Theoretical framework
The basis of my research stems from the persistent gender stereotypes and discrimination seen throughout the history of our society. The way gender has been drawn into social practice and created these ideologies of masculine and feminine rules and ways of life is inherently what could be affecting how and why there is a difference in media coverage between the men’s and women’s olympic soccer teams. The theory on gender inequality can be seen in Rosenfeld’s (1994) work discussing the “limitations and biases” gender constructs. Rosenfeld looks at gender stratification in society and explains that gender is “central to understanding social structures and relationships” (Rosenfeld 1994:285). Many of these stereotyped ideologies being seen in society can be heavily attributed to media framing and bias. In a study analyzing media presentation of gender during sporting events, in particular at the olympics, researchers found how greatly media impacts society’s perception of female and male athletes (Bruce and Wensign 2003). What these researchers found was that the media lives under these set of rules that control how and what gets covered in relation to sport and gender (Bruce and Wensign 2003). These rules consist of things like “positive descriptions and images of women athletes that are juxtaposed with descriptions and images that undermine and trivialize women’s efforts and successes”, and the emphasis on appropriate femininity (Bruce and Wensign 2003:2). The way in which women and men are framed in athletic converge greatly affects society’s perception of gender differences due to socialization. Given this framework, my research aims to better understand specifically where exactly the discrepancies are lying in media coverage. I aim to highlight the specific issues in coverage and shed light on how problematic these differences are to society.
Review of the literature
The current literature dives deeply into gender discrimination and its impact on how the media covers athletic events. Thematically, many of these articles work together in unison in tackling the gender bias, stereotyping, and discrimination seen in different platforms of coverage. From televised, radio, print, and online coverage similar instances of heavily gendered coverage can be seen in throughout the literature.
Print Media Coverage and Gender Biases of The Olympic Games
Due to the time frame in which I studied, it was no surprise that a large portion of the past literature looks at print coverage of the Olympic Games. Past literature spans from looking at more provocative magazines such as sports illustrated, to a vast amount of accredited newspapers such as The NYT. In most of the current literature analyzing gender biases and the effects on coverage of the olympic games, the concern is how the athletes and their events are being covered on paper. A lot of current research was interested in the images of athletes and how their gender potentially impacts their location in the print (Jakubowska 2017; Pratt, Grappendorf, Grundvig, and LeBlanc 2008). In other studies and analysis, the primary focus was to see how print media was covering each gender during the games in relation to gendered language in commentary of the athletes and their corresponding sport (Bishop 2018; Shugart 2003; Smith 2014; Jones, Murrell and Jackson 1999). The present literature has a lot covering print media and how it aided the shaping of gender stereotypes and biases in coverage of the olympic games.
Televised Media Coverage and Gender Stereotyping of The Olympic Games
In terms of analyzing televised coverage of the games, there seemed to be a slight gap in studying the coverage of the games and the impact of gender discrimination. I believe a lot of this has to do with the time frame in which I focused. The very popular form of media during this time period would have been more dominant in print coverage, explaining why there is more current literature studying print and discrimination at the games. However, one piece of literature did an excellent job at analyzing how past broadcasting from NBC covered both men’s and women’s events at the game (Tuggle and Owen 1999). The research included in depth analysis of the “length of the segment, type of presentation, the sex of the participants, live or edited, whether the competition involved physical power or unpenalized hard body contact, whether medals were at stake, and the focus of the commentary” (Tuggle and Owen 1999:175). One area that the current literature did heavily cover was the analyzing of televised collegiate and professional athletics and the role gender discrimination is playing in coverage. The research delved into the analysis of how much air time was devoted to men’s or women’s athletics, covering the gendering labels and commentary of athletics, such as predominantly female, male, or gender neutral sports, and the inspection of interviews of male and female athletes in regard to the percentage of time covered (Koivula 1999; Messner, Duncan, and Jensen 1993). Although this piece did not analyze olympic coverage but rather just professional sports, it still adds to the notion that there is in fact discrimination occurring in all areas of coverage for athletics.
Online Coverage of Discrimination in Athletics
During the more modern years I am looked at, such as the early 2000’s, the presence of online and mass media coverage came more heavily into play. Websites such ESPN began the posting of video clips from college games, articles of collegiate athletes, and more. In the current literature, there is heavy analysis of college athletics being covered on the internet on various sites. The studies touch upon the featured stories, spotlights, pictures, headlines, trailers, videos, and more on websites such as ESPN (Redmond, Lynn, and Battenfield 2009). In addition to online sites covering athletics, social media is now a platform in which the current literature studies how female athletes are marketing themselves to the public (Toffoletti, Kim, and Thorpe 2018). This is an interesting perspective the current literature provides as olympic athletes are now presented with an opportunity to provide coverage of themselves and their position in the athletic realm. Olympic medalist, Serena Williams, now has a platform that can allow her to promote feminism and empowerment of women, rather than the traditional, often sexualized and prejudiced ways the news has covered female athletes in the past (Bruce 2016; Toffoletti, Kim, and Thorpe 2018). This more modern take on analysis of gender discrimination and professional athletes provided a glimpse into the idea that issues with news coverage span further than just the olympics, but to really all levels of athletics.
The Women’s Role in Athletic Settings
The role women play in all settings of the athletic sphere has been widely studied in the current literature. An interesting perspective taken is not only how are the athletes being covered, but how are the women behind the scenes and in the corporate sphere being depicted. What the present literature does beautifully is explore how women in the professional setting, specifically in positions like sport journalism, staffing on professional teams, and administrators in schools, are not being given equal treatment when dealing with sports (Allison 2016; Hall and Oglesby 2016; Knoppers and Mcdonald 2010). Women are being discriminated against as athletes and in the corporate sphere which really diminishes women’s roles in athletic settings, a place everyone should be able to belong. I believe the current literature on women’s roles in the athletic setting, both professionally and as athletes, plays nicely to the idea that gender biases could heavily be impacting coverage of Olympic play, and perhaps one way we could solve this problem is with more women in the professional setting of athletics.
Perception of Gender and Athletics
An interesting perspective that the current literature takes is looking specifically at the perception of those on the other end of the sports industry, the audience. What this perspective does is show us the impact that gendered imagery and language is having on not just the coverage of olympic games and professional athletics, but society as a whole. In one piece of literature, it is studied how the audience’s perception of particular olympic events is being impacted by the gender biases present in coverage of the events (Weiller, Higgs, and Martin 2004). The media’s representation of certain sports, such as gymnastics, is leading the audience to describe events differently; Women’s gymnastics was often described as “aesthetically pleasing” and men’s volleyball was described as “powerful” (Weiller, Higgs, and Martin 2004). Similarly, you can see this begin to trickle down into the youth population who are both watching and participating in sports. Beginning at a young age, children are being influenced in their perception of where they belong in sport. The current literature touches upon how younger children, such as middle schoolers and elementary students, perceived and valued both masculine and feminine characteristics within sports, physical education, and within themselves (Klomsten, Marsh and Skaalvik 2005; Klomsten, Skaalvik, Espnes. 2004). The literature demonstrated that girls and boys do in fact value and perceive characteristics differently in certain sports which further impacts their perception of themselves (Klomsten, Marsh and Skaalvik 2005; Knoppers, Annelies, and Mcdonald 2010). The effect this can have as these children grow up can be seen in another piece of literature analyzing perception of gender bias in professional athletics. When entering the professional domain, it is seen in the current literature that the struggle to understand one’s identities in sports can be extremely difficult due to the gendered depiction and prejudices of certain sports (Lee, Woojun, and Cunningham 2016).
In conclusion, the present literature covers a vast array of content regarding gender discrimination and its impact on media coverage of athletics. Where I see some gaps in the literature is tying in quantitative differences found in print coverage and how these discrepancies translate into larger thematic issues. In my digital portfolio I hope to visually capture these discrepancies in coverage and just how drastically different men and women are viewed in the popular press.
