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Gender Stereotyping of Female Athletes

 
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jfox108



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PostPosted: 12/14/04 1:54 pm    ::: Gender Stereotyping of Female Athletes Reply Reply with quote

A friend of mine encouraged me to post this on the espn board, so I decided to share it with you all as well. It is my final paper for my Media Ethics class. If you want the paper, complete with references, email me and I'll get them to you. ~Julie

The number of American female athletes has increased tremendously since the passage of Title IX in 1972. In 1971, 1 in 27 girls participated in high school athletics, while in 1997 that number grew to 1 in 3 (Knight, 2001). In the past ten years, there have been professional opportunities for women in soccer, basketball and softball, as well as continued options in golf and tennis. Women’s team sports swept the gold medals in the 2004 Olympics. However, media coverage and portrayals of female athletes has not changed much over the years.
According to a study by Nathalie Koivula,
Mass media is a powerful factor which influences our beliefs, attitudes, and the values we have of ourselves and others as well as the world surrounding us. … Mass media is perhaps of even greater importance regarding sport because the overwhelming majority of spectators observe athletic events through mass media. … the experience of sport and the beliefs and values related to sport, are therefore mediated primarily through some special context, interpretation, and structure, typically by television and newspapers, each of which affects the nature of the experience. To study sport in media would increase our understanding of the cultural values embedded in sport, as well as the social structures and values based on and related to gender and perceived gender differences (Koivula, 1999, p. 1).
I think this is an ethical issue because it is a fairness issue. It is wrong to exploit women, or any group of people, based on sex. It disadvantages women and reinforces stereotypes. It doesn’t allow for positive role models for young girls. It is demeaning and degrading to women to be used as sex objects, whether it is in advertising or sports or anywhere else.
The philosopher Durkheim believed that society and morality are completely meshed with each other. (Leslie, 2004, p. 99) One could argue that society has long set the pattern of gender stereotypes and that the media simply portray a reflection of what society believes to be “right” when it comes to gender roles. There has been much more positive coverage of female athletes in gender-appropriate sports such as figure skating and gymnastics. Society seems to accept that, but does not want to think of women participating in sports that are usually male dominated, such as basketball, hockey or football. This is supported by the schema theory, which proposes that society has clear cognitive structures that provide them with expectations when processing information. Gender schema theory argues that men and women are socialized into believing that gender differences are significant and worth maintaining (Knight, 2001).
Abelard's philosophy is another that one may look at in support of how the media portrays female athletes. His belief is centered in the idea of intention (Leslie, 2004, p. 51). One may ask whether the media is purposely demeaning or trying to be unfair to women, or are they just reinforcing the accepted norms of society, that men are stronger than women and women should be more feminine?
If one looks at the idea of gender stereotyping from a deontological view, then I think it is easier to argue against it. Kant's categorical imperative implies that one should act on principles that one believes should become universal law (Leslie, 2004, p. 81). What if gender stereotyping continued in all areas of life? It is difficult for me to believe that women could have made the advancements they did in careers, education and politics without gender stereotypes changing during the course of the years. If this type of stereotyping of women is not acceptable elsewhere in society, then I think it should not be acceptable from the media with female athletes.
Bacon's philosophy states that “ethical behavior, guided by reason, should bring the passions under control” (Leslie, 2004, p. 56). When women are portrayed in a sexual manner by the media, the passions are not under control. Women should be portrayed and acknowledged for their accomplishments rather than for their gender.
I believe that gender stereotyping is degrading for women who participate in sports. I also find it unfair that there are not positive female athlete role models for young girls. I have a daughter in high school who is an athlete and from my experience and exposure to women and sports, mainly college basketball and the WNBA, it seems like the focus is on women being women, rather than their accomplishments in sports, or they are portrayed as lesbians. In either case, it is gender stereotyping and it hurts women.
There are three areas of concern to me. The first is the lack of media coverage given to female sporting events and athletes. While the number of girls participating in sports has increased dramatically over the past 30 years, the media coverage has not increased. Studies by researchers Margaret Carlisle Duncan and Michael Messner of TV sports coverage in LA indicate that women only received nine percent of the airtime, while male athletes got 88 percent On ESPN’s Sports Center, the airtime percentage for stories about women’s sports is a mere two percent (Media Coverage of Women and Women's Issues). A study of covers of Sports Illustrated from 1957 to 1989, supported the claim that female athletes are under-represented in the media and that when they do appear in sports news, they are usually in stereotypical roles, appearing more often in non-active sports roles (Salwen and Wood, 1994). This study found that the largest percentage of female athletes appeared on the covers during the 1950s (14.3 percent). This percentage dropped to four percent in the 1960s and 1970s and increased to 6.6 percent in the 1980s (Salwen and Wood, 1994). In 1996, women were on the cover of Sports Illustrated only four of 53 times, including the swimsuit edition (Knight, 2001).
It is interesting to note that media coverage of women's sports tends to feature individual rather than team sports. Scholars note that this is due to the fact that team sports are generally perceived as masculine (Shugart, 2003, p. 3).
Secondly, the language used when reporting on women’s sports is different from that used to report on men’s. Research by Duncan found that commentators, 97 percent of whom are men, use different language when they talk about female athletes.

Where men are described as “big,” “strong,” “brilliant,” “gutsy” and “aggressive,” women are more often referred to as “weary,” 'fatigued,” “frustrated,” “panicked,” “vulnerable” and “choking.” Commentators are also twice as likely to call men by their last names only, and three times as likely to call women by their first names only. Duncan argues that this “reduces female athletes to the role of children, while giving adult status to male athletes.” (Media Coverage of Women and Women's Issues).

Billings, Halone and Denham (2002) cite studies that exemplify the differences in language used by broadcast commentators. A 1994 study by Halbert and Latimer examined an exhibition tennis match between Martina Navratilova and Jimmy Connors.

They found egregious instances of (a) naming practices (e.g., Navratilova was called “Martina,” whereas Connors was referred to as “Connors”) and (b) gender marking (Navratilova was usually qualified as the “best in women's tennis,” whereas Connors was considered the “best in tennis”) throughout the broadcast. The ratio of commentary praise to commentary criticism was overwhelmingly distinct by gender. For example, Navratilova was criticized more often than she was praised (29 praises: 41 criticisms), whereas Connors was praised more than four times as often as he was criticized (70 praises: 16 criticisms) (Billings, Halone and Denham , 2002, p. 297-298).

Female athletes are more likely to be discussed in their roles outside of their sport: their marital status, their children, their parents, and other hobbies or “talents” they have. Women may be participating in record numbers and succeeding in sports, but “these women are routinely shown off court, out of uniform and in highly sexualized posed,” said Mary Jo Kane, director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport, at the University of Minnesota (Crank Holste, 2000).
That is my final complaint about the ethical effects of gender stereotyping by the media: the reinforcement of the gender notion that women are submissive and unequal to men. Kane identified categories of images that undermine female athletes. One such category is when women athletes are shown out of their sports context, such as golfer Donna Andrews in an evening gown holding an umbrella. Or Olympic figure skaters on the cover of People magazine with the headline, “Ice Beauties!”--but no picture of them skating. In another category Kane calls “wives and mothers,” prominent athletes are shown glamorously made-up or holding a baby. The message, Kane said, is that they are connected with men and are not lesbians (Crank Holste, 2000, p. 2).
There are several other examples of gender stereotyping. In the 1988 Olympics, Florence Joyner gained notoriety mainly because of her glamorous nails, hair and make up and her fashion sense, rather than her accomplishments on the track. Her colleague, Jackie Joyner Kersey, won gold medals in the heptathlon, but did not receive the same media exposure. Flo Jo was considered feminine while Kersey was stereotyped as masculine and butchy.
Chris Everet was one of the great tennis stars of the 1970s and 80s and when she retired in 1989, she graced the cover of Sports Illustrated with the headline “I’m going to be a full-time wife.” No mention of any of her tennis accomplishments. As Salwen and Wood observed, Everet epitomized the conservative family era of the 1980s, with her photo being “from the waist up with her tennis racket slung over her shoulder and her wedding ring prominently displayed.” (Salwen and Wood, 1994, p. 5).
Anna Kournikova has not won a single tennis match, but yet has crossed over into the world of glamour and sex, appearing on the cover of many non-sporting magazines and becoming eye candy for men.
Brandi Chastain gained fame in the 1999 World Cup soccer tournament for ripping her jersey off after winning. The major news story seemed to be her in her black Nike bra, rather than the U.S. women winning the world cup. Chastain went on to pose nude with strategically placed soccer balls for Gear magazine. Helene Shugart wrote about the success of the U.S. Soccer team players such as Chastain and Mia Hamm. After the 1999 infamous photo of Chastain, she was described as “America’s newest pin-up girl” by People Weekly (Shugart, 2003, p. 9).
Fox sports landed well-respected news show host Greta Van Susteren from CNN in 2002. However, they not only made her over, they had her have plastic surgery to make her face appear younger and more beautiful. They placed her behind a table, so viewers could see her short skirt and legs. Sociologist Robin Gerber noted that this surgery symbolizes what many analysts have argued for decades: that the way a woman looks is far more important that what she has to say (Media Coverage of Women and Women's Issues).
In her study published in 1999, Nathalie Koivula concludes that previous research gender stereotyping

has not only shown the dissimilar and unequal ways in which men and women athletes have been pictured, but also considered the possible consequences this may have on (1) social construction of gender and gender difference, (2) the stratification of society by gender, and (3) strengthening of the myth of female passivity and frailty. Another them involves how the sport and media interaction presents traditional expectations of femininity and masculinity, including the perspective that there exist masculine sports appropriate only for men (e.g., football, ice hockey, soccer) and more feminine sports appropriate or exclusive to women (e.g., figure skating, gymnastic, synchronized swimming) (Koivula, 1999, p. 2).

According to Knight, women today have a great deal of personal encouragement and opportunities to participate in sports, yet media coverage of women’s sports lags behind men’s coverage both in quantity and quality. She states that the media should be aware of the “effects of trivializing and marginalizing coverage and of the fact that this type of coverage may not be ‘what the public wants’ after all. Hopefully, with a sustained and diligent commitment from the media, sport will be viewed as an unconditionally acceptable and beneficial activity for women.” (Knight, 2001, p. Cool.
I believe the media is the primary socialization agent for young people today and I think they should use this power to have a more positive influence on young girls. If they have the power to reinforce gender stereotypes, then they also have the power to change society’s perception of female athletes. Women’s equality, or at least fairness, is expected in other aspects of society, and sports should be no exception.


Queenie



Joined: 18 Nov 2004
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PostPosted: 12/14/04 2:03 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

Hey, I like muchly. I remember doing a similar paper, except the course was an intro to women's studies, and the thrust was about power between the sexes. But I remember reading the Duncan-Messner studies and being horrified.

(although I must admit, I've usually taken the different systems of nomenclature as a sign of the difference between men's sports and women's sports; there's far more distance between an NBAer and the average person than there is between a WNBAer and the average person, and so the men go by their last names as a sign of that formality while there's a greater intimacy to the women's game)

I'm curious to see what references you used, 'cause to me that's recreational reading material. </sports geek>



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CamrnCrz1974



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PostPosted: 12/14/04 2:14 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

JFox, email me at CamrnCrz1974@aol.com

I would like a copy!


pilight



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PostPosted: 12/14/04 5:48 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

I posted some thoughts here:

http://members.cox.net/pilight/



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