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Portrayal of women in advertising
Women in professional sports essay
Women in professional sports essay
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Introduction Nike released a new film entitled “Voices” to celebrate women in sport on the 40th anniversary of Title IX. The short film features four personal stories of some amazing female athletes, spanning three generations. The women include Joan Benoit Samuelson (legendary distance runner), Lisa Leslie (four-time gold medalist and WNBA pioneer), Marlen Esparza (USA Boxing’s 6-time national champion and member of the USA Women’s Boxing team) and Diana Taurasi (two-time gold medalist, guard for Phoenix Mercury and former WNBA MVP). “Voices” reveals some of the challenges these incredible athletes faced on their journeys to greatness. The film celebrates the passion, commitment and strength of female athletes everywhere. Young girls are …show more content…
“Dad told me I couldn’t be a boxer, he said I was too small…There was a guy who tried to spit on me and then pushed me out of his way.” This ad uses language that is supposed to solicit both positive and negative reactions. The first few lines out of the mouths of these women capture your attention, it appeals to your emotions. The audience is supposed to feel upset or disappointed by these statements. The campaign serves the purpose to celebrate women and how far they have come. “I didn’t set out to dominate, I just did…Somebody has got to be the best. So why not me?” Further into the film these women and young girls convince you they aren’t allowing anyone to erase their dreams and tell them what girls can and cannot do. Athletes like the ones shown decided to make their own rules. The campaign was made to honor the anniversary of Title IX. The purpose of the message is to show these female athletes defied convention and the outcome should be one that informs you that it wasn’t done without struggle. The passing of Title IX in 1972 helped girls and women take great strides in participating in sports. It provided more opportunity to break the bounds of sports as a man’s domain. Even at a glance this advertisement is set up to catch your attention, it is visually appealing. The ad focuses directly on the women and young girls. There is no distance between the camera and the speakers, the audience is right …show more content…
From the very beginning, it poses the women athletes in opposition to the social dominance of men. “Girls just didn’t run in public.” “Nobody on my all boys team would pass to me.” “Dad told me I couldn’t be a boxer; he told me I was too small.” The commercial aims to reflect back on scenarios from a culturally shared history of sexism in the U.S. The commercial presents itself as personifying the value of gender equality. In setting a context of gender inequality and discrimination, Nike Voices shares values through an experience, a shared emotion, and a sense of community. There is a strong story being told here of how these women endured in each of their journeys to overcome the hurdles of discrimination and gain self-esteem, legitimization. Their narratives tell how they chose to ignore the social and historical norms society adopted. The campaign strategizes that by portraying both woman athletes and little girls. It attempts to engage viewers by showing them that at a young age these now successful athletes were told they were “too small…too passionate…” But chose to keep winning and never quit. The message of not to limit themselves because of someone else’s stereotypical assumptions and views about
The Dick’s Sporting Goods commercial was ranked number 9 in the most effective commericals. The commercial shows the different struggles that athletes in training face for the USA Olympics. The audience for this commercial is intended for both genders. Although the stereotype is that sports are usually for males, this commercial has a fair representation of both male and female athletes. Many of the female athletes shown are training in hard sports such as boxing and lifting weights. This commercial also included disabled male and female athletes which can also serve to be another audience. This commercial was promoting Dick’s Sporting Good athletic attire. The advertiser did not include an unequal representation of genders, also the commercial didn’t use gender stereotypes to please the audience.
Turn on ESPN, and there are many female sports reporters, and many reports on female athletes. Flip through Sports Illustrated, and female athletes are dotted throughout the magazine. Female athletes star in the commercials. Female athletes are on the cover of newspapers. Millions of books have been sold about hundreds of female athletes. However, this has not always been the case. The number of females playing sports nowadays compared to even twenty years ago is staggering, and the number just keeps rising. All the women athletes of today have people and events from past generations that inspired them, like Babe Didrikson Zaharias, the All-American Professional Girls Baseball League, Billie Jean King, and the 1999 United States Women’s World
...ennis, basketball, soccer, and martial arts—have come from the days of cheerleading and synchronized swimming when she was growing up in the ’70s.” Disparities in media coverage and over-sexualized female athletes on magazine covers is something that needs to come to an end because of its effects on both male and female viewers, young and old, athletes and non-athletes. Both female and male athletics influence young people and shape their personality and morals as they mature. Retired WNBA player, Lisa Leslie credits her participation in basketball with shaping her character, as well as her career. “Sports can also help teenagers during an awkward time in their development.” (“Women’s Athletics: A Battle For Respect”). The solution is to come together as a society and identify how to balance the respect for female and male athletes in the media.
The discrepancies in media coverage in coverage of female and children athletics have large gaps, but are gaining momentum in sharing equality. Major athletic leagues such as the NBA and FIFA World Cup have wide gaps in marketing and ratings for their male and female athletes. Children are future athletes and superstars, but as funding and coverage in athletics caters to the males, women are breaking the barriers to being in the spotlight of sport. Both genders contribute equally to athletics, and challenge the each other to accept new ideas and change. The sports world that has a single gender dominating the media is unjust.
In 1970 only 1 in 27 girls participated in high school sports, today that ratio is 1 in 3. Sports are a very important part of the American society. Within sports, heroes are made, goals are set and dreams are lived. The media makes all these things possible by creating publicity for the rising stars of today. Within society today, the media has downplayed the role of the woman within sports.
Diana is an excellent illustration of the many struggles of women to find a place for themselves in sports. On an individual level, defying societal stereotypes is extremely difficult. The buriers that the first person must overcome are often extreme. However once the first person breaks down those buriers, it becomes increasingly easier for others to follow in their footsteps. Diana's struggle demonstrates both how far women have come and how far women still have to go.
This technique is commonly broken into three categories: pathos, ethos, and logos. The multi-billion-dollar company, Nike, is one of many companies that utilizes these techniques to not only sell their products, but present their values and morals as an athletic company. Nike’s, “If you let me play,” ad is a perfect example of a print advertisement that encompasses all three persuasion techniques. The ad has emotional appeal, using pathos to evoke feelings of strength and positivity in young girls and their parents urging them to embrace sports and physical activities. Ethos is a fairly simple persuasive technique for Nike to utilize due to their overwhelming success and popularity. With such a large company, it is easy to establish unspoken credibility. In order to establish further credibility, there are statistics and claims based on logical reasoning that exemplify an advertisement using logos to help the target audience understand exactly what Nike is striving to communicate. Through capitalizing on these persuasive techniques, Nike not only successfully promoted their female athletic apparel, but also educated the public on the importance of empowering young girls and encouraging them to participate in sports and physical activities for the overall betterment of their lives mentally, physically, and
Gender inequality affected sporting activities among high school and colleges in America in the 1970s, to an extent that the female gender were marginalized and could not freely participate in games like athletics, basketball and hockey (Houser, 2013). There even existed one sporting body, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which over saw the sporting activities at this level. This body was reported to be in opposition of the female gender sporting activities. It was not until the year 1972, when the popular title IX, was passed into law. This title read that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” The core theme of title IX was to eliminate discrimination in the sporting sector and to promote the status of the female gender in the same field. This title is contained in the Education Amendment Act of the year 1972, and it was meant to fill the gaps present in the title VII, which was included in the Civil Rights applied into law in the year1964 (ibid). It after the emergence of this title that brought the motivation towards the implementation of equality in the sporting sector, an idea that was pushed for by the popular Lonnie Leotus “Lee” Morrison. This essay accounts for the efforts made by Morrison in effort towards achieving gender equality in sports at high school and college level.
Women sports have come a long way, since the days when women were only allowed to watch. “The past three decades have witnessed a steady growth in women's sports programs in America along with a remarkable increase in the number of women athletes (Daniel Frankl 2)” From an early age women were thought to be “Lady Like”; they are told not to get all sweaty and dirty. Over 200 years later since Maud Watson stepped on the tennis courts of Wimbledon (Sports Media digest 3); women now compete in all types and levels of sports from softball to National racing. Soccer fans saw Mia Hamm become the face of Women’s soccer around the world , Venus and Serena Williams are two of the most popular figures in tennis, and Indy car racing had their first woman racer, Danika Patrick. With all the fame generated by these women in their respective sports, they still don’t receive the same compensation as the men in their respective sports fields. Venus Williams, net worth is 60 million dollars; 27 million came from playing tennis (celebritynetworth 4). Her sister, Serena Williams has a tennis...
Professional women's sports haven't been around too long, although it does have an extensive history and root system. In 1865, Vasser became one of the first women colleges in the United States. Within the safe boundaries of campus and away from the curious eyes of men, w...
Hult, J. S. (1994). The story of women's athletics: Manipulating a dream 1890-1985. In D. M. Costa & S. R. Gurthrie (Eds.), Women and sport: Interdisciplinary perspectives (pp. 83-106). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Most people watch some form of sports, whether it be the Olympics or the highlights on ESPN. The NBA and NHL playoffs are underway and theyit seems to be the only news on ESPN. There is almost no coverage of the WNBA playoffs or any female athletics. Tennis isone of the only big sports on ESPN for women. While during the Olympics the coverage seems to be non-stop and close to equal. Women’s participation in sport is at an all-time high and has almost become equal with men’s, however,. sSports media does notfails to show this equality and skews the way we look at these athletes. Through the disciplines of sociology and gender studies, it can be seen that despite the many gains of women in sports since the enactment of Title IX, “traditional” notions of masculinity and femininity still dominate media coverage of males and females in sports, which is observed in Olympic programming and sports news broadcasts.
Nike's ad, "MAKE YOURSELF FIT," gives a strong central message that the female athlete is the only one who can take control of her life by getting fit. The bold, white, simple copy relays a message that excites the reader. The aggressive illustration motivates women to have confidence that they can get a body just like Sofia Boutella. The dominant design catches the female reader's eyes across the entire two page ad. Nike's message gives women the motivation and excitement that they need to accomplish their dream body by wearing Nike.
In some ways, women today face more pressure to be perfect than ever before in history. The feminine ideal of the past has been replaced by a new face — stronger and more independent, but under no less pressure to conform to society's expectations than her predecessors. Today's woman must be all that she was in the past, and more. In addition to being beautiful, feminine, and demure, she must also be physically fit and academically and socially successful. It is no longer appropriate for a woman to depend on anyone, for that would imply subordinance and inferiority. Instead, woman must fill all of these roles on her own. Although achieving independence is an important step for women, it brings added pressure. This is especially visible in films about women in sport. These women experience these pressures at an intense level. They are expected to be phenomenal athletes, and are not held to a lower standard than men. However, they must also be beautiful — if they are not, they face the possibility of discrimination. Added to this is the pressure that they are representative of the entire gender. Films about women in sports show the intense pressure on female athletes to fulfill all aspects of the ideal woman.
Whether its baseball, basketball, soccer, hockey, or tennis, sports is seen all over the world as a representation of one’s pride for their city, country, and even continent. Sports is something that is valued world-wide which has the ability to bring communities together and create different meanings, beliefs and practices between individuals. Although many people may perceive sports to have a significant meaning within our lives, it can also have the ability to separate people through gender inequalities which can also be represented negatively throughout the media. This essay will attempt to prove how gender is constructed in the sports culture while focusing on female athletes and their acceptance in today’s society.