Stereotypes In Sports

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.

Another large reason as to why female athletes are less-represented in sports are because of financial decisions. A. Large media outlets, like Sports Illustrated, are in business to turn a profit and will therefore want to focus on the several needs and demands of the customer base (Sagas et al., 2000). 1. ESPN for example almost never covers women’s sports even today with the exceptions of a few female athletes such as: a. Serena Williams female tennis phenom while in tournament play. b. Danica

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.

The purpose of this research is to bring attention to the lack of women’s sports coverage in the media and show how male sports have taken priority over women’s sports.

Throughout many years there has been a great change of gender roles of men and women in our society, and especially in the world of sports. Over the last couple years female athletes have really strived to gaining equal representation and media coverage as much as the male athletes do. Female athletes are also starting to participate in more male dominated sports such as, MMA, hockey and even golf. These few sports have been perceived as “manly sports” which usually makes women feel that they shouldn't participate because they're not masculine enough. Even though there are many female athletes who feel discouraged to playing “manly sports” there are also plenty of female athletes who are trying to show younger generations that it's okay to participate and compete in sports that aren't necessarily “feminine sports”. The way that gender roles have been affecting sports for a long time are through behaviors, stereotypes and the perception of male and female athletes.

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 my classmate Angelina, “young kids want to learn to learn to play the game.” According to my classmate Brianna, “ it's only boys on TV.” Without women’s sports less and less girls will be interested in sports. When it comes to sports women can beat the men. In a marathon the women’s times were five minutes faster. This proves that women’s sports on TV is another way to play the

Turn on a sports channel, odds are it is a male sport or the talking of men in sports playing. The odds that this is true is because according to the Washington Post, “in 2014, ‘SportsCenter’ dedicated just two percent of its highlight program to women’s sports” (Talbi). That would mean that they could go nearly an entire show and only mention women once. Women compared to men in their image of their respective sports is incredibly less. Women are shown as more of an attractive side while men are shown as more heroic or athletic. Studies have been taken showing how unfair women are shown in sports compared to men. How does the attractiveness and athleticism of women’s sports play a role in their sponsorships and media portrayal? Women’s attractiveness

We see that women do not have a participation rate that we have now. Competitive sport was really a male orientated event and women by society would support the men because of their 'lack of skill' or right to be up on the stage competing but now it has all changed women are encouraged to participate. With the increased participation of women comes the need to cover and record the achievements in daily news bulletins or broadcasts sadly still these broadcasts are still male orientated. What drives women to be as successful as they are is that some women are required to uphold a high media profile to attract sponsorship and coverage, Whereas the men are saved a spot in headlines and do not require a wining streak for media attention.

Through the movies viewed in this course this semester, we saw women who were able to play against men and still keep their femininity. Nothing is lost when playing sports not traditionally meant for a particular race or gender. Society must become more understanding when it comes to the sports different types of people play and hinder from stereotyping anyone when they participate and perform well in that sport.

Many male reporters for the ladies games, often indirectly make it seem less important compared to the men’s games. There is a difference in the way it is made, and the production of the

Sports become stereotyped as gender-neutral, feminine, or masculine based on conceptions regarding gender, gender differences, and beliefs about the appropriateness of participation due to gender (Colley et al., 1987; Csizma, Wittig, & Schurr, 1988; Koivula, 1995; Matteo, 1986). Sports labeled as feminine seem to be those that allow women participants to act in accordance with the stereotyped expectations of femininity (such as being graceful and nonagressive) and that provide for beauty and aesthetic pleasure (based on largely male standards). A sport is labeled as masculine if it involves the following: 1) attempts to physically overpower the opponent(s) by bodily contact; 2) a direct use of bodily force to a heavy object; 3) a

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.

The media has always promoted male athletes in sports more than female athletes. Whether it be social, commercial, movie, or television media, you will always expect to see the male athlete as the main hero. As we run through the history of sports and media we can find that the men took up the majority of the spotlight. When women do finally enter the sporting world they find the transition is hard and media proves it. Looking at sports today the media still portrays female athletes as less up to par than the male athletes. We hope for a positive change in the future, one that involves equality in the sports media world.

Sport has become a pivotal role for developing the news and entertainment media worldwide over the last two centuries. Sport media are one of the most widespread and formidable institution that become the crucial vehicles in the transmission of the social heritage of our society from age to age, which included television, radio, newspapers, books, films and journals. Sports audiences usually experience sports through different sport media as it plays a significant mission for transmitting the dominant cultural values. According to Betterton (1987), “the media contribute to the ways in which we come to know and understand gender relations. At the same time, through its many forms, it also creates and emphasizes images of gender difference”. Sport media perpetuate both gender difference and gender hierarchy, and they are contributed to present the hegemony of man in the larger social structure, men have dominated the sports coverage in the media rather than the participation of women,