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Gender inequality in sport
Two major thrusts in sports marketing
Gender inequality in sport
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Sports have a huge part in many lives. Some play and watch sports for excitement while some are hoping to make it to the big time one day. Every athlete dreams of making it to the big time one day. However, male athletes tend to be more well known than female athletes. Male athletes often play in sell out arenas and stadiums, rake in money by the millions, and are shown on television and other major media platforms countless times after a game or for promotion. On the other hand, female athletes don’t get the same benefits male athletes do. Female athletes often are facing lower amenities in the facilities in which they play games and practice at, significantly less media coverage, and also make significantly less money than male athletes. …show more content…
When it comes to publicity there is no bigger way than having your teams name and brand shown on television. Paul Pederson (2016) wrote in “Examining Stereotypical Written and Photographic Reporting on the Sports Page: An Analysis of Media Coverage of Athletics” that women’s athletics receive less than 2% of the total air time on the world's leading sports network ESPN. Television is the top way to gain popularity and revenue. Women’s sports are doing everything they can to grow their respective sports only to be outbid by male athletics. Television stations such as ESPN adjust their programing to what the majority of their viewers want to see. At the moment, ESPN believes their audience wants to see profesional male teams highlights and games as opposed go female sports. Due to that want ESPN among other networks grants advertising and programing time to these male times so the situation becomes a win-win the sports team which is normally a male team on that is playing on the network get’s key publicity and revenue money while ESPN get’s a boost in ratings. While woman’s sports have yet to reach the height of male sports there is a way for them to get more money and
Before I conducted this media analysis about women in sports and sport broadcasting, I hypothesized the obvious - that more male sports would be in the media, and that there would be more male sports broadcasters as well. Through my observations I did find that the sports arena and sports broadcasting sphere are male dominated. However, I also found that although there are not many stories about women, there has been a steady progression and magazines like Sports Illustrated are becoming bold enough to highlight women athletes in a magazine that is targeted towards a male audience. Although women still have a long way to go, they are making some headway into the male-dominated sports arena.
Women sports have come a long way, since the days when women were only allowed to watch. “The past three decades have witnessed a steady growth in women's sports programs in America along with a remarkable increase in the number of women athletes (Daniel Frankl 2)” From an early age women were thought to be “Lady Like”; they are told not to get all sweaty and dirty. Over 200 years later since Maud Watson stepped on the tennis courts of Wimbledon (Sports Media digest 3); women now compete in all types and levels of sports from softball to National racing. Soccer fans saw Mia Hamm become the face of Women’s soccer around the world , Venus and Serena Williams are two of the most popular figures in tennis, and Indy car racing had their first woman racer, Danika Patrick. With all the fame generated by these women in their respective sports, they still don’t receive the same compensation as the men in their respective sports fields. Venus Williams, net worth is 60 million dollars; 27 million came from playing tennis (celebritynetworth 4). Her sister, Serena Williams has a tennis...
Lopiano, D. A. (2008, February 12). Media coverage of women's sports is important. Sports Management Resources. Retrieved from http://www.sportsmanagementresources.com/library/media-coverage-womens-sports
For the most part, women are considered prominent over men, which causes women to act in a certain behavior in which will function to get them to events such as frat parties. In today’s society, women are constructed to act well mannered to which they greatly differ from men. According to the Women's Sports Foundation, they claim that paying men more for the same sport gives women in the sport less incentive to push themselves and discourages future female participation in the sport. Which is true, why would women want to play the same sport as men and get paid less money?
At the peak, female players and sports has little publicity and smaller crowds. The general public has little to no desire to partake in female sports. This isn’t about equality. It’s about what people want to see and they want to see all-male teams perform at the highest level.Teams would struggle to coexist with women in the same organisation. For example, they would have to invest in private changing and shower areas. Small team organizations couldn’t maintain sufficient funds to accommodate this. Take into consideration, at the professional level where players usually earn millions every year with extensive contracts, females might have to take a leave of absence from 9 months to however long to raise and care to a new-born. Which is normally the length of a season or long enough to cause a big impact in their careers. In female sports there would be other female players to cover another for maternity leave, but if it were mixed up with male sports, over time general managers would start to sign extensive contracts to males and short ones to females due to longevity of careers. Taking in all the aspects about biology, economy, and desire into perspective there’s no validating reason why any team consisting of men and women would be better off than having separate teams. It would fulfill the much seeked out desire for equal rights, but we must not ignore the basic deviations that make women and men so
Another issue that comes into play is the salaries of male professional athletes compared to female professional athletes.
In 1970 only 1 in 27 girls participated in high school sports, today that ratio is 1 in 3. Sports are a very important part of the American society. Within sports, heroes are made, goals are set and dreams are lived. The media makes all these things possible by creating publicity for the rising stars of today. Within society today, the media has downplayed the role of the woman within sports.
Many Americans watch sports for the fun of the game; it is a form of relaxation or excitement. Becoming an athlete is something many dream about and some strive for a portion of their lives trying to make it a reality. But is it just as attainable for women as it is men? Being able to make a career out of something a person enjoys is something many dream about. Women do not have the same advantages when it comes to being an athlete or upward mobility in employment. There has been some progress in the equality of men and women but not enough. Hegemonic masculinity still affects women’s chances at succeeding in employment and sports because of perceived gender roles, stereotyping, and discrimination.
The discrepancies in media coverage in coverage of female and children athletics have large gaps, but are gaining momentum in sharing equality. Major athletic leagues such as the NBA and FIFA World Cup have wide gaps in marketing and ratings for their male and female athletes. Children are future athletes and superstars, but as funding and coverage in athletics caters to the males, women are breaking the barriers to being in the spotlight of sport. Both genders contribute equally to athletics, and challenge the each other to accept new ideas and change. The sports world that has a single gender dominating the media is unjust.
Women’s participation in sport is at an all-time high and has almost become equal to men’s, however. Sports media does not fail to show this equality and skews the way we look at these athletes. Through the disciplines of sociology and gender studies, it can be seen that despite the many gains of women in sports since the enactment of Title IX, “traditional” notions of masculinity and femininity still dominate media coverage of males and females in sports, which is observed in Olympic programming and sports news broadcasts. Sociology is a growing discipline and is an important factor in the understanding of different parts of society. Sociology is “a social science that studies human societies, their interactions, and the processes that preserve and change them” (Faris and Form P1).
Women in sports demand quality assurance for their hard work. Sad to say this is not implemented in the sports “world” of women. “One of the theories behind this is that society doesn’t like to see women in roles that go against the norm of what a woman “should be” (Rodriguez).” Fortunately this stems from ignorance and prejudice beliefs. Especially through the media, both of which can be learned. The media can alter sports viewer’s opinions by relaying positive messages toward women’s sports. As well as sports authoritators distributing equal pay for equal work. The abundant amount of support that the media and viewers allocate will allow a higher amount of equality for women in the sports industry. This kind of support will lead women in sports salaries rise and eventually match the hardship of achievements as a minority in today’s sports
Recently a major issue for women in sports is female coaches and their salaries. The salaries of the male coaches in athletics have continuously been on the rise. And on top of that, the male coaches make 159% of the money that female coaches make. Female participation in College athletics are also on the rise. However, the majority of funding in colleges goes into the men's athletic programs.
Some people may blame the lack of coverage of women's sport is because not enough people like the game to push to get more broadcast games. While reading an article written by Nathan Keil, he raised a point I found very interesting as to what will help lead to women’s sport earning television rights, starts with money. According to the article, Nathan Keil said; “Money will go to women’s sports as soon as an audience wants to watch women, so the best way to support these women athletes is by attending women’s
Whether its baseball, basketball, soccer, hockey, or tennis, sports is seen all over the world as a representation of one’s pride for their city, country, and even continent. Sports is something that is valued world-wide which has the ability to bring communities together and create different meanings, beliefs and practices between individuals. Although many people may perceive sports to have a significant meaning within our lives, it can also have the ability to separate people through gender inequalities which can also be represented negatively throughout the media. This essay will attempt to prove how gender is constructed in the sports culture while focusing on female athletes and their acceptance in today’s society.
Ann, 2007, pg. 57), however this is not true. This mentality causes males to resent the female athletes, thus rendering it even more difficult for them to succeed. Without a shift in gender ideology, females will continue to face adversity, regardless of the amount of change that has occurred over the last 30 years. There does not need to be equality between the genders within sports, however equity must be seen, with the perception of the abilities that female athletes possess not being compared to that of males. This would aid males to not feel as threatened by females participating in sports and physical