Female Athletes Aren’t Treated with Equal Dignity

The media sends ambiguous messages about women’s sports

Media coverage for sporting events is often different when it involves female athletes, typically highlighting gender rather than talent or skill. Coverage for the recent FIFA Women’s World Cup held here in Vancouver was no exception.

While traditional sports reporting will cover scores and player statistics, and won’t necessarily highlight gender specifics, other stories will veer into more subjective territory, covering in detail a female athlete’s looks, her style on and off the field, and personal relationships, more so than we see in coverage about male athletes.

On June 22, Sports Illustrated contributor Andy Benoit responded to a tweet from his executive editor, Mark Mravic, and claimed: “Women’s sports in general not worth watching.” At the time, the FIFA Women’s World Cup was still ongoing and the United States had not yet claimed their title. There was backlash surrounding Benoit’s comment and it even prompted Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler to reunite for another “Really!?!” sketch on Late Night with Seth Meyers. Benoit has since deleted the original tweet and issued an apology.

Sports Illustrated recently released a new issue that features members of the U.S. women’s soccer team individually on 25 different collectible covers. However, this, in combination with Benoit’s comments, sends a confusing message to audiences and young athletes.

The publication is celebrating these women and honouring their achievement, yet Benoit only had to issue an apology on his personal Twitter. While Benoit clearly is not the only voice of the publication, it feels as though Sports Illustrated is doing damage control through publishing these new covers. They are attempting to portray these women as strong, accomplished athletes—yet their hair and makeup is perfect, as if anyone could really look like that while working towards winning a world title.

The media is a strange, fascinating part of our society. With social media and the digital era, it’s easier for the media to reach and influence audiences. Typical gender roles and stereotypes are still perpetuated in the media and thus influence how people view themselves.

Magazines and online media platforms are not the only forms of media guilty of promoting gender norms when it comes to sports. CBS News New York did a segment on the historic ticker-tape parade that was held for the U.S. women’s team, in which reporter Weijia Jang asks a parade goer, “So it is good to play like a girl?” What exactly does that mean? The connotation of doing something “like a girl” often suggests weakness, lack of coordination, or a slower, lacklustre performance.

Campaigns such as the United Nations’ “He for She” and Always’ #LikeAGirl are trying to change the negative connotations often associated with feminism and being “like a girl” by empowering people to make a change. Nevertheless, the media still sends confusing, mixed messages about gender roles. Trying to become inspired, finding out who you are and following your dreams is hard enough at a young age without the influence of a system of media that doesn’t quite know what it wants to say.