Several weeks ago, young Lakers’ basketball player D’Angelo Russell released a video on Twitter that shows his teammate, Nick Young, confessing to cheating on his fiancée, famous rapper Iggy Azalea. The sports world cared more about the “snitching” than the cheating. Provocative sports analyst Stephen A. Smith went so far as to say that “When it comes to women, you turn the other way.”

Somehow, people forgot that Nick Young cheated on his fiancée. Sports culture needs to start treating women with respect.

When American athletics developed in the late 19th century, this growth was in part a response to changing social roles. Women had been gaining power as people moved to cities and abandoned their family farms.

In response, men turned to sports like baseball and football to avoid the fears of sexual degeneracy and uncontrolled sexual desires that were connected with urban life. Todd Crosset investigated this social construct in his essay, “Masculinity, Sexuality and the Development of Early Modern Sports.”

“Sport and sex were seen as polar opposite activities affecting the character of young men,” Crosset said. “Strong, athletic boys were thought to be in control of their passions.”

And to some extent, it worked. Men took control of their physical bodies, bonded with their male teammates through the sacred kinship of a team, and excluded women. However, male athletes never came near mastering their sexual desires. Furthermore, despite the development of respectable female athletic programs, a fundamental sexism still persists in athletic culture.

In September 2014, Americans were horrified by the footage of Ray Rice, a star football player, knocking out his girlfriend in an elevator shaft. The important issue of domestic violence was brought into public discourse. While this increased public scrutiny is important, we need to go further.

It seems like male professional athletes cheat a lot (CNN pegged it between 80-90 percent in 2009), but a subsequent problem is that we act like it’s okay for them to do so. Many people portray the wives of pro-athletes as gold diggers who know, and at least subconsciously accept, that their husbands will cheat on them. On the other hand, the players themselves are seen as vulnerable victims of the tempting females that chase after them on the road.

This line of reasoning is eerily similar to blaming women for getting raped, which unfortunately is another problem that professional and collegiate athletics must address. News flash: Nobody ever wants to be cheated on and nobody ever wants to be raped.

From Ben Roethlisberger’s multiple allegations of sexual assault to rookie Jameis Winston’s allegations at Florida State, it’s hard to keep track of all the athletes that have been accused of rape. Many of these athletes are not necessarily guilty, and there are many problems with the way these cases are prosecuted in the criminal justice system. But nonetheless, there is a huge issue with how many athletes are publicly perceived.

Even when these allegations are true, the sports world cares more about the male athlete. For example, Mike Tyson was convicted of rape, returned to boxing after prison, and now holds a beloved position in the sports world. And does anybody even remember that Kobe Bryant settled a sexual assault case? No, because we too often just brush over it.

College campuses, professional sports leagues, and the general public need to take sexual assault allegations seriously. It is a crime that these big, macho athletes are committing, and it needs to be treated as such.

Sports influences young men all over the country. As boys grow up, they both watch and play sports. “The home-team” becomes all important, and they develop their identities after the star players on TV. But what if the star player has been accused of rape? Or what if the star player cheats on his wife?

No big deal.

These young men grow up devaluing women. I know it. I was one of them. We need to hold ourselves accountable.

I grew up playing sports, but specialized in hockey and now play at Wesleyan. For many years, I didn’t respect women. Many of my teammates cheated on their girlfriends, and we all made degrading sex jokes in the locker room. Only now that I’ve learned about the sexist origin of sports and developed a stable relationship, have I realized my mistakes and cruelty.

We need to stop putting athletes on pedestals that put them above the law. We must hold our athletes accountable for sexist behavior and slurs. Additionally, we should put an end to the prevalent attitudes that a young boy should not “hit like a girl.” The potential opportunities for ending sexism in sports are both abundant and within reach.

It is time for all of us to treat women with respect. Athletes and fans alike need to realize the terrible effects that sports culture can cause.

Marshall is a member of the class of 2019.