Is+media+coverage+of+women's+sport+equal+in+quantity+and+quality+to+that+of+men's?


 * Name:** Tom Ford
 * Student Number**: 7499655
 * Tutor:** Emily Mann

=**Is Media Coverage of Women's Sport Equal in Quantity and Quality** = =**to that of Men's?** =

//“As is true in many versions of history, women are absent from inclusion unless an individual women, or group of women was recognized as being exceptionally outstanding. The same is true for the history of sport.” ~ Dayna B. Daniels (2005) Professor at the University of Lethbridge, coordinator of women’s studies and member of the department of Kinesiology and Physical Education.//

=**Cultural Artifact** = =  =

The above photo depicts Sam Stosur who recently became Australia’s first singles tennis grand slam champion in 31 years after defeating Serena Williams at Flushing Meadows on September 12th, 2011. As well as becoming a household name, Sam became the nation’s first female grand slam champion since Evonne Goolagong Cawley secured her second Wimbledon title in 1980. Stosur’s U.S. open success and maiden grand slam title was briefly embraced by the media and sporting public alike as she was celebrated with a tickertape parade in her home city of the Gold Coast. In addition to this, Stosur was honored with the Queensland Champion Award and the keys to the city in recognition of her outstanding sporting achievement.

= **Public Health Issue** = = = This cultural artifact represents a proud female athlete with her single greatest sporting achievement that came just after having conquered one of the biggest stages in women’s professional tennis. This picture also represents a female athlete celebrated for her sporting prowess and not for her femininity. As media coverage of female athletes is often limited at the best of times, it begs the question, is this what it takes for a female athlete to gain positive attention from today’s media outlets? Meanwhile, male athletes frequently dominate news headlines quite often for their erratic and at times misogynistic behavior.

The implementation of Title IX in 1972 brought high expectations of changing societal perceptions of girl’s and women’s participation in sport. With Title IX came the hope that women would no longer be denied participation opportunities in sport while instead beginning to experience full societal acceptance (Fink, 1998). The ongoing and positive media coverage of sport is of major concern for all sports administrators and players. The justification is often based around sport and media being two of the largest influences that affect how a society works in addition to how people think and shape their ideas and emotions (Australian Sports Commission, 2011). With that in mind we need to ask ourselves, how are female athletes portrayed to the publics’ readers, viewers and listeners, and how much representation do newspapers, television, magazines and radio actually devote to women’s sport?

= **Literature Review** = In the past, sport, and to a certain extent, leisure in general have traditionally been recognized as male domains. In ancient Greece, with the exception of Sparta, women were virtually excluded from sporting involvement and were forbidden from even watching the Olympic Games (George, Hartley & Paris, 2001). As the years have passed society has sought to legitimize the ongoing disagreement that sports are the natural domains of males due to the naturally different biological and psychological systems of men and women (George et al. 2001).Murray (1977) once argued that Australia, per head of population, boasted the most sport conscious nation on earth with participation reflecting elements of national culture. These elements emphasized achievement, competition and individual involvement, especially through primary and secondary school sporting experiences. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (2006) states that sport is a big part of Australian culture with its participation and involvement widely encouraged through schooling, government funding and media advertisement.At present, women well represent sporting participation numbers with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2011) reporting that nationally in 2009-10, women’s sport and physical recreational participation rates for ages 15-17 and 18-24 were 71% and 70% respectively, indicating that a significant portion of females are involved in some sort of recreational activity. The Australian Sports Commission (2011) states that the nation’s sportswomen are now playing harder, faster and more professionally than ever before with proven international success, however, they still struggle for consistent and positive media coverage.

In 2009, television coverage of women’s sport made up 9% of all sports coverage in Australian news and current affairs media, while an additional 7% of non-news programming content on television was devoted to female sport. On the other hand, male sport occupied a considerable 81% of television and current affairs reporting and 86% of non-news programming on television (Australian Government, 2009). These statistics show that women’s sport is still clearly marginalized and under-represented by the media.

Bernstein (2002) argues that the past few decades have been critical for the advances made in organized, competitive and high performance spectator sports concerning female athletes, yet women’s sport still lags behind mens coverage in both quantity and quality. Since the media is known to reflect what is significant, especially in western society, this underrepresentation or gender bias may be seen as creating an impression that female athletes are non-existent or of little value when they do exist (Bernstein, 2002). Numerous empirical studies investigating the relationship of sport, media and gender have consistently found that coverage of female athletes, or a lack thereof, has failed to mirror their athletic achievements (Eastman & Billings 2000). Meanwhile, Capranica et al. (2005) states that in the past mass media types have been known to trivialize and undermine the accomplishments of the female athlete with biased male dominant sport coverage, helping to strengthen the idea that sports are relevant only to men. Often when females receive media coverage it can be in a stereotypical fashion. Sport commentators and writers often refer to a female athlete’s attractiveness, femininity and heterosexuality all of which convey to the audience that her stereotypical gender role is more salient than her athletic role, however male athletes are depicted as powerful, dominating, independent and valued (Knight & Giuliano, 2002).The underrepresentation of female sport in the media is also viewed as a vicious circle since the growth of women’s sport has been hindered by lack of funding which nowadays comes primarily from sponsorship. Since sponsors are only interested in investing in sports that frequent television and women’s sports do not qualify as such, they do not receive the big cash injections or financial support (Bernstein, 2002).

= **Cultural and Social Analysis** = Sociologist Karl Marx believed that society rested on much more than individual choice, he believed that people’s lives and their individual experiences were framed by the broader society in which they lived. It could be argued that the individual experience of the female athlete has been shaped by today’s social society with researchers claiming that the overwhelming coverage and bias representation of men’s competitive sport has been heavily influenced and reflected by the global and economic forces of social media outlets. Today’s mass media is an influential factor which shapes our beliefs, attitudes and values that we have of ourselves as well as others (Koivula, 1999). Therefore sexism in sport is often a very controversial and widely debated topic of interest amongst all individuals concerned due to its complexity as a public health issue in visual and written media. The overwhelming media coverage of men’s sport has helped to create and reflect hegemonic masculinity, especially in everyday sport reporting (Capranica et al. 2005). In addition to this, the social reflection of hegemonic masculinity can be seen in the many administrative bodies or committees and governed structures of the majority of today’s sports, they are almost all exclusively male, subordinating female opinion, involvement and experience.The media’s continuing advertisement of male dominant sport ensures its availability on free to air and prescription television in addition to commercial papers, magazines, radio and social networking sites. While the problem of sexism in competitive sport is now becoming more widely recognized, its adverse effects have previously included the dissipation of female involvement in many types of physical activity and sport at many levels due to its lack of media attention, marketing, endorsements and funding (Kirsh, 2011).Through these social media outlets cultural gender stereotypes have been enforced and instilled within the wider community with male athletes regularly portrayed as being masculine, forceful and mentally and physically strong. By comparison female athletes have instead been portrayed by the media according to traditional cultural stereotypes that associate femininity with that of weakness, reliance, emotion and submissiveness, in addition to being identified according to their social position or status (Koivula, 1999).

According to George et al. (2001) the present media appear to be giving audiences the continuing impression that female sport is in fact less competitive and less interesting than men’s sport. However the increased awareness of the issue has helped to inform the larger population about the previous trend with several public health research studies concluding even amounts of gender coverage particularly during major sporting events such as the Summer Olympic Games (Capranica et al. 2005). Although societal-level changes may be necessary to make dramatic change in women’s sport participation, continued awareness of the issue particularly in the published findings of many research findings seems to be having an effect in reversing the trend.

= **Analysis of the Artifact** =

Given the magnitude of Sam Stosur’s recent U.S. open success, it seemed very much appropriate that her sporting achievements were acknowledged and celebrated by the Australian sporting public. On the other hand, it is shocking to think that for a female athlete to gain any sort of recognition in the media for their sporting accomplishment they have to give the performance of a lifetime in order to gain any sort of appreciation in terms of their success and dedication. Meanwhile, male athletes gain far more of the limelight, even at times for the wrong reasons.This artifact more so represents to me the way female athletes should be portrayed, especially to the nations sporting stars of tomorrow. I also feel as if female athletes have to strive for sporting excellence before they are recognized or given any sort of credible media exposure for their athletic ability. Researching this topic has given me more of a detailed understanding of the issue with the problem having been a contentious issue for quite some time now.

= **References** = Australian Bureau of Statistics (2011). Feature Article: Young People, Sports and Physical Recreation in South Australia. Retrieved October 28, 2011 from [] Australian Bureau of Statistics (2006). Special Feature: A Sporting Nation. Retrieved October 28, 2011 from [|http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/2f762f95845417aeca25706c00834efa/238af4d9f60043c0ca2570ec00753520!OpenDocument] Australian Government (2009). Women’s Place in Society. Retrieved October 24, 2011 from [] Australian Sports Commission (2011). Media. RetrievedOctober 14, 2011 from [] Bernstein, A. (2002). Is It Time for a Victory Lap: Changes in the Media Coverage of Women in Sport. //International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 37//(3-4), 415-428. Capranica, L., Minganti, C., Billat, V., Hanghoj, S., Piacentini, M. F., Cumps, E., & Meeusen. R. (2005). Newspaper Coverage of Women’s Sport During the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games: Belgium, Denmark, France, and Italy. //Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 76//(2), 212-223. Daniels, D. B. (2005). You Throw Like a Girl: Sport and Misogyny on the Silver Screen. //Film and History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television, 35//(1), 29-38. Eastman, S. T., & Billings, A. C. (2000). Sportscasting and sports reporting: The power of gender bias. //Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 24//(2), 192-214. Fink, J. S. (1998). Female Athletes and the Media: Strides and Stalemates. //Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 69//(6), 37-45. George, C., Hartley, A., & Paris, J. (2001). The representation of female athletes in textual and visual media. //Corporate Communications: An International Journal. (6)//2, 94-101. Kirsh, L. K. (2011). Sex Discrimination in Sports. Retrieved from http://www.helium. com/items/1305636-sex-discrimination Knight, J. L., & Giuliano, T. A. (2002). He’s a Laker; She’s a “Looker”: The Consequences of Gender-Stereotypical Portrayals of Male and Female Athletes by the Print Media. //Sex Roles, 45//(3-4), 217-229. Koivula, N. (1999). Gender Stereotyping in Televised Media Sport Coverage. //Sex Roles, 41//(7/8), 589-604. Murray, L. (1977). Value Categories for Australian Sport. //International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 12//(3), 97-105.

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=**Reflections**=