Athletes aren’t the only ones who suffer from the major disparities: female sports reporters face unique and difficult challenges that their male counterparts don’t face, even when covering similar stories. Female reporters can end up dealing with regular harassment when covering teams and travelling across the country with them, not limited to phone calls, texts, and even physical advances. “Then there’s the female sports reporter based in a major market who has been asked out repeatedly by coaches, agents, and players of various sports. Once, an National Football League player told her it was cool she was married, because so was he. There was also the time a source offered to let her sleep in his hotel room during a championship game. Then …show more content…
Women covering the whole spectrum and levels of sports face similar challenges despite their best efforts. According to Matolli, “I am not saying you should never meet or talk with a source outside of the workplace...But you have got to constantly demonstrate that you are there to do a job.” The boundaries of professionalism are easily stretched. This too has led to court appearances. Players inappropriately contacting reporters after hours or making crude remarks during interviews, or after, about the reporter, show that there is still a long ways to go when it comes to sports reporting. This behavior isn’t limited to players or coaches; it can also be found on social media. Comment sections (while generally rough, no matter who is involved) on pieces published by women tend to degrade their opinion simply because of who wrote the articles. These women are also mocked on various social medias simply for having an opinion on simple things such as the Bears 3-4 defense or the Cubs starting line-up. Women face hatred in person and online because of who they are and the profession they have …show more content…
The first woman referee in the National Football League officiated her first game on April 2nd, 2015, after years of reffing at lower levels and working her way up. “I think her approach from the very beginning was that all she wants to be is known as an official, but she will always be a trailblazer." While her intention was not to make history, Sarah Thomas did just that when she officiated her first game nearly a year ago. In the NBA, there have only been three female referees, two of which are still active, with the third now in charge of the WNBA officials’
Women’s equality is an issue that has been around for awhile. While women have been given many rights to increase equality, including the right to vote and go to college, the problem hasn’t completely vanished. One area that still sees this is in sports. Women’s sports do not draw nearly as many fans and are not covered in the media as much as men’s sports, pay differences between male and female athletes are large, and female athletes have to wait longer to start their professional career than men, which risks their professional career before it even starts.
The article “Who Gets to Call the game?” by Doug Glanville covers a wide array of subjects with its overall message being on whether Jessica Mendoza or females in general especially those of color were given validity or even accepted by males to commentate on baseball games. Doug Glanville makes numerous points as to why women such as Jessica Mendoza do have the validity however they are not accepted by most men as Jessica could not start a sentence with “When I played for the Chicago Cubs...”, or how Jessica knows nothing and it would be like watching a game with a girlfriend who has no idea what was going on, women being given awards on baseball journalism, and how men who never played the game weren’t judged as harshly. A lot of men may feel that since Jessica mendoza or another female would not have much validity or be able to speak on a team’s actions whether during a game or off the field as she never played baseball and having no firsthand experience albeit the fact that she has numerous medals from the olympics in softball. Social media could most likely be responsible or at least contributing to the stigma that females don’t know what’s going on during a sports game or how the don’t understand how the game works. Glanville appears to be trying rather
Sexism has played its part in many different work environments for quite some time. It especially raises big conversation, and an ongoing problem in the sports industry. Not only does it affect the women who work in the industry, but also homosexuals, and minorities. For so long sexism has been a topic of discussion, but no real attempts at change have been made. If there was more protection for woman and players who work in sports, it could help to get women more involved in the field, establish rules that will protect people from sexism, and diminish some of the controversy between the two opposing sexes.
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.
For this report, I decided to write about the "#Me-too Shakes Sports Industry" article. In this article, it describes that the #MeToo movement is rising within the professional sports. Many organizations have stated that there is a "zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment" (Ourand, 2018). The reason that this movement is uprising would be because of social media and the news, which are interviewing victims of sexual harassment. How these organizations are dealing with the movement is by having internal groups speaking to Client Advisory Committees to understand and deal with the issues that are occurring. Sexual harassment policies are already intact within the organizations but many are stating that they must enforce the regulation. In
A very popular video trending on YouTube at the moment, '#MoreThanMean,' emphasises the nasty mix of aggression and harassment that women in sports 'face' online. The video consists of a group of men reading out the nasty derogatory tweets. To two prominent female sports reporters, Sarah Spain and Julie Dicaro. It intends to raise awareness around this sexist-based abuse, to shock the viewers and to hopefully eliminate the prevalent problem within our society. Women's sport reporters are objected to this abuse frankly because they are female. In the video the producers force the men to read out the 'mean' string of comments even though they are quite hesitant to do so. The males find it quite intricate to face the women while abusing their feelings and self confidence. The difficulty of the men underscores the simple but powerful truth. The messages some men send women are things they would be far too cowardly to say in real life.
Over 10 years ago and beyond, male football athletes were intolerant to female reporters and writers in the game. Some ask, “How is this going so well.” Jen replies saying, “I treat them as people as much as I do players, and I actually know what I am talking about”. Reports from the cardinals players say that she was a pleasure to have on the field. Now jen says, little girls can have the dream of becoming a coach in a sport they love.
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.
Sexism limits our country. In a world where sexism still exists, women face challenges every day as they choose to embark in athletic activities. Even with the efforts of Title IX, which was established in 1972, there is not equality in sports for men and women. Sexism is real with stereotypes and discrimination on the basis of sex. Even with the high level of success reached by numerous female athletes of many different sports, male athletes always seem to have the upper hand. Whether it is pay, media, support, gear, or playing grounds, one sex always has the better of the two. Male athletes dominate a field that truly is shared by both sexes. What if we treated male athletes the way we treat female athletes? That is a world hard to imagine, and honestly, it shouldn't be. Through female athletes sharing their stories of unfair treatment and pay, sexism and generations of inequality in sports can be overcome.
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.
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.
With the induction of broadcasting athletics, producers frequently gave female sports broadcasters specific words to say; consequently, women were strictly an attraction figure. However, the idea that women are sexual objects only, is an evolving idea. Co-hosted by Sarah Spain, Jane McManus, and Kate Fagan, The Trifecta began airing in January of 2016 on ESPNW (“All Female ‘Trifecta’” np). All three of these women held successful positions in sports media, and are now using their knowledge to familiarize sports fans on up-to-date sports news. In the same manner, these women are setting an example for future females, like myself, in this field. These strong, driven women who pushed through the obstacles of a man’s domain, are commendable. In my opinion, fighting through the “well, she’s a girl” witticism, is worthy of the uppermost
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.
During this century women have been able to break out of the traditional female mold. Women have broken the chains that bond them to the home and have emerged into all sorts of male dominated arenas, including sports. Women have become athletes in their own right. In the last ten years there has been validation for the female athlete. The WNBA was created giving women a professional league in a mainstream traditionally male sport for the first time since the All American Girls Professional Baseball League went out of existence in the 1950s. And recently a woman made the cut and participated on the professional golf circuit with the men. Today, we see women athletes in the media regularly. Women's college basketball is given airtime on weekends just as men's is.
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