Gendered language within sport – Still an issue in today's game

Global sporting events such as the Olympics, Wimbledon and the World Cup are loved by most yet there is still a recurring issue within sport – that being the gendered language and stereotyping.

Gender egalitarianism has come a long way especially within sport, yet global events help reinforce the idea of diversity between men and women. A great example is the current 'Women's World Cup' which has shone controversy of its own. Firstly, is named 'Women's World Cup' contrasting from the Male event just being 'World Cup'.  

Another worldwide event, the 2012 Olympics, saw mass controversy over commentator's language. One example being in an interview with volleyball gold medallist Kerry Walsh, interviewer Bob Costas referred on more than occasion of the finalists as 'girls' despite both being in their 30's. The use of the term 'girl' was covered especially frequently in interviews regarding swimming and basketball events, which implies immaturity, when have you ever heard a commentator refer a male athlete as a boy? Probably never.  Another case during the Olympics, was when commentators gave background information on athletes, when describing males they would focus on the training or athleticism of them, however for the females more about their personalities and appearance.  A useful example showcasing this was an article from the 'Washington Post', which expressed the idea that swimmer Missy Franklin accomplished a lot despite her 'bubbles and dimples'. 

Other coverage featured highlighting women's nail polish and hairstyle choices whilst commentating, which very rarely occurred in Mens coverage. At one point during a team final, a commentator made note of the sweat shown from the female athletes suggesting women are showing 'less grace', completely stereotypical. Women were also deemed 'emotional' in the Olympics coverage when crying, which contrasted from the commentators views that Men crying was deemed 'enthusiastic' and 'passionate'.

The Olympics was a prime source example of how gendered language was generally portrayed in sport, with coverage focusing more on appearance and personality of females rather than relevant, sporting achievements. This could link with the idea that a general semantic field of sport is usually associated with Men, and that the gradual increase of Women's participation within sport can be seen as unaccustomed – for example Women should not have muscles or be athletic, which leads to gender bias and reinforces stereotypical feminine roles.

 The 'Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles' carried out a study on the gendered stereotyping within sports coverage. Their summary of findings included: As already picked up on, Women athletes were frequently referred to as 'girls' or 'young ladies'. In tennis commentary, Women were called by only their first name 52% of the time, whilst Men only 7%.  Commentators' use of metaphorical language during sport coverage was much more frequent during Mens sport than Women's. Women athletes were also commonly addressed as humorous objects and even in some cases were sexualised, which reinforced the idea of Women being non-athletic. The language evidence from this study shows that there is still gender bias within sport coverage, and that Women's coverage is inferior to Mens.

 

Sources: http://genderreport.com/2012/08/12/girl-games-still-grappled-with-gendered-language-commentary/

 

http://www.la84.org/gender-stereotyping-in-televised-sports/

 

By Karl Fortmann