This year’s games are the first to feature female athletes from every participating country – but lest you think the world of women’s sports is finally gaining some respect, rest assured that sexism in women’s sports is alive and well.
Women’s beach volleyball has generated a lot of conversation the past few weeks over the bikini-like uniforms worn by many of the female athletes. Even though these uniforms are worn for the comfort of the athletes and to aid performance, wearing something like a bikini apparently gives serious sports journalists an open invitation to photograph these athletes as if they’re centerfolds, not world-class athletes.
To get a sense of just how ridiculous this is – and how different it is from coverage of male athletes – check out Metro New York’s post on what it would look like if we photographed men this way.
Yeah, you’re never going to see this on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
But it’s not just beach volleyball. Broadcasters are far more likely to showcase female athletes competing in sports that emphasize the feminine – think gymnastics, swimming, and, yes, beach volleyball. This kind of coverage reinforces traditional gender roles: The idea that women “should” be delicate and dainty, not strong and hulking (ignoring the fact that even the most petite gymnast spends hours in the gym each day). Even when coverage doesn’t feature photos, you can still sense the hypersexual, male gaze. Take Scotland’s Daily Record, for instance, which practically sang, “The pinup babes of the US Olympic football team arrived for their first training session in Glasgow yesterday.” Oh, goody.
On top of the media, female athletes find their fans (I use that term loosely) pressuring them to comport with the same sexualized standards. Take gold medalist Gabby Douglas, the first African American to win the all-around gold medal in women’s gymnastics. But with tweets of “Go Gabby!” and “Wow!” came criticism of her hair for being unkempt, un-gelled, and “wild.” It would be laughable if it wasn’t representative of the pressures many African American women face in a culture that values long, flowy, white locks.
Or consider British weightlifter Zoe Smith, who responded to Twitter trolls’ allegations that she wasn’t pretty and should go back to the kitchen by saying:
What makes you think we actually give a toss that you, personally, do not find us attractive? … This may be shocking to you, but we actually would rather be attractive to people who aren’t closed-minded and ignorant. Crazy, eh?! We, as any women with an ounce of self-confidence would, prefer our men to be confident enough in themselves to not feel emasculated by the fact that we aren’t weak and feeble.
Zoe Smith is officially my favorite Olympian.
In addition to coverage that is degrading and belittling, athletes’ own countries are happy to treat them as second-class athletes. While Japan’s men’s soccer team and Australia’s men’s soccer and basketball teams flew to London in first class, their female counterparts flew economy. Yes. Really. And silver medal cyclist Lizzie Armitstead is only the latest Olympian to decry the unequal pay female athletes receive – and call out officials’ unwillingness to push for change.
Regrettably, the soft-core coverage of mainstream cable providers is what dominates the airwaves. You’re not going to see nuanced, feminist analysis of Gabby Douglas and the politics of black women’s hair from the likes of NBC. And while butt shots drive up page views and boost audiences, it’s empty coverage. Viewers don’t walk away with an enhanced appreciation for these athletes and their sport, and the athletes certainly don’t gain the respect (and paychecks) their male counterparts enjoy.
London 2012 is nicknamed “The Year of the Woman.” In a way they’re right – the challenges female athletes are facing in London right now are akin to some of the challenges faced by us non-Olympian women every day. I just wish the organizers of the games would seize that moniker as an opportunity to envision a better world for their female athletes – and the women watching them.
Tagged: athletes, media, sexism
