Running+Like+Girls+(Assignment+3+-+Maryann+Lu)


 * Name: ** Maryann Lu
 * Student Number: ** n7567944
 * Tutor: ** Jacinda Wilson

Running like A Girls-  How equitable is the playing field when it comes to women in sports?

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 * Cultural Artefact :  **
 * // Nike Commercial - Men vs Women Challenge by xNikeCR7x //**

media type="youtube" key="Cs3JlQ4r3G4" width="425" height="350"

This particular artefact is a YouTube clip released by an international sportswear company, Nike. The company made this commercial clip as part of their campaign to get people “running” using their new sporting device that works as a pedometer and tracks the amount of km each person runs as well as other physical data. However the clip shows a position where a woman is about to go for a run as she checks her computer and looks at a Nike webpage revealing a tally of amount of km both the men and women have racked up. Looking over her shoulder to her sleeping boyfriend she shakes her head in disagreement and clicks a link to the Nike running challenge for men and women. The lip shows an uncanny notion of the fact that men are better than women when it comes to sports, or so it seems to the girl in the clip. Although the clip does not provide any concept of undermining women but of how women can be easily judged as the weaker sex in most minority sports.


 * Public Health Issue: **

The way in which television covers, or fails to cover, women engaged in athletics will always affect the way in which female athletes are perceived which also tells us something about the status of women in our society. When it comes sports, women have certainly made a consistent and significant contribution towards Australian sporting fields at all levels. However, their sporting achievements as a whole receive very limited coverage by the mass media. The media coverage is generally inadequate and gender selective. There are certain myths in regards to women and sports, about how it is supposedly believed that women are not as skilled in sports when it comes to men, due to their lack of muscle strength as well as other contributing factors that are involved. Still up until this time, the female body was merely regarded as a weaker, less efficient form of the male body.


 * Literature Review: **

Regardless of gender preferences in our sports, the accomplishments of both our male and female athletes have always reached extraordinary levels, reaching high expectations. During the Beijing Olympics, up to 45% of the Australian team were made up of women athletes and winning more than half of our gold medals. But unfortunately, the achievements of sports women are still often cast invisible. In 1996, the Australian Sports Commission carried out a survey of the media coverage regarding women’s sport over a short period of two weeks. The results of the study showed on account of women’s sports reveals that only just 2% of total sports broadcastings is on television, 1.4% is on radio and 10.7 % of total sports reporting in newspapers. With the low media profile of women’s sports affects women and sport in several ways; the Australian public is unaware of women’s sporting events and women’s achievements in sports, there are few widely known positive role models for women and girls, and more or less the fact that women and sports who have low media profiles do not gain many sporting sponsors. When it comes to sports viewers, 47% of the viewers are women, whilst 67.6% of viewers are men. However only 10% of women are satisfied with existing sporting programs. In general, women do outnumber men in the general population and therefore make up a larger proportion of the media market. It is also known that women are also the biggest viewers of commercial television.

The participation of women in the sporting field at all levels is marked by the division and discrimination reinforced by the negative gender stereotypes. The strict gender segregation marks all levels of sport and elite professional sports will always remain the unquestioned domain of men. Gender stereotypes tend to infiltrate all levels of sport, which are created and reinforced through different ways that men and women are able – or even, permitted to participate in sport. This then creates a profound power imbalance that lies at the heart of all forms of discrimination against women. The underlying hegemonic message is that athleticism and femininity are contradictory and that female athletes must balance their athletic prowess with femininity to be socially accepted (Krane, 2001).

At the risk of stating the obvious, there are significant anatomical and physiological differences between men and women that greatly affect the ability of the respective sexes to perform athletic feats. Men are stronger, bigger and quicker than women. For this reason, women will never be able to compete against men in elite sports where success is largely dependent on size, strength or speed.

There is a stigmatism as to why a majority of sports viewers and audiences both male and female prefer watching men play in sports in comparison to watching women play; it is said that men who play with a certain aggressiveness, not only shows the power and masculinity of the athlete, but also how dominating the sport may be. Aggression and violence amongst men is depicted as exciting and rewarding behavior. Viewers are continually immersed in images, media articles and sports news that highlight and commentary that praises athletes who most successfully employ physical, aggressive play as well as toughness. When comparing all these aggressive and violent characteristic of a male athlete towards a female athlete, it would be considered imbalanced from the stereotypical female characteristic of being feminine and all that femininity entails. When watching female athletes playing feminine sports such as gymnastics or tennis, they would play or compete with graceful feminine attributes compared to male sports that contain more of a rougher effect. But watching females who play in male orientated sports and playing with a vulgar and aggressive attitude would be considered as a gender imbalance and stepping out of the stereotype of femininity.

According to most researchers of women’s sport, they have assumed that either implicitly or explicitly the practice of treating women’s as a lesser importance than that of men’s sport would affect the general societal perceptions of women and hinders the development of women’s sport. However, with both of these assumptions continue to remain largely untested. However, women’s sport has indeed grown in many important ways during this past decade despite the amount of quantity and quality of media coverage.

Researchers are constantly analyzing the content and quantity of media coverage on women’s sport for well over a decade. With pioneering studies dating back in the 1980s have provided a baseline data against which we can measure the growth of the media’s promotion of women’s sport. Ten years ago, there was very little coverage shown in the media of women’s sporting events whilst news coverage was rare and the coverage of that did exist would often demean female athletes. However, the situation today is very much different compared to the past in many respects. Nowadays, women’s sport is broadcasted with regular occasions, yet the number of men’s sporting broadcastings still remains far higher. Regardless of these small changes, there are more blatant problems of language have diminished with a number of publications that are entirely devoted exclusively to women’s sport. One of the most significant changes occurring in women’s sporting has happened through the Internet. With the amount of coverage in traditional media outlets, still however remains a serious problem.

In many cases, different sports are segregated by gender; the amount of sports that is considered “feminine” or “masculine” really involves the amount of ferocity contained in each play. Because of this, the sporting society is so heavily instituted in this ideology that when genders were to cross over, for example, women to play professional AFL or rugby, ethical issues come into the equation regarding women’s strength and persistence over men’s and whether it would be concerning issue on the playing field. There is no exact group that is affected, however depended on the gender, age, as well as the cultural background, it would seem fit that most adolescent boys and girls would be highly affected by this issue. An example of a gender imbalanced sporting field is soccer. With growing population spanning from the European forefront of soccer, both boys and girls are now beginning to follow; yet with the elite professional teams in soccer, only male soccer teams are the only teams that receive higher ratings in media covering and international recognition. Yet the popularity of cross gender sports is still on the rise with population with in adolescents.
 * Cultural & Theory Analysis: **

It is highly important to raise awareness of this issue. We are living an the 21st century where there is still high forms of gender inequality, both in the media especially in sporting broadcast where this is a significantly higher percentage of male orientated sports media coverage over women’s. it is without a doubt that issues are yet to resolved, however should more people become aware of the situation, the faster the process of resolving the ongoing issue of inequality in professional sports. Should we intend on raising awareness, it will allow the importance of guaranteeing a safe and healthy environment for women involved in sport.

In order to allow equality in sport to occur, precise action must be taking in for gender mainstreaming with the diffusion of this positive information will only be efficient if the media invest themselves and accept the idea of quality women’s sport; the participation of women in sport must also pass by the guarantee of a safe and healthy environment where all kinds of harassment, violence, and controls will be banned; support to research within the field of women’s sport; and lastly the feminization of ruling bodies proves to be a main element for a policy leading to stronger diversity within the sport movement. The introduction of quotas in view to assuring the participation of women in ruling bodies appears as an efficient way to eradicate this discrimination.

= Learning Reflections: =

In reference to the YouTube clip of the Nike Men Vs. Women running challenge, I believe that it represents how women are yet to reach the same view as men receive when it comes to sports. The task that faces men and women is to learn to accept each other’s differences. Therefore the clip reveals how women can challenge men in the same arena and are still capable of challenging the other sex. It reflects that even though it is the 21st century, women still need to constantly prove that they have the capability to play on the same level as men do, and being so, a Nike add, it allows women to possibly say to themselves, ‘Just do it’, just do it to prove that there is no stronger gender in sports, and that equality between both genders will occur sooner than later. As a result of this assessment, it has really allowed me to look at an ongoing issue, and allow myself to contribute my very own opinion on the subject at hand. With that said, I have come to the realisation that, yes, an issue like this has been ongoing for the past century, but, with the power to educate and allowing people to understand with reason, that an issue like women’s inequality in sports and the media will soon follow with great results of sports union, to play together will be something both men and women need to achieve in the long run.

Learning Engagement and Reflection Task:

=Wow, sent chills down my spine.. =

your artefact sure did hit me, and its made me realize, why is this so important for people to understand and to change? Its sad that even people in the third world countries have no idea whatsoever that something as in humane as putting a grown man in a cage due to his mental illness is ok??? its such a primitive act to do. Yet still everyday i cannot imagine how that poor person survives such horrific acts placed upon him. what did he do to deserve it? because of his mental illness, is he an animal? its a shame that there are still people out there who show no mercy, not even for their own blood to even think once, what could i do to help? instead more suffering is brought upon it all. such a sad artefact that really has made me realize, that yes there are still people ou ||
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 * = [[image:http://c1.wikicdn.com/i/user_none_lg.jpg width="48" height="48" caption="maryannlu19" link="http://www.wikispaces.com/user/view/maryannlu19"]] ||< [|maryannlu19] just now

=Really makes you realise! = This artefact really does hit you and make you realize just how much it affects you. With all those advertisements you see everyday in magazines, on the internet, in shopping centres, on tv.. you never realise just how much it really does affect us all until you're in it. I myself am faced with my own every day issues of self esteem; does my make up look ok?? where did this cellulite come from all of a sudden?? why does my hair have to look so disgusting today? it is an ongoing issue women especially face every single day, and for that the beauty industry, the media, celebrities are the ones who influence us heavily. So, with that said, your artefact explained something about having us explain what real beauty is first to our young rather than having the beauty industry tell them first, really hit me and has made me think. wow. i should really look at myself first and understand why i am the way i am, and that it isn't a bad thing. Awesome awesome artefact!! ||
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 * __ References: __**

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