Advocacy From the Liberal Feminist Playbook: The Framing of Title IX and Women’s Sports in News Releases From the Women’s Sports Foundation

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 178-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Barnett ◽  
Marie C. Hardin
Keyword(s):  
Title Ix ◽  
Athletic Participation ◽  
Women's Sports ◽  
Advocacy Groups ◽  
Equitable Distribution ◽  
News Releases ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Women’S Sports ◽  
Distribution Of Resources ◽  
The Law

Since Title IX was enacted in 1972, women’s advocates have considered how the law has affected female participation in sports, and critics have suggested that the law has unfairly denied opportunities to men. Studies have examined how journalists have covered Title IX and its consequences, yet few have looked at how advocacy groups have sought to influence coverage of the law. This textual analysis examines press statements published by the Women’s Sports Foundation from 2004 through 2009 and concludes that the organization used frames of community and transcendence in discussing women’s athletic participation. The foundation characterized community as essential to the support of women’s participation in sports and suggested that participation and achievement in sports were symbolic of women’s accomplishments in the larger society. The foundation also focused on fairness and equality as rationales for equitable distribution of resources and opportunities. Title IX was rarely mentioned in press statements.

Women Referees’ Experiences Officiating Rugby Union

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher F. Baldwin ◽  
Roger Vallance
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
Rugby Union ◽  
Women's Sports ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Sports Officiating ◽  
Women’S Sports ◽  
History Of ◽  
Barriers And Challenges ◽  
Sports Coaching

Five women rugby union referees who officiated in the New South Wales (NSW) suburban rugby union premiership were interviewed about their experiences refereeing men. After a comprehensive analysis of the interview transcripts, four themes emerged around barriers and challenges to women’s participation in officiating, these themes are: 1) Barriers experienced by women rugby union referees; 2) Success in refereeing male rugby union players; 3) Challenges of women participating in refereeing rugby union; 4) Ways to bring about change. The findings imply that there is discrimination and marginalization present in women’s sports officiating at male games which is in line with the literature in women’s sports coaching. The findings also suggest that women have to be superior and elite athletes with a history of success to be appointed to the best male rugby union matches. Support both on and off the field is crucial to the development and success of female referees.

Epilogue

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaime Schultz
Keyword(s):  
Women Athletes ◽  
Title Ix ◽  
Women's Sports ◽  
The Past ◽  
Women’S Sports ◽  
The World ◽  
The Status ◽  
Precipitous Decline ◽  
Sports News ◽  
Television Coverage

This concluding chapter considers the status of women's sports in 2012, the various points of change that brought them there, and reasserts the need to cheer with reserve. Even as the number of women athletes seems to rise, their representation in administrative ranks has dwindled from the pre-Title IX era. In addition, sports sociologists Michael Messner and Cheryl Cooky found that there has been a “precipitous decline” in the amount of television coverage devoted to women's sports over the past several years. In 2009 women's sports garnered just 1.6 percent of network sports news and 1.4 percent of ESPN's SportsCenter. For a brief window in July 2012, however, those numbers temporarily increased as the world tuned in to the Women's Games.

A New Frontier For Women’s Sports (Beyond Title IX)

Gender Issues ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 78-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles L. Kennedy
Keyword(s):  
Title Ix ◽  
Women's Sports ◽  
Women’S Sports ◽  
New Frontier

The Freedom to Choose: Elite Female Athletes’ Preferred Representations Within Endorsement Opportunities

2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet S. Fink ◽  
Mary Jo Kane ◽  
Nicole M. LaVoi
Keyword(s):  
Title Ix ◽  
Sport Management ◽  
Female Athletes ◽  
Basketball Player ◽  
Women's Sports ◽  
Financial Reward ◽  
Know How ◽  
Athletic Competence ◽  
Women’S Sports ◽  
Gendered Expectations

“I want to be respected for what I do instead of what I look like”—Janie, a swimmer“They can see the moves I make, the action I make [on the court]. But I also want them to see this is who I am off the court. I’m not just this basketball player. I can be somebody else”—Melanie, a basketball playerDespite unprecedented gains in women’s sports 40 years after Title IX, female athletes are rarely used in endorsement campaigns and, when used, are presented in sexually provocative poses versus highlighting their athletic competence. This pattern of representation continues, though empirical evidence demonstrates consumers prefer portrayals focusing on sportswomen’s skill versus their sex appeal. Research also indicates females are keenly aware of gendered expectations which create tensions between being athletic and “appropriately feminine.” The current study addresses what we don’t know: how elite female athletes wish to be portrayed if promised the same amount of financial reward and commercial exposure. Thirty-six team and individual scholarship athletes were asked to choose between portrayals of femininity and athletic competence. Findings revealed that competence was the dominant overall choice though close to 30% picked both types of portrayals. Metheny’s gendered sport typology was used to analyze how sportswomen’s preferences challenge, or conform to, traditional ideologies and practices surrounding women’s sports. Implications for sport management scholars and practitioners are discussed.

Women's Sports

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaime Schultz
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Title Ix ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Sex Discrimination ◽  
The United States ◽  
Women's Sports ◽  
Sports Media ◽  
Sport Media ◽  
Women’S Sports ◽  
News Networks

Although girls and women account for approximately 40 percent of all athletes in the United States, they receive only 4 percent of the total sport media coverage. SportsCenter, ESPN’s flagship program, dedicates less than 2 percent of its airtime to women. Local news networks devote less than 5 percent of their programming to women’s sports. Excluding Sports Illustrated’s annual "Swimsuit Issue," women appear on just 4.9 percent of the magazine’s covers. Media is a powerful indication of the culture surrounding sport in the United States. Why are women underrepresented in sports media? Sports Illustrated journalist Andy Benoit infamously remarked that women’s sports "are not worth watching." Although he later apologized, Benoit’s comment points to more general lack of awareness. Consider, for example, the confusion surrounding Title IX, the U.S. Law that prohibits sex discrimination in any educational program that receives federal financial assistance. Is Title IX to blame when administrators drop men’s athletic programs? Is it lack of interest or lack of opportunity that causes girls and women to participate in sport at lower rates than boys and men? In Women’s Sports, Jaime Schultz tackles these questions, along with many others, to upend the misunderstandings that plague women’s sports. Using historical, contemporary, scholarly, and popular sources, Schultz traces the progress and pitfalls of women’s involvement in sport. In the signature question-and-answer format of the What Everyone Needs to Know® series, this short and accessible book clarifies misconceptions that dog women’s athletics and offers much needed context and history to illuminate the struggles and inequalities sportswomen continue to face. By exploring issues such as gender, sexuality, sex segregation, the Olympic and Paralympic Games, media coverage, and the sport-health connection, Schultz shows why women’s sports are not just worth watching, but worth playing, supporting, and fighting for.

#Gramming Gender: The Cognizance of Equality on Instagram Accounts of Prominent NCAA Athletic Departments

2021 ◽  
pp. 216747952110041
Author(s):  
Rich G. Johnson ◽  
Miles Romney ◽  
Benjamin Burroughs
Keyword(s):  
Title Ix ◽  
Female Athletes ◽  
Women's Sports ◽  
Athletic Departments ◽  
Women’S Sports ◽  
Promotional Efforts ◽  
Fan Engagement

Under the federally mandated Title IX, NCAA athletic departments are directed to offer balanced promotional and informational coverage between men’s and women’s sports. This study examines how gender is represented in photographs on the Instagram accounts of prominent NCAA athletic departments. Findings indicate mixed results: female athletes, when showcased, receive similar promotional efforts to their male peers; their athleticism is highlighted; and fan engagement metrics are as high as male sports. However, female athletic achievements are overwhelmingly underrepresented, suggesting equality is still deficient.

Women’s and Men’s Prominence in Sports Coverage and Changes in Large-, Medium-, and Small-City Newspapers, Pre- and Post-Title IX

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 762-787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kent Kaiser
Keyword(s):  
Title Ix ◽  
Large City ◽  
Small City ◽  
Women's Sports ◽  
Women’S Sports ◽  
Local Media ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Sports Coverage ◽  
City Newspaper ◽  
Traditional Patterns

Through the lens of agenda-setting theory, this article investigates whether women’s sports coverage in mainstream newspapers increased after the passage of Title IX, consistent with the expectation that greater equality in athletics and the requirement that schools provide equality in publicity would lead to greater volume and prominence in coverage. Researchers conducted a quantitative content analysis of randomly selected front pages of sports sections from large-, medium-, and small-city newspapers for 10-year intervals in the period 1932–2012 (40 years before and after Title IX’s 1972 passage). Numbers of articles and photos and the square area devoted to them in each year were calculated. The researchers found traditional patterns of story placement and inequality persisted in large-city newspapers over the 80-year span, but small-city and medium-city newspaper coverage changed in favor of women’s sports. Thus, this article explores the thesis that proximity to women’s sports correlates to greater equality of coverage and the advancement of women’s sports. This article provides a springboard for future investigation into a larger question of the role local media play in advancing social change and social movements and suggests local media might be more effective, even if unintentionally, than big media.

Denial of Power in Televised Women’s Sports

1988 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Carlisle Duncan ◽  
Cynthia A. Hasbrook
Keyword(s):  
Female Athletes ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Team Sports ◽  
Marathon Running ◽  
Women's Sports ◽  
Ethical Obligation ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Women’S Sports ◽  
Individual Sports ◽  
Conflicting Messages

Televised texts of women’s sports are examined using the hermeneutical method. This study begins with the observation that women’s participation in team sports and certain “male-appropriate” individual sports is significantly lower than men’s participation in these sports. More striking yet is the media’s (particularly television’s) virtual disregard of women in team sports and certain individual sports. On the basis of these observations, the authors frame their research question: Do these imbalances constitute a symbolic denial of power for women? To answer this question, the authors investigate televised depictions of basketball, surfing, and marathon running. In each sport, the television narratives and visuals of the women’s competition are contrasted with those of the men’s competition. These depictions reveal a profound ambivalence in the reporting of the women’s sports, something that is not present in the reporting of the men’s sports. This ambivalence consists of conflicting messages about female athletes; positive portrayals of sportswomen are combined with subtly negative suggestions that trivialize or undercut the women’s efforts. Such trivialization is a way of denying power to women. The authors conclude by asserting that sport and leisure educators have an ethical obligation to redress the imbalance of power in the sporting world.

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