Essay about Discrepancy in Media Coverage

Women in professional sports fits into the Sex and Power: Global Gender Inequality class because many female athletes have experienced the inequalities in a professional sports setting. Female athletes are being put down by gender inequalities, causing less females participating in athletic programs. Women athletes are being paid less than their male counterparts. Along with being paid less, female and males are receiving unequal benefits in the form of scholarship, media coverage, transportation, and stadium conditions. The professional sport’s world is filled with the obsession of body image and sexuality. Through this obsession, female athletes have been abused from the people they trust the most. There is an increasing inequality in women’s professional sports in the form of pay, sexuality, and abuse.

Peer pressure and self-esteem are two things girls are struggling with in today’s day and age, but female athletes encourage girls to get involved in sports in order to clear up some stresses they might be having. Female athletes promote confidence and strength which helps adolescent girls understand that these things are key to being a successful person in life. Experts state that by the age of 12, girls are 6 times more likely to drop out of playing sports than boys because girls do not receive as many positive reinforcements about their sports participation as boys. Female athletes can improve and change the behavior of the girls so that they will have confidence and feel like they want to

This article talked about the daunting unequal media coverage in sports of male sports teams in comparison to females.They researched the true differentiations of coverage between men and women sports. The actual percentage difference of coverage of male vs female sports discovered in their research truly is unfathomable. Men’s sports receive 96.3% of the airtime, women’s sports 1.6% and gender neutral topics were 2.1%. When you think back about twenty years ago and the coverage of media people tend to think that America is generally trending positively forward, however that is not the case for the coverage of women's athletics. It has actually gone down since then. Although on the scarce occasion that they are feature in the news, more often than not they are conveyed in the stereotypical way: as wives, girlfriends, or mothers. When media is highlighting these aspects instead of their talent, hard work or success it takes away from their image as an athlete and it demonstrating that it is acceptable to do so in society. However if male athlete achieved equal success and he was a father, that

It is also believed that female athletes become objectified in the media as an “attempt to limit female power, thereby reinforcing hegemonic masculinity” (Pederson,2002). Mass media and sports are one of the most commanding hegemonic social institutions and there is a strong link between athleticism and masculinity. It is due to this hegemonic masculinity that women, in many ways are considered inferior to men and treated as if they have no place of their own in sports, where only male power dominates.

In today’s world, men’s sports seem to always be in the spotlight while women’s sports do not draw much attention, as if women who play sports are not taken seriously. This happens on all levels of sports, and I have personally experienced it myself through basketball in high school. While the gym would be full for any of the boys’ games, our games had very little support with almost empty bleachers. When it comes to the professional level, when women’s sports do get covered by the media, most people judge female athletes more on their looks rather than their athletic skill, which is negative and unfair.

Women have been oppressed throughout the history of sports. There are many ways in which female athletes have been oppressed. Some examples are in the Olympics, in schools, in other countries, in the U.S, the comparison of male athletes to female and many more. Based on records, documentaries, articles, etc. of women’s sports, it is evident that female athletes are not treated equally to men by both sports organizations and the general public.

In sports there is huge gender inequality in the media with women athletes often only receiving attention for having good looks or the best body, rather than their athletic abilities. Men, however, don’t receive this attention and people only focus on their athletic prowess. This report will review and analyse two examples of how the media portrays different genders in accordance with the following question: “How does the media portray men and women in sport?

Little boys all over the world are raised with the idea that they have the potential to be astronauts, firemen and often professional athletes. Rarely do you find young girls who aspire to be professional athletes. Women’s sports are so vastly unpopular that from childhood, kids are taught the “Big Leagues” are for men. For young boys, mastering a sport can lead to fame, glory and wealth. While there are several famous female athletes, the reality is that there are several more famous male athletes. When I was a young girl, my parents did not encourage me to master a sport to make a career out of it, they encouraged me to play sports to stay fit, or “to have fun”. I did not grow wanting to be a rich and famous professional athlete because it was never a realistic option for

Both female cross country runners who I interviewed said they felt as if they were not receiving equal representation. One runner said, “Even though my male teammate and I finished first place in the same event, he received much more media coverage than I did for accomplishing the same feat.” The other runner said similar things have happened to her as well in her athletic career. When I asked this other runner how she felt about all of this she stated, “I feel lesser because of it. We should be treated as equals and we are not. It angers me that I cannot do much to change it”. Both women also said that even though they do not receive sexualized media attention, they do witness it going on with other female athletes. What we can takeaway from what these women said is that this is a firsthand example of how female athletes receive unequal attention from the media. They recognize that this makes them feel less as women and as athletes and it is because of things like this that the gender inequality within sport will

Sexism has grown over the ages of humanity women have gotten the equality and respect in the classroom, yet when it comes to sportswomen have gotten underestimated. Since, High school is where teenagers learn social skills and traits that they will carry for the rest of their lives, but with the increase of sexism in sports, teenagers will consider sexism the norm for their years after high school. School districts must find ways to help jumpstart more girl participation in high school sports. As a result, there should be more opportunities for young girls to play all sports to facilitate gender equality, self-expression, and empowerment of a younger generation.

In today's society the male figure dominate in most aspects, especially in sports. They receive a great amount of media attention, far greater than female athletes. Young kids grow up watching male sports being dominant which causes stereotypes around female and sports. While boys have something to look up to, young girls do not receive the same image.Feminist movements made enormous improvement on the status of female athletes since the early twentyth century. Before the feminists movements, female athletes had to manouver in poorer circumstances, different rules, and with stricter dress codes. Society has regularly segregated and disregarded female competitors, expressing that they were manly and gay person. Likewise, hindering ladies from taking an interest in games. After this issues were highlighted, society has attempted to invert these separations and improved open doors for female competitors to champion.

Lack of coverage and exposure on female sports has declined and is a reason there needs to be social change. Connection between academia and sport media can help to reform the female sports industry become more respected.

Since the media always broadcasts men playing various sports it explains why, women are not seen. Which is why their ratings do not appear and they struggle for viewers. I believe that gender equality in sport is non-existent and this is not fair. Young female athletes who put in the same amount of hard work and dedication as men, are not as justified since Women’s games are usually shown at non peak viewing times compared to men’s and this discrimination means that they do not have a following or access to true publicity. This year many viewers have witnessed some great women’s sports such as soccer. Australia’s summer sport broadcasted more women’s games, but where

Not only should media outlets cover male and female athletic events based on equality, there should also be equal coverage due to the fact that it is important for female athletes to be represented in the media. Withholding representation of female athletes from the main sports networks reinforces to young girls that sports are only for men and that they should take up a more “traditionally feminine” activity, when we should be encouraging young females play sports. Since male athletic events dominate sport media it is easy for young boys to grow up believing that they can be the next Michael Jordan of basketball, Wayne Gretzky of hockey, or the next Usain Bolt of sprinting. These images of strong, successful male athletes are so renowned in

Society today has more acceptance of women playing what were once considered male sports such as fencing and soccer . Sports once dominated by males, are available for women to play. Organisations and sporting groups are created to help promote equality in sports, encourage and support women in sport. The media play a large role in promoting women in sport. Despite all of these efforts, statistics still show that media coverage favours male athletes, and financial rewards, earnings and sponsorships through sport show a great inequality.