Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Media coverage of female athletes essay
Sexism in sports
Media coverage of female athletes essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Media coverage of female athletes essay
The Media’s Image of Women If social views impact how the media displays women sports and female athletes, then what exactly is being represented in the media? The media displays the social views of sexism through the images and commercials they produce. Associate professor of American studies, Dr. Cheryl Cooky noted in her research on the media coverage of women’s sports, that you are “more likely to see women in bikinis versus on the field” (Cooky, 2016). Dr. Cynthia Frisby, an associate professor of strategic communications at the University of Missouri, research on the media coverage of the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics supports Dr. Cooky’s statement, noting the “number of microaggressions” (of which includes sexual objectivation) “against
In recent years, sociologists, psychologists, and medical experts have gone to great lengths about the growing problem of body image. This literature review examines the sociological impact of media-induced body image on women, specifically women under the age of 18. Although most individuals make light of the ideal body image most will agree that today’s pop-culture is inherently hurting the youth by representing false images and unhealthy habits. The paper compares the media-induced ideal body image with significant role models of today’s youth and the surrounding historical icons of pop-culture while exploring various sociological perspectives surrounding this issue.
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. When the American people think of women in sports, they think of ice skating, field hockey and diving. People don’t recognize that women have the potential to play any sport that a Man can play, with equal skill, if not better.
During the last decade, women have experienced a significant advance in matters of equal rights. Their roles in society have diversified; challenging chauvinistic ideologies and perspectives. However, there are specific areas where male seem to have the predominant role and women are stuck. According to Michael Desbordes in the article “Endorsement by ‘Looks’”, American society has experienced positive changes regarding gender equality in sports, but women still face issues when it comes to sponsorships, because there are gender biases that negatively affect their image as professional athletes. Moreover, the factors that strongly influence sponsors to prefer men athletes over women have direct relationship with American society’s attitudes.
Today I’m going to talk about the Media and a women’s body image, and how the media could be harming you and your children. Have you ever read a magazine or watched TV and say wow I wish I look like her? The media sets out tons of images and videos of a way an average woman should look like when in reality what the media is showing is unrealistic goal to achieve. Whit the media showing off only one body image or what they would say “perfect,” body image they can cause serious problems mentally and physically in a women’s mind and body.
Gender bias in media is a problem with multiple different aspects. Statistics show that 40% of all athletes are women, but they receive just 4% of media coverage (The Statistics). Secondly, a recent analysis found that of 6,503 sports photos taken by national newspapers, only 78 were of females (Media Coverage). What are the reasons toward such uneven coverage? Females participating in athletics get more attention to their physical appearance than their actual ability to perform the sport. Athletes that are not considered appealing or attractive are commonly disregarded and forgotten by the media. In addition, female athlete’s are often compared to male athletes in their same sport, and ignored for their real ability because not as impressive as their male counterparts (Low Female). For years, women have not only been fighting equal treatment and coverage, but also discrimination and sexism. Media’s coverage of female athlete’s is a problem that can be solved by closer to equal coverage in the press, and more attention on actual ability than physical appearance.
Have you ever watched a Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) or even attended a women’s sporting event? What if you were an achieved athlete and you never received the media attention you deserve? Today’s sports media is clearly dominated by male athletes, consequently female athletes get minimal recognition in the media for their athletic achievements. The media plays a significant role in influencing our ideas, values, and attitudes toward specific subjects. In today’s media, female athletes are continually sexualized and objectified, whereas male athletes are shown to have strength and power; to correct this problem society can take many steps including empowering young girls to play sports and encouraging media to cover women’s sports more often.
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.
It wasn 't too long ago that woman began showing up on television, movies, and the media in general. For many years men were portrayed in the media more often than women because they “had a tough time gaining access to production, either as trained professionals or citizens” (Byerly & Ross 2). Men dominated both television and jobs within the media. They could be actors, directors, producers or writers. Men had many opportunities that women did not. They couldn’t get as many jobs as men but along the way they slowly began to gain more access into the media. They had the chance to become journalists, actresses and even directors. Slowly more jobs became available and today
The sexualizing of women athletes is a way to keep power in the hands of men. This is because by sexualizing and showing women as objects of desire they are showing that their worth is that of an object instead of a human being. A woman can be an extremely talented athlete but if she isn’t pretty then she won’t make nearly the same amount of money as a man. Dominant ideology is the idea that a “set of cultural beliefs and practices… help to maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests (Schaefer, 54).
National and local television networks stations usually broadcasts many hours of sport coverage each year to millions of viewer worldwide. However, it usually fails to cover women that have been engaged in the sports activities and this reflects the way women are treated in the society. Messner, (1992) asserts that women and girls are the majority of the population and most of them tend to love sports. Some scholars believe that because of the marginalization of women in the sport department the coverage of their sports is limited (Michael, Warren and Paul, 2003).
Portrayal of Women in the Media Gender is the psychological characteristics and social categories that are created by human culture. Gender is the concept that humans express their gender when they interact with one another. Messages about how a male or female is supposed to act come from many different places. Schools, parents, and friends can influence a person.
Women have been criticized when it comes to sports participation, sports is viewed as a dominant role for males and females should play a supportive role rather than participating in the actual field activities, this is just one of many reasons why inequality still exists. Sandys (2007) suggests that gender inequality in sports stems from the stereotypes that exist in society today. For example, stereotypes of women’s physical abilities and social roles are still very prominent today, and so women naturally feel inferior in the sports domain. If we stray away from the right track towards gender equality in sports and increased feelings of empowerment will only be reached if these stereotypes are eliminated (Sandys, 2007). Therefore, it could be argued that increased media coverage of women’s sports could be a possible solution, because it would serve to ed...
Men are seen with the overlying privilege for any sport that they play and are portrayed as “one up” from a woman in sports based on listeners and viewers. This bias puts many female athletes feel discouraged because they feel as if they do not have the same privilege in the sport they dedicated themselves to than men. In terms of media portraying the female athlete entitlement to their sport, they do everything, but speak to the athletic ability of female athletes. Diane Ponterotto a psychologist at the University of Rome states, “The sports media often convey the idea that female attractiveness and sexual desirability are more important than athletic ability. Commentaries highlight the female athletes’ sexual attributes, explicitly mentioning body shape and parts (legs, breasts, mouth), often with evocations of bedroom activities”(Ponterotto).
(Women's Sports Foundation) Even though there have been advancements in female athlete recognition in the media, the display of women athletes in the media, compared to male athletes or male(s) sports, is subjected to both objectification and invisibility. (Trolan, 219). This is something that will not change until male and female athletes are considered to be equal. Unfortunately, women athletes today are still considered to be lesser to male athletes.
Many believe that gender disproportionality is not prevalent in today’s society and therefore considered a thing of the past. However, in the sports media industry it can be argued that gender disproportionally still exists and is a universal problem. The issue of unbalanced of genders in media coverage, athlete profiles and sports advertising will be discussed within the framework of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and other research. This discussion has significances within the sport and recreation sector as continuing efforts are made to further the cause of gender equality. This essay will argue that gender inequity in the media is still prevalent today.