Media Portrayal of Women in Sports Essay

The large number media and all its components have always played an native role in shaping the way society views and thinks about veritable issues and events. The lineament influence, which television shows, radio shows and other mediums of spate media have on their audiences, go widely unchecked by the professionals involved in that field and by society in general. The effects could be damaging and entirely maladaptive and however only a a couple of(prenominal) organizations and individuals take on the role of serving as the counterchecking department of the products of this industry.One of the many fields into which mess media have dipped their fingers into is the field of shoot a lines. What little attention is given to the effects of mass media on society is focused on childrens shows, violence-related topics and religion-based issues. The field of sports has been relatively untouched by those who monitor the mass media. The public has mainly stood by and accepted the study and musical mode of typifyation that mass media has taken with regards to sports.This type of attitude has proven to be increasingly damaging to women in peculiar(a). Sports has become a highly gender-based field. Despite efforts to assimilate women into the various games and competitions, it has become increasingly evident, despite the lack of monitoring organizations, that mass media has not gone beyond the days of bow towards women in sports. There are still many issues that need to be addressed in footing of how television, radio, magazines, newspapers, and other such media have come to portray women professionals in the field of sports.How does mass media affect the way their audiences perceive women athletes and other womanly sports professionals? What steps gouge be taken to correct wrong practices in this field? This paper aims to answer these questions as well as to specifically understand the way mass media has shown females involved in various sports activi ties and whether there truly is reason for these women to be concerned.Television reportage of Women in Sports Of all the instruments of mass media available today, the television find is perhaps the most successful and most popular. It has invaded the living spaces of almost all homes worldwide and is able to communicate to its audience in more more modalities than that offered by other instruments of mass media. It also allows for coverage of events at the exact moment the said event occurs. Research regarding how women have been portrayed through the medium of television has been much more numerous as opposed to research on portrayal via other mediums. The literature regarding this research has shown that women in sports have been greatly marginalized and stereotyped. The pursuit section will delve deeper into this aspect of mass media coverage in sports. The most encompassing research done on television coverage of women in sports may be that of Higgs & Weiller (1994). They conducted a research to assess gender bias in the television coverage of the 1992 Olympic games. The two researchers found much to disappoint the many women athletes involved in the said games as well as all other women who were average as concerned about womens rights, comparison of the sexes, and politically correct representation of males and females in different fields. Commentators of the different events in the Olympic games were noted to most commonly use terms such as girl babe and sweetheart to refer to the women competitors whereas none of the male competitors were referred to as boy even when the contestant was obviously of a very young age. Also, authorisation and weakness descriptions and allusions were clearly gender-biased. Men in swimming were lauded for their strokes whereas female swimmers would receive comments such as a powerhouse of a stroke from a 16-year obsolete girl. There were clearly ways by which the commentators were able to inject their own prejudi ced views of the genders of the competitors. There were also findings pointing to the fact that events wherein males competed were aired for longer multiplication than those where females competed. Time differentials were noted for each event and there was a noted signifi tin cant difference for each. This was applicable for such sports as basketball, volleyball, and the likes. Although individual events such as gymnastics were prone to have more air prison term dedicated to women athletes, these were highly edited and sometimes even spliced together. Each broadcast was also done with use of narratives. This was to key the audience deeper into the mood of the game. However, researchers found that games with men contestants were broadcast with narratives of competition and strength. Women contestants, on the other hand, were often accompanied by emotional narratives pertaining to the athletes aspirations and the achievement of these with their success in the particular event they we re entered in. If emotional narratives were not used by the television broadcasters, none at all were provided. It was either emotional or not at all. It is therefore, a well-known fact that ambivalence in describe of womens sports on television exists. There is a denial of power for women in this particular type of mass media. Although women athletes are equally as capable and equally as competent as their male counterparts, this is not credited by professionals reporting their games. Where women have been noted for their involvement in sports, negative allegations and prejudiced reporting have served to undermine the efforts of these athletes.Radio Coverage of Women in Sports Radio coverage of women in sports has also been one of the more devastating instruments of undermining womens efforts and women participation in various sports activities. The radio set, however, is slight of a weapon of the mass media at present than the television set. The radio set does not cater to the visual modality of its audiences and as such may prove less of a weapon. However, it is also positive because reporting of the sporting event can occur at the same time that the actual event occurs. This means that up-to-the-minute, live coverage is possible. However, airing time on the radio set is significantly less for sports events than that on television sets. The large percentage of non-recognition that goes on in television broadcasting of women participation in sports is thus multiplied by great factors on the radio set. Only limited numbers of sports are chosen to be reported and reviewed over the radio and most, if not all, of these are male-dominated sports.Sporting events that are not action-packed, that do not provide the reporter with a message full of strength, adrenaline, and passion are not marketable on the radio waves. And because of the trend and well-established fad of reporting male events and male athletes with narratives involving competition, strength, and passion, these are the events that radio broadcasters and radio networks focus on.Women-dominated sports and women athletes prove to be less of a popular choice of broadcasting for professionals in the radio industry as these gives them, to their perception, with a softer story that is not full of the characteristics they look for in reportable stories and which audiences will not much favor or listen to. Thus the perception that male athletes and male-dominated sporting events will have more popularity than their counterparts.Publication Coverage of Women in Sports Another instrument used in mass media are magazines and other similar print sources. These cater only to the audiences visual modalities and are not able to give audio feedback. Also, publications such as newspapers and magazines are only able to give a reporting of the event after a menstruum of time has elapsed. It cannot be given during the time the actual event occurs. A wreaking time for writers, photographers, l ayout artists, editors, publishers and other personnel involved in the production process is required. Thus newspapers come one day after the events have occurred and magazines are released at particular time intervals within the year monthly, quarterly, annually, and the like. A study by Hardin et al (2005) showed that women were often portrayed as sexually different even in sports magazines. Sexually different in sports can mean the portrayal of women as dissimilar. This can be shown through the presentation of sport type in the said magazine or given publication. This could be shown in a manner such that women, who participate in sporting events wherein women are not usually included as competitors, are either excluded or represented as masculine. However, it has been seen that certain sporting magazines have been very generous to the female component of sporting activities. However, this balance is only present in magazines that have been produce through the efforts of provide that were consciously aware of the disparity in gender reporting of sports events. These magazines are, more commonly, actively fighting for womens equality in this field. As such, they are few and not representative in the publishing industry. It should be acknowledged, however, that such magazines were launched and that these were successful in their goals. Perhaps this will provide the much needed gender-equality into the field of sports and mass media. Although these types of magazines form the minority in published mass media, they offer hope and raise out a cry of challenge to their colleagues, a cry for gender-equality and female liberation from the marginalization and disempowerment occurring in their field.Conclusion The large discrepancies in sports portrayals of women athletes has been seen to be significant in all mediums of mass media specifically that of the television set, the radio set, and published sources. Women have been marginalized, stereotyped, and stripped o f power through the way these mass media instruments have been used to represent their participation in sports activities. However, no matter how anyone looks at it, this type of portrayal is unwarranted and unnecessary. Women have just as much talent, skill and capability as their male counterparts. The efforts they exert in order to actively and ably engage in their given sporting event is equally similar to that which males exert. The strain and stress they undergo during training and during the actual competition are just as nerve-wracking and exhausting as that which male athletes experience. In all respects, female athletes should be considered and hailed as equal to male athletes. However, this has not been the case. Mass media, whether through television, radio, or magazines, has proven to be unforgiving and thoughtless in bringing justice to the efforts of women athletes. There is a great need for change and renewal in the way mass media portrays females. One of the best f irst steps towards a better and more fair portrayal of women in sports is by actively disseminating information about the marginalization and disempowerment that is occurring. Most audiences and most reporters are perhaps so tied down to the hegemony of sports and mass media that they are no longer aware when stereotyped remarks are made on air. Knowledge of the fact that sports is for both females and males and that both sexes are equally capable of succeeding in this field must be spread. Without awareness, there is no chance for gender issues to be resolved in this field. It would, perhaps, also be constructive for organizations and bodies to be set up that would monitor the violations to womens rights that occur during broadcasting of sporting events. This would help to check the prejudiced actions and comments of those involved in the mass media industry. This would also make other individuals aware that what is currently liberation on is not agreeable and that there is a gro wing need for better treatment and appreciation of women athletes. There is still much improvement that can be done to the way mass media portray women. Mass media has come to influence the way society thinks in that women themselves have congregated around socially acceptable sports. Only the few who are not afraid of being dubbed masculine are able to compete in the sports where the male sex has dominated. There should be adequate measures taken to ensure that future biased and stereotyped thoughts will no longer exist. Women portrayal in sports still has hope to become much more fair and with this hope comes the assurance thaw women participation in sports will also become less prejudiced and stereotyped.ReferenceHiggs, C., & Weiller, K. (1994). Gender bias and the 1992 summer Olympic games an analysis of television coverage. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 18, 234-246Hardin, M., Lynn, S., Walsdorf, K. (2005). Challenge and conformity on contested terrain images of women in f our womens sport/fitness magazines. Sex Roles, 53(1), 105-117