We’re off and running in 2011 and it doesn’t take long for some interesting items to pop up related to sports and gender.

1. A great example that sexism is alive and well lies in the firing of ESPN announcer Ron Franklin after he made a derogatory remark (i.e., “sweet baby”) to sideline reporter Jeannine Edwards in a meeting before the Fiesta Bowl. YEAH ESPN for doing the right thing.

2. The “apples to oranges” comparison between male and females athletes is also alive and well and is being perpetuated by both men and women. This was recently evident in the non-stop comparisons between the UConn vs. UCLA basketball streaks (note: many of my predictions about the coverage of UConn streak were fulfilled), and was taken to a new level by this sports blogger who is also misinformed about the target audience and purpose of espnW (note to said sports blogger: espnW does not just cover women’s sports, it is targeted toward the female sport fan). The problem with comparisons is that women’s sport and female athletes will always come out as “lesser than.” Can’t female athletes be appreciated and not constantly compared to their male colleagues?

Screen shot of New Balance homepage Jan 10, 2011

3. It appears that the trend of featuring naked/nude female athletes in the sport media or to sell a product is all the rage. Examples of this trend can be found in ESPN The Magazine: Body Issue, Sports Illustrated, and the most recent example a colleague sent me (see picture). This is a screen shot of the New Balance homepage. How is this picture related to selling shoes? Does New Balance want to be lumped into the “sex sells” and exploiting females athletes to sell products category? Nude female athletes is a new twist on an old pattern of female athletes being portrayed “out of uniform”...literally. And for those who are going to call me a prude and outdated feminist, go right ahead. It won’t stop me from continuing to point out that portraying female athletes in this manner does NOT honor their athleticism or promote women’s sport, but marginalizes female athletes and possibly perpetuates sexism and the constant comparison I mentioned above. Can you really take a female athlete seriously as an ATHLETE when she is portrayed naked? I would argue this NB ad sells sex, not sport shoes. Disagree as you will, but I challenge you to prove me wrong that proportionately female athletes are not portrayed “out of their uniforms” more often than male athletes.

Happy 2011!

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• SportsPLUS, Media/Marketing, Sexism, Research

There is 1 comment on this post. Join the discussion!

robm says:

"The problem with comparisons is that women's sport and female athletes will always come out as 'lesser than'." Who says? I certainly don't see why that should always be the case.

Female athletes and women's sports will invariably be compared with male athletes and men's sports, if not explicitly then implicitly--for it's the very nature of sport to compare and rank. Thus one shouldn't expect to avert such comparisons simply by crying foul.

Why, for goodness' sake, does seeing an athlete's body (as above) dishonor, or somehow take away from, the athlete's athleticism? Gratuitously bare-chested male athletes are not an uncommon sight at all. Go to any museum or art gallery and you'll likely see more, and more of, athletic male physiques than you can possibly reckon. I'm afraid that critiques such as this one are imbued with more puritanism than feminism.

Monday, January 10, 2011 at 5:25pm EST