Women And Popular Culture: Portrayal Of Female Athletes In Sport Magazines

Courtney RogersValerie CarrollWOMST 55011 May 2007The Construction of Women in Sports within the Mass MediaRecent studies involving the function of the bargain media and gender particularly within the realm of women s sports has brought wonderful upon one of the most disturbing issues in society nowadays : the under- image and misrepresentation of women in mass media . It can be cerebrate that distaff athletes , framed by the media as objects of sexual practice , or sports cuties atomic number 18 consistently emphasized for their sexuality instead of their athleticism p Not lonesome(prenominal) does this diminish their achievements in the sports field of honor , but it excessively systematically reinforces the thinker that sports ar a males-only realm . The mass media , using magazine covers , celebrity programs a nd intelligence agency articles , counselling more on effeminate athletes as emblematical models for female sexuality than as athletes . Constantly , female athletes are envisioned in coy scenarios involving accentuated legs and breasts , or with pouting lips and scantily dress outfitsThis ordain highlight some subjects of research into symbolic representation of female athletes as passive , emotionally demonstrative and vulnerable objects of the sports human beings , whereby athletic merit is abandoned second groundwork to pare down and sex . Furthermore , this allow for base itself on the greater suppositious standpoint of hegemony , citing such theorists as Louis Althusser and Antonio GramsciThe summary will also base itself on the work of Laura Mulvey , who presents the idea of the virile Gaze whereby women are shown as sexual objects for the ocular mathematical function of men s enjoyment . Through this analysis of women in sports and the medias receptio n to female athletes it is postulated that w! omen have been systematically moved from restless participants as subjects , to a more passive role as objects .

This concomitant reinforces a particular hegemonic , patriarchal ability coordinate , and what is more , reinforces the ply roles of those who are responsible for such representationsTo determine the ground for the analysis , it is helpful to first consider the theoretical prat of Althusser and Gramsci . The theory of ideology and hegemony is particularly relevant for the afterward commentary on the portrayal of women within the cultural spirit of the media . Althusser states that infatuate d truths are used to maintain power . The assort with the power (in this case one could take such an example as Time Warner , the owner or Sports Illustrated for Women ) defines the rules of the gameThis means that the assort in power creates media frames and representations of reality that further construct a worldview that is tributary for the maintenance of the present day structure . baron is addicted to subordinate classes (the viewers of mass media ) by the persuasion power (Time Warner , in a guidance that makes it appear that they are given concessions ( We give the audience what they are asking for ) And as to that extent , as Gramsci outlines , these concessions are still a means of maintaining powerThe angiotensin-converting enzyme bed such a set up lies in the position that the ideology is created in such a way that the some(prenominal) the...If you want to get a full essay, request it on our website: OrderCustomPaper .com

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