Language And Its Effects On Sports
Language in all of its forms is the primary means by which individuals are able to communicate and interact with one another. Whether it be written, spoken, or even body language, language is a universal concept that is utilized in all areas and aspects of life. Sports is just one of these aspects. Sports and sports commentary is able to integrate the use of all different variations of language, with the skill and talent of the athlete. However, sometimes the media can use language to portray sports athletes in a negative light, or in this case, to divide two demographics; men and women. While both men and women partake in the same sports, society has created a bias that women are less proficient in such a male-dominated field. This paper will utilize four different sources that discuss different rhetorical elements such as stance, purpose, author and audience within the texts. They will also explore this idea, the changes being made in efforts to bring equality, and the masculine hegemony that is sports and sports media.
Language has helped form gender stereotypes in society and subsequently in sports. In this first source titled “How language shapes gender stereotypes in sport” by Carrie Oilaux of Sportanddev.org. She explains how choice of words has an effect on our perception of female athletes, “From knee push-ups becoming “girl push-ups” to the classic cliché, “you throw like a girl”…”(Oilaux). These acts obviously empower the male athlete while belittling the female. This does not stop society however, from associating these acts with being girl-like. By correlating bad form and lack of strength with females, it begins to paint a picture that women cannot perform as well as men, and discourages younger female athletes from getting into their dream sport. Another problem addressed in the article is that of titles in sports. For example, the media and society often refer to “rugby”(Oilaux) as the male sport, yet when discussing women in the same field, it is referred to as “women’s rugby”(Oilaux). These biases show that people cannot see past traditional gender roles and it reflects in the language. The tone of the article is serious and reformative and the audience is anyone that is open to change. This is obvious because this is an issue that should be addressed by not just women but men as well, and if change is to occur, the author must reach other women as well as men. This article enforces the stance that prejudice is an issue in society and sports are no exception. The medium of the article is text and the genre is journalism and speech. The significance or purpose of the source is that it highlights a problem that has been going on for a long time and still occurs to this day. The social bias against women is a major problem and a setback for women as a whole. Carrie Oilaux’s article shows that she wants to see reform in society and believes that people can help by identifying and correcting the everyday injustices of gender inequality. If they do so, it will become easier to change the way women athletes are viewed and appreciated.
The next source by Daniel Frankl and Donald G. Babbitt III of the University of South Alabama is titled, “Gender bias: a study of high school track & field athletes’ perceptions of hypothetical male and female head coaches”. This article discusses subjects about gender bias towards athletes, as well as equal bias towards coaches. “Since the introduction of Title IX by Congress in 1972, the number of female high school athletes has risen dramatically. Unexpectedly, during that same period, the number of female coaches at the high school level has actually decreased in proportion to the number of male coaches”(Frankl, Babbitt). Because of this, the authors decided that they would conduct an experiment where they gave female athletes, the option to choose between two hypothetical coaches. These coaches were classified as either unsuccessful or successful based on the team’s record. According to the study, the male coach was preferred constantly, excluding one scenario where the male coach was unsuccessful and the female coach prevailed, leading her to be picked. However, 40 percent still sided with the male coach in this scenario, despite him being unsuccessful. Another study that was tested was on a group of mixed athletes from different collegiate levels. They were divided into a male group and female group, and asked to share their feelings/attitude towards an equally qualified coaches. The study concluded that the male athletes were more pessimistic towards the female coach, but both groups had the same views on the male coach. The article shows the reader that animosity and bias are still present in sports. The article is being targeted at women in particular because if change is to come of this issue, they must not put each other down, but lift themselves up. The tone of this article is informative because it is giving proof that females have still not received the same respect that men have in sports. The medium is media, surveys, and text and the genre is sports journalism. The author’s stance is that not only do male athletes show a clear bias in favor of male coaches, but female athletes do as well. The purpose of this article is to show that everyone has played a part in the issue that is gender bias in sports and the biggest weapon in this issue is language.
The next source contains no clear author and is from UWIRE TEXT of ULOOP INC, titled, “Gendered Treatment of Women’s Sports Improves Sluggishly”. This article discusses sexism in media coverage and how it is connected to the financial backing of women’s sports. With this idea in mind, the source mentions how the media began to focus on the aspects of female athletes that didn’t relate to their respective sport. These aspects consisted of things like marital status, children, etc., which feeds into the stereotype that women are only wives and child bearers. According to the article, the problem with this type of coverage is that the male athletes rarely had these aspects discussed by the exact same media outlets that covered the women. The belief is that this type of coverage went hand in hand with a “language of “gender-bland sexism,”(UWIRE) which renders women’s athletic accomplishments less impactful and interesting than those of the men. The article then makes a connection between said media coverage and “financial backing in women’s sports”(UWIRE). There is gendered pay grade differences in sports and this can be attributed to the fact that pay can be linked to a team’s following. According to the article, since women’s sports receive less support and viewership then the participants will be paid a lower amount. Problems like this can be fixed if people realized that sexism in sports and sports media is still occurring today and won’t go away until they provide support. The tone of this article is an activist type of tone and this is because it is raising awareness for the way that female athletes and coaches continue to be portrayed in today’s media. The medium is online text and the genre is sports journalism. The audience consists of people that are not aware of the current situation between the media and female athletes because the author understands that they are part of the problem, so they must be able to make a difference. The stance of this article is that if change is to be brought to the way female athletes are treated, then we first need to fix the gender pay difference. The purpose of this article is to allow the issues regarding bias in sports media to be brought further into the light and with not just the media, but the viewers to blame, it is up to them to make it better.
The last source by Jenny Everett of Women’s Health Magazine is titled, “Fighting to Play … and Playing to Win: The gender-equality-in-sports discussion is not exactly new. But an army of fierce female athletes is creating–in fact, demanding-change like we’ve never seen. And when they score, all women come out on top”. This source is an example of reform attempting to be made so that female athletes can have an equal shot at being successful in their respective sport. In this article, Everett begins by stating that female athletes are through with asking nicely for the equality that they rightfully deserve, and were promised when Title IX was introduced. Title IX was an educational amendment that prohibited anyone in the United States to be excluded from participation, or to be denied equal benefits of any educational program or activity on the basis of sex. This rule is an example of how written language can make a significant positive impact on the intended audience. The issue however, has recently improved, with the introduction of female referees and coaches in sports events. A once fully male profession has started to become more diverse. Everett then acknowledges some of the female athletes that have pushed for change for this particular issue. “Serena Williams proved that motherhood doesn’t mean she’s out of the game (eye roll that this is still a thing). Meanwhile, Venus Williams fought for equal pay for women in Grand Slam titles”(Everett). These women dominated tennis for the better part of 20 years and with millions of young females looking up to them, it was important for them to speak out against the injustice. “As athletes like Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman, champion marathoner Allie Kieffer, and two-time Olympic soccer gold medalist Wambach continue raising their voices, their messages are empowering other women to speak up, creating a powerful movement that can’t simply be stopped”(Everett). While the problem at hand is not entirely over, women and society as a whole can work together to make sure that progress is made to change how women are viewed in sports and in general. The tone of this source is hopeful, the author believes that if celebrities or influencers with a large following step up and provide guidance on how to fix this issue, then their fans can help and actually create change. This article is being targeted at young female athletes in the U.S, since they are those affected negatively by sports media. The medium is online text and the genre is journalism and speech. The stance of the article is that all is not lost when it comes to equality in sports, and that with time and effort males and females may one day be considered equal in all aspects. This article’s purpose is to show that there are people that feel very strongly about the subject and desperately want to see things change. The issue of equal rights of men and women is a genuine issue, and is not something to be undermined or subverted.
After thorough analysis, it can be seen that language is a powerful tool that can be used to unite or divide things. Generally speaking, language has been used as a means of teaching or positivity. However, in areas of social controversy, negative representations of gender have caused a societal division. This is especially true in sports. Language can be used to build up athletes but also turn male and women athletes against each other. In sports men dominate most of the conversation and media attention. This has limited the exposure of female sports and talent as well as created a prejudice against women. Through the use of additional rhetorical terms such as medium, genre, and tone the sources enlighten the reader of the issue of sexual bias in sports and the ways they are able to combat it.
WEBSITE :
Oilaux, Carrie.”How language shapes gender stereotypes in sport”,sportsanddev.org,https://www.sportanddev.org/en/article/news/how-language-shap es-gender-stereotypes-sport, 20 September 2019.
NEWSPAPER :
“Gendered Treatment of Women’s Sports Improves Sluggishly Gendered Treatment of Women’s Sports Improves Sluggishly.” UWIRE Text, 7 Nov. 2017, p. 1. Gale Academic Onefile,https://link-gale-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/apps/doc/A524229850/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=AONE&xid=91b857c7. Accessed 18 Sept. 2019.
MAGAZINE :
Everett, Jenny. “Fighting to Play … and Playing to Win: The gender-equality-in-sports discussion isn’t exactly new. But an army of fierce female athletes is creating–in fact, demanding-change like we’ve never seen. And when they score, all women come out on top.” Women’s Health, July-Aug. 2019, p. 61+. Gale Academic Onefile, https://link-gale-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/apps/doc/A593027480/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=AONE&xid=73753a51. Accessed 14 Sept. 2019.
SCHOLARLY ARTICLE :
Frankl, Daniel, and Donald G. Babbitt, III. “Gender bias: a study of high school track & field athletes’ perceptions of hypothetical male and female head coaches.” Journal of Sport Behavior, vol. 21, no. 4, 1998, p. 396. Gale Academic Onefile, https://link-gale-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/apps/doc/A53336111/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=AONE&xid=c9cd6f39. Accessed 16 Sept. 2019.
