Gender+Equality+in+Sport


 * Name: Daniel Millward**
 * Student Number: 8324794**
 * Tutor: Sophie Miller**

=__Topic:__=

Discuss the relative air-play and TV/media time given to women’s sport and compare this to men’s sport. Give some critical insights about why there is a preference for men’s sport on TV. You will need to give an historical account of sport in order to discuss your conclusions about the way in which we view men’s sport today.

=__Artefact:__=

The cultural artefact I have located and chosen to represent my topic is an article by cultureshock205 (a group of five students at Syracuse University) who will be revealing and analysing the lack of appreciation and advertising of women's sports in the media while discovering the affects it has on sports audiences. The article provides a numerous amount of videos comparing women’s sport commercials with men’s. On the whole, the article is based around four issues within sports society.
 * Artefact (link): http://cultureshock205.wordpress.com/2011/07/01/9/ **
 * There are far fewer stories about women sports than men sports
 * Strong tendency to idolize men in sports
 * Tendency to support demining and traditional stereotypes of women
 * Relatively very few female reporters

= **__Public Health Issue:__** =

The public health issue addressed in the artefact is how women’s sport is being unfairly treated in the media which then results in low levels of interest in women towards sport. Women’s sport is trapped in a constant cycle of neglect, poor financial support, poor infrastructure and low levels of interest. The lack of women participating in sport is a major concern with 80% of people with osteoporosis (one of the main diseases associated with poor physical activity) being female (Women’s Health Issues Educational Fact sheet, 2000).

= **__Literature Review:__** =

 According to Weiller, Higgs and Martin the media supply information concerning events and people, as well as explanations of what is going on in the world. It provides entertainment for people and helps shape values, attitudes and beliefs. The media is a powerful force that can turn things upside down in a way that is subtle yet vigorous. Women’s sport is one of the many victims of the media. For decades women have had to deal with the media showing favouritism towards men. The quality and quantity of the exposure of women’s sport by the media is not a correct indication of the amount of sport played or watched by women (Media Coverage of Women in Sport, (n.d.). A study by the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) in 1996 highlights the media coverage of women’s sport in a two week period. Women received 2% of air time over the two weeks, compared with 56.2% for men’s (Phillips, 1997). The remainder of the percentage was made up by mixed sports. The low media profile of women’s sports influences women and sport in numerous ways. With the lack of media time, the Australian public goes unaware of the achievements made by women in sport, resulting in young girls not having role models, which is crucial for their development and maturity. It is vital for young women and girls to have sporting role models in Australia where the number of overweight women is well above 50 %( Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2011). According to Bruess (2003) being mentored can develop a sense of support, individual identity benefits, and increased collaborative ventures. He also notes that role models also receive benefits such as intellectual stimulation, new knowledge and insights, professional motivation and challenges to their beliefs.

The poor media coverage given to women's sport continues to enforce the long-held idea that the sporting arena is a masculine sports ground and that women are not as skilful nor as valuable in sport as their male counterparts (Woolage, 1994). Many if not all researchers have come to the conclusion that the percentage of women’s sport being showed in the media is considerably low. Evidence is everywhere with articles being published frequently, targeting gender equality in sport. Articles dating back to the seventies focus more on the women’s personal lives then their athletic abilities. What women wear and look like is seen as more significant than their achievements (Woolage, 1994). With poor media coverage follows poor financial support and prize money. In 1984, a triathlon held in Geelong had a prize of two return tickets to Hawaii for the male who won, the winning female received a bicycle. Many highly professional women athletes have pressed hard to increase the media attention and involvement of women’s sport, such as Liz Ellis, an Australian netball captain. Liz has called on the Federal Government to make available tax incentives to companies involved in women's sport to support better sponsorship and professionalism (Magnay, 2006).

According to Cunningham (2003) women not only receive less coverage than men, but when they do receive coverage, it is in a stereotypical manner. Women that are physically attractive have a much higher chance of getting media attention than those who aren’t as attractive. Good examples include Anna Kournikova and Natalie Gulbis, both high quality tennis and golf professionals respectively. Yet few would argue that they receive more media attention than they deserve. Many authors have established that women who partake in "sex appropriate" sports (e.g., gymnastics, figure skating) obtain better coverage than do female athletes in "sex-inappropriate" sports (e.g., body building, wrestling) Cunningham (2003).

 Cunningham notes that the unfair coverage of women's sport is related to financial considerations. However, according to Fraenkel & Wallen, (2000), the disparity in the quantity of coverage received between men's and women's sports could be attributed to social rather than economic matters. Either way, women’s sport continually finishes second place behind men’s sport which is due to many factors such as the short history of women’s sport. Men’s sport has gained numerous advantages such as familiarity with audiences, establish business models and experience all because of the long history of men’s sport. Poor financial support and infrastructure is also a major factor contributing to the appalling media attention given to women’s sport which then leads to low levels of interest in audiences. Or perhaps Fraenkel & Wallen were correct, maybe the explanation for women’s sport being so disadvantaged and neglected is for the sole reason of society not wanting anything to do with it.  Billy Jean King once quoted “Women’s sport is still in its infancy...” In our early years of childhood we always had someone or something to help us develop and get through the tough times, and in some way women’s sport can relate. It needs to be guided and given a push so it can expand into a more fully operational and successful obsession.

= __Cultural and Social Analysis: __ =

Most aspects of life in modern societies have an impact on the media and, reciprocally, are influenced by the media (Vincent, 2005). In the sports world, society has a tendency to acknowledge male sports more so then females (Equality in Women and Men Sports, 2011). Women's games are newer,hence the reason for them not getting the gratitude they deserve. However this is only a small factor contributing to women’s sport being so neglected by society and the media. Many research findings have concluded that the main issue contributing to the low media attention given to women’s sport is the lack of interest society has towards it. This response can be examined in two ways. Firstly you can look at it as a very intricate and broad answer which has numerous factors that underpin and contribute to societies views towards women’s sport, such as low media attention, poor funding, underprivileged infrastructure and being historically very young compared with men’s sport. However the alternative way to observe the lack of interest society has towards women’s sport is to eliminate all other factors and focus on society’s outlook based on instinct. Many authors have noted that the reason for women’s sport receiving very little media attention is because society does not want it. Audiences would rather hear about a losing men’s team than a winning women’s team. (Broderick, 2010). People have argued that very little is being done to aid women’s sport, but this is merely a myth. There have been major programs that have been conducted for the sole reason of promoting women’s sport, yet it does not seem to be effective. Perhaps if society were to see a woman compete with a man in a non-contact sport like golf or tennis, then their views towards women’s sport would be different. However, maybe there’s a reason that this does not occur often.

Many argue that women’s sport is in good shape and that nothing should be changed because the sporting world is as strong as it’s ever been. However the majority would agree that more needs to be done when it comes to women’s sport and the media. Poor media attention affects a sport's income raising capability and restricts awareness from broadcasters. Also the lack of revenue puts mainstream publicity (such as television spots) out of commercial reach (Women's Sport and the Media, n.d). This subsequently affects audience levels at games therefore poor media coverage transpires, consequently leaving girls and women without role models to encouragement them to participate in active healthy sports. Public health experts must be aware of the health issues which are caused by a lack of media attention in women’s sport. They need to focus on motivating and encouraging young girls and women to participate in physical activity for the reason that it will prevent chronic health problems such as heart disease, diabetes and obesity. According to many researchers, increasing media time and therefore increasing role models can result in girls and women participating in more physical activity. By targeting the health problem before it occurs, it not only assists the issue, it also prevents it. According to Payne, Reynolds, Brown & Fleming (2002) the media plays a large part in how a role model is perceived. This suggests that the lack of women role models in sport is largely caused by the media showing little or no interest towards women. In conclusion, the poor media time has been proven to have countless affects on society, in particular young girls and women.

= **__Artefact Analysis/ Learning Reflection__** =

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">My artefact represents the notion that women’s sport receives very little attention due to the lack of media support and recognition. It provides substantial pieces of evidence such as video commercials for each gender, showing that men’s commercials are far more motivating and appealing. Personally I believe that everything the article argued and discussed was of the highest quality and more importantly, it addressed my assignment topic thoroughly and provided an extremely credible conclusion. In my opinion, the piece of writing was extremely accurate and supplied videos that were very specific to the topic being addressed. They created a powerful and influential message and identified differences in gendered sports where written text could not. The videos were very helpful and useful for my understanding of the topic. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">After completing this assessment piece, my appreciation of the subject has increased dramatically. I always had somewhat of an understanding of the topic due to past assignments, however the artefact provided me with vital pieces of information that until now, was completely new to me. Despite this, my thought processes have not altered for the reason that I always knew women’s sport was being completely neglected by the media, although it never impacted me personally because I was happy with the media focusing more towards men.

= **__Reference List__** =

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Broderick, E. (2010). Women in sport hit the grass ceiling. //The Sydney Morning Herald//. Retrieved from: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/women-in-sport-hit-the-grass-ceiling-20100520-vnt7.html

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Cunningham, G. (2003). Media coverage of women's sport: //A new look at an old problem//. //The Physical educator//, 60 (2), p. 43. Retrieved from Queensland University of Technology Course Materials Database.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Equality in Women and Men Sports. (2011): //123helpme.com//. Retrieved from: http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=14086

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Magnay, J. (2006). Women deserve sporting chance. //The Sydney Morning Herald//. Retrieved from: http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/women-deserve-sporting-chance-ellis/2006/08/02/1154198205721.html

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Media Coverage of Women in Sport, (n.d.): //Info Sheet//. Retrieved from: http://www.dsr.nsw.gov.au/assets/pubs/industry/info_mediawomen.pdf

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Overweight and Obesity. (2011): //AIHW//. Retrieved from: http://www.aihw.gov.au/risk-factors-overweight-obesity/

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Vincent, J. (2005). Equitable Media Coverage of Female and Male Athletes: //Is there a solution//?. Sports Media. Retrieved from: http://www.sports-media.org/newpedimension8.htm

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Weiller, K. (2004). Gender Bias in the 1996 Olympic Games: Audience Perception and Effects: [1]. //Women in sport & physical activity journal//, 13 (1), p. 8. Retrieved from Queensland University of Technology Course Materials Database.

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">Women’s Health Issues Educational Fact sheet. (2000) : //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">Women’s sport foundation //. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Retrieved from: http://66.40.5.5/Content/Articles/Issues/Title-IX/A/Athletics-and-Physical-Activity--Womens-Health-Issues-Educational-Fact-Sheet.aspx

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Women's Sport and the Media.(n.d). //Australian Womensport & Recreation Association//. Retrieved from: http://www.australianwomensport.com.au/default.asp?PageID=36&n=Media

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Woolage, D. (1994). Women, media and sport. //Green Left//. Retrieved from: http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/8542

= **__Learning Engagement and reflection Task__** =


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Link: **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">http://healthculturesociety.wikispaces.com/Women%2C+Sport+and+Gender+Equality

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">**Comment:** The Artefact you chose to represent your topic was highly relevant and also very captivating. The image was what caught my attention and after reading your literature review and social analysis, I found that you had great examples to back up your topic, such as the tennis and golf professional athletes you suggested who few would argue receive more media attention then they deserve. You also provided a sufficient amount of credible resources which is crucial in this type of assessment. I Have a strong passion towards this topic and very much enjoyed reading your response. Best of luck with future studies.


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Link: **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">http://healthculturesociety.wikispaces.com/+Are+you+Sexy+Enough+for+Sport%3F


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Comment: **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I found the intro to be extremely interesting, you described the Artefact very well and provided interesting facts such as alpha magazine being the best selling men's magazine in Australian history. The explanation of your Artefact was very fascinating, suggesting further reading a must. I agree 100% with your view towards women sport and how they are treated differently by the media depending on the amount of sex appeal. There are many female athletes whose athletic abilities have been completely overwhelmed by their physical attractiveness. Something needs to be done because it is beginning to be the norm in society. Your response to your Artefact was extremely relevant and appealing. Good Job!!