Silvana Lima Case Study

From all corners of the globe, news headlines are becoming much more attentive to the issues surrounding women in sport. Female athletes are gaining more notoriety in the sports’ arena. However, the attention they are receiving, usually pertains to their appearance, rather than their skill. Further, they are continuously being over-sexualized and objectified and for these reasons, there is a need for sweeping change in the representation of female athletes in the media. This paper will discuss the portrayal of female athletes in the media, the coverage that women in sport receive, the current impacts that media has on women in sports, and what measures can be undertaken to curtail the current trend of the media.

Our society is so preoccupied with how people look that it has seeped into every aspect of our culture. Someone’s height, weight, and gender, in our culture seems to dictate what people think of them. Specifically in the sporting world, a person’s physical attributes play a major

While participation of women in sports has increased, the media representation of women in sports remains problematic. Even the most talented elite female athletes like Michelle Kwan and Monica Seles are portrayed in a sexual fashion, as a way of deemphasizing their athleticism and neutralizing any possible threat they might seem to pose to male viewers. Very few male athletes are portrayed in such an objectified manner; they are portrayed as competitors first and foremost, not as personalities. Also, the media coverage of athletes is disproportionately focused on male athletes. The coverage of female athletes tends to stress individualized female sports where women can be sexualized like tennis and figure skating, versus competitive team sports like basketball and soccer.

Women in professional sports fits into the Sex and Power: Global Gender Inequality class because many female athletes have experienced the inequalities in a professional sports setting. Female athletes are being put down by gender inequalities, causing less females participating in athletic programs. Women athletes are being paid less than their male counterparts. Along with being paid less, female and males are receiving unequal benefits in the form of scholarship, media coverage, transportation, and stadium conditions. The professional sport’s world is filled with the obsession of body image and sexuality. Through this obsession, female athletes have been abused from the people they trust the most. There is an increasing inequality in women’s professional sports in the form of pay, sexuality, and abuse.

It is something you notice everyday, in many forms of media. Commercials, ads, magazines, and the internet all depict this occurrence with female athletes. She is short haired, square framed, dressed in a large loose fitting clothing. She rides along on her skateboard at an empty skate park. She appears to be sweaty and dusty from a day of riding and falling. As she rides along, ahead of her is a ledge. Red faced and tired, she attempts to land a trick over the ledge and succeeds. Her name is Lacey Baker, and is said to be one of the best female skaters in the world. Sound familiar? No, she is not someone the general public would be exposed to day by day. She does not fit into the female athlete stereotype of "The Femininity Game". "The Femininity Game" as told to us by Mariah Burton Nelson, an author, expert speaker, and former professional athlete in her "I Won, I 'm Sorry" piece demonstrates how as female athletes will feel they must follow special role. She noted, "Like men, you 'll have to be smart and industrious, but in addition you 'll have to be like women" (575). Women are to be just as competitive as men but not to the extent to threaten their masculinity. Act lady-like and motherly with no hesitation. Many Female athletes have shown off their hard work though photographs posing in awkward positions or even nude. Caroline Wozniacki the No. 5 female tennis player in the world, and MMA champion Ronda Rouse who posed for the swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated are

With the constant availability of the media’s opinion, it may be hard for someone to accept their body image, but it is defiantly possible. Athletes, female in particular, like Serena Williams, struggled with body image, but later found their bodies to be a reflection of their performance on the court, field or track. They are focused on one thing only: becoming better at what they do and if that means spending some time on the bench lifting weights to gain muscle

In today’s world, men’s sports seem to always be in the spotlight while women’s sports do not draw much attention, as if women who play sports are not taken seriously. This happens on all levels of sports, and I have personally experienced it myself through basketball in high school. While the gym would be full for any of the boys’ games, our games had very little support with almost empty bleachers. When it comes to the professional level, when women’s sports do get covered by the media, most people judge female athletes more on their looks rather than their athletic skill, which is negative and unfair.

The media is portraying athletes to look a certain way with regards to their looks and their weight. When an amateur athlete sees, someone portraying an athlete in television shows or movies that are thinner than them they become self conscious of the way they should look to participate in the sport. When looking at media such as sport illustrated the athletes are forced to compare themselves to these models who may not even participate in the sport that they are being portrayed in. Even professional athletes within the media are not always a good example on athletes because of how much they must train to reach their goals for their sport.

One large argument made by Sherry was that the representation of women in the media doesn’t really paint an accurate picture of how it is to train and reach the status of professional athlete (299). Sherry also mentions that a lot of the advertisement early on and now is made by men who target other men instead of women writers targeting young women athletes, “Women’s sport continues to be viewed through the prism of male hegemony in various ways. For example, sport management and administration structures, policies and behaviours that underpin the treatment of women’s sport and maintain the status quo” (300). Throughout doing my research in class with our sports illustrated covers one thing that I noticed, and made aware that there was only one issue with a woman in the cover. Furthermore, the women wore very revealing two-piece bathing suit and appeared to be wet and playing in the water. The cover was published in January 27th, 1975 and was the only women for that entire year. From that example I can see Sherry’s perspective of lack of representation for women in sports and what the media shows is not an accurate portrayal of women in

When women decide to participate in sports traditionally for men such as bodybuilding, they risk the chance of being socially stereotyped as lesbians, or simply viewed as "less feminine" then say women figure skaters. For example, Venus Williams is seen as criticized for being very masculine in build and judged on that by her performance. The media has commented on how well she plays, and has compared her to men in her sport. She receives fewer endorsements than many other tennis players do because of her looks (but mainly due to her race).

An example of a female athlete being ridiculed for portraying society’s idea of non-femininity is Martina Navratilova. Martina was the first female tennis player who began to play tennis more as a power sport than a sport of technique. Subdued by an oppressive communist system that controlled the Czech Tennis Federation, she was seen to be playing in the style of men instead of playing women's tennis. As she did not fit into society's image of how a woman should look, behave and play tennis, she was ridiculed and branded as the proverbial ‘bad egg’ when compared to her contemporaries. Additionally, she was branded as a lesbian, which caused more hardship for her as she was forced to face a world which was much more homophobic at that time than it is now. Her sexual orientation is not a prime issue; it was something that was used against her and something that was assumed simply because she did not portray the feminine image that is expected of women.

Women are empowered, encouraged and even pressured into being involved in a sport or some type of fitness activities today; however, it hasn’t always been that way (Cahn 278). In the 1920s, also known as the “golden age” of sports, women and young girls faced obstacles such as rejection, gender discrimination, and stereotypes when showing interest in sports or fitness activities. One famous author named Susan Cahn, wrote a book called Coming on Strong: Gender and Sexuality in Twentieth-Century Women’s Sports, and focuses on the decades between the 1920s and the 1960s. For most of the 19th century, females were accused of causing a great deal of danger to the moral and physical areas of masculinity. Through the research of multiple different aspects, such as media, appearance, and gender roles, Cahn puts together an idea and theme that athleticism is seen as a masculine trait because it was once constructed by society itself; which fortunately for the women, that idea can be changed. In the later centuries, Cahn writes about the progress of woman 's appearance in sports, however then describes the difference in respect, attention throughout media, opportunities and wages between men and women. Through both primary sources such as newspapers, interviews, and journals, as well as secondary sources like relevant literature, Cahn writes her book in a historical non-fiction genre. After reading Coming on Strong: Gender and Sexuality in Twentieth-Century Women’s Sports by Susan

In a society that focuses solely on appearance and attractiveness, it can be detrimental to women’s self-esteem and self-worth. As a young woman working towards my dream of obtaining a job in the sports industry, I know that I will face obstacles, mainly dealing with my appearance, “attractiveness”, and how it attracts or dispels customers. Over the years, there has been a positive increase of women in the sports industry. However, those that have made an impact in the industry are not praised for their work ethic, but their appearance as being physically fit and categorized as “hot”. On the other hand, other women who work in the sports industry who do not fit that standard of beauty have been underappreciated and exploited for their work

As women, we’ve come a long way in pushing past society’s judgements, or so I thought. Within the Olympic Games, women are still not seen as equals with our male competitors but rather criticized on body image rather than talent and dedication. In the past, women were seen strictly as a reproductive purpose in life, and although now we are seen as much more, our bodies still seem to hold the most priority over everything else we have to offer. Even in things like when a woman can lift twice the weight of her own body over her head, or break world records in swimming at the budding age of seventeen we seem to be

Some women athletes are still not accepted. Women who body-build are not given the same respect as men who do. While many