Playing Unfair: The Media Image of the Female Athlete

http://www.mediaed.org

It has been 30 years since Title IX legislation granted women equal playing time, but the male-dominated world of sports journalism has yet to catch up with the law. Coverage of women�s sport lags far behind men�s, and focuses on female athletes� femininity and sexuality over their achievements on the court and field. While female athleticism challenges gender norms, women athletes continue to be depicted in traditional roles that reaffirm their femininity�as wives and mothers or sex objects. By comparison, male athletes are framed according to heroic masculine ideals that honor courage, strength, and endurance.

Playing Unfair is the first video to critically examine the post-Title IX media landscape in terms of the representation of female athletes.

Sports media scholars Mary Jo Kane (University of Minnesota), Pat Griffin (University of Massachusetts), and Michael Messner (University of Southern California) look at the persistence of heterosexism and homophobia in perpetuating gender stereotypes. They argue for new media images which fairly and accurately depict the strength and competence of female athletes. Using numerous media examples, Playing Unfair is sure to stimulate debate among women and men, athletes and non-athletes about the meaning of these images in world transformed by the presence of women in sport.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• MEF
• Media
• Education
• Literacy
• Critical
• Mass
• Industry
• Educational
• Sut
• Jhally
• Sports
• Journalism
• Gender
• Athletes
• Female

[lREDseven007l]

Maybe we can just say that yeah, we do treat women differently in the media, especially sports.

[PrisonerNumber9653]

@broyomama Attacking equality is far more vulgar than every four letter word in the world. I'm not attacking you, but what you're SAYING, and it deserves it. It's dishonest, ignorant, and destructive.

You can shove the claim that MLK would be "ashamed" of someone DEFENDING HIS DREAM right up your ass. You're unable to defend your vile, racist lies and evidently will run and hide rather than admitting you know FAR less about MLK than you thought.

Whether you hide or not, READ THE WHOLE SPEECH.

[PrisonerNumber9653]

@broyomama What a cheap liar you are. What you did was to TWIST King's words, to cherry pick one out of context line and use if for the EXACT OPPOSITE of his meaning. DO YOU DENY THAT MARTIN LUTHER KING SUPPORTED AFFIRMATIVE ACTION??? Have you EVER read that whole speech? Or have you just been trained by white supremacists to parrot that one line and pretend it means something it does not?

I'm furious at Klan and other hate on YouTube, and express my protest with language some find shocking.

[broyomama]

@PrisonerNumber9653 "You're still lying through your teeth." What I actually did was quote, verbatim, King's own words. Even quoting his own exact words is apparently not good enough. So sad.

What was a refreshing dialog has now turned into a profanity-laced attack, and upon some one you do not even know. So sad again.

I will end it here, and not read your further posts. I think MLK, and champions for racial equality, would be ashamed of you.

I wish you well.

[PrisonerNumber9653]

@broyomama That's not just false, it's as offensive as possible. It's sick BULLSHIT. To compare EQUALIZING OPPORTUNITY to Jim Crow is to intentionally lie so that whites can not only hold onto supremacy, but increase it.

Blacks didn't have 7 better water fountains to go to. Jim Crow caused grave damage.

You're off your fucking ROCKER if you think a single man anywhere in the UNIVERSE has been harmed IN THE SLIGHTEST by women's gyms or teams.

It's not the same thing, it's a KKK lie to compare.

[PrisonerNumber9653]

@broyomama What a vile, racist perversion of MLK's vision, which would have strongly SUPPORTED the CBC, and all they stand for. It's vomitous for the racist right to pretend they have King's blessing.

You can either attack the notion of equality and justice, attack Affirmative Action, attack civil rights. OR you can pretend to respect Martin Luther King.

To try to do both is championship level hypocrisy.

Name ONE THING the CBC stands for that King would oppose. You cannot.

[PrisonerNumber9653]

@broyomama You're still lying through your teeth. That is a SMALL part of an entire speech, in which he expressed strong support for Affirmative Action and economic justice.

King WAS far left, and was vilified, hated, attacked, and finally killed for it. The left doesn't NEED to "co-opt" the words of King, we live by them every day. Were King alive, you'd hate his guts.

[broyomama]

@broyomama An example of being judged by the color of your skin is the Congressional Black Caucus. No one, of any other race, is allowed to join. You must be Black to join. What a betrayal of MLK's vision!

[broyomama]

@PrisonerNumber9653 Here is MLK's exact quote: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." I will not vary from that. Whenever judgments or privileges are given to people because "of the color of their skin" it is wrong. The same goes for gender. (By the way, MLK's words have been co-opted by both the far right and the far left.)

[PrisonerNumber9653]

@broyomama that's preposterous. Whites are NOT discriminated against. Employment is higher, and we're paid more. The higher up the ladder in EVERY major area of society, the whiter it gets. Poverty is FAR higher for minorities.

It's infuriating to see people pervert the message of Dr. King. Martin Luther King was a supporter of aggressive Affirmative Action, and other ways of establishing economic justice. What a pity those words have been co-opted and twisted by the right.