Women+commentators?+Why+not!

Joshua Connolly N7559364 Katie Page

//Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, "She doesn't have what it takes." They will say, "Women don't have what it takes//." -Clare Boothe Luce

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The artefact chosen is a Television advertisement produced by the company Nike in 2009. The idea of the advertisement is to create competition between men and women for membership spots on Nikes website. The advertisement begins with men running past and bumping into women exerting their dominance. As the add progresses a women see’s that men had twice as many members on the Nike website. She decides to start running, which inspires other women in the streets to follow and the women membership numbers becomes equal with the male membership numbers.
 * Presentation of Artefact**

On the surface this artefact merely looks like a television advertisement trying to encourage women to go running and to create competition between male and female supporters of Nike products. However, the advertisement also has underlying issues regarding gender inequality and also highlights current issues with women’s role in sport. A focal point is on the way female sport commentators are portrayed and viewed in the public/viewers eyes. Although this artefact is sport/running focused it relates to the way women are being depicted in sport and in relation to general society. Females long history of sport has often depicted and mirrored the way women are being treated in society at present. This advertisement gives a fair indication about how women are being treated in society today, but also how women are reacting to the current situation.
 * Public Health Issue**

Equality defined by the Division for the advancement of women, Is the condition or quality of being equal, it is the agreement in quantity or degree as compared; likeness in bulk, value, rank and property (Huggins, A 2009). Many of the early female sports commentators stumbled upon various levels of treatment when they first entered into the commentary box. Some were physically abused; others were mentally abused and even sexually abused. This literature review will break down the barriers and investigate the differences between when female sports journalists first entered into the world of commentary and today. According to the association of women in sports media, Susan Fornoff in the 1980’s was far from the first women to work in sports journalism. (Swanson, S.E 2009). In research conducted it was often pointed out that women are new to the world of sports commentary. However a book written by Genevieve Jackson Boughner in 1926 had a chapter on the advancement of Women in sports journalism (Swanson, S.E 2009). This is hard cold evidence to suggest that a woman reporting on sport was an increasingly popular occupation 90 years ago. Only recently has there been action or support for women athletes in sport let alone female commentators and sports journalists (Gill, M.A, 1998). A mere 12 years ago Debbie Hockley in New Zealand was named New Zealand’s cricketer of the year, Hockley was an outstanding cricketer for 15 years before she gained the respect of her male counterparts (Gill, M.A ,1998), while many men had won the award after 5 or 6 years. With ninety-year-old hard evidence stating that women were attempting to be influential in the sports world as an athlete or sports reporting, it’s taken much to long for them to gain the same recognition as men (Swanson, S.E 2009). The artefact chosen is a perfect example of how women have finally come to the forefront of the publics sporting mind. Women sports journalists in the Netherlands have such different attitudes towards their occupation than women in the United States. “Everybody is treated the same, therefore has the same opportunities of success”(Claringbauld, 2004). The attitudes of women in the Netherlands advocate that they are blaming masculine traits carried by men such as independence, detachment and objectivity rather than gender equality for the lack of jobs for women in sports journalism. Rod Shaver who wrote Women, Equality and Sports in 2009 believes that women are now using gender equality as an excuse for a lack of professional occupations in this field. He also proposes that if women want to compete with men in the workforce, they should have to compete with men in Olympic events as well (Shaver, R, 2009). These beliefs are obviously quite controversial; in his article Shaver shows a lack of understanding about the positive side of having diversity in sports journalism and attributes that women have. This methodology brought forward by Rod Shaver is incorrect according to Virginia Ordman and Dolf Zillman who co-wrote ‘Women’s Sports Reporters: Have They Caught Up?” This article investigates the limitations that single gender commentary box has. The results showed that combining both male and female commentators brought the most satisfaction to the viewer. Limitations of having a single gender was that the views expressed by each individual did not accurately reflect the Basketball and Gymnastic competitions that the entity was commenting. In the past many successful methodologies from different organizations have improved women’s equality both in the commentary box and in the sporting field. In 2004 the world Olympic committee put together an organization, which promotes women in sport according to the same values that represent women in modern society. The mission of this organization is “To take the beauty, passion and determination of women’s sporting ability and prove to the world that women in sport is here to stay’’ (IOC board, 2004). Of course these methodologies cross over from the sporting field and into the journalism world, with 97% of commentary boxes male dominant in 2005 in comparison to 88% in 2010 (ABS, 2009). A recent example of the inequality still surfacing in sport, Caster Semenya an 800-metre athletics runner from South Africa has been indefinitely suspended because she portrays some male features (large shoulders and muscular features) and she has been forced to undertake a gender test after runner faster than some male athletes at a recent event in Berlin (IAAF, 2011). This limitation has put back gender equality in sport years because officials don’t think female athletes can compete with men. With media outlets, athletes and viewers beginning to understand female’s role in sport, it’s hard to understand why the officials can’t. With this limitation it’s palpable that similar events are still occurring within the commentary box. Majority of facts give an indication that women’s roles in sport are improving and giving the world of sport a new dimension as it pursues its role as a world mediator, however there is still a persistent number of events that are occurring annually which suggest that the understanding and readdressing of women’s equality in sport is an ongoing issue.
 * Literature Review**

Women’s participation in sport has a long history. It is a history marked by division and discrimination but also one filled with major accomplishments by female athletes and important advances for gender equality and the empowerment of women. A woman commentating in sport has been in the spotlight of debate for the past decade. Many criticisms are often given to the idea of women commentating in sports. Whether these criticisms are coming from males, females or both its palpable that women have found it hard to break through into the world of commentary of sport (Koivula, N. 1999). To understand the cultural values embedded in sports and explore the values and structures regarding men and women, it is necessary to investigate the mass media that may have influencing beliefs about what is appropriate actions for men and women to produce on the sporting field or in the commentary box (Koivula, N. 1999). Nathalia Koivula (1999) investigates the media coverage of sport in Sweden, results indicated that gender differences regarding both the type of coverage and the amount of coverage shown. With less than 2% of coverage offered to female dominated sports. Mary Curtis (2010) a feminist sport theorist from the University of Iowa says ‘’The reason the media keep women’s sports out of the news is because when the “old guard” see’s the women running free on the playing fields they bristle at the fact that women aren’t ‘’barefoot, pregnant or in the kitchen’’. This statement from Curtis portrays how the age of particular cultures or societies is affecting contemporary perspectives on this issue. This pinpoints where public health experts should be focussing their methodologies, as this is quite a large limitation moving forward. Gaining awareness in older generations is just as important as the grassroots, as this older generation are still being influential according to Curtis (2010). Obviously women are the most affected by this issue, lack of jobs and opportunities is the main factor. With equality, benefits comefor both women and girls themselves. Women’s increased involvement in commentary can promote positive development in women’s sport by providing alternative norms, values, attitudes, knowledge, capabilities and experiences. The contributions of women, particularly in leadership positions, can bring diversity and alternative approaches and expand the talent base in areas such as management, coaching and obviously sport journalism. The importance of this issue is far more important than women gaining job opportunities or gaining recognition within a sport. Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at supporting social, economic and equal rights for women (Alcoff, L, 1989). This issue of women’s roles as commentators can be related to women in general society. Australian bureau of statistics recently surveyed one million Australian women aged between 20 and 27 respectively. Nearly a three quarters of the participants recorded that they had attempted to gain extra hours or other occupations and failed due to their gender not meeting requirements. (ABS, 2010). This statistic demonstrates that gender is still a limitation for Australian women in the workplace. The importance of increased job opportunities for women in the commentary box is vital to the progressiveness of women’s opportunities in other areas of society.
 * Cultural and Social Analysis**

The Nike advertisement that I chose for my artefact represents more than just a quirky, clever advertisement to sell products. It shows how society portrays women, but more important how men portray women. At the beginning of the advertisement the men are pushing the women around and obviously running faster and past them. If you can relate the dominance in the video to everyday like, it would depict most workplaces. With Male leaders and less important positions filled with females. As the advertisement progresses and one particular women see’s that the Nike website has an abundance of male followers she decides to join the website and through that she inspires other women. By the end of the advertisement the women are running as fast as the men and the followers on the Nike website have grown to equal. This represents how women have been attempting to gain recognition in the workplace and in particularly in the commentary box. This assessment piece has helped me to gain much respect for women in sport but more importantly women in society. Their values and beliefs can differ majorly from males and can bring much needed diversity to a workplace, friendship group or family. Through the research, I can understand further the long history of women in sport and appreciate the sacrifices that they have made to get to this far. Furthermore this assessment will help my learning process, as it was another opportunity to investigate the importance of women playing a vital role in Australia’s future.
 * Analysis of the Artefact**

Gill, M.A 1998. //Women on Way to Winning Equality with Men in Sport// P10, Retrieved on the 1/11/11 from Sage Journal Articles database.
 * Reference Lis**t

Hebl, M, 2004. //Paving the way; the ticket to Gender Equality in Sports//, 51 (3) 227. Retrieved on the 1/11/11 from Proquest Database.

Lyras, Alexis. 2009. //Sport and social change: The case for Gender Equality.// //Journal of Physical Education, recreation and dance// 80, (1) 7 Retrieved on the 1/11/11 from Proquest database. Poe, J 2003. //Women in Sport// 17, (4) 49 Retrieved on the 1/11/11 from Emerald Database.

Shaver, R. 2009. //Women Equality and Sports// retrieved on the 1/11/11 from Sage Journal Articles database.

Swanson, S.E 2009. //Women in Sports Journalism//, 1-28. Retrieved on the 1/11/11 from Proquest database.

Worsnop, R .1997. Gender Equity in Sports, //The CQ researcher//, 7 (15) 337 Retrieved on the 1/11/11 from Proquest Database.