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Women's Expectations and Beauty Standards in Sports and Athletics: Unit 1

Something that has always stayed in the back of my mind while growing up as an athlete myself is watching sports and major sporting events like the Olympics. Women are constantly being viewed not only for their performance but also for the way they look and how they are portrayed to the eye of the public. I am not saying that this is only a problem for women in this particular professional world but that they have it much harder. The standards are through the roof for how they should look, act, sound, and behave to make the public and media happy. This does affect all athletes, but you dont typically see men photoshopping themselves to appear extremely skinny or changing their body shape while they are on the field or jumping from bar to bar like Livvy Dunne did to appease her audience. 

Dunne photoshopped her shoulders and torso to be smaller in comparison to the original picture. Later dealt with a huge amount of backlash for this performance on social media and took down the photo since so many people were shaming her. Not ever considering why she felt the need to edit her photos since she is already an amazing gymnast. Female athletes aren't just competing for a spot in the top ranking, they are also competing with each other for fame and camera time, something only gifted to athletes if they meet all the criteria that the media wants to see - skinny, beautiful, blemish-free, flawless, and overall the “perfect” body that women are brainwashed into striving to be. It's such a dangerous world to be thrown into and if not taken with a grain of salt. You might end up in the firing range like Dunne. 

This isn't new either since women have been allowed to participate in sporting events and teams they have been criticized for how they look and less on how they perform. This appearance-obsessed culture is something that has been riddling with dance and gymnastics since the start of it all. Women all over the world have come forward to speak out about USA coaches who have starved and even forced them into extreme diets while shaming young girls who could not shed weight due to their genetics or body shape. Garber writes “ However, dictating female athletes’ bodies is unfortunately commonplace in virtually every sport”. This isn't just coaches and managers who are trying to force eating habits and dictate the weight of women. Just this last February, track star Mary Cain also known as “The fastest woman in America” set a lawsuit against her personal Nike coach for forcing her into an abusive diet, starving her into submission that later resulted in a deep and overwhelming depression episode that lasted for months. 

Another case in 2016 with the tennis star Eugenie Bouchard came out where she spoke out about her battle with an eating disorder due to the pressure and expectations from the outside world and herself. Women are more than what they look like and how the media is portraying them to be and if the whole world can't see that then the harm will continue to follow suit for these amazing athletes that dont get to truly shine without someone or something trying to bring them down for not being what they want them to be. With my lasting words on the subject, I would like to inform you that through the National Eating Disorder Association, 62% of female athletes in weight class or aesthetic sport suffer from some type of eating disorder. I hope you let that information sit with you before you try to judge an athlete for more than how they perform in their sport.

Work Cited:

Savage, M. (2012). Body image in sports. Character Education - Santa Clara University. https://www.scu.edu/character/resources/body-image-in-sports/ 

Majumder, A. (2023, November 6). Olivia Dunne Sparks internet backlash over “photoshop” controversy in latest post. EssentiallySports. https://www.essentiallysports.com/us-sports-news-gymnastics-news-olivia-dunne-sparks-internet-backlash-over-photoshop-controversy-in-latest-post/ Garber, E. (2020, March 10).

Female athletes are worth more than their appearance. Massachusetts Daily Collegian. https://dailycollegian.com/2020/03/female-athletes-are-worth-more-than-their-appearance/

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Media Literacy in Sports: Unit 2

Over the years, the media has played a significant role in the way the public perceives information yet, the media is still hesitant to showcase female athletes compared to their male counterparts. The gender norms that persist in the media show male athletes being the center of sports resulting in unequal coverage and compensation for female athletes. 

Unequal media coverage and compensation between female athletes and male athletes has been going on for years now with no improvements. Female athlete Sue Bird and male athlete Lebron James are just one of many examples of inequality in sports. Despite Sue Bird having won 4 championships which is equivalent to Lebron, she received less media coverage and only a fraction of the financial compensation being a mere $200,000 compared to Lebron earning over a million dollars. This financial compensation between these two athletes reinforces the bias that female athletes are less entertaining and valuable to watch than male athletes. The unequal distribution of media coverage limits the opportunities for female athletes to get brand deals and headlines. This stems from the gender norms in sports media which intend to portray male athletes as superior and more worthy of attention. The concept of "reading with the grain," as mentioned in Gendered Lives, emphasizes interpreting things as intended by the author or filmmaker. In the context of sports media, the intentional overrepresentation of male athletes in headlines and commercials gives the narrative that male sports are superior, further solidifying the stigma that female sports are not worth watching. One common argument that I tend to hear people say is the reason male athletes get more attention is because people are more interested in male-centered sports. This idea is simply flawed because the media plays a pivotal role in the way consumers view the media.

The media's portrayal of female athletes, particularly black female athletes, has been a continuous issue. In the article "Spotlights and Shadows in Media Coverage of Women’s Sports," the author highlights the tendency to depict black female athletes in a negative light. The article points out the stereotypes that black women face such as being loud, aggressive, selfish, and arrogant. It then goes on to talk about how white female athletes like Clark and Ronda Rousey are often able to express confidence and bravado without facing significant backlash. However, black athletes, such as Angel Reese, frequently face negative branding for their personalities which affects their professional opportunities. The article goes more in-depth by stating, "Black athletes, like Angel Reese, tend to get branded negatively for their personalities, which can impact their bottom line.” Over the years, sports media has made harmful stereotypes by portraying black women as aggressive and loud. It is important to recognize that such depictions do not accurately represent the personalities within the black female athlete community. Not all black women are aggressive and loud, but the media's consistent reinforcement of these stereotypes contributes to the creation of a negative and inaccurate generalization about all black women. Furthermore, there is a stark double standard in how aggression and assertiveness are perceived in sports media. While men, including white athletes, are often celebrated for displaying confidence and assertiveness, women of color, particularly black women, face criticism when expressing similar qualities. This portrayal of behavior reinforces harmful biases and contributes to the negative stereotypes about black female athletes in the media. 

In terms of media literacy and sports, people can be more informed consumers by critically analyzing sports media narratives and understanding the complexities that influence these narratives.

Work Cited:

Kleen, B. (2023, June 16). Spotlights and shadows in women’s sports media coverage. Global Sport Matters. https://globalsportmatters.com/culture/2023/06/16/spotlights-shadows-womens-sports-media-coverage/

Kirk, G., & Okazawa-Rey, M. (2020a). Media representation and the creation of knowledge. In Gendered lives: Intersectional perspectives (pp. 52–56). essay, Oxford University Press.

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Gender and Sexuality: Unit 3

Sports carry gendered expectations. This idea of sports for certain genders is pushed onto children at a very young age. In elementary school, picking teams during recess is girl's worst nightmare. There is this innate idea that girls are “weaker” or “slower” than boys which leads to the girls always being picked last. It makes the girls feel as though they are unworthy of being on a team with “big”, “strong” boys when in reality the girls are just athletically talented. This idea of gendered athletics is continued into highschool. At my highschool and many others across the country, some sports are only offered for females and some are only offered for males. At my school specifically, wrestling was only offered for boys. This meant that any girl interested in the sport would have to play club and pay extra money or play with the boys. One girl the grade above me was interested in wrestling and decided to participate on the boys wrestling team. Not only did she fully immerse herself in the sport, but she was one of the star athletes on the team. If we had a female wrestling team offered at my school, so many others could be inspired from her success to try out the sport. It is always the “manly” sports and more “feminine” sports that are only offered for each designated gender. My highschool only had boys football and wrestling teams and girls field hockey and volleyball teams. These gendered sports limit students' ability to branch out in sports they have a passion for.

One of my personal experiences with gendered athletics is through ballet. I have been a ballet dancer for 15 years and there are major stigmas that come with the sport. For instance, it is not considered a “manly” sport so many of my male dancer friends had a hard time at school because kids would bully them saying ballet was a “girl sport”. This was also seen on a world wide scale a few years ago when Prince William's son, Prince George, decided to start ballet. Lara Spencer, a talk show host on Good Morning America, made an insensitive remark about Prince George's participation in ballet by saying “I have news for you Prince William, we’ll see how long that lasts." (O'Kane) and laughed after Prince Willam expressed his son's joy for the sport. The whole dance community rallied behind the young prince including major celebrities like Travis Wall, a famous dancer and choreographer, who sparked the use of the hashtag #Boysdancetoo. Not only that but there was a 300 person rally in support of prince Groegie and male ballet dancers (O’Kane). This issue is the same for females trying out predominantly male sports. For example, many female bodybuilders get backlash for becoming too buff and losing their feminine figure. These expectations of boys to be manly and girls to be feminine are running the athletic experiences of many children to be able to explore all of their interests. 

The stigma around gender in sports connects to what we learn in Gender Women’s Sexuality Studies, specifically unit 3. One reading that stood out to me was Joan Wallet Scott's “Gender: Still a Useful Category of Analysis?”. It really makes you question what it means to be a woman and to be a man and what that brings to your everyday and sexual life. One quote that relates to the topic of gender stigmas is “Gender was a  call to disrupt the powerful pull of biology by opening every aspect of sexed identity to interrogation,  including the question of whether or not male/female,  masculine/feminine was the contrast being invoked” (Scott). It dives into the topic of male versus female and feminine versus masculine which is connected to the feminine versus masculine stigmas around sports. How can we give gender to an activity? Your sex should not determine what sports you can play. As Scott states, “gender is an open question” as it is meant to be explored just like taking different classes in college (Scott). Another reading that helped me understand the connection of gender to everyday life was “Identities and Social Locations” in Gendered Lives. One quote that connects to this topic is “Using social categories is not the same as being “labeled”(Kirk). It is explained that labels are used to undermine people and make them feel bad for what they enjoy or believe in. In relation to sports, a common label is to name male ballet dancers as gay. This is a common stigma around the dance community and though there are male ballet dancers not all of them are and they are all being grouped together in a label that might not fit them. Sports and gender go hand in hand in help of self-discovery so limiting sports to certain genders can impact a child's life greatly when trying to figure out their passion. Your gender does not describe your physical ability.

Work Cited:

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Intersectional Perspectives. 7th ed., New York City, Oxford UP, 2020.

O'Kane, Caitlin. "300 Dancers Show up in Times Square as Lara Spencer Apologizes for Prince George Ballet Comment." CBS News, CBS Interactive, 27 Aug. 2019, www.cbsnews.com/news/300-dancers-class-in-times-square-as-gma-lara-spencer-apologizes-for-prince-george-ballet-comment-travis-wall/. Accessed 7 Dec. 2023.

Scott, Joan Wallach. Gender: Still a Useful Category of Analysis? Vol. 57, ICPHS, 2010. SAGE Journals Online, journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0392192110369316. Accessed 7 Dec. 2023.

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Women and Transgender People in the Military: Unit 4

The strong stereotypes surrounding women and transgender individuals in the military have persisted over many years, often affecting their experiences and limiting their opportunities within the armed forces. 

Historically, the military was considered a male-dominated space while women would stay home and take care of the house and family. Those traditional gender roles dictated that certain roles within the army were seen as more suited for men as they were “stronger” than women; this would lead to biases against women in combat and leading roles. Over the years, when this system was challenged, there were the same responses: women’s strength and leadership. Some stereotypes suggest that women are physically and mentally weaker than men in combat situations, these misconceptions led to doubts in women’s abilities which would weaken their chance of feeling equal to men in the military. There is also the lack of representation  of women in senior leadership positions not only in the military but also in society. Which can perpetuate the belief that women are not as capable or deserving of the roles as men are. In current society, as much as times have changed and women are now looked at a little more seriously in sports, there are still the exact same arguments about women’s capabilities in the army forces.

With that, the struggle of transgender individuals in the military has been marked by challenges and ongoing debates as well. Historically, transgender people have been faced with utter bans on serving openly in the military. They either were not allowed to serve at all or had to conceal their gender identities before joining. Over time, there have been shifts in policies regarding those individuals in the military. For example, in some countries like the United States, there have been attempts to lift that ban and allow transgender people to serve openly. However, these attempts have been stumbling upon legal challenges. When in combat, these individuals face discrimination, lack of access to healthcare related to their transition, and difficulties in gaining basic respect from the people around them (APA 2019). According to a study published in the journal Stigma and Health, “The majority of transgender service members in the U.S. military report stigmatizing experiences based on their gender identity, and these experiences are associated with worse mental health, including greater depression, anxiety, and stress. The struggle for transgender individuals in the military forces is still ongoing with debates about inclusivity, equal rights, and the ability for them to serve openly without the fear of discrimination. 

Work Cited:

What is it like to be transgender in the U.S. military? Stigma leads to Worse Mental Health (no date) American Psychological Association. Available at: https://www.apa.org/pubs/highlights/spotlight/issue-164#:~:text=The%20majority%20of%20transgender%20service,Stigma%20and%20Health%20