Sport is one of the great unifiers of the human race. In 2008 the world went to Beijing under the banner of "One World, One Dream". In 1992 Barcelona hoped that Olympic competitors would be "Friends Forever". Every four years since 1987 the leading rugby-playing nations have gathered with the promise of the "World in Union".

In sport, we are promised, we can come together in the spirit of competition and afterwards shake hands . Fans can unite behind a flag and cheer on their team and feel real fellowship.

And to an extent that's all true.

But it is also possible to argue that sport is where some great inequalities can be found. Sport celebrates those who are faster, stronger and better than others. Someone blessed with exceptional lung capacity or astonishing powers of recovery will succeed where others fail.

And it is also where the achievements of men are often lauded above those of women. Professional male athletes are paid more than their female counterparts and their championships and competition get vastly more coverage, attention and praise.

Of over 10,000 athletes competing at the London 2012 Olympic Games, 56 per cent were male - although the world's population is almost evenly split between the sexes. On an average day articles focusing on women's sports in the leading UK papers are rare or non-existent. On Tuesday 13 October, the day I started writing this, The Guardian's sports pages in the print edition featured no articles about women's sport. The Times had a profile of tennis player Johanna Konta (featuring a picture of her looking glamorous on a sofa) and a short article about the search for a coach for the English women's cricket team, who will probably be a man. The Telegraph online had, towards the bottom of a busy page, a story about tennis player Laura Robson and two links to older pieces about Konta and cyclist Lizzie Armitstead.

We are told that "the public" is not interested in women's sport, so sponsors won't spend money on it and journalists won't write about it. Look at the comments section of any article arguing for better representation of women's sport and many of the comments will say something along the lines of: "Well, women aren't as fast/strong/skilled as men and watching them race/play is just boring."

We are in a vicious cycle of a perception of lack of interest leading to lack of coverage, which leads to lack of profile, leading to lack of interest. And it's wrong.

This blog has been several months in the thinking. It began life one weekend in June when I was competing at Henley Women's Regatta. The women's football World Cup was on in Canada and yet the sports pages in the paper were still dominated by the usual male-focused fare. My friends - all strong, impressive athletes and women - persuaded me that as a journalist and a sportswoman I was well-placed to try and argue the case to change things.

My aim will be to try and highlight some of the areas where there is inequality and argue why we should fight to get rid of it. I want to look at the way the media represents female athletes and the sports they play. I want to profile some of the inspiring, astonishing women out there who are participating in sport purely for the love of it and some of those who are doing real things to make real change.

I believe passionately that it is vital that the profile of women's sport is raised, to create new role models for girls and to show them that being involved in sport is something which can enable them to go on to great things in whatever they do.