The Underrepresentation Of Female Athletes - 2748 Words

Underrepresentation of Female Athletes in Sports Television Coverage Abby Rice University of Missouri-Columbia Introduction ESPN commentator Michael Wilbon once described American soccer star Mia Hamm as â€Å"perhaps the most important athlete of the last fifteen years† (Zirin, 2007, p. 46). As a forward for the United States women’s national soccer team, she held the record for international goals, more than any other player, male or female, until 2013. After a pair of Olympic gold medals, two World Cup titles and a place in the National Soccer Hall of Fame, Hamm announced her retirement from the sport in 2004. As the curtain fell on Hamm’s legendary career, her retirement was met with a wall of silence from the media. Mia Hamm’s illustrious career slipped silently from the public’s radar with little pomp and circumstance. The media reaction, or lack thereof, toward Hamm’s retirement was not accidental. The sporting world has long been characterized by its inadequate coverage of female athletes. New York Times journalist Karen Crouse described this lack of coverage seen for female sports. Crouse said the modern day female athlete feels â€Å"as if she is the sum total of her physical assets—or invisible† (LaVoi, 2013, p. 40). While the number of women participating in high school, collegiate and professional sports has skyrocketed since the passage of Title IX, the coverage of female athletes has continued to pale in comparison to their male counterparts. InShow MoreRelatedUnrealistic Body Ideals And Eating Disorders Essay1313 Words   |  6 Pagesthese kinds of burgers if they want to achieve the unrealistic body type. However, this is typical for advertisement. No matter what the commercial is trying to advertise, sexually objected women can be used to sell it (Wood 242). Not only are the females portrayed stereotypically in this commercial but the stereotypical man is also depicted. The desirable image of men in general is shown â€Å"as strong, aggressive, and dominant† (Wood 243) and that is exactly how the men are depicted in this commercialRead MoreImproving the Perception of Female Athletes Essay example898 Words   |  4 Pagescredit or recognition for said passion predominantly because of your gender. Because of how the media perceives women in sports, female athletes receive a lot less attention than male competitors. The most appropriate steps to improve this issue would have to be to have a day dedicated to the appreciation of female athletes, increasing the pay of the female professional athletes, and constricting Title IX. To begin, women’s sports do not receive nearly as much credit or air time as men’s sports do. WhenRead MoreRepresentation of Athletes in the Media2358 Words   |  10 Pagesbeen an abundance literature on the subject of the representation of female athletes in the media, from television coverage and newspapers to magazines and websites. From ancient Greece where it was not allowed for women to partake in or even watch the Olympic Games and the power and independence of the Amazonian tribal warrior woman, to present day and the struggles with underrepresentation and misrepresentation of female athletes in sport media (George, Hartley, Paris, 2001; Creedon, 1994; BernsteinRead MoreThe Advancement Of Women s Sports964 Words   |  4 Pagesplay still plague many women who are trying to enter the field of competitive sports. These hindrances are unfair, prejudiced, and discriminatory. They cannot--and should not--continue. Perhaps the most notable inequality in sports is the underrepresentation of women in media. According to a study carried out by the U.N., the broadcast of women’s sports covers only 2% of all sports broadcasting, 1.4% in radio, and 6.8% in magazine publications (United Nations, 2000). Only one in fifty sports programsRead MoreWomen s Leadership Position Within The Sport Industry972 Words   |  4 Pagespeople are indifferent. Women have dealt with equality issues throughout history, but how do they compare in this day and age within a male dominated profession, like athletics? The purpose of this study is to look into what men and women think about females in team sport leadership positions, and why they feel that way. This study allowed the researchers to ask men and women already in the field of team sport leadership if there was still a lacking, how they feel about it, and what needs to be done forRead MoreAnalysis Of A Miniature Lit 1742 Words   |  7 Pagesa retired professor of sociology in sport at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, the dominant gender ideology that we the majority of society follows is centered upon three major beliefs. The first is that human beings are either male or female (Coakley, 2015). The second is that heterosexuality is the foundation for human reproduction and anything outside of heterosexuality is immoral or abnormal (Coakley, 2015). The last is that men are physically stronger and more rational than womenRead MoreMass Media Has A Significant Impact On Gender Roles And Gender Stereotypes1978 Words   |  8 Pagesexpectation that they be strong, brave, and confident. This causes an undue burden on the men that are unable to fulfill these gendered expectations. First, I want to explore the stereotype that, â€Å"women belong in the household, and that their role as females is limited to the house†. In class, we read and discussed Pat Mainari’s â€Å"The Politics of Housework†, in which she discusses her personal experience in trying to â€Å"equally† split up house chores with her husband. Mainari noted the highlights of thisRead MoreGender Labeling And Gender Stereotypes1551 Words   |  7 PagesBeliefs about the typical attributes of males and females are Gender Stereotypes (Deaux Kite, 1993). Gender labeling is frequently used in global broadcasting to boost characteristics of how a certain people; those in control of the broadcast- view gender roles and how they want society to view them also. Stereotyping is prevalent in popular television shows, music videos, the workforce and various other advertisement billboards in the U.S. It is difficult to oppose the stereotypical behavior thatRead MoreMedias Effect on Societys Perspectives Essay1910 Words   |  8 Pagesa misunderstanding or prejudice against certain people based solely off of what one views in the media. Similarly, the fourth sociological viewpoint, feminism, finds discomfort in the construction of reality issue as well, specifically the underrepresentation and misrepresentation of women. Stereotypical portrayals of women include the damsel in distress or the shallow-and-obsessed-with-appearance roles to name a few. Continually, womens sports, both professional and collegiate, receive littleRead MoreMedia s Influence On Society Essay2427 Words   |  10 Pagesplatform to display African American males in a negative way that influence the way others view and have attitudes towards them in society. These same negative attitudes often affect how black males view themselves. One main cause of this is the underrepresentation of African American males in the media. Black males are singled handled one of the lowest ethnic groups that are seen on television with a positive story. When watching mainstream television, there is an over exaggeration of content and an unfair