The Role Of A Serious Stereotypical Male Fan

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.

The premium network for pay-per-view sporting events, Home Box Office (HBO), has been the prime channel for sporting events yet not once have they aired a woman’s match ( van Ingen & Kovacs, 2012). The female sports that do receive the most coverage are the feminine sports and those females that do not adhere to those standards do not receive the same amount of attention (Krane, 2001). Women have found that they tend to receive more attention when they are being sexualized (van Ingen & Kovacs, 2012; Lindner, 2012; Krane et al, 2004). The female athletes were aware that their uniforms were perceived as sexy and thus garnered male attention.

As the nation’s gender inequality continues to diminish, things like sports stereotypes, and labour force conflict cannot be understood without understanding the term of identity. Identity work is explained by Schwalbe and Mason-Schrock in 1996 as “anything people do, individually or collectively, to give meaning to themselves or others” (as cited in Ezzell, 2009, p. 1). I propose to examine inequality based on gender identity and in depth the process of stereotype issues, - how people construct stereotypes in gender inequality in the context of sport- among women Rugby. The academic literatures are based on gender identity/ inequality, where it provides many examples of individuals deflecting the norms “by ... creat[ing] a unique identity as heterosexy-fit— simultaneously tough, heterosexual, and conventionally attractive” (Ezzell, 2009, p. 14). With the intention of deflecting/ creating an exception to these norms, it only creates greater issues as not only does society view them in a certain way, but also the player themselves. The overarching goal of the proposal is to address the social issue and understand why society to this date gives harsh views towards women’s rugby with a common stereotypical view. As an illustration the views were described by Ezzell (2009) who conducted a personal communication with some female rugby players who stated that other views them as: “scary, butch lesbians,” “she-males,” “he-shes,” “lesbian man-beasts,” and “butch,

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

Continuing to brain wash the young men today with the “sports is a mans world” mentality only helps to repeat the cycle of nearly oppressing women in the industry. It keeps men feeling secure when it comes to their masculinity, yet making a woman’s fight for respect a never ending struggle.

The NFL’s 2011 campaign followed suit by offering women who did not attend games a more complete NFL experience. “Homegating” as it was called, gave women links in the NFL website that led to a “Party Section” that had all the essentials for throwing a football themed party. Clearly, the NFL still did not see women as true fans since they related the campaign to traditional gender roles. For the women described in the campaign, football is nothing more than a chance for them to showcase their housewife skills. Even so, top executives from the NFL have dismissed women as purely social fans and relegated them to the kitchen, reinforcing gender positioning. Many of the women interviewed in a study by Anne Osborne and Danielle Coombs explained that they would rather watch games in the comfort of their own homes so that they can pay full attention to the game, not cook (Osborne and Coombs 2016). Despite the overarching themes of “homegating”, the NFL launched another campaign in 2013 that was dead set on

I observed the basketball championship game in McCarthy center and, while sporting events are mostly seen as a male-dominated activity, I saw more girls in the audience than boys. I, myself, got up at six in the morning to wait in line to get a spot to watch the game. This breaks the stereotype that girls are uninterested in sports. However, after the devastating loss, most people went back to their gendered stereotypes. I, along with the girls around me, were crying at the heartbreaking finale, while some boys in CM took to breaking things in the halls. This alines with the gender stereotypes that women are more emotional and men are more violent. While I do believe that we, as a society, are moving away from suffocating gendered stereotypes, there are some that we still preform subconsciously. The younger generations are moving forward with making gender non-conformity the new normal, however, we are far from ending the fight to break gendered

Within sport, as throughout society, gender differences exist. The socially constructed phenomenon of gender dictates a dichotomous system whereby females are feminine and males are masculine. Focusing on females specifically, society determines the feminine traits and roles ascribed to this gender. Being domesticated, slender, passive and heterosexual are a part of the desirable appearance that society has formed surrounding femininity (Wolf, 1991). On the other side of the dichotomy is the masculine realm that sport plays into. Sport is fuelled by muscle, power and aggressiveness, which are behaviours and images associated to masculinity. Sport therefore, defies all existing female gender ideals. It would be assumed that females have no place within this institution due to the gender clash. However, female athletes do exist, and many are very successful. For this to work, sport has established and reinforced the social constructions of gender that exist in society. Female athletes are viewed as inferior and are pushed into gender appropriate sports. Furthermore, they are often labeled as masculine until they can prove otherwise, and so great attempts are made to reassert femininity. The stigma associated to being masculine or homosexual for female athletes is so great that many have become irrationally fearful of this label. The sexualisation of the female body and overt displays of heterosexuality are used in

Within these recent years, women sports have taking a huge turn around even if the stats and numbers say otherwise. The fast uprising, influence and value of women sports fans has been one of the most distinctive changes in the sports marketing landscape in the last 40 years thanks to the Education Amendments and Title IX. We can see the impact of the second generation of young women growing up with much interest in sports, and female sporting celebrities who are closing the gap with their male counterparts. Many give the credit to this thanks to the US national soccer team. When they won the World Cup in 1991 the nation had no idea it had happened. In 1999 the team got to the final again and that game got millions of fans supporting there

Eden, K., Upright, P., & Hey, W. (2013). What women want: Marketing tactics for female sport fans and female sports teams. KAHPERD Journal, 50(2), 17-24.

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.

One of America’s favorite pastimes is (American) football. The bonding that football brings to families from all different backgrounds is truly amazing. Hollywood also has its own obsession with football. Hollywood tends to sensationalize the “masculine” aspects of the sport, even if the real life story is different. In this analysis, I will focus on the “real life” movies Remember the Titans, The Blind Side, and Rudy. Each of these movies tackle different issues that many men face. Each movie has examples of a certain type of masculine ideal, and how each character portrays their masculinity, women included.

Gender challenges in sports have been around for centuries. Male and female genders are treated differently in more than one way. The research I have gathered show the differences in all aspects of sports related business areas such as, ticket sales, facilities, price of tickets, media coverage, Sports Illustrated covers, and sports reporters. The purpose of this research is to bring attention the disparities that women follow in the business of sports. Women are stereotyped, discriminated against, and harassed in all aspects I have discussed. So my final thoughts on my research are that women will always be acknowledged for their beauty, body, and sex appeal. A woman’s knowledge of sports, athleticism, and love for the

From the time I was young, the other children who surrounded me were all boys. I had two brothers and four cousins who were males. Due to the fact that our family was very close, we spent a lot of time together. More weekends than I can remember were spent at my grandmother’s house as a family. As a result of my surroundings, I was not into the typical “girl” things. Some things that would be seen as appropriate for girls my age were dolls, makeup, and tea parties, however, I was more into sports. Football was one sport in particular, that I engaged in because of the boys in my family. Many might agree that football is all for the boys, but I was about to challenge that gender stereotype.

After transcribing my interviews and coding each of the interviews, I found four themes. These four themes can support that my hypothesis is true. The four major codes I found from the interviews were family influence, female sports fans preferring to attend games with other female sports fans, female fans being questioned by male fans, and female sports merchandise.