Sexualisation+of+Female+Athletes+-+What+are+we+really+promoting?

Camille Bradley n7562489 Tutor: Colleen Niland



====The artefact I have chosen to analyse is a piece of clothing – the Australian women’s beach volleyball uniform, as seen in the above photograph. It is a green and yellow, skin-tight bikini. It is specified that the width of the bikini bottoms must not exceed six centimetres at the hips (Australian Sports Commission, 2000). Compare this with the men’s uniform – a baggy singlet, with baggy shorts which finish just above the knee. ====

====The public health issues associated with this artefact stem from the fact that women do not receive equal treatment on the sporting field. Sportsmen gain media viewers and popularity due to their perceived athleticism and strength. The uniform they wear is of little importance and does not play a role in gaining viewers. Sportswomen, on the other hand, are often displayed as sexual objects. Their uniforms are figure-hugging and flesh-exposing, used as a marketing strategy in a bid to gain media attention. And it’s working. This bikini uniform has seen women’s beach volleyball skyrocket to become the third most watched Olympic sport (Bastow, 2008).However, this attention is not due to their sporting prowess, but rather due to their sexual attractiveness. Focusing on an athlete’s physique in this way can cause embarrassment for the individual, compromised athletic performance and a decrease in sporting participation (Australian Sports Commission, 2000). It can also cause women to feel more self-conscious about their bodies, which can lead to lowered self-esteem, unhealthy eating habits and eating disorders (Australian Sports Commission, 2000). These are obviously huge public health issues that need to be addressed. ====

====In 2000, The Australian Sports Commission released an article titled “Sexploitation” – which outlined the major concerns of the rise in female athlete sexualisation. This report acknowledges that, even to this day, women struggle to gain consistent, long-term media coverage in sport. Currently, women’s sport makes up a mere 7% of total sport coverage in Australia, compared with the 86% of media time given to men’s sport (Australian Sports Commission, 2010). The world of sport is experiencing a gender hierarchy in which women’s sport is constantly degraded and taken less seriously than men’s sport. Sexploitation refers to the sexualisation of the female athlete, often at the expense of her sporting achievement (Australian Sports Commission, 2000). This can arise in the form of athletes posing provocatively or nude outside of the sporting scene, or simply through the use of unnecessarily skimpy uniforms, such as the artefact I have chosen – the Australian women’s beach volleyball team’s uniform. This uniform exists neither for comfort nor for functionality for the sportswomen (Australian Sports Commission, 2000). On the contrary, it exists for one sole purpose: to show off the female athletes bodies. This serves to place value only on the physical attractiveness of the athlete, trivialising her sporting accomplishments (Fink & Kensicki, 2009). The most concerning issue is the media attention is merely due to the sex appeal of the athlete, and rarely encourages promotion of the sport itself. ==== ====Promotion of women’s sport is important, since greater media attention leads to greater sponsorship opportunities, greater female sporting role models, and an increased appreciation and respect for women’s sport (Australian Sports Commission, 2000). However, the use of sportswomen to quite literally sell sex is having a negative impact on women’s sport, the sportswomen themselves, and particular groups of society. ==== ====In the past 10 or so years, researchers and theorists have had a lot to say concerning this very issue. One particular study by Daniels (2009) showed photos of sexualised and non-sexualised athletes from popular magazines to female high school and university students. They were asked to describe how they felt after viewing each image. Most young women reported negative feelings about their own appearances, and they were more likely to self-objectify. However, the opposite was true after viewing the non-sexualised female athletes. The subjects were more likely to report positive feelings after viewing these images. Therefore, it can be concluded that viewing idealised and sexualised images of sportswomen can have a negative effect on young girls self esteem, but viewing non-sexualised images encourages girls to consider their bodies in terms of what it is capable of doing, instead of how it looks (Daniels, 2009). Another interesting finding was that girls who self-objectify their bodies, actually performed worse in motor tasks, such as sport. This could suggest that woman that self-objectify and experience low self-esteem are less likely to participate in and enjoy the benefits of sport. ==== ====Another study done by Fink and Kensicki (2009) analysed the content found in the magazines //Sports Illustrated// and //Sports Illustrated for Women// to investigate how sportswomen are portrayed in the media. This particular study found that women continue to be underrepresented in the media, shown in non-sport related scenarios, and portrayed in stereotypical conceptions of femininity that undermine their athletic ability. This study goes on to mention that one reason for this sexualising of female athletes and presenting them in a non-sport setting (say, with a boyfriend or husband), is due to widespread homophobia within women’s sport. A male athlete’s sexuality is rarely questioned; however the female athlete faces constant scrutiny regarding her sexuality, due to sport often being associated with masculine values and traits. This focus on an athlete’s personal life serves to further trivialise their sporting accomplishments (Fink & Kensicki, 2009). ==== ====Some limitations that have been met with Daniels’ study (2009) include not measuring self-esteem before the study, so not fully being aware of how viewing the sexualised images of females impacts self esteem. Also, each individual has a differing opinion on what constitutes a ‘sexualised’ image, which may alter their perceptions of particular images. For the //Sports Illustrated// study (Fink & Kensicki, 2009), limitations include a relatively short sample period, which does not examine changes in the construction of femininity in the media over time. ====

====The obvious group that influences and is influenced by this issue is the Feminist movement. Feminists find sport to be a particularly interesting subject for analysing the complex relationships between gender and sport (Birrell, 2000). Liberal feminists are firm believers in removing barriers to girls and women’s participation in sport. They discuss several main themes that are common to the representation of women in sport, including the trivialisation of their accomplishments, the heterosexualisation of women athletes, the hidden discourse of homophobia, and the construction of female athletes as unnatural women (Birrell, 2000). They argue this representation of women, including the use of sexualised uniforms, is only driving women further away from sport (Birrell, 2000). ==== ====Research shows that we are more likely to compare ourselves with people of similar age and ethnicity to ourselves (Daniels, 2009). Since most women depicted in the media are young and from a westernised culture, the group most affected by this issue is young, Caucasian women. Comparing ourselves to others has negative impacts on self esteem, and makes women feel inadequate if they do not match the idealized version of feminine beauty. Currently, only one in five women are satisfied with their bodies (Better Health Channel, 2011), and the promotion of idealised female bodies in the media is a huge contributor to this (Better Health Channel, 2011). ==== ====Awareness of this issue is extremely important. It is crucial that we, as a society, question the representation of women in sport and consider whether it is fair and equitable. There is no denying the powerful influence the media holds over society and how it operates. By presenting female athletes in a sexualised and provocative manner and emphasising their body shape and physical attractiveness, it contributes to the current cultural tendency to sexualise women and girls at an increasingly younger age (Daniels, 2009). As discussed, placing such high value on physical attractiveness can have damaging effects on the self esteem of young girls (Daniels, 2009). Displaying women athletes in such a way as to trivialise their sporting achievements, exaggerate their failures and weaknesses, and judge them based on appearance alone, further amplifies the gender hierarchy in sport and discourages female sporting participation (Australian Sports Commission, 2000). A report by Cortis, Sawrikar and Muir (2007) shows that females consistently participate in sport less than males in Australia, with 31% of males participating in organised sport in 2004, compared with 23% of females. And the same report labelled “poor self-image” as one of the key factors in a lack of sporting participation. ==== ====Public Health experts should focus on continuing to improve the profile of women in sport. Women’s sport needs to be granted more air-time coverage during prime time television spots. Women’s uniforms need to be changed to be more on par with what men wear, to ensure the comfort of female players. Posing for photographs provocatively outside of the sport should be discouraged at all costs by the sporting organisation. Magazines and other forms of media should start representing women in strong, athletic poses and sporting settings, to present a positive and healthy message to young girls, and empower female viewers to focus on what their bodies can do, as opposed to how they look (Daniels, 2009). ====

====Throughout this assessment piece, I have learnt that you should never cease to question the potentially damaging images that the media portrays to us every day. I think my artefact perfectly illustrates the disparity between the representation of male and female athletes. With the specific measurement the bikini bottoms must not exceed, and the obvious differences in the amount of flesh on display, it could not be clearer that there is something more going on here than just being mindful of the players comfort. Personally, I was quite outraged upon finding and learning about my artefact. Female athletes train tirelessly to reach and maintain elite level in their chosen sport. They work just as hard as men, and should be commended and respected for their athletic achievements just as men are. The obvious sexism is both ridiculous and embarrassing for everyone concerned. There is a time and a place for men to drool over scantily-clad women, and on the sporting field is not it. The sexualisation of female athletes means female sport will continue to be taken less seriously than male sport. It may increase the viewer audience and popularity, but for all the wrong reasons. This is not how we want our female athletes and female sports to be remembered. ====

====Australian Sports Commission. (2000). Sexploitation. Retrieved from [] ====

====Australian Sports Commission. (2010). Towards a Level Playing Field: sport and gender in Australian media January 2008-July 2009. Retrieved from [] ====

====Bastow, C. (2008, August 19). Beach-fest: Volleyball’s uniform disparity strikes again [Web log post]. Retrieved from [] ====

====Better Health Channel. (2011). Body Image – Women. Retrieved from [] ====

====<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Birrell, S. (2000). Feminist Theories for Sport. In J. Coakley & E. Dunning (Eds.), //Handbook of Sports Studies// (pp. 61-71). London, UK: Sage. ====

==== <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Cortis, N., Sawrikar, P. & Muir, K. (2007, February). //Participation in sport and recreation by culturally and linguistically diverse women.// Paper presented at Social Policy Research Centre. Retrieved from <span class="apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">www. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">sprc <span class="apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">.unsw.edu.au/.../ <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Report <span class="apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">8_08_CALD_ <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Women <span class="apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">_in_ <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">sport <span class="apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">.pdf ====

====<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Daniels, E. (2009). Sex objects, athletes, and sexy athletes: How media representations of women athletes can impact adolescent girls and college women. //Journal of Adolescent Research, 24//(4), 399-422. doi: 10.1177/0743558409336748 ====

==== <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Fink, J. & Kensicki, L. (2009). An imperceptible difference: Visual and textual constructions of femininity in //Sports Illustrated// and //Sports Illustrated for Women//. //Mass Communication and Society, 5//(3), 317-339. doi: <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">10.1207/S15327825MCS0503_5 ====

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">REFLECTION TASK
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Posted on Kathryn Stanford's page: "I'll get two shots of the internet and alcohol please!"

==== Great work Kathryn! Excellent choice of artefact - it is unique, eye-catching and relevant to your topic. I found the statistics on how social networking correlates with an increase in binge drinking/recreational drug use/smoking fascinating! I never would have imagined that social media would have any influence on these behaviours. It’s terrifying really, considering nearly every young person I know uses some form of social media. I also found the research about alcohol consumption in movies very insightful. We really don’t realise what effect the media has on the choices we make! However, movies such as American Pie glorify binge drinking and make it seem so “cool”, no wonder so many teens want to do it as well. You also did a great job linking your social theory about reality and virtual reality to your topic. We are becoming increasingly detached from reality by spending so much time online, it will be very interesting to see the future implications of this! ====

Posted on Mark O'Grady's page: "Are You Hiring? An In-depth Analysis into Disability Employment through Generations X and Y."

Mark! Great choice of artefact. I admit it may have made me cry. It was extremely touching and eye-opening. I have known a little about the unemployment rate of those with disabilities, but not quite the extent of the problem, so I was very interested to read your analysis and see what research has actually been undertaken. It saddens me that, despite still having the appropriate qualifications, they still struggle getting jobs. The statistics are shocking – only 55% of school leavers with a disability gaining employment, compared with 81% of those without a disability. This is obviously not a case of skill or experience, but with society being extremely shallow and image-obsessed. The evidence of improvement is clear, let’s just hope we continue to make progress in this important issue.