Lioness Parris urges fans to stop comparing men's and women's football

England international Nikita Parris has told fans to stop comparing the men's and women’s games as Women's Euro 2022 gets under way.

Parris, 28, was an unused substitute as the Lionesses beat Austria 1-0 at Old Trafford on Wednesday night.

And with extra eyes on the women’s game as England hosts the Euros, the Liverpudlian has called for people to stop the comparisons and just enjoy the show.

Parris told the Reign with Josh Smith podcast: "I think the most frustrating part is how people directly compare the men’s and the women's game because men and women, historically, physically, emotionally, mentally are very different human beings.

"Men are built in a certain way that allows them to have more power, more physical presence than a woman has. 

"So for me, when you try and compare the men's game, and they say the women's game is much slower, that's a real frustration because people tend to always directly compare and never see the beauty in what the women's game does produce. 

"There’ll always be these direct comparisons to the women's game.

"Then there's the argument about the pay and how the women's game doesn't produce as much money as the men and that's true, we don't have the revenue that the men do, but our game is 50 years behind the men's. 

"So we need to allow it to have time to be able to develop. The depth and quality of players is so much more vast in the men's game than it is the women's."

Parris believes that young girls need to continue to be given the opportunity at a young age and the language surrounding football must change.

She added: "Ultimately from a young age, women are taught football is a man's game.

"That is one of the most frustrating elements for me as a football player, because my mum never said to me, ‘Nikita, you can't pick up a ball, you have to pick up a Barbie doll'.

"So we need to try and change the mindset, the culture, of how we raise our children to give them the best opportunity to be the best at what they can do, whether it’s football or netball or whether it is computers or even aesthetics nails! 

"To me, you’ve got to give your child the opportunity and open the horizon to be able to choose what avenue they want to go down. 

"Don't force them to be in a certain stereotypical way."

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