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Should media outlets show a more equal representation of women’s sports?
Statement of Social problem:
While we have seen obvious improvements in the numbers of young female athletes following the introduction of Title IX 30 years ago, we have yet to see such improvements concerning equality in the way women athletes are shown in the media and the amount of time they are shown competing in events. University of Minnesota professor of Kinesiology and Sports Studies, Mary Jo Kane says, while Title IX’s introduction has lead to the best of times, she says we also exist in the worst of times in regard to the coverage of women’s sports in respect to the amount of air-time women athletes receive and the way women athletes are portrayed as sex objects:
The mass media have become one of the most powerful institutional forces for shaping values and attitudes in modern culture. In a similar vein, many propose that when the media provide inequitable or stereotyped coverage of women’s athletics, stakeholders of the sports and the public receive the message that women’s sport is inconsequential or unimportant in some regard. ... As a result, some female athletes are going to new levels to earn money and receive media coverage. In recent years, we have seen Jenny Thompson and numerous other athletes pose semi- naked in Sports Illustrated, as well as the uproar that proceeded when Brandi Chastain ripped off her jersey revealing her Nike sports bra after icing the women’s World Cup soccer championships for U. ... However, now with female athletes having the equal opportunity, the powerful mass media is not following Title IX’s planned path and providing equality for female athletes in terms of media coverage. The media show limited percentages of women’s sports on television and in the print media. ...
Scope of Social Problem:
The issue of the disparity in the representation between male and female sports in the media and the exploitive portrayal of women athletes in the media has long been an issue of raging debate. It began well before Brandi Chastain ripped off her clothes after sealing the Women’s World Cup victory for the U. ... While women represent 40% of the participants in athletic events, they receive only 5% of the media news coverage according to the Sut Jhally directed video, Playing Unfair. Many experts feel this under representation of women’s sports in the media is leading to young girls in high school and middle school being driven away from wanting to be the next Marion Jones or Mia Hamm. With the introduction of Title IX, we have seen that the number of young girls competing in women’s sports grow at a tremendous rate. So in the eyes of many, the issue remains: When is the media going to catch up and offer a dream for young female athletes to aspire to by constantly showing female athletes as achievers through equal and non-sexually biased coverage?
While there is obvious disparity in the media time women athletes receive in comparison to male athletes, it is interesting to see what is shown at times when women do make it on the 12-hour daily SportsCenter show. ... Incidents like this where women’s sporting accomplishments are overrun by sexual appeal stories outrage many figures. ... Based upon empirical studies of print and electronic media coverage of female athletes, are generally under- represented compared to their male counterparts.” (Inwold)
A study conducted by Charles Inwold and published in Women in Sport Physical Activity Journal outlined the misrepresentation in the reporting of several women’s sports from the 1996 Olympic Games. ... In addition, the GA titled sports received 76% of total photographs competing compared to the minimal 23% used to show women competing in the GI titled sports. ...
The study concludes by saying that this shows that the media is more comfortable reporting on females in feminine roles especially in the male dominated journalism profession. “Sports sociologists have concluded that the media subtly reinforce and accentuate the traditional, socially constructed view of femininity by focusing most of their coverage on the female athletes competing in sports that emphasize aesthetic qualities.” (Inwold)
A study into the University of Kentucky sporting programs highlights the differences in salaries and endorsement between men’s and women’s sports. ... K athletic programs make, highlights the reasons why we see so much football and men’s basketball on our television screens and in the print media. ...
Title IX requires schools to give equal opportunity for men and women. ... Figures show that 67% of men watch sports regularly while only 37% of women watch sport regularly. ...
There are many examples in women’s sports in which we are often shown images of these athletes as feminine, sexual objects rather than successful athletes. Anna Kournikova is perhaps the most recognizable example of how it isn’t’ what a women can do on the field that matters but more so the way she looks. ... Yet she will continually be featured on television coverage and on show courts while more highly ranked and qualified female players are banished to outside courts and limited coverage through the media. ... What followed was a front cover appearance on Sports Illustrated, a large sponsorship deal including a line of sports bras with Nike and the endless stripping reference to Chastain’s name whenever she appears in the media. ... As University of Southern California professor Mike Messner determines, “For women to be featured in the media it has to be based on their sexual appeal quotient, not their athletic ability quotient. ... in Playing Unfair)
Many experts say, Sport Illustrated has become a soft porn portfolio showing women’s athletes bodies rather than focusing on their sporting achievements. ... Also, sports and the media are still thought of as a male dominated area. ...
History of Social Problem:
It is obvious great improvements have come since the 1896 Olympics as Baron Pierre De Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games stated,
Women have but one task, that of crowning the winner with garlands. It is indecent that the spectators should be exposed to the risk of seeing the body of a women being smashed before their very eyes. ... (Inwold 2003)
At the first modern Olympics in Athens, women were barred from competing and it wasn’t until four years later at the Paris 1900 Olympics that women were allowed to compete. In all, 19 women competed in three sports, tennis, croquet and golf.
Throughout history women have been subjected to inequality in comparison with men. Women received the right to vote in 1920, after 72 years of one of the biggest civil rights movements in history. ... ” (Legacy)
Congress passed Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, a government move to offer equal opportunities for women in college sports.
Approximate Word count = 5679
Approximate Pages = 22.7
(250 words per page double spaced)
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