How does patriarchal language affect the way female athletes are viewed in society? The issue regarding the way female athletes are devalued compared to their male counterparts, is something that needs to be addressed. Through the use of misogynistic ads, phrases and words to belittle female sports, the media can make the female athlete seem inferior and less deserving of praise. Due to this, they are forced to accept negative ratings and significantly less money and media exposure, which in some cases, forces the athlete to get a side job to support themselves. This paper will include an interview, inform the reader of multiple scholarly and media sources, also through the use of rhetorical terms, this paper shows that due to the media, women in sport are often viewed as fragile, less athletic, less deserving, even with them proving they can be just as skilled as men in sports. 

The Boys and Girls Club of America is a non profit organization whose mission is to allow kids who need them to reach their full potential as responsible and productive citizens. They strive to make sure kids are included and prepared for the challenges of the real world. Larry Jones was chosen for this interview because as someone who works with the Boys and Girls Club and is a coach for multiple sports, he is in constant view of young athletes, both male and female. This makes him knowledgeable on this topic and worthy of the interview. This interview was conducted over the phone on November 1st, 2019 from 10:30am to 11am. Here are some questions and Larry Jones’s response to them:

JJ: Do you think stereotypes about women athletes affect them? 

LJ: “I believe in today’s climate, women athletics are pushed as much as possible so typical stereotypes fall short. There is no such thing as a man’s sport now. Title IX has helped equal the field of play.”

JJ: What steps should we take to prevent patriarchal views in sports?

LJ: “I do believe more can be done to promote women’s sports. Softball, soccer, lacrosse, volleyball, and basketball should be pushed more at the elementary level to spark the interest.”

JJ: Do you think there is equal treatment with regards to sex in sports?

LJ: “I believe the old saying “sex sells” works for both sexes. The more sexy you are, the more you can capitalize on your brand.”

JJ: Is the media to blame?

LJ: “The media is a catch-22. Any press is good press. How you control the narrative and your image is the key.”

Textual Portrayal

Sports society and media has for long, been associated with oppressing women through the means of limiting their participation. A type of patriarchal language used to limit them, is through textual portrayals of female athletes. In the first source by Victoria Carty titled, “Textual Portrayals of Female Athletes: Liberation or Nuanced Forms of Patriarchy?” she informs the reader about how the media uses ads to focus on the sexual appeal of female athletes, rather than on their athletic achievements. “ I also analyzed print advertisements from Gear, Sports Illustrated, Women’s Sport and Fitness, and The National Sports Review. Three of these magazines cater to a predominantly male audience. Each of the selected images depicts female athletes as sex objects in some capacity”(Carty 135). This type of textual portrayal of female athletes can only impact them negatively, since they are completely disregarding the reason they are requested to be on the cover of these magazines in the first place, that being their athletic ability and influence. Victoria Carty incorporates rhetorical elements into her article to articulate her type of writing when it comes to this issue. Carty’s purpose for writing this article is to inform the reader of how sports media exploit women’s bodies, rather than highlighting their athletic ability and achievements. 

Boring Media Coverage

 Sports analysts tend to ignore or pay less attention to female athletics during their media coverage. In the next source by Ian Chaffee titled “Forget about sexism: Now TV coverage of women’s sports is just plain boring”, he talks about how female athletes are spoken about in their segments. To be specific, he refers to a study done by USC researchers in which the lead researcher, Michela Musto stated,  “ ‘It seems at first that it’s respectful, but if you compare the framing with men’s sports, women are talked about in a much more boring way. There is no joking or complimenting. Those kinds of descriptors are missing from women’s sports.’ ”(Musto). This is just one way that sports commentators subtly use language to put down female athletes. This monotonous coverage portrays a segment of the show that viewers do not want to watch. On top of the spiritless way their sports are covered, female athletes must also endure “gender bland” programming, which makes the athletic achievements of the women seem “lackluster” and not as impressive, unless they are shown as spouses or teammates. The tone of Chaffee’s article is informative, in that he is exposing the way female athletes are disrespected and belittled  in the way they are covered.               

Sexist Media Coverage                                                                          

To continue on the trend of the manner in which media negatively affects female athletes, the next source by Lindsay Gibbs titled “Media coverage of female athletes is getting more sexist”, explains the ways that sexism constantly presents itself whilst covering female athletes. In a study it was observed that “the number of microaggressions against female athletes in the media increased by a staggering 40 percent between the 2012 Summer Olympic Games and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games”(Lindsay). Lindsay also investigates how female athletes of color were subjected to more microaggressions than white female athletes.  Last but not least, she covers an instance during the 2016 Olympic games, where panelists from a major sports media outlet were discussing whether or not female Olympic athletes should wear makeup. Devoting an entire segment to discuss this, they concluded that female athletes should wear makeup to look “pretty” on television and earn more sponsorships. Segments such as the ones during the Olympic games are contributing to the diminishing of female athletes and the devaluing of the importance of female sports. It implies that a woman’s job is to look pretty rather than to showcase their physical prowess and skill.  In Lindsay Gibb’s article, there are rhetorical elements that can be identified. The purpose of her article is to show the atrocities of what is supposed to be a serious analysis of a sport, but ends up being blatant sexism toward women. The media continues to use phrases to make female athletes seem like they cannot compare to male athletes. 

Equal Pay

A continuous issue in the world of female athletics is the ongoing controversy of the gender pay gap. In this article by Carrie Baker, Emma Seymour and Andrew Zimbalist titled “Female Athletes are Undervalued in Both Money and Media Terms”, the pay difference between the men and the women is acknowledged. The NBA and WNBA are compared as well as the women’s and men’s national soccer teams. ”WNBA players make $71,635 on average while the average NBA salary is $6.4 million”(Baker, Seymour, Zimbalist). The pay difference is a direct result of the media’s perception of them. This is also intended to be a direct result of the ratings their respective sports recieve.  “… the U.S. women’s soccer team played more games and brought in more revenue in 2017 than the men, yet U.S. soccer still paid the women significantly less than the underperforming men”(Baker, Seymour, Zimbalist). Zimbalist informs the reader that regardless of the ratings and revenue, female athletes are still somehow earning less money. Sport’s media’s perspective and coverage is just one of the contributing factors of the pay gap.

Misogyny in Movies

Misogyny does not just occur in the media and society, but it also exists in the motion picture scene. In the next source titled “You throw like a girl: sport and misogyny on the silver screen” by Dayana B. Daniels, she informs the reader of how language directed towards men has contributed to the negative beliefs we have about women in and around sports today. In her article, Daniels lists some instances in movies where female athletes are disrespected. “In the made-for-TV movie, Quarterback Princess, Tammy Maida has successfully tried out for quarterback on a high school football team”(Daniels), while her teacher is calling out the names of each student she says “We’re honored to have the lady athlete in our class”. This quote is something that has several interpretations. In this imaginary school it is emphasized that being a female athlete is a rarity, and seeing one is so shocking that it must be announced. Daniels also makes the point that “When a woman athlete does appear in a sport film, she is generally the only woman on a team and a cause for conflict among the players, for other teams, or some sort of joke”(Daniels). With this being presented to millions of people, it can be seen how films can support an already contentious issue, of how women are viewed in today’s society.

Participation in Sports

Occasionally, masculinity and/or feminism of the sport can cause young female athletes to shy away from participating due to fear of being shunned. In this source by Amy Jones and Jennifer Greer titled “You don’t look like an athlete: the effects of feminine appearance on audience perceptions of female athletes and women’s sports”, they go into detail about what one would call gender “appropriate” and “inappropriate” sports. “…identified visual stereotypes of female athletes participating in masculine sports as power, muscularity, and masculine features among others. Feminine stereotypes were depicted through sexy clothing, feminine features, a sexual gaze, and focus on the thin ideal”(Jones, Greer). Stereotypes are a form of obstructive language and they do nothing but cripple the image of those they are thrust upon. In sports, for a long time it was considered wrong for women to participate in male dominated sports. When they finally broke through that societal barrier, people still found ways to make them feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. The author’s purpose for writing this is to inform the readers of how female athletes can be judged by their bodies instead of their athletic achievements.

Statistical Facts

Not only are there plenty of recorded moments of the media blatantly disrespecting female athletes, but there are plenty of stats to support this sexism as well. This can be seen in an article titled “The Gender Equality Debate; A Boost for Women in Sport” by Lahnee Palovich. “In America 40% of sportspeople are women, however only 6-8% of the total sports media coverage is devoted to them. And women-only sports stories add up to just 3.5%of all sports stories in the four major US newspapers”(Palovich). The stats show that female athletes must go out of their way to set themselves apart, in order to get any type of coverage for their sports. In media today, it is still considered normal for men to dominate the media and sports analyst shows. The statistics shown in the article reinforce the stance that the media has a huge hand in the dismantling of the image of female athletes.

To sum up, patriarchal language can affect the way female athletes are treated. Misogynistic language and views, especially in sports, reinforces the idea that women are “not equal” to their male counterparts. The articles presented, analyze the different ways female athletes are being disrespected, overlooked, and underappreciated. The authors of these articles are able to enhance their ideas with the addition of rhetorical terms throughout the length of their articles. Through the use of these rhetorical elements such as genre, purpose, and audience, it is evident that female athletes are susceptible to sexism, misogyny and underestimation in all aspects of sports media. With language having such an impact on everyday life, it can be seen how with specific content and intent, someone can bring up or tear down an entire demographic.

 

Bibliography:

Interview: 

Jones, Larry. Personal Interview: Patriarchy in Sports. 1 November 2019.

Scholarly Articles:

Carty, Victoria. “Textual Portrayals of Female Athletes: Liberation or Nuanced Forms of Patriarchy?” Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, vol. 26, no. 2, 2005, pp. 132–155. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4137402.

Chaffee, Ian. “Forget about sexism: Now TV coverage of women’s sports is just plain boring”, USCNews,https://news.usc.edu/127695/forget-about-sexism-now-tv-coverage-of-womens-sports-is-just-plain-boring/, 25 October 2019.

Daniels, Dayna B. “You throw like a girl: sport and misogyny on the silver screen.” Film & History, vol. 35, no. 1, 2005, p. 29. Gale Academic Onefile, https://link-gale-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/apps/doc/A156292359/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=AONE&xid=5125ff4e. Accessed 25 Oct. 2019.

Jones, Amy, and Jennifer Greer. “You don’t look like an athlete: the effects of feminine appearance on audience perceptions of female athletes and women’s sports.” Journal of Sport Behavior, vol. 34, no. 4, 2011, p. 358+. Gale Academic Onefile, https://link-gale-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/apps/doc/A272739195/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=AONE&xid=617f01a7. Accessed 25 Oct. 2019.

Media Articles:

Baker, Carrie, Seymour, Emma, Zimbalist, Andrew. “Female Athletes are Undervalued in Both Money and Media Terms”, Forbes.com,

https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewzimbalist/2019/04/10/female-athletes-are-undervalued-in-both-money-and-media-terms/#291c4c9f13ed, 25 October 2019.

Gibbs, Lindsay. “Media coverage of female athletes is getting more sexist”, ThinkProgress.org, https://thinkprogress.org/sexist-racist-sports-media-coverage-d93267bfe8ae/, 25 October, 2019.

Palovich, Lahnee. “The Gender Equality Debate; A Boost for Women in Sport”, athleteassessments.com,https://athleteassessments.com/gender-equality-debate/, 25 October 2019.