The Presentation of Women's Sports Media Coverage

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to explore how sports media coverage has been sexist towards women. The target of the study is professional women athletes in several sports, mostly in the United States. Various media outlets such as television, newspaper, the internet, and radio were focused on evidence. By searching peer-reviewed articles and secondary sources, qualitative data was able to be found on the subject. The feminist theory guided the research in explaining how women receive an unequal opportunity in comparison to men. The research question for the study is, “How is coverage of women’s sports compared to coverage of men’s sports sexist”? To specify the study, three main subjects were under investigation. The three subjects of interest that are being investigated for the research are: • Women receiving unequal coverage compared to men, • Women being sexualized • Feminine and masculine women's sports. Findings have shown that women's sports media coverage has been sexist in all three ways. Keywords: sports media; sexist; women’s sports; inequality