nasty. I stayed in the closet longer than I might have otherwise because of the environment I experienced as a butch woman. Some girls were reacting against that perception of masculinity by brutally bullying other players who were gay or more masculine, because they wanted the sport and themselves perceived as feminine. A lot of "professionals" who interacted with teams like doctors, coaches, college promoters would try to gain points by talking about how THEY understood that "real girls" (ie heterosexual, non-masculine) played the sport. Never mind the blanket dismissals from baseball fans or the antagonism from people against women's leagues period.

When you're closeted every one of those jokes about how softball is full of gays feels like someone is peeling back your darkest secret and laughing at you specifically. They feel like they rob you of agency, of expression. I came out my last year of playing and was laughed at. People laughed in my face and told me everyone knew I was gay, I played softball. Other players were furious at me for "being a stereotype" and "making them look gay."

The idea that to have a story about subversion and combating fear and homophobia you have to have a "traditionally female" sport feels like that same old, bad joke. Ha ha, women's versions of "men's sports" are fully of gays. It's not surprising anymore.

Yes, there are out women in some of those major leagues. There is also still homophobia. There is targeted bullying and oppression at the feeder levels (lower levels that feed into the pros) that I can speak to personally. I don't imagine that magically goes away in the pros. And large chunks of the public still carry incredible vitirol against women playing said sports. There's plenty of public opinion to struggle against.

A few suggestions as to how to have the exact same dynamic in said "masculine" sports; Please imagine a woman who is closeted from her family, who has to endure taunts that she's gay simply because the sport she plays. Who doesn't know if people are cruel or can actually see some deep secret of hers. A woman who falls into a rivalry that feels more emotionally involved than her heterosexual relationship. A woman who faces the prospect of coming out with that rival turned lover and facing all of the jeers that she's exactly what everyone knew, some homo playing at being a "man".

tl;dr Just because there's some support for gay players in women's sports doesn't mean the massive, systemic homophobic vitirol doesn't exist between female players and against female players from fans or the wider public. If you want gay cheerleaders just say that, don't say women in other sports don't endure enough oppression for you to find it interesting.

we are gonna be vacuuming up this post for the next five years

Under my tired look, I was wearing a second, smaller tired look

Executives at networks and streamers should have ZERO say beyond "yes we will take this show/movie" or "no, we will not take this show/movie." That's it.