It's+not+a+male+thing;+it's+not+a+female+thing.+It's+a+SKILLS+thing!

Samantha Ness Student number: 08330379 Tutor: Katie Page Tutorial time: Friday 10-11am

**Running like a Girl: How Equitable is the Playing Field when it comes to __ Women __ in __ Sport __? **

// "Women have a vital role to play in the development of sport in Australia - as participants, volunteers, athletes and sports leaders as coaches and administrators. And yet we still see women facing barriers to participating in sport across their lifetime and an unwarranted lack of profile when it comes to high performance sport," // - Kate Ellis – Federal Minister for Sport.

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[|Gender inequality in sport - full video] ** Explanation of Artefact ** This YouTube video demonstrates the role the media play in the construction and reinforcement of gender stereotypes; specifically the sexualisation of women in sport and the social ideologies today, which perceive a women's role in sport to be dramatically inferior to that of men. This video presents a prime example of gender inequality in sport, by the media showing that separate Google searches of ‘male’ and ‘female’ athletes, stimulate very different results; men being showcased for their sporting talent and achievements and women being portrayed for their aesthetics – i.e. their sex appeal. Despite the great contribution women make to our sporting nation, they are still struggling to gain vital media attention that accurately reflects them as athletes and not just for their physical appearances. This video clip raises the question of what we want our children to see and how this will affect the future of women in sport; will we continue to feed these stereotypes or will we choose to change, and make the sporting industry equal? An industry that inspires influences and motivates, fosters teamwork and trust, regardless of gender, one where we all will win.

** Public Health Issues ** Physical activity has been proven to be an essential in creating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle; it has been proven to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, diabetes and even depression, not to mention an elevated sense in self confidence and body image (World Health Organisation (WHO) 2002). In an enthusiastic sporting nation it is shocking to see that from a such young age there are significant differences present in the behaviour and attitude towards sport and physical activity between males and females; therefore possibly affecting participation levels at a later stage in life. It is becoming an increasing dilema for females of younger age groups, 12-14 and 15-19, to have a substantially lower participation rate in sport than that of males of the same age. Bennet (2008) reveals that such differences are linked to the perceptions of femininity and the social pressure to conform only to activities associated with this idea, rather than that of sport - being a 'masculine' activity. An example of how these ideologies are forced upon us from a young age is in school, where females are offered different sports from that of males, further reinforcing the societal differences and perceptions of gender roles and capabilities. This, along with the way the media portray women in sport, cements the ideology that a women's role in sport is merely to look good and that they are not worthy as serious contendors. By reinforcing these stereotypes and societal ideologies, we are not only jeopardising our health in relation to the contraction of various eating disorders, obesity and body image and self esteem issues, but also cementing the ideology that a women's role in sport is merely to look good, that they are not worthy as serious athletic contenders.

Although the history of women's sport has changed greatly over the years, gender inequality is still quite prominent today, when it comes to the topic of sports. The media construct very different ideas of athletes depending on their gender and it seems to be an unfair playing field when vying for media attention. Women not only receive less media coverage than men in sport, but also to a lesser quality. The major concern of many publicists is that women in sport are over sexualised in the media; they are not valued for their athletic contributions and achievements, but rather for the way they look and as a result most of the media coverage they do receive (as little as that is!) is often not to do with sport as such. The NSW Sport and Recreation Association (1996) reported that in the Australian Sporting Commission survey, media coverage for women's sport in newspapers is of significantly lower quality in comparison to males. It was said that only 5.6% of the time, an article on women's sport was to be published on the back page of the newspaper – the sporting section; where male athletes would receive coverage including action shots and discussions on sporting actions or achievements and female athletes were more likely to be featured with a headshot or posed image, most of the time, accompanying an article discussing ones sexual prowess or personal life.
 * Literature review **

More recent studies by the Australian Sporting Commission (ASC. 2010) include reports on televised media coverage of women's sport and how it continues to be under represented. Studies show that only 9% of sports news time was allocated to women's sport and 7% of other sport programming. These figures however, do not accurately reflect the range and extent of achievements in women's sport. For example, women made up 45% of the Australian Olympic team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and were responsible for winning more than half of the gold medals for our country and more recently in 2010; Australian women claimed 18 world championships and world titles across a range of sports, but despite such great achievements, women still received little to no coverage.

New sporting sensation, Lingerie Football, is a perfect example to illustrate when women’s looks are valued above their athletic ability. Lingerie football is a sport played by professional and talented female football players, with the clothing attire consisting of rather skimpy and ‘barely there’ lingerie. This sport is fast becoming a hit in the States and is now making its move to Australia (Courier Mail 2011). Although Tala Schultz - lingerie football player (2011) claims that this sport is all in good nature and that it was not designed to promote the sexuality / femininity of women or reinforce gender stereotypes, we must wonder whether or not spectators of this sport have the same thought; would a women's football league gain as much support and or media attention if players were to wear appropriate uniforms – shorts and shirts, rather than revealing lingerie. Other reports contradict this statement and claim that the athletes in this sport are not recognised for their athletic talents but are known more for their physical appearance.

It has been recognised by the Australian Government (2010) that when tackling the issue of women's participation in sport, the biggest barrier to overcome is acknowledgement from the media; getting seen, being heard and gaining support. In order to combat this issue the Government are providing a variety of funding schemes designed to raise the profile of women in sport. This will be done by providing $32 million over 4 years to the Football Federation Australia, including funding to support a televised Westfield Women's League, $2.4 million support of the Trans-Tasman netball competition, including funding to support and promote free to air television coverage of the ANZ Netball Championships; and $100,000 to support the 5th IWG International Conference on Women and Sport. Further support will also be provided in requesting that the Australian Sports Commission work with national sporting organisations and other key bodies, such as The Butterfly Foundation, to develop strategies to tackle body image issues – which is linked to the decrease in women's participation in sport.

Before researching this topic in depth, I already had knowledge of the gender inequality that was present in sport – it seems to be almost inevitable that this industry is male dominated, but once seeing the raw statistics on this topic, on how much (or little!) media attention female athletes actually receive, it was really put into perspective on how uneven media coverage is when it comes to acknowledging the talent and achievements of women’s sport. It shocks me to be in a country where sport is such an integral part of our culture, to see that the preconceived notion, that sport is a male dominated world, overwrites the talent and sporting contributions that female athletes bring to our country. **// It’s not a boy’s thing; it’s not a girl’s thing. It’s a SKILLS thing. //**
 * Analysis of Artefact ** This artefact contrasts the very different ideas that the media creates of athletes, depending on their gender.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2009) Perspectives on Sport: Women in Sport. Accessed via: [|www.abs.gov.au/ausstats] New South Wales Government, Recreation Office of Communities Sport and Recreation. (1998). //Media Coverage of Women in Sport//. Retrieved from []
 * References **

Eastwick, D. (201, September). Lingerie ladies launch gridiron league in Queensland with help of X Girl Tala Schultz from Ipswich. //Quest Newspapers//.

Queensland Government, Department of Health and Ageing. (2010). //New Report Reveals Poor Media Coverage of Women in Sport.// Retrieved from []

Roth, A., & Basow, S. (2004). Journal of Sport & Social Issues. //Femininity, Sports, and Feminism : Developing a Theory of Physical Liberation//, 245-265. Zipp, J. (2010) Sport and Sexuality: Athletic Participation by Sexual Minority and Sexual Majority Adolescents in the United States. //Sex Roles,// 64:19-31. Doi: 10.1007/s11199-010-9865-4


 * Comments **

Girl please! My mascara runs faster than you do. Creative title! Loved your title, it definitely drew me in and made me want to read more! To me your choice of artefact represents this topic well and really puts it into perspective on just how much female athletes are disregarded, or not taken seriously in the sporting world.

Generation Why Not? Great wiki! Your title and artefact really relect the topic of generation Y, well. It really shocked me to read in the first few sentences of your wiki that "Results showed that out of the 1261 male and females between the age of 13 and 17, 25% of them had smoked cannabis in their life..." and that before the age of 18, a substantial amount of teens had consumed alcohol in the last 3 months! This seems to be becoming a more serious issue as the years progress, and the age at which children are engaging in these activities is getting younger and younger. Great and informative wiki!