Gender And Sports Media Analysis

Starting with how women are portrayed in media, Trolan (2013) states that in today’s society, individuals are shown magazines, newspapers, and television programs with articles and photographs, “of what it means to be a woman or man” (Trolan, 215). This is remarkably obvious when discussing the world of sport. Although women have achieved a somewhat higher level of respect in the everyday world, within the sporting world, “they are still viewed as women first and athletes second” (Trolan, 215). Krane, Choi, Baird, Aimar, and Kauer (2004) also articulate that women participating in sport live in two extremely separate cultures: the sporting culture and the culture in which they face the continual battle between being an athlete and being a woman. Being viewed as

Gender classification is a predominant topic within today’s sports and is most broadly understood through the portrayals of sports media. Through overt and covert ways, sports media has continued to promote a masculine representation of sports (Millington & Wilson, 2010; Messener, Duncan, & Jensen, 1993). By understanding the way in which sports media portrays sports, one can recognize how masculinity has dominated the world of sports. With the aid of two unique studies of sports media, this paper will critique the way in which media has effected the gendered depiction of sports.

While participation of women in sports has increased, the media representation of women in sports remains problematic. Even the most talented elite female athletes like Michelle Kwan and Monica Seles are portrayed in a sexual fashion, as a way of deemphasizing their athleticism and neutralizing any possible threat they might seem to pose to male viewers. Very few male athletes are portrayed in such an objectified manner; they are portrayed as competitors first and foremost, not as personalities. Also, the media coverage of athletes is disproportionately focused on male athletes. The coverage of female athletes tends to stress individualized female sports where women can be sexualized like tennis and figure skating, versus competitive team sports like basketball and soccer.

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

On television it may seem that women athletes are treated the same like the males, but there is more than just what we see. Women receive no encouragement to participate in sports, and neither are they receiving a sufficient amount of support or getting enough attention from the media. However, it is unfair when females participate in a particular sport and are referred to as the “sexy competition”

Before I conducted this media analysis about women in sports and sport broadcasting, I hypothesized the obvious - that more male sports would be in the media, and that there would be more male sports broadcasters as well. Through my observations I did find that the sports arena and sports broadcasting sphere are male dominated. However, I also found that although there are not many stories about women, there has been a steady progression and magazines like Sports Illustrated are becoming bold enough to highlight women athletes in a magazine that is targeted towards a male audience. Although women still have a long way to go, they are making some headway into the male-dominated sports arena.

According to Knight and Giuliano’s 2001 article, gender equality has been and will remain a current topic of hot discussion in the media and its portrayal of athletes. Athletes have a unique ability to deliver their thoughts and information to the masses through the media outlets given to them in regard to their social status. Once the media has heard what the athletes have to say it can be at the media’s hand for interpretation. In this specific study 92 undergraduates were given a fake newspaper that covered an Olympian with the main focus being on attractiveness. The study covered male and female athletes in the newspaper article while focusing predominantly on attractiveness. Results show that the readers not only disliked the attraction focus, but also preferred the reading be more focused on the athleticism of the Olympians. The largest take away from the study is the media and its coverage or portrayal of athletes being geared towards athletic achievement over quality of appearance

In the article “ Sure, These Women Are Winning Olympic Medals, but Are They Single?” Katie Rogers discusses the sexist gestures that are constantly made towards women competing in the Olympic Games. According to Rogers, men and women are treated very differently in the media. Men are praised for being the “fastest” or the “biggest”, while a women's athletic ability is overlooked in discussions about their marital status or age. While I do believe that sexism exists, I also believe that it can be easily misconstrued as something it is not.

When men engage in sports, it is seen and interpreted as an opportunity for them to exhibit dominance in the masculinity and as an expression of heterosexuality. When women have traditionally engaged in sports, it has caused commentators to question one’s heterosexuality, to question their femininity, and to almost ridicule the idea of women engaging in a traditionally male-dominated activity. This analysis focuses on media representations of men and women in sports, and the differences that exist in the way that these stories are covered. This exploration will feature Canadian-based media coverage as it pertains to women and men engaged in hockey.

With the rise of feminism, gender inequality has been quite the topic in todays time. With the wanting of equal rights and treatment it has been pointed out as per which all places males have the hegemonic overview and women are the oppressed; one of the areas where its unequal in gender is in sport. This paper will examine and break down the issues regarding sex and gender biases within sports in modern day media and how it can be resolved.

To deepen our understanding of the cultural values embedded in sports and to explore current values and power structures regarding men and women, it is necessary to investigate the effect that the media may possibly have in influencing beliefs

In the past five years, only one of the top ten most watched sporting events in the United States included women’s sports. The event was the olympics while every other event was a men's events, (“Top 10”). Similarly, “SportsCenter, ESPN’s flagship program, dedicated just 2% of its airtime to women’s sports in 2014”(“SportsCenter’s Shameful”). However, most people tune into watch men’s sports more often than women’s because they are more interesting and the provide more entertainment for the viewer. Nonetheless, the media should cover women’s sports proportionately to men’s sports because increased coverage will lead to increased funding for the companies, increased media coverage would change the perception of gender roles, and it would give

From the three network affiliates they studied, they found that 96.3 percent of the coverage was for men’s sports and women only received 1.6 percent (Messner and Cooky 4). When analyzing the coverage of Sports Center, which is arguably the most popular sports show on television, they found that women still only received just 1.4 percent of their coverage (4). This study also found that 100 percent of the Sports Center programs had a lead story that was about men’s sports (4). Even the most renowned and credible sports show, which only shows sports all year long, does not even provide women’s sports with equal attention. Even more shocking than this was that the study also revealed that reporters devoted more coverage to men’s sports that were out of season than they did women’s sports that were actually in season (4). This can be extremely disrespectful to female athletes when their sport is pushed aside and ignored so that a men’s sport that is not even being played can be covered by the media. These women put all their effort into performing their sport at the highest level, but their media attention gets replaced by men who are in their off-season.

Playing Sports provides entertainment for families, teaches leadership, discipline, and sportsmanship. Sports bring people together, establishes bonds, and also help with communication and physical skills. Almost every kind of physical sport is healthy because it involves running, jumping, stretching and coordination skills. In addition the effort, commitment, and participation provides important lessons for life. One problem with sports is equality. Women in athletics do not receive the same exposure in television as their male counterparts. This lack of exposure can inhibit the amount of opportunities women can receive from this exposure of television and print. The intent of this study is to understand the reasons why the major television networks are unwilling to televise female athletics to the same extent as they do the male athletes. The reason why is because sports are not for women, women sports are not interesting and women are only looked at, for physical appearance. Society perceives women as a negative cognate to sports using stereotypes to enforce the ideal sport body images, the ideal of a men’s sport, and to engage in gender segregation.

Similarly women are receiving less attention and media coverage than men. When someone puts on the television and turns on a sports game, it is most likely going to be a men’s sport. Even when females get their coverage, the commentators are usually talking about their body rather than their skill. In an article, “Examination of Gender Equality and Female Participation in Sport” by Joshua A. Senne, he talks about how women are referred by their appearance rather than their skill. During a study about the media, the commentators mostly talked about the women’s hair, make-up, and body figure, rather than their ability. This also occurred after the 1996 summer Olympics, where there was a lack of promotion for female athletes and the marketing of women’s sports. These athletes were also only recognized by their physical appearance instead of their ability. The tone of these broadcasters was proved in a study that men 's events were the standard in the society rather than the women’s. They would list the event as “other” rather than saying it is a women’s sport. In the study that was conducted, it states that the gender marketing showed that the woman sports were marked as “other” on an average of 27.5 times, but it 's never happened in the men’s sporting events (Senne). There is still coverage of women 's sports, but it rarely covered. The title IX project made a pie chart about the comparison of men’s and women’s sports media coverage on the show SportsCenter on