Women in the Media

From all the topics we covered in class the subjected that intrigued me the most was women in sports and their portrayal and coverage in the media. Women athletes continue to be under-represented in news coverage, and are often portrayed in stereotypical avenues; such as house wives, mother, or being “sexy”. Although there has been a steady increase in the number of women professionals over the past 20 years, most mainstream press coverage continues to rely on men athletics to get there sport coverage. Women in the news are more likely to be featured in stories about accidents, domestic violence, or showing their physical appearanceoff rather than in stories about their professional abilities or expertise. In the latter portion of the semester I got to read articles on women and their portrayal in the media. According to the articleGender in Televised Sports by Center for Feminist Research University of Southern California,  2009 1.6% of airtime was devoted to women’s sports, in contrast to the 96.3% devoted to male athletes.Media images of women in sports are very different from the media images of male athletes in action. It’s disappointing how women in sports are still being considered to be the under dogs in the game and are treated with the inequality’s of media coverage, sports endorsements and the proper recognitions that they deserve.

Stephanie Bruschini (KIN 388I S2)