Representation of Female Athletes in the Media

When we pick up a newspaper and flick through to the sports at the back we are confronted by successful sportsmen, the latest premier league updates and masculine action shots. But what about the England’s women’s netball team who have just won the quad series? What about Serena Williams who bounces back from having a baby and continues to play some of the best tennis of her life? Occassionally on the news there may be a ten second slot allocated to women’s sporting achievements but the mainstream media very rarely goes beyond this. Sports women are deeply under-represented in the media even though they are successful and are winning major titles. 

The lack of representation of women’s sport in the media has a serious impact on visibility for young girls and therefore participation. A study from 2006 found that in seven national and regional newspapers the average space dedicated to women and girls’ sports was 4.8% of the total and that only 5.2% of all articles devoted to female sports (SportSotland, 2008). In order for broadcasters to show women’s sport there has to be evidence of profit and many people suggest that fans are not interested in watching women’s sport. However, new research found that up to 80% of sports fans, more than half whom are men, are interested in women’s sport. (BBC Sport, 2018). So why are female athletes making nowhere near as much money as men? Why aren’t their sporting achievements being recognized as prominently as men’s? 

Focusing on BBC Sport and women’s football, some of the headlines focus on the athlete’s lives and appearance rather than their sporting success. One example of a headline is: 

‘Sydney Leroux: World Cup Winner Returns to Training at Nearly Six Months Pregnant’(BBC Sport, 2019)

Her pregnancy is highly focused upon within the article with comments from Leroux herself. Although her achievements are acknowledged such as, ’75 caps for the US national team’ these fade into the background as the focus continues on her miscarriage, husband and pregnancy. Another headline states: 

‘”Her Hair is Like Mine, Can I be A Referee?”‘(BBC Sport, 2019)

Although this is a quote taken from a young girl after seeing a female referee, the headline still focuses on the appearance of women and their feminine features. Positive changes are being made very slowly but in order for men and women to be recognised as equal in sports there is still a long way to go. 

Andrzejczyk et al state that ‘female athletes frequently struggle with the social expectations surrounding femininity juxtaposed with the physical demands of their sport’ (2010). Society releases sexualised photos of female athletes which is damaging as sport is not about your appearance it is about your talent and ability, just like it is in the men’s game. News outlets need to stop the focus on appearance of female athletes and start fixating on the results, talent and advertising it a lot more.

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Reference List

Andrzejczyk, J., Ganoe, K., Krane, V., Lucas, C., Miller, M., Ross, S. and Rowse, J. (2010) ‘Power and Focus: Self-Representation of Female College Athletes’ Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise [online] 2 (2): 175-195 Available from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/19398441.2010.488026?needAccess=true[Accessed on 9^thMarch 2019]. 

BBC News (2018) ‘Women’s Sport: New Research Finds More than 80% of Sports Fans are Interested’ BBC Sport [online] Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/45737718[Accessed on 10th March 2019]. 

Parker, Ian (2018) ‘Commonwealth Games 2018: England race the best gold until last to finish second in medal table behind Australia’ Independent [online] Available from: https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/commonwealth-games/commonwealth-games-2018-england-netball-medal-table-australia-a8305546.html [Accessed on 10th March 2019].

SportScotland (2008) Women, Sport and the Media. Available from: https://funding4sport.co.uk/downloads/women_sport_media.pdf[Accessed on 11th March 2019].