Sexualized Women in Sports

Brittany Spears

Introduction

Women are exploited in sports because of their sex Women are expected to act feminine Female athletes are expected to have a certain

body type

Media coverage depends on gender Beauty is the main focus of the coverage for

women sports

Textual Portrayals of Female Athletes: Liberation or Nuanced Forms of Patriarchy?

The author of this article is Victoria Carty and it was published in 2005 in Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies. Carty’s main point is that women are stereotyped

and face inequality in sports.

I am using this article to talk about how women are stereotyped and all the inequality they face in being a female athlete.

Title IX

Title IX was passed as a law to extend equal rights to women in 1972

Enabled more women to participate in sports

It positively influenced more women to play sports by giving them more opportunities.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/gallery/featured/GAL1151522/1/index.htm

The Difference Between Femininity and Feminism

Some media showed feminist movement achievements “. . . hints that these should be

pursued over traditional ideals of femininity.”

Some media showed feminine stereotypes concerning women in sportsMedia ignored feminism

It is more about femininity and feminism rather than athletic skill

Being feminine as a female athlete

If you do not act feminine then you are considered masculine, which is worse than being a feminist

You cannot always be yourself in the sport you play if you always have to act feminine and appeal to the ideals of the majority of consumers of sport

Even if you act feminine in sports people still are going to favor male sports over female sports

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Serena Williams 2k Commercial

The female athlete’s body

Through the outfits that female athletes wear in some sports to how they are portrayed in the media, a certain expectation is placed in order to appeal to the majority of the audience

Women are sexualized through their sport by the display of their bodies

http://cityrag.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/08/08/womens_beach_volleyball_5.jpg

Gender and Media Time

There is an inequality in media coverage involving women’s sports

Not all female sports are shown or supported equally

The media affects gender stereotypes and plays into the idea of feminine and masculine

Beauty and Media Time

Being pretty in sports will always get you media time as a female athlete

Having a sexy body as opposed to a masculine body is viewed more positively

Beauty is media’s main concern rather than the sport

Muscle can sometimes be considered sexy if it is thin and lean and not bulky or powerful

Race and Media Time

Media has a huge affect on the perceptions of an athlete’s race

Gender stereotyping on race forces femininity and masculinity to play out in a very black and white dichotomy

Feminism Increases or decreases when femininity is affected further subdivided by race

Sports and Stereotyping

Gender stereotyping in sports forces femininity and masculinity to play out in a very heterosexual way

Femininity only portrayed in a heterosexual wayHeterosexual is what is accepted and

valued

Conclusion

The problem of sexism in sports needs to be addressed at its core to be solved

Although females in sports and society’s view of females in sports are continually changing and progressing in the right direction, there are constant reminders of why the idea of females in sports is still a new concept that has to be grasped rather than accepted Unequal media coverage Objectification of female athletes

Bibliography

carty , victoria. "textual Portrayals of Female Athletes: Liberation or Nuanced Forms of Patriarchy?." frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies 26.2 (2005): 132-172. Web. 5 Apr 2011.

http://cityrag.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/08/08/womens_beach_volleyball_5.jpg

inside.nike.com/blogs/nikewomen-en_US/2009/02/06/change-th...-in-sport

www.sporting-hero.net

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/gallery/featured/GAL1151522/1/index.htm