The mainstream media is out of touch and changing societal perspectives on female athletes has affected the coverage they receive within the mass media conglomerate. In an article titled “Gender Stereotyping in Televised Sports” the author states “the way in which television covers, or fails to cover, women engaged in athletics affects the way in which female athletes are perceived and also tells us something about the status of women in our society” and while this holds some truth society has come further than the quote presumes (Duncan et al). Media’s coverage of female athletes is either plentiful or underwhelming depending on which sport is being covered. Team sports like basketball and football are broadcasted heavily, but only for the men’s teams. On the other hand individual sports like ice skating and tennis are heavily broadcasted but the majority are female athletes. The lack of coverage in female team sports is due to the fact that women are not covered in the same entertaining way men are.
In 2018 social media platforms cover female athletes and male athletes in an algorithmically precise way, so the idea that male athletes are given more airtime than female athletes is no longer true. This does not hold true for mainstream media coverage since the most viewed sports are often times male team sports. The NFL has one of the largest contracts with TV networks like FOX and ESPN. The NFL’s contract for the rights to broadcast “was worth an estimated six billion U.S. dollars a year” in September 2016 (Fuller). A team sport like football is so profitable which is the main reason it receives such immense coverage. When the mainstream media does cover successful female athletes they focus on powerhouses like Serena Williams and Ronda Rousey. Williams and Rousey are both known for their outstanding talent in the individual sports of tennis and mixed martial arts (MMA). When women are covered in the mainstream media negative or inappropriate commentary often comes with their coverage.
An article in the Los Angeles Times brings forward an example of inappropriate commentary when a “newspaper reporter claimed Kim was ‘looking for a boyfriend’[...]‘Regrettably, it would be better for her to look for a boyfriend somewhere outside the country’”(Makinen). This instance provides evidence of inappropriate coverage of a female athlete. This article shows how toxic the commentators can speak but one should keep in mind that a blanket stereotype should not be put on all media, so there should be a distinction between mainstream and social media. Evidence for positive commentary in the mainstream media comes from MMA and soccer.
The sport of mixed martial arts is most notably covered by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The UFC is an establishment where both male and female athletes are judged almost identically proving gender equality can truly exist in a sport. During the co-main event of UFC 217, a male commentator praises fighter Joanna Jedrzejczyk stating “Jedrzejczyk just might have the best jab of any man or woman in MMA” (UFC). The commentator addresses both male and female fighters but does this in a complementary way. Throughout the intense fight the fighters are only referred to by their first or last name or by the appropriate pronoun ‘she’. This is the same way male fighters are referred to and as the fight is taken to the ground by fighter Rose Namajunas a commentator adds “Rose has a fantastic submission game!” (UFC). The UFC is one of the only sports organizations where both male and female fighters are treated and praised equally. Not in the amount of coverage but the quality of coverage. The UFC has less female fights than male fights because there are less female fighters than male fighters.
There are four female weight classes and the heaviest is 145 pounds while there are eight male weight classes the heaviest being 265 pound. This is because women do not naturally grow into an 265 pound body even the more muscular female fighters like Amanda Nunes weighs in at 135 pounds. Other than the overall count of female fighters being low the UFC also profits off of pay-per-view which requires them to prioritize entertainment. The male fighters are the ones that trash talk and create entertaining tension while women are less aggressive. The highest paid UFC fighter was Conor McGregor not because he was the most talented, but because he could knock out opponents easily. During press tours he would verbally attack opponents making for an intense and entertaining fight buildup. All comparisons within the sport are fair and never derogatory towards one gender. The all male panel of commentators often praise the women’s techniques never bringing up their physical attractiveness which shows society has progressed and critiqued women based on skill alone. MMA is not the only sport that provides evidence of positive and equal commentary of female athletes.
The United States Women’s Soccer team is ranked number one by FIFA and although their indisputable talent is praised, their salaries are dismal compared to the men’s team (FIFA). The women’s salaries show a need for change and does not accurately reflect how women are valued in society. The commentary of their talent is positive proving even the media recognizes how skillful they are and that they are deserving of equal if not higher salaries than the United States Men’s Soccer team. The women’s team is currently fighting this battle by submitting a case to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission since they “earned as little as 40 percent of what players on the United States men’s national team earned even as they marched to the team’s third World Cup championship last year” (Das). Aside from the impertinent salaries the women’s team earns the commentary and coverage of their games is commendatory.
The coverage of one of the latest games against Mexico provides a positive example of media coverage. As Alex Morgan takes an impressive shot a commentator exclaims “‘Morgan again, takes the shot. What a goal for Morgan!’” after she scores a point (WNT). After shooting another goal the commentator adds “atta girl” a seemingly negative adage but that is all dependent on how one perceives it (WNT). Some women can come to the conclusion that the comment was not completely necessary, but this can be explained by the paternal instincts of men especially older men. When they see women succeed they often relate to the women’s success because of a loved one’s success whether it be a daughter or a mother. The intent is not derogatory and the delivery certainly does not sound condescending, it sounds proud the same way a father is proud when their daughter earns a college degree. Bill Clinton has done a similar thing to his wife Hillary Clinton and it was positively covered in the media. Reporter Stephanie Hallett explains “when Bill Clinton whispered “that’s my girl” during Hillary’s concession speech on Tuesday, we all shed a tear — because yup, that’s our girl. And we’re damn proud of her” which relates to the explanation of a male commentator showing a sense of pride (Hallett). Both politics and sports are considered to be male dominated so any phenomenal female performance in either category is often covered by media.
When discussing female athletics and athletes the comparison of Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) coverage and athletes is often times presented as a negative critique of mainstream media coverage. Basketball is one of the sports that the media undoubtedly does not cover equally for the men’s association as it does for the women’s association. One of the reasons for this is the revenue it brings because televised sports are a form of entertainment and audiences tend to congregate to men’s basketball than women’s basketball because of the entertainment value men bring. Men have an advantage not because of the mere fact that they are men but because the NBA was founded in 1946, earlier than the WNBA, it enables them from having to had go through the experimentation stage of media presentation styles. All the slo-mo clips and replays of the players did not always exist in fact the way the men are filmed and covered has been formulated through trial and error over the course of decades.
The women have only just begun and they do not play the same way the men do, they do not dunk as much or run as fast. However they are strategic and a lot of them are more tactical than their male counterparts. Many have argued that the “perceptions of how interesting women’s sports are come from the media itself. ‘Men’s sports are going to seem more exciting, [...] they have higher production values, higher-quality coverage, and higher-quality commentary’” but many of the reasons the games are not covered like NBA games are is because the player’s range of abilities differ (Mertens). The media just needs to adapt a way of filming and commentating the women in a entertaining way in which audiences will be equally satisfied when watching WNBA and NBA games. Unlike the WNBA the NBA set the precedent because they were one of a kind and had no other co-association until 1996, when the WNBA was founded. Currently NBA players like Kevin Durant, who is a star player for the Golden State Warriors, support WNBA players and give them shout outs in post-game interviews rather than maintaining conversation about the NBA. Durant says in a post-game interview “Congratulations, I’m so proud of you. Good luck in your WNBA career, I’ll be watching. Hopefully I’ll get to check a game out soon. Much love.” to WNBA star Azura Stevens (Klopfer). This vocal support shifts the focus from the ever popular NBA to the WNBA and when a well known NBA player is praising a WNBA player their audience is likely to listen.
The WNBA is still trying to find the best way to target audiences to buy tickets to games and bring in views. The WNBA has introduced a slogan called “#WatchMeWork” highlighting the attitudes of the WNBA players wanting to prove themselves to audiences who question their ability or entertainment value. Similarly to the US Women’s Soccer team WNBA players are extremely underpaid and are estimated to earn 1.6 percent of the male salary which on average is 4.5 million, this puts the women’s average salary at seventy two thousand (University). This is due to the media’s underrepresentation of the WNBA and little to no media coverage. The WNBA has caught themselves “in a catch 22 of not having enough fan support to increase broadcast coverage and yet needing that coverage to increase support” and will continually be difficult to battle (Pollack). With NBA players involvement and support of WNBA players as well as media finding new formulaic ways to up the entertainment quality of the women’s games the way society views the WNBA will progress.
The validity of Duncan’s quote is all dependent on what type of media one focuses on because it seems that mainstream media is out of touch but that social media platforms are not. In fact platforms like Instagram and Twitter celebrate female athletics and athletes, it is not uncommon to click on the Explore page of Instagram and see video of a female powerlifter. Now social media does offer a personalized experience so if the user finds interest in strength training there will probably be more strength training accounts shown to them. This is however the reason the new age of media is better than traditional television, social media appeals to the masses while offering a personal filter while television offers mediocre mass appeal. New age media fixes all of the problems of traditional media and is even more accessible to audiences. Duncan’s quote is dated and does not take into consideration the technological advancements the world has made. The status of female athletes and athletics are accurately reflective of the status of women in society in social media but not in mainstream media.
Works Cited
Das, Andrew. "Top Female Players Accuse U.S. Soccer of Wage Discrimination." The New York Times. The New York Times, 31 Mar. 2016. Web. 27 Apr. 2018.
Duncan, Margaret Carlisle, and Michael A. Messner. "Gender Stereotyping in Televised Sports." LA84 Foundation. The Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles, July 1994. Web. 27 Apr. 2018.
FIFA. “The FIFA Women's World Ranking.” FIFA.com, 23 Mar. 2018, www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ranking-table/women/index.html.
Fuller, Steve. "Sports on TV." Statista. N.p., 2016. Web. 10 May 2018.
Klopfer, Brady. "At the WNBA Draft, Azura Stevens Was Congratulated by Kevin Durant."Golden State Of Mind. Golden State Of Mind, 14 Apr. 2018. Web. 02 May 2018.
Makinen, Julie. "She's 'old, for a Woman': Media around the World Condemned for Sexist Olympics Coverage." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 11 Aug. 2016. Web. 27 Apr. 2018.
Mertens, Maggie. "Women's Soccer Is a Feminist Issue." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 05 June 2015. Web. 27 Apr. 2018.
Pollack, Seth. "NBA vs WNBA: How Do They Stack Up?" Bright Side Of The Sun. Bright Side Of The Sun, 20 Aug. 2009. Web. 02 May 2018.
UFC, director. UFC 217 | Rose Namajunas vs Joanna Jedrzejczyk | Highlights. YouTube.com, YouTube, 4 Nov. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTVWV_0CUOo.
University, ADELPHI. "Master of Science in Sport Management Online." A Look at Male and Female Professional Athlete Salaries | Adelphi University. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2018.
WNT. “U.S. WNT vs. Mexico.” U.S. Soccer, 5 Apr. 2018, www.ussoccer.com/matches/wnt/2018/20180405-wnt-vs-mexico#tab-1.