Stereotypes Of Women In Sports Essay

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

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.

(2014). “You throw like a girl:” The effect of stereotype threat on women's athletic performance and gender stereotypes. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 15(1), 48-55.

Sport media is no different from any other profession. There is gender bias in this field. Due to sexism, it makes it hard for women to even enter into the career path they desire most. There are many factors when it comes to gender bias, especially in sport media. Women are at a disadvantage in the field of sport media. Before 1978, female reporters were not allowed to interview players in the locker room before and after games (Clapp). It was not until 1978, when a female reporter decided enough was enough. In 1978, Sports Illustrated reporter Melissa Ludtke sued the New York Yankees for banning her from entering the locker room to interview players during the 1977 World Series (Clapp). This case went to federal court and the judge decided that banning female reporters violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution (Clapp). The Equal Protection Clause demands that the states “must treat an individual in the same manner as others in similar conditions and circumstances” (LII Staff). Since women reporters were not allowed in locker rooms and men were, then this was a direct violation because women and male reporters were in the locker rooms for the same reasons. In the business of sport and as a sport manager, women being treated unfairly in sport media is something that needs to be addressed by fining and suspending those coaches, players and anybody involved with a sport organization who make sexist remarks toward women

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.

They receive a lower income and most television reports and programs will not have female athletes in them. This is real and the fact of the matter is the athletes have become use to this practice and behavior. They know that they are not treated fairly and sexism plays a huge role in sports. The athletes have come to accept that television channels and sports reports feel that women’s sports are a waste entirely and that they take time away from when they could be shoving male sports in your face. It is important to think about how this affects women. If everyone worked together to fix this problem, we could be rid of sexism in

When women decide to participate in sports traditionally for men such as bodybuilding, they risk the chance of being socially stereotyped as lesbians, or simply viewed as "less feminine" then say women figure skaters. For example, Venus Williams is seen as criticized for being very masculine in build and judged on that by her performance. The media has commented on how well she plays, and has compared her to men in her sport. She receives fewer endorsements than many other tennis players do because of her looks (but mainly due to her race).

The first solution would be a day promoting women in sports—a national Women in Sports Day per say. The day could be dedicated to bringing the issue of the underrepresentation of women to the public eye. Additionally, female sports do not get as much air time as male sports do. For example, a study done by USC and Purdue sociologists discovered that in 2009, men took up approximately 96% of sports news. Even the information scrolling along the bottom of the screen on ESPN is dedicated to only men's sports approximately 95% of the time (Ruffle 50). With that being said, television could show programs and women’s games to encourage fans to take interest in the many different successful female teams this country has to offer. However, this solution could backfire because, at the end of the day, ESPN and all of the other sports channels really do care about their ratings. If they showed a women’s soccer game over a huge NBA rivalry game, the ratings could dramatically drop. Nonetheless, female sports could receive the same amount of popularity as men’s sports if they are given the same chance.

These female athletes are all Olympians and compete at the higher level than college so even with their huge success college events still suffer attendance deficits. As a college athlete, myself, I’ve seen first hand the major difference in attendance to my sport than my counterparts. The difference can attributed to a number of things being gender stereotypes, male-dominated media or the generational curse of attracting less fans. One writer, Graham Hays, argues that fans don't want to see women engaging in “unfeminine” acts of pushing and elbowing. Sports that include these unfeminine acts include basketball and lacrosse. The media itself may have this same mindset, since womens games are aired far less than mens. For example, this past March Madness, one channel aired women's basketball tournament games compared to the four channels that aired mens games. Another reason for the difference could be fans find female sporting events to be less entertaining. According to Stacey Pressman, a woman and avid sports fan, women's basketball is just simply boring. She told the New York Times, “I’m bored out of my skull at women’s basketball games. I prefer a few women’s events, like tennis, but I refuse to be politically correct about basketball. I’m sorry, but 40 minutes of underhanded layups is not

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.

Women first started taking great strides in professional sports during World War II. When the male professional baseball players went off to war, a group of team owners started a professional league for woman (the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League). This league turned out to be successful. After the men came back from war, however the woman’s league could no longer sustain itself financially and had to shut down. Over the past twenty years, however there have been more and more professional women sports leagues opening and prospering. One such league is the WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association), while the league opened being financially backed by the male league (NBA) over its first five years it has become a financial success with high profits and good TV ratings on major and cable networks. Some woman’s leagues even become just as or ever more successful that there male counterparts. An example of such a league in the women’s professional tennis tour which lately has had better television ratings and draws more fans than its male counterpart. In 2001 for the first time, ever the woman’s Final at the US Open Tennis Championship (the tours most prestigious played in the United States) was broadcast on a major television network (NBC) in primetime (8pm). Media coverage of women's sports is considered important because it increases the level of

​ Correspondingly women are not getting the attention of the media due to the lack of media coverage. When someone puts on the tv and turn on a sports game its most likely going to be a mens sport. Even when women get their coverage the commentators who are commentating that event they 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 to their appearance rather than 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 were a lack of promotion of female athletes and the marketing of women’s sports. Those athletes were still only reconized by their physical appearance than their ability. The tone of these broadcasters was proved in a study that men events were the standard for the society rather than the women’s. They would list the event as other rather than womans then the sport. In the study that was conducted it states that the gender marketing showed that the woman sport was marked as other on an average of 27.5 times but it didn’t happen in mens sporting events. (Senne) There is still coverage of womens sports, but it rarely covered. The title IX project made a pie chart about the

In the last one hundred years women have made tremendous inroads in many facets of life. Of that there can be little doubt. Women may now hold jobs, own property and participate in professional sports. Today women can compete in sports, once a vestige of male domination; there is now room for women in that arena. But even today women in sports are not portrayed in the same light as their male counterparts. To a large degree this is because of today's cultural ideal of women.

Timothy Curry: I completely agree. It is a big problem that the media has so much control over spreading gender stereotypes, as the images and information they put out effects our perceptions of gender not only in sports, but also in every day life.

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