{"id":1409,"date":"2020-06-27T15:54:13","date_gmt":"2020-06-27T15:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revista-apunts.com\/?p=1409"},"modified":"2020-10-05T08:17:04","modified_gmt":"2020-10-05T08:17:04","slug":"how-do-sportswomen-perceive-the-way-they-are-treated-in-the-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revista-apunts.com\/en\/how-do-sportswomen-perceive-the-way-they-are-treated-in-the-media\/","title":{"rendered":"How do Sportswomen Perceive the Way they are Treated in the Media?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Abstract <\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This study sets out to examine how elite sportswomen perceive the way that their professional careers and women\u2019s sports in general are portrayed in the media. These athletes want to debunk gender stereotypes and have managed to cross barriers and reach the summit in their respective sports. The study aims to understand and interpret a specific social reality, namely that of elite sportswomen, by identifying the meaning or the significance that they attach to media representation of the sport, expressing how their sports careers and identity as athletes were built and how they have been treated by the press. Nineteen interviews and three focus groups were conducted with elite sportswomen. The results show that elite sportswomen believe they are treated differently to men and that they feel invisible and judged through stereotypes linked to beauty, lack of skill or lack of interest in their competitions. They denounce the fact that even their accomplishments are less visible than their male colleagues\u2019 defeats. The conclusions underscore the feeling among sportswomen that there is an urgent need for journalistic practices to change in order for them to cease feeling invisible, ignored, objectified and be able to become role models for young girls. <\/p>\n\n\n

Keywords:<\/strong> Elite Athletes<\/span>, gender<\/span>, Invisibility<\/span>, Media<\/span>, Media Violence<\/span><\/p> <\/div> \n\n\n\n

Introduction <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This study examines the different factors that contribute to shaping a stereotyped media image of women, as identified by sportswomen themselves. The studies reviewed clearly show how the way women are depicted in the media leads to a new kind of gender violence, namely media violence (Alfaro et al., 2011<\/a>; Angulo, 2007<\/a>; Aspic-Comunicaci\u00f3n, 2016<\/a>; Buch\u00f3n et al., 2017<\/a>; Irazusta et al., 2010<\/a>; Robles, 2012<\/a>; Sainz-de-Baranda, 2013<\/a>). This is a visual kind of violence which syncretises different ways of depicting woman as an object of desire, omitted, the passive subject of current policies, or with a stereotyped image of women as victims or guardians of the home, thus shaping the image of women today, configuring one that is far removed from what laws on equality seek to promote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legislation on media violence is contained in the Argentinean Law 26485, enacted in April 2009 on the prevention, penalisation and eradication of violence against women, which attempts to eliminate discrimination between women and men in all walks of life, particularly asserting women\u2019s right to a violence-free life. This law refers to the term \u2018media violence\u2019 and defines it as one of the manifestations of symbolic violence, meaning the publication of stereotyped images through any medium. This law alludes to slander, offensive remarks, discrimination, humiliation or attacks against the dignity of women, \u201cas well as the use of women, female adolescents and girls in pornographic messages and images, legitimising unequal treatment\u201d (Law 26485, 2009, art. 4). Women are objectified \u201cwhen the female body is viewed as a consumable object denied subjectivity, will and action, and when male sexuality based on domination and symbolic violence is fostered\u201d (Chaher, 2012, p. 1707<\/a>). Symbolic violence reproduces domination and inequality by naturalising women\u2019s subordination in society and is conveyed subtly through the media (Bourdieu, 2000<\/a>; Gabarra, 2011<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It could be argued that these sexist microaggressions are also seen in university studies (Corsi, 1995<\/a>; Serra Payeras et al., 2019<\/a>). The goal of these practices of male domination is to retain mastery over women and to thwart women\u2019s increasing empowerment. They are effective and reduce women\u2019s autonomy, go unnoticed and confirm the social order (Bosch & Ferrer, 2002<\/a>; De-Miguel, 2015<\/a>). This media violence fulfils the purpose of reinforcing and reproducing the system of sexual inequality, subduing women; thus, Osborne (2009, p. 57)<\/a> states that \u201cinequality entails violence\u201d. Furthermore, the threat of violence is conveyed in films and television, as well as in jokes and flirtatious remarks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The media have become one of the major barriers to real change; they have become the guardians of the patriarchy since \u201cthe media currently perpetuate sexual stereotypes\u201d (Varela, 2013, p. 305<\/a>). They offer elements on which the perception of reality is built; they provide models; they normalise behavioural patterns; and they grant status to people and institutions, thus legitimising the existing social order (Mar\u00edn & Ganzabal, 2011<\/a>; Rubio, 2009<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sportswomen should be the models whom schoolgirls can look up to through the media. However, the way the media treat women tends to be limited by gender stereotypes and does not always match reality. The media reflect a biased reality; they only report on a very small percentage of female sports, thus serving to legitimise men\u2019s status quo (Funkhouser, 1973<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lack of a female presence makes women invisible; absence leads to oblivion and ignorance; what is not seen cannot be appreciated; what does not appear in the press does not actually happen, it does not exist (L\u00f3pez, 2005<\/a>). Sports news revolves around men and forgets women (Alfaro et al., 2011<\/a>), relegating them to the category of second-class citizens. The massive dissemination of non-egalitarian images influences women\u2019s and men\u2019s expectations, helping to maintain gender inequalities and build girls\u2019 identities. The European Journalism Code of Ethics, in force for the last 25 years, says that: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The media can lower the gap that exists in sports by offering news on women on a par with their worth and merit. Giving them more visibility will give girls, female adolescents and women of any age the chance to have sports role models in whom they can see themselves reflected. (N\u00fa\u00f1ez, 1993, p. 1<\/a>) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The media present female athletes with more physical appeal than athletic accomplishments (Fink & Kensicki, 2002<\/a>); they are portrayed as sexual objects and as mothers or wives. Rarely in the images and texts are they portrayed as active, positive actors; they appear more as passive agents in the shadow of men, or as victims of misfortune (Mar\u00edn & Ganzabal, 2011<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The digital world has emerged as an alternative. The presence of women online has increased enormously in recent years (Robles, 2012<\/a>). There is greater equality in the electronic media, which have been crucial in sharing sports practised by women. Thanks to the social media, the dissemination of female sports has increased, and the number of specific websites continues to grow. It is important to reflect a positive, diversified image of athletes <\/p>\n\n\n\n

in the media, devoid of gender stereotypes and portraying them as models of personal, professional and social success, because that will be the mirror in which schoolgirls see themselves reflected (Angulo, 2007<\/a>; Vega & \u00c1balos, 2016<\/a>). This study seeks to give sportswomen a voice and to inquire into the image that they perceive in the media, more specifically: <\/p>\n\n\n\n