Don't+Break+a+Sweat+Girl,+You'll+Bring+Attention+to+Yourself!


 * Name:** Cara Powell
 * Student Number**: N8352488
 * Tutor**: Katie Page
 * Tute Time**: Friday 11-12pm.

WOMEN IN SPORT //'Beauty is not something we are or have- but it's something we make or create. And the media has a powerful role in determining the attractiveness of athletes.' // Professor Gertrud Pfister. media type="custom" key="10890812" width="36" height="36"

Cultural Artefact This short YouTube film ‘The psychology of Beauty- Media affects body image’ created as a Dove advertisement, was selected as the cultural artefact in order to emphasise the effect that media has on women and younger girls to look ‘beautiful’. The creators of this advertisement position a young girl who is in a midst of expectations on her body. She is surrounded by beautiful women in the media wherever she looks. Although the film does not directly discuss media’s affect on women in sport, it provides an excellent representation of how young females and women are affected by what women are represented as in the media. It also indicates the pressure that is on sporting athletes to look glamorous and attractive enough to be in the eye of the media.

Public Health Issue There are a number of public health issues that arise from media representation of women athletes, including body image and the general health and wellbeing of an individual. During 2000, males had a higher participation rate with 58.5% than females with 50.9% (ABS, 2000). However when comparing elite athletes in the media for sporting achievement, women received only 9% of all sports coverage in Australian television news and current affairs media and only 7% of non-news programming, whilst men received 81% of news and current affair reporting and 86% of non-news programming on television (Australian Government, 2010). This may be because males are 5 times more likely to watch sport on a daily basis (Messner, Hunt & Dunbar, 1999). However the male demographic also have the mentality that female sports are ‘slow and boring, lacking in entertainment value’, however put them in a skimpy uniform, for instance lingerie gridiron and I’m sure they’ll change their mind.

Poor representation of women athletes in the media can lead to eating disorders, depression, anxiety and lack of self confidence (Smolack, Levine & Moore, 1996). Disordered eating is becoming more and more prevalent in Australia, emerging as a social norm. Of girls aged 12-17, 90% have been on some form of diet (Butterfly Foundation, 2009). This shows a clear indication that young adolescents are affected and feel pressured by what is shown to them in the media.

On the contrary, some women and adolescents may feel inadequate, have a fear of failing and have a fear of being judged based on their physical appearance and skill acquisition (Wrench & Garrett, 2004). These expressions of feeling may lead to a negative impact on the body providing many negative public health issues. Inactivity can lead to increased risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, and lipid disorders (WHO, 2002). Throughout this review, a number of topics will be focussed on including, media and women in sport, the sex symbol view of women and the effect of media representation on young girls.

Literature Review Media is impacted by most aspects of life in current societies, and reciprocally, these are also influenced by the media. The way in which the media decide to represent a social group provides ways to understand their social status, social values, norms and attitudes towards that group. Therefore the media stories written about elite athletes helps to define, normalize, influence and reflect mainstream societal beliefs about them (Vincent, 2005). That is why I ask myself, is sex appeal an alternative to talent? Female athletes today are ‘trading’ their sex appeal for recognition in the media. Jensen (2002) discusses a prime example of this, during the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Marion Jones, an American athlete, won 5 gold medals, proving to be the most successful female athlete; however she was not the most photographed by the media. Amy Acuff, female high jumper and part time model, who won no medals at all, was provided the honour of being represented by the media. However clearly this was not for her athletic ability, but rather her sex appeal. Professor Gertrud Pfister of Copenhagen University states ‘Beauty is not something we are or we have- but it’s something we make or create. And the media has a powerful role in determining the attractiveness of athletes’ (Jensen, 2002).

In a country that encourages a flourishing masculine sport culture, the female athletes of Australia triumphed over a system that worked strenuously against them. During the start of the 20th century, around the time of the Australian Federation, sport became a means for a rising country to compete at a world scale. This yearn for sporting success provided many male and female athletes to be looked upon as sporting icons, however only men were lionised by the media and the public (Phillips & QLD Government,1998). In today’s society, men still dominate the media coverage. A report conducted by ‘Towards a Level Playing Field’ found that women in sport made up just 9% of all sports coverage on the televised news and current affairs, and only 7% on other sport programming (Australian Government, 2010). A number of theoretical conclusions in regards to media coverage for women in sport can be drawn from feminists, cultural studies, and political views. Feminism can be defined as the doctrine promoting social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men. In regards to women’s rights on the playing field, women athletes are far down the ladder from male athletes in regards to media and public recognition. From a feminist approach, sport has been viewed for a period of time as; a sexist institution, dominated by males and masculine in orientation. The feminist critique of sport emerged in the 1970’s which centralises the idea that in sport, physical and biological differences interface with social and cultural interpretations and gender role expectations (Bernstein, 2002).In the media, female athletes whose physical appearance conforms to a euro-centric heterosexual femininity is provided with more exposure from commercial endorsements and media coverage than females who have an androgynous or genderless physical appearance (Creedon, 1994).The media is promoting the stereotypical view of women to be photographed in a passive shot, looking feminine whilst exposing their sex appeal. These ‘sex goddesses’ created by the media, which are ideally role models, are encouraging younger generations that sex appeal is the main attribution when competing in sport. Cultural studies are in agreement with the feminist theory concluding that female athletes have always been faced with barriers such as gender inequalities. Society often perceived women as too ‘weak’ for sports, especially high endurance sports such weightlifting, marathons and cycling. However when Title XI, a legislation that banned all sexual discrimination towards women and encouraged women to play sports and provide equal opportunity for women as men, an increase in opportunity for women in sport arose (Women’s Sport Foundation, 2008), however it still isn’t enough. It was also argued that women who competed in sport were causing harm to their health, especially their reproductive system, when in fact a physical lifestyle has been proven to cause many benefits for women (United Nations, 2007). Many research studies have been conducted that provide evidence on the gender inequality of sport coverage, the effect media coverage has on women’s perception about body image, and the effect it has on younger generations.

The results from a range of research articles have been collated to indicate the effect media has on adolescents and young girls’ perception of body image. Derenne, Eugene and Beresin (2006), reported that throughout history, the ideal of beauty has been difficult to achieve and has been shaped by social context. In agreement is researcher Jung (2003) who carried out a study aiming to investigate the effect of media images on young women. Two groups were included in the study, one group which was exposed to attractive model images, and the other group who were exposed to images of average, everyday people. The results indicated that only the females who were exposed to the attractive images were affected and exhibited a lower self esteem, lower body image and a more negative mood. Groesz, Levine & Murnine (2001), conducted a similar survey detailing the presentation of thin media images related to body image and its effect on women and young adolescents. The methodology that was used involved data from 25 studies (43 effect sizes) that examined the main effect of mass media images of the slender ideal as well as comparing the effects of pre-existing body image issues. The results indicated that after viewing women of a slender characteristic rather than an average size woman, most women felt a negative approach to their own body size. This was particularly noted in women aged 19 and younger. Misrepresentation of women in the media is also decreasing the number of young girls and adolescents participating in sport and physical activity. Limited to no participation in sport can resort to lower self-esteem & lack of enjoyment of being physically active. Shaffer (2006) indicated that female teenagers who are highly active and participate in physical activity indicate a more favourable body image, greater perceived physicalcompetence, greater enjoyment and higher levels of self-esteem. It is evident that physical activity provides many physical, mental and social benefits, therefore it is essential for female athletes in the media to be recognised for their sporting ability. It is essential when interpreting the results from research articles to take in to consideration the limitations associated with particular studies. Results received from the above research articles is focused on a range of groups of people, such as people from different socio economic backgrounds, ethnic backgrounds and from a range of age groups. Therefore by indicating this, it is essential to note that some forms of bias or unreliability may be evident.

Cultural & Theory Analysis In a culture that encourages beauty, whether that be girls polishing their nails, doing their hair or painting on a face to feel more attractive, natural bodily functions such as sweating, belching and scratching are viewed as unfeminine and unattractive (NCED, 2009). Due to this conceptualisation, women are expected to not be involved in moderate to vigorous sporting events, but rather been seen playing something less competitive with a low energy requirement. This is encouraged by the media as photographs of female athletes are predominately snapped when the player hasn’t broken a sweat, and is dolled up to have sex appeal. Therefore it is crucial that this situation be readdressed.

Feminists have had great debate on the sexualisation of women in sport, as they have very strong thoughts about women’s rights. In the 1970’s, when self- definition arose, feminism raised the question, what or who is a woman? As questions like this one surfaced, the social movement, ‘feminism’, discovered the nonbeing of women, the absurdity of a human being that is at once captive but absent in discourse (De Lauretis, 1990). From then on the newly found feminist theory focused on political, cultural, and economical movements seeking greater or equal rights for women (De Lauretis, 1990). Women were challenging the typical stereotype of what was once viewed as being a ‘housewife’ to now demanding equal playing rights on the sporting field, involving themselves in the typically male dominated sports such as football, running and even weightlifting (Cahn, 1995).

Women are faced with a double battle, not only to compete for recognition in the sporting world against the male demographic, but also to compete against their fellow females to gain media recognition for their sexual image. The great gender divide and sexualisation of women in sport portrayed by the media is having a negative effect on many cultural groups. The divide between the genders has also raised consequences on social construction of gender and gender difference, the stratification of society by gender and strengthening of the myth of female passivity and frailty (Koivula, 1999). Women, and particularly adolescents and young children are facing a major problem of gender inequality in sport media, which only appears to be getting worse. With the continuous negative portrayal of athletic women in the media to look like sex symbols, younger females will feel obliged or pressured into looking a particular way in order to feel confident within themselves and to feel accepted.

This issue of gender inequality in sport media needs to be readdressed and discussed before it gets worse and creates a large burden on society. The public health experts alongside the media market should address and reconstruct the ‘typical’ body size of a woman to a realistic body image that represents the women of today’s society. They should encourage a healthier and more realistic body image before cases of bulimia and anorexia increase. Also women should be recognised for their sporting ability rather than their sex appeal, if not this could lead to a greater increase of decreased female participation in sport and physical activity, thus resulting to more cases of obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other lifestyle diseases.

Learning Reflections ‘The psychology of Beauty- Media affects body image’, indicates a clear representation of how women are portrayed in the media. All the women in this advertisement are thin in body structure, plastered with makeup and are viewed as a sex symbol. However there is an overriding message portrayed suggesting parents should speak to their children, especially daughters, about body image before the media does. The media are presenting a negative representation of what women ‘should’ look like, and send negative messages such as ‘women should be thin, it’s okay to go to the extreme to look attractive and women should always look feminine’. This is portraying a negative view of women on younger generations which can lead to higher rates of eating disorders, plastic surgeries and more cases of depression. When representing athletes in sport, the women aren’t recognized for their sporting ability, however for their sexual appearance. Therefore I feel that this cultural artefact is a great ‘case in point’ when discussing women in sport and how they are represented as sex symbols rather than athletes.

As a female basketball player, personally I feel that it’s disheartening to hear about female athletes showing some skin to be recognized by the media. As previously discussed, it was suggested that participation in sport provides higher levels of self esteem and confidence. Participation in sport allowed me to build up confidence within myself and also my team mates around me. If the media continue to misrepresent female athletes, many problems will arise in regards to the younger generations such as public health issues (obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes), lack of interest resulting to even lower rates of participation and a loss of the feminist concept. The conceptualisation that sport is predominately male dominated will never be eradicated, whilst the idea that women should be viewed as sex symbols will continue. After researching this topic, I feel that the media will be responsible for many more public health problems to come in the near future if they do not change their current ways of representing females in sport.

//"Sport is big business. In the fight for sponsorship and // //media coverage, female athletes are increasingly selling // //their sexuality, while the media plays along."// Marlene Jensen.

<span style="color: #0022ff; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 210%;">References

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Australian Bureau of Statistics (2000). 4177.0: Participation in Sport & Physical Activities; Australia. Retrieved 17 October 2011 from: [] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Australian Government (2010), Department of Health & Ageing: New Report Reveals Poor Media Coverage of Women in Sport. Retrieved 14 October 2011 from: []

Australian Government (2010). Women’s Place in Society. Retrieved 17th October from: []

<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Bernstein, A(2002). <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Is It Time for a Victory Lap?” Changes in the Media Coverage of Female Sport. International review for the sociology of sport(1012-6902), 37(3-4), p.415. DOI: 10.1177/101269020203700301 <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Cahn, S. (1995). Coming on Strong: Gender and Sexuality in Twentieth- Century Women’s Sport. Harvard University Press, United States of America. P 19-23.

<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Creedon, P. J. (1994). From the feminine mystique to the female physique: Uncovering the archetype of Artemis in sport. In P. Creedon (Ed.), //Women, media and sport: Challenging gender values// (pp. 275-299). Thousand Oaks, CA. <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Groesz, L., Levine, M., & Murnen, S. (2001). The Effect of Experimental Presentation of Thin Media Images on Body Satisfaction. //A Meta-// <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> //Analytical Review//. Retrieved 14 October 2011 from: []

<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Jensen, M. (2002). Sex Appeal- An alternative to Talent? Retrieved 15 October 2011 from: []

<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Jung, J.,(2003). "Body Image, Appearance Self‐Schema, and Media Images". Family and consumer sciences research journal(1077-727X), 32(1), 27.

<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Koivula, N., (1999). Gender Stereotyping in Televised Media Sport Coverage. //Journal of Sex Roles, 41//(7). 589-593.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Messner, M., Hunt, D., & Dunar, M. (1999). Boys to Men: Sports Media. //Amatuer Athletic Foundation.// Los Angeles. Retrieved 17th October from: []

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> NCED, 2009. Body Image. United Kingdom. Retrieved 22 October 2011 from: []

<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">S. Phillips & QLD Government, (1998). History of Women in Sport in Australia. Retrieved 14 October 2011 from: []

<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Shaffer, D., (2006). Women’s Precollege Sports Participation, Enjoyments of Sport, and Self-esteem. Journal of Sex Roles, 55(3). 225-228. []

Smolack, L., Levine, M., Moore, R. (1996).//The Developmental Psychopathology of Eating Disorders//. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc Publishing.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> The Butterfly Foundation, (2009). Eating Disorder Statistics. Retrieved 17 October 2011 from: []

United Nations, (2007). Women 2000 & Beyond: Women, Gender Equality and Sport. The Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Retrieved 14 October 2011 from: []

<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Vincent, J. (2005). Equitable Media Coverage of Female & Male Athletes: Is there a Solution? The New P.E & Sports Dimension 1. (1), p1-5 []

<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Women’s Sport Foundation (2008). Understanding Title IX and Athletics 101. Retrieved 22nd October 2011 from: <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">[]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> World Health Organisation (2002). Physical Inactivity: A Leading Cause of Disease and Disability. Retrieved 17th October 2011 from: [] <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: left;">Wrench, A., & Garrett, R., (2004). Pleasure and Pain: Experiences of Fitness Testing. //European Physical Education Review//, 14(3) 325-346. DOI: 10.1177/1356336X08095669

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<span style="color: #002bff; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 200%;">**Discussion (My Comments)** <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;"> <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">**Page Title: Girl Please! My mascara runs faster than you do**. <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Comment: Great Job! <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Marianna, this is a great title! I love it, very creative! I completely agree with what you have discussed throughout your wiki. The dollar value set aside to treat women with cardiovascular disease is really high. They should really put more money into campaigns to encourage women playing sport. A preventative action rather than a curative action should be taken. I also found it outrages that two horses were ranked in the top 10 female athletes! Goes to show how unequal the playing field is for females. Very interesting! Great job.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Comment: Nice Work! Love the artefact. <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">I love this artefact! Really depicts what you’re discussing in your wiki. I am in fact a 'Gen Y', however i completely agree with what you are saying. The people from this generation are far too wrapped up in their own world and have to tell the world every little detail either on facebook (or other socialising sites), and via texting or e-mailing. It's scary that nowadays you see children who are just learning to sit up or walk, holding an Iphone rather than a toy whilst parents are busy. Overall a really great job, I found your wiki very interesting!
 * <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Page Title: Gen Y: The Unique Generation **