Essay Sample on Women in Sports

Introduction

Sports industry was male-dominated and it was not until the inception of Title IX in 1972 that females were given the priority and a chance to find their place in the sport. In 1972, after the passage of this legislation women started implementing ways to get into sports. In 1978 there was a notable increase in the number of female students participating in sports up to 600%. The participation rate of female students hiked from 4.5% to 28.6% (Kaestner & Xu, 2010). The number of female participants increased the immediate impact of Title IX. Women were introduced to new opportunities in the sports world, and much like the effect, the passing of such legislation had in the first years (Betsey, 2010).

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In 1998, female participants in organized sports tremendously increased up to 800% in that among three female one participated in organized sports. Title IX provided women from all age and race an opportunity to take part in organized athletics. With eagerness to take part in sports' women attained great success making the media increase coverage on their sports. However, after a short period of time, the media started to lose interest in featuring women's sport. As a result, women's athletics media coverage stopped rising as fast as its popularity after the inception of Title IX (Betsey, 2010).

Evidently, media has a way to play a part in a people's psychology enough to determine and shape beliefs, attitude, and values of their viewers. Most of the social norms in today's society has been a result of how the media represents the topic. This article takes a toll on media representation of female athletes versus their counterparts. Higgs, Weiller & Martin (2003) state that media can influence people's view of sports in accordance with the emphasis they put on various aspects of sports.

Sports all over the world was used to prove masculinity in men. Therefore, even with the increase in the number of female athletes, it is evident that men still dominate the industry (Lamoureux, 2012). Over the last century effort has been made to legitimize female participation in sports but even so, they still remain marginalized. Marginalization of women in sport is mostly attributed to how the media portrays women. The sports media continually portray female athletes negatively by consistently objectifying them.

It is a fact from what the media offers as sports news that men are given more media coverage than women (Ryan, 2018). Male sports are given more attention during reporting unlike their female counterpart having that male sports event are first aired then follow the females. In a probe into sports media coverage production notable women's sports events had fewer cameras, special effects, and shots in comparison to men's events (Ryan, 2018). Consequently, due to the fewer efforts to make female sports exciting females sports get fewer audience hence creating the gender gap in sports. More so, female athletes are associated with physical appearance rather than their abilities and achievements.

For example, Ronda Rousey the former UFC champion although strong, aggressive and powerful she still features in cover magazines in bikinis. Regardless of the effort to change typical gender norms women remain objectified. Objectification has created a bias around women that for their success to be popularized they have to be participating at higher levels and be physically appealing. Coherently, stereotyping of women athletes has gone further creating a gender-based language while referring to female athletes.

Research from the University of Minnesota state that forty percent of participants in every sport are women but only four percent get media coverage. In the 2016 Olympic fourth five percent were women (Shaller, 2006). Even with this statistics, female sports are still marginalized giving men most priorities. The media continues to give priority to men by allocating them with bigger columns, more articles and bigger picture sizes in their stories. Additionally, men athletes featured on articles have images of them participating in their sports while women are at times asked to pose provocatively.

Why do women continually face biases even with the effort to change the norm or increase participation in sports? Unlike girls who grow without or with few athletes to choose a role model from, young boys are spoilt for choices. Boys grow watching and having a lot of role models to go about since televisions are bombarded with lots of male athletes. Going against the stereotypes have proved difficult because of societal norms (Lamoureux, 2012).

For example, sexist or racial joke, societal gender roles, physical appearance this is body formation, sexual objectification, and the predefined traditional woman. More often than not the media focus on the color of the female athlete (Hunt, 2018). In other notable cases, female athletes are put on a spot on whether they adhere to the expected rules of the games. Such rules undermine female athletes since they subject them in comparison to men instead of their accomplishments. In most incidences, male athletes are given better story coverage as opposed to females who are also doing great in sports.

Although the popularity of women sports has grown immensely sports is still associated with men. Even when reporting female events, the media has persistently found a way to link them to men's sport. In most cases, the media tries to compare the performance of female athletes to the men in similar events. The media has created a standard that women can be judged against men. For example, stating she's the women's Usain Bolt although it might seem like a compliment it goes to show that female athletic achievement is subject to men's performance (Hunt, 2018).

In addition, the media has introduced gender markings in sports. The media through its reporting's has found a way of branding women events unlike men's. Through the media women, sports are reported as women sports while men's event only takes the name of the event (Trolan, 2013). For example, there is football and in comparison, women's football. Gender markings tend to belittle the sport on the women's side. For men, there is a sport but for women, they have to identify it as women's sport. Verily, regardless of the age of male athletes, they are referred to as men. On the other hand, female athletes are most often described as either girls or ladies.

The media has also played a major role in promoting double standards when it comes to sports (Shaller, 2006). Male athletes receive recognition because of their abilities and success while women athletes are recognized because of their body shape or activities not related to sports. Due to this, research shows that most commentators are attracted to watching female sports in relation to female's appearance rather than for the game.

Unfortunately, contrary to expectations that journalist should be objective media houses continue to focus on what they feel sells. With the stereotype women are not interested in sports most media houses choose to sideline stories of female athletes or even their successes. Men are given the forefront since it believed that men watch and enjoy sports. With this in mind women, sports are given less priority since it is believed it does not attract high sales.

Ironically, the limited coverage of women sports is not a reflection not only of women's participation but also the role they play in the industry as administrators and role models. The media has not only sidelined women's sport but also their diverse roles (Trolan, 2013). Thereby, making it hard for women to know the diverse roles they can play in the sports industry. Women at the local level have also been blocked since most media concentrate on providing stories on the national level of which they do not give comprehensive stories about. Therefore, women at the local level do not get the recognition they deserve on the role they play in sports.

To control stereotypes around women and help to advocate for gender equality across the sports spectrum the media needs to adjust how they portray women role in sports. The amendment of the Title IX played a role in advocating against sexual discrimination. The legislation helped women to have a voice and allow them equal opportunity in sports like men.

Although women sport has gained popularity there continually exist a gap between male and female sports events. However, women have gone further to eradicate the stereotypes by ensuring they perform exemplary (Peterson, 2012). Sports was recognized as a males' event due to masculinity in contrast women have ventured into sports including boxing, marathons, weight lifting. Indulging in such activities goes ahead to prove they too stand a chance in the sports world.

With the evolving times, female athletes have been able to change and shape the perception of people. Women athletes have been able to redefine femininity by changing the perception of what is modesty and tolerance. Women have redefined the traditional expectation thus increasing their roles in sport and the sports they take apart (Siang, 2017). Thus, allowing female athletes perception in the current society flourishes. If positivity towards women's sports increases so will athletes excel? Changing perception through performance has helped female athletes gain a bit of coverage and also get a chance to be featured in stories.

Increasing visibility through earning positions of leadership in the world of sports and also increased number of participants is also helping to shape media perception of female sports. Women are now elected in the International Olympics Committee which is an aspiration hence calling for media attention (UNWomen, 2018). More so, the increase of female participants in events like the Olympics also raises the attention of the media. Despite little coverage, women have continuously found ways to ensure they stay relevant. The persistence they show continues to motivate and call for media attention.

Conclusion

Media plays a major role in shaping what the society thinks of things. In many cases, the media defends its self by saying they give priority to what their viewers want to see. The analogy is now changing since women fan base is now growing hence the need to cover more stories featuring women. The media has a role in changing the way they portray female athletes since now they have to be iconic and present them as role models rather than sexual objects. Consequently, women athletes also have a role to play in shaping how they are perceived. They ought to advocate for more coverage in performance rather than feature in the magazine because of their physicality.

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY Betsey, S. (2010). Beyond the classroom: Using Title IX to measure the return to high school sports. the Review of Economics and Statistics, 92(2), 284-301.

Higgs, C. T., Weiller, K. H., & Martin, S. B. (2003). 'Gender Bias in the 1996 Olympic Games. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 52-64. Retrieved from https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-122536744/gender-bias-in-the-1996-olympic-games-audience-perception

Hunt, P. (2018, May 19). The 15 rules of sports media representation of female athletes. Sport and DevOrg. Retrieved from https://www.sportanddev.org/en/article/news/15-rules-sports-media-representation-female-athletes

Lamoureux, A. (2012, April 22). How the Media Portray Athletes. Retrieved from Wordp...