I have never been interested in sport but I’ve seen
some games while flipping through the TV channels and have watched my family
and friends enjoy watching their favorite teams play. The one thing I noticed
is that the games being watched and broadcasted are almost 100% male athletes
which made me think which channel to go watch a female athlete play.
Yes! There is
something called a female athlete, but how would we know unless the Olympics
are on?
I typed in “female athletes” in Google and I would
like to share with all of you the first thing that came up.
The top number of the “hottest” or “sexiest” female
athletes, Isn’t that exactly what I was looking for when I typed in “female
athletes” and not some well-known female athletes who are known for their skill
and game rather than their body.
Female athletes are the cover pages for men
magazines and are taken to advertise products on television. I’m sorry am I
getting this concept wrong? Does the word athlete not define someone who plays sport?
Or is it the word “female” that changes its definition to “sex icon/symbol”?
Sadly, we are all well aware of how women are
portrayed in the media as sex symbols, but I was extremely shocked to see that
even female athletes that should be role models for generations of girls to
come are known for their sex appeal rather than their athletic skill. Female
athletes are seen more concerned about how they look rather than their game, as
clearly there are more sex appealing photo shoots than game broadcasting. The
number of female athlete has increased a lot in the past few years but they
still get minimum attention from viewers and sponsors, even though they take an
extra step to bend over for the media. The
field of sport is one of the most discriminatory towards females as it is
clearly known to be unfeminine due to which a lot of female athletes have to
show off their “feminine side” to the world. Female athletes then bend over for
the media and or pose with their kids and husbands for pictures just to be safe
from the word lesbian or manly. 
Female athletes put the same amount of effort into
their sports, the same commitment and dedication and follow the same routine
like any other male athlete but still end up receiving only 1% of the sponsors
from the entire market. 40% of the national participants are made up of females
but still they are never a front page story on a newspaper and out of the
entire sport coverage only receive a maximum of 8%.
Let’s look at some examples of well-known female
athletes.
#1 Anna Kournikova
Anna Kournikova is Russian American tennis player
who is better known for her sexy body than her tennis skill that are not worthy
of the fame she has received. She has not won a WTA (Women Tennis Association) but
has received great sponsorship deals. She has made more money doing half naked
photo shoots than playing the sport she should be known for.
#2 Victoria Pendleton
Victoria Pendleton is an amazing athlete, well
worthy of her fame as she is World and Olympic Cycling Champion. She chose to
pose for “sporty” lingerie for the FHM magazine which did not look any
different from a victoria secret’s lingerie.
#3 Danicia Patrick
< one of the go daddy commercials
All three examples of the athletes have portrayed themselves as sex icons even though being incredible in their sport except Anna Kournikova.This tells us that even if you are a great athlete a sex appeal in a necessity to stay in the public's eye.
What are the reasons behind being a sex icon?
- Gaining sponsors
- Gaining male spectators
- Market the sport
- Show off femininity
- Girls leave athletic careers
- Female athletes are not taken seriously
- Female athletes are not respected
- sexism continues
If we look upon female athletic gear we can see how tight their kits are and to what extent they expose their bodies. I would like you guys to compare the following pictures.
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DO YOU SEE THE DIFFERENCE?
I really recommend to watch this video as it summarizes the whole topic.
If this kind of publicity continues i highly doubt women will ever get out of this sexism issue and will always be seen as sex objects and the weaker gender.
Please answer at least 3 of the following question.
1.Why don’t male athletes need to use a lot of sex appeal ?
2.What can be done to stop sexism towards female athletes?
3.What are other ways to promote female athletes ?
4.Do you follow any female sports .. if not why ?
5.Do you think that its right for a female athlete to wear a skimpy athletic gear?
6. Do you think sex appeal is right ?
Citations
(2005). The Portrayal of Female Athletes in the Media. [ONLINE] Available at: http://janisgonzalez.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/the-portrayal-of-female-athletes-in-the-media/. [Last Accessed 29/3/14].
(2013). Danica Patrick. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danica_Patrick. [Last Accessed 29/3/14].
Georgina Farrer (2010). Sex symbol or sports star?. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/sport/women+in+sport-2092.html.[Last Accessed 29/3/14].
The Naked Truth. [ONLINE] Available at: http://faculty.elmira.edu/dmaluso/sports/sexappeal/sexappealtopic.html.[Last Accessed 29/3/14].
Firstly, i'd like to say that you brought up a good point. Not only are women portrayed as sex icons in T.Vs, Movies, Video games, magazines, and even the newspaper but they are also portrayed as sex icons in sports. I liked how you showed female athlete players and how people have come to know them.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, regarding your question 2, there isn't honestly much we can do to stop the media from spreading the ideas that female's are only good for their "appearance". We only have a say in what we want but nobody wants to stand up for what they believe is right so they just let it all happen the way the media wants it to go. It's true that in most cases we disagree with what the media portrays to the society but lets face it that is what sells. Sex appeal and not how good of a player they are in their sports. We have come to the point where nobody cares about the way they play the sport but only care about how they look and how "hot" they are. We could change the way people think but the media will still be there to implement these kinds of ideas into the minds of kids and even adults.Regarding question 4 :P to be honest i don't follow any female sports because I've never seen them except in the Olympics but even when the Olympics are on i don't watch any of the games because i find them to be boring :) (don't judge me). i may play a lot of sports but i just cant sit in front of the t.v for how ever long and expect to enjoy the game. I don't know any female sport players either since as you have mentioned in your blog, almost every single Channel doesn't show any female's playing sports like soccer, basketball, baseball, etc... Also for your question 5 personally, i don't believe that it is right for women to be wearing bikinis while playing beach volleyball and showing a lot of skin while men show barely. Let's face the fact that people are not interested women who are showing little skin. i know many people may disagree because they should base these athletes on their skills in playing the sport and not how fit or attractive they are.
Overall your blog was very intriguing to read because you brought up a point which i don't believe anybody in the class has brought up while doing their blog. your blog pulled me in to wanting to read more and more and see what kinds of things you found out while searching your theme. I liked it very much. :D
P.S. i know some of my classmates may disagree or agree with my points and that is their own opinion. :P This is just how i feel about this controversial topic
Your blog brought up a lot of interesting points. First of all this all ties in and deals with sexism because when a person thinks of sports males playing usually come to mind. Media broadcasts more male sport shows due to the fact that sports such as basketball, soccer, hockey etc. are considered as "masculine" type because it has to do with fitness, running, and sometimes strength. Therefore, for these typical reasons they air more media time on male athletes than they do for female ones even though there are a lot of strong athletic women out there, some even more than most men. This is particularly the main reason as to why we don't hear much if not at all about women athletes and women sport shows playing.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question #1: I believe that men don't need to use a lot of sex appeal because people are already known of the sport shows that are being played like the NBA is more often heard than the WNBA and women use sex appeal with tight outfits such as the volleyball photo mostly because it catches the viewers attention and intrigues the audience then to watch the game.
4. In general I personally don't like watching sports however, even if I did im pretty sure female sports would not be my first pick and that's because the media has created men sport shows to look more interesting that it engages the audience to watch. While as for women sports it is hardly talked about therefore not many people follow it.
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Delete1)In the athletic society male sex appeal is less expressed then women because of the popularity and attraction they receive. Males in society are so in golfed with sports played by males like basketball, soccer, and hockey that sex at appeal is not really an issue. women who play sports are not really recognized an extremely unpopular. so i"m guessing the only way to show an interest towards women who play sports is by creating sex appeal in order to receive more views showing off some skin and creating a sense of sexiness
ReplyDeletei believe sex appeal is wrong because it to
2) I strongly believe that sex appeal is extremely wrong, All it does is defeat the whole purpose of sports, The spirit isn't there and all males care about is there bodies weather or not there winning or not doesn't matter,society needs to change there views on sex appeal.