ESPN.com...Watch the women's tournament too!

In the middle of march madness a basketball fan would be attracted to espn.com for up to date information on college basketball. I have recently found in my trips to this major media site the large discrepancy between coverage of men's and women's college basketball. While the men have a 24+ point font headline and a large picture, the women have about a 10 point font headline with a picture about one-eighth the size. A few weeks back when the brackets came out it took me over five minutes to find the link to the women's bracket, while the men's was easily accessible right when you accessed the site. Also, the women's games can be found predominantly on ESPN2 and a few very select games are found on ESPN. The men's games are constantly aired on CBS and ESPN. Although the men's tournament is probably more popular and more attractive with the athleticism and slam-dunks, the women are very worthy of coverage. How many tournament trackers know Candice Wiggins of Stanford scored 44 points in a tournament game?? That was half of her team's 88 points...No male player has done that this year in the tournament... There are so many exciting games, with last second shots, major performances by top players, and a great athletes competing for a national championship. So when you get a chance flip the channel to a secondary station or click on that ten point font and you might just be amazed at what you see.

Is it size or gender that matters?

You decide:

http://sports.yahoo.com/top/blog/roy_s_johnson/post/To-the-IRL-size-matters?urn=top,73900

interesting article

http://www.womenssportslink.com/IncreasedSportsOpportunitiesForWomen.shtml

i read this article and found it very uplifting and comforted that women are finally getting the opportunity to have a decent job. it's also i feel great timing considering tues in lect we talked about affirmative action and if a woman is qualified for a job; she should get it because she now has the opportunity to fight for that position, and not just get it because she's got some 'legal' edge over someone else. financing is always an important issue because in the digitial ethnography video we saw at the beginning of the semester and also over a debate in class; we mentioned that female sports teams and overall get maybe percentages of what male sports make. NBA players often make millions if not at least hundreds of thousands of dollars, but WNBA doesn't have that. I understand that college sports are far from professional levels, but the funding for many male sports (football/basketball) is often and obviously a lot more than female sports and it just seems so unfair that not many people go to female games but to male games. women might not be able to dunk but are just as good as males in games.

Kitty KIN 338I S6
T/Th 9:30-11:00 am

Outside The Lines: Girls Wrestling

http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?&brand=null&videoId=3281770&n8pe6c=1

Above is a short clip on ESPN.com from a longer segment titled "Girls Taking Hold" that I watched on a recent episode of Outside The Lines. This short segment highlights CC Webber, a high school female wrestler who has a record of 50 wins with thirteen losses, and of the 50 wins, 46 were against males. So 46 boys have the embarassing experience of losing to a girl and even CC laughs as saying "If I was a guy and lost to a girl... I would probably not come back and wrestle."
The rest of the full story explains how there are only 5, soon to be 7, NCAA schools that offer scholarships for their women's wrestling teams. Interesting side note here: the addition of women's wrestling programs may indirectly help save men's wrestling programs by balancing athletics expenditures.
And all the men that were interviewed, including coaches, supported the idea of expanding female only wrestling because it was such a lose-lose situation for boys wrestling a girl. If he wins, he only beat a girl. If he loses he stands ridicule for the rest of his career.
Yet those opposed to only wrestling girls were the girls themselves whom were wrestling the boys and winning. CC Webber was interviewed more exstensively and basically says that the girls she has wrestled were not competitive enough and that CC was a much better wrestler as a result of having to compete with the boys.

Expansion of girl's and women's wrestling may be best for the collective group at large whereas allowing girls to compete against boys may be best for the girls' individual mobility. What do you think?

Jesse B. Tu/Thur 9:30

Tag Body Shots

As soon as i saw this commercial I thought of the brand Axe that I believe is more popular and better known than Tag. Tag as well as Axe advertize the use of women as sex objects. Tag used the smell of this product as an attraction and excuse for women to throw themselves all over men like hungry animals. And the men were protrayed as victims of women abusing them at first and later in the commercial they puposely used this product to get women to be all over them. This commercial was aimed toward men but obviously we all know this product does not do as is shown. Women were protrayed as objects for men in this commercial.

Ten Reasons Why Women Lift Weights

When I came across this article, I thought to myself "Great someone finally understands that weight-training is beneficial to women both phsically and mentally." But, after reading further along, I noticed that women will inevitably be seen as the typical "victorian women."

Take for example, the first reason.,"You will be physically stronger." Yes, this is indeed true. However, the explanation that follows can be a bit disturbing. It states that women would need less assistance in doing things such as chores, lifting kids, lifting groceries, and laundry. So take notes ladies, we lift weights for the benefit of doing things society has bestowed upon us.

Next, the article states that women will improve their athletic performance. I found it very odd that the article only mentions types of sports where physical activity is minimal, such as, golfing, cycling, and skiing. Sports that do not involve physical contact whatsoever.

Finally, the last reason the article states as to why weight-lifting is beneficial is because it will improve your attitude and fight depression. This is the one that is most disturbing because it is implying that women are so emotional that we need physical training to boost self-esteem and confidence.

This article totally psyched me out because after reading the title, I was under the impression that I would be in for a good reading that recognizes the physical well-being of women. Instead, it correlates with old-fashion society that women have specific roles and attitudes. However, the upside of the article is that weight-lifting can be healthy in terms of decreasing risk of osteoporosis and reducing the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/women/a/aa051601a.htm

Pamela Jasmin Kin 338I TTh 9:30am

Tag Commerical Targeting a Male Audience

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/102789/tag_body_shots/

In this commercial featuring "Tag" body spray, beautiful women are used to attract the attention of the male audience by indulging in sexual connotations. The purpose of this commercial (like any advertisement) is to get the audience to buy their product. The commercial portrays the image that hot women will fall head over heals for anyone using tag body spray. The producers of this commercial portray women as mindless sex zombies when exposed to this "irresistible" scent. Many feminists' would say these women are objectified and used as mere props. This Tag commercial towards men is similar to that of Nike's advertisement towards women in the article "That's who I want to be" by Michelle Helstein, because both products/companies portray women in a way that will best persuade the target audience to purchase their product.

Andy Jones, 338i

Mercurie's Commercial, targetting at male audience

I saw Mercurie Auto Insurance's TV commercial Saturday night at KTLA. It depicted the story in the airport. The story was that one business man was delighted with the low airfare he could get because he could have a pet price, packing himself into the pet carrier. Their intensions seemed like to attract male drivers and business man, emphasizing low premiums, because all performers in this commercial such as business travelers with business suits and airport workers were all men, and I didn't see any women at all in here.

"Roxy Chicken Jam"

Roxy, the largest surf, snow and skate company for girls, is holding a snowboard competition called the "Roxy Chicken Jam." This year will be the 4th annual competition. It is a big competition, holding a prize purse of $150,000, and a very competitive one as well. I think it is great.
However, before I get to my point I want to give you some history on Roxy itself. Roxy is the 1st brand for surf, skate, and snow women. The company has been around since 1990, and has broken through many of the barriers against women competing in these sports. They have given women with passion for these sports opportunity, and are still thriving to give them the same opportunities as the men.
What shocked me about this competition is the name, "Chicken Jam." Did Roxy name it this because it is a girl competition? Quicksilver, the men's version of Roxy, would never name one of their contests the "Chicken Jam."
'Chicken' is a name you would call someone who is scared or weak. It doesn't make sense as to why Roxy, being a company based on women with guts, would name their biggest all women competition with a 'chicken' in it.
Tell me what you think.

Here is the link if you want to see it for yourself,

http://www.roxy.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=2890049

Erika B.
Section 338I

"Player's Wives"

The 2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition features male professional athletes' wives. The wives pose in skimpy, sexy swimsuits. This photo is next to a head shot of their professional athlete husbands.
The wives are shown as trophies. This is a media discourse that shows an ideal prize (the wives) that the readers idolize. It is portraying a premier life to the target market (men in their 20's-50's) that says these featured players have conquered, not only professional careers as athletes, but the trophy wives to go with it.
Tell me what you think.

Erika B.
Section 338I

Women in Tennis

I remember a few days back, watching Pardon the Interruption on ESPN. My favorite show on television since I was in middle school. Anyway, in the at the end of the show, they argued about grunting in Tennis. They stated that an nine year old in Australia was banned from her local tennis courts because of her grunting to loud. The girl's idol was Maria Sharapova and she was trying to emulate her style. Michael Wilbon, one of the host of the show, argued that while one his favorite tennis player, Monica Seles, grunted a lot and loud, that it should be banned from Tennis matches. Tony Kornheiser (sp.) the other co-host agreed with him at stated that it is annoying to those watching it and to the opponent that they are facing.

I am a big tennis fan, and I try to play every weekend when I get the chance. I even played a lot in high school. While in school, my varsity Tennis coach made us play an exhibition against our women's Tennis team. One of the girls grunted so loud that you could hear her on any of the courts. Even watching the Williams' sisters on television, they too grunt when returning shots. I can understand how some could find grunting as unladylike, loud, annoying or as an unpleasant sound. However, I don't really have a problem. If anything I see it as how much a player is putting into a shot. I've seen men grunt and while not as loud, people do not seem to care. I believe that it is not a big deal ans that the Australian Tennis court should let the girl play Tennis and not oppress those who grunt.

D.Smith

We’ve come a long way baby… but not far enough.

Don’t get me wrong. I am in no way discounting the progress we’ve made with regard to equality in sports, education, or civil rights. But it seems to me that for every three steps forward, we take one step back.

For example, in 1999, the U.S. Women’s Soccer team was nationally celebrated for winning the World Cup. Nearly a decade later in 2008, St. Mary’s Academy in Topeka, Kansas forbade referee Michelle Campbell from presiding over a boy’s basketball game. Their rationale was that it's against the school's belief system for women to have a position of authority over boys.

Even though St.Mary's is a private school, they still have to comply with Title IX if they receive any federal finance funding. Most private schools receive some federal finance funding. Even though Ms. Cambell could be considered contract labor, it would be interesting to challege this as a Title IX non-compliance issue.

What I find most appalling about this is the message it sends to the young men at St. Mary's Academy. That being, females should not have authority over males. They are being taught to disregard the authority of their mothers, future employers, college professors, and (maybe one day) even their college coaches, based solely on the fact that they are women. How many St. Mary's graduates are going to pass these ideals on to their sons and grandsons? Like I said, three steps forward and one step back.

S. Stallmo
Kin 338, Section 07 (6388)

Sexist media coverage

While flipping through the pages of Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, I noticed something intriguing. Why is it that so many females in sports only get major media coverage when it has something to do with sex, and apperance. Danica Patrick one of the only females in the Nascar racing industry posed for this issue. Although I must say the pictures came out tasteful and nice the interview disturbed me. Dan Patrick interviewed her and all the questions he had refered to her as if he was fulfilling a sexual fantasy of his. Not once did he ask her what was her plans for improving in her sport or anything that had to do with driving a race car. Instead he ask her what does she wear under her race suit on race day, and does she wear makeup on race day. So I did more research to see if there was anything else about Danica on the home page of Nascar and to my surprise there was nothing. So I'm posing the question why is it that females only get major media coverage when it has to do with their apperance or sexual preferance? Why is the media so geared toward mens performance on the field, and womens performance off the field.



Keith C

Course:338 IS.6

Huge trades and signings in the WNBA. Am I the only one who cares?

The 2007-2008 NBA season has been full of important and shocking trades. One of the most important trades this season happened when Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett were both traded to the Boston Celtics. There has been a lot of excitement surrounding the trades that were made this year in the NBA, but while this is going on, the WNBA has also made some equally exciting trades. The WNBA doesn't get nearly as much media attention as its male counterpart, but there are some blockbuster signings and trades going on there too. My favorite team, the Seattle Storm has just signed Sheryl Swoopes a.k.a the female Michael Jordan. One of the best players in the WNBA has left the team she has been on since the inception of the WNBA (12 years ago) and this has gotten less coverage than when she announced that she was a lesbian. (Unbelievable) Women's sports in general get very little press coverage. It really bothers me, because I would like to see both men and women athletes equally represented in the press and it just doesn't seem to be getting any better. What do you think?

Tiarra W. KIN 338I Sec. 6
TU/TH 9:30am

female refs are JUST as qualified as male refs

Reading this article not only infuriated and insulted me; but even worse it still reinstates the indifference of how men and women are treated differently. I know that with different religions, there are still some ‘rules’ that they try to follow since morals and values teaches many life long valuable lessons. It is personal to me since I’ve played basketball from 3^rd grade until I graduated High School. I’ve seen countless female referees at our school and they are just as fair and qualified as male referees. They are even stricter throughout the game in my opinion; and often will be less tolerant on certain types of fouls. I have never seen any fan or athlete speak disrespectfully about a female referee other than being in-game process. (Example: athlete feels they were/weren’t fouled and it was/wasn’t called; but that’s game related). I really do hope that they would be eventually banned from being in the list of approved schools and not allowed to compete against any other school; no matter what religion the school is founded on.

Kitty F, t/th 9 30 am - 11 am
Kin 338I, S 6.