The Portrayal of Female Athletes Athletes in Film

The Portrayal of Female Athletes in Film

Images of women in sport, and the cultural ideals of women have moved somewhat synchronously through time. As notions of women's roles and perceptions of women change, so too did the portrayal of female athletes, and the acceptance of female athleticism into cultural norms. Likewise, as women began breaking the gender barriers in sport, the perceptions of women's roles changed and the change in portrayal and perception, led to increased acceptance of women as athletes.

In the documentary on women athletes, there were images of women who were strong competitors and driven athletes that were competing more with society's expectations and limitations on them as women, than they were with other competitors in their given fields. They faced images of women as weak, passive, and domesticated. These images led to the fallacies that riding a bicycle would damage women's reproductive systems, that it was unladylike to sweat, and that even something as non-competitive as pushing a baby carriage "freed women too much." It was these perceptions of the late Victorian era, and the early decades of the 20th century that prevented women from running great distances, and shrouded the athleticism and tenacity of a tennis match in the guise of a show of fashions.

The next movie in the series involved images of women with respect to cultural and familial expectations. In "Bend It like Beckham" the predominance of role expectations on the main character were derived from her family, and her mother's expectations of her as a daughter. She was constantly being told or called to cook, to prepare things for meals or events, or to go shopping, and to show more of a concern in female interests. In this fil...

... middle of paper ...

... to have a Black coach, and was able to integrate the team. This integration in turn led to the formation of value changing friendships, and ultimately to the overall increased acceptance of integration and altered views and racial perceptions. In this way, society's expectations influenced sport, which in turn influenced society.

Pertaining to images of women and women athletes, this same type of cyclical pattern of change occurred. As notions of women's roles and perceptions of women change, so too did the portrayal of female athletes, and the acceptance of female athleticism into cultural norms. There are still many barriers to break in society as well as in athletics, but we have come a lone way from worrying about damage to our reproductive organs, and as women keep challenging the gender barriers in sport, the perceptions of women's roles too shall change.