Support women's sports and SHARE this story with your friends!

Originally, I had tried to put down some thoughts so I could comment on a post at WTS. But they have grown too numerous for a comment, apparently, so I share them here. (Note: You may want to listen to the interview before reading on.)

In the interview, we are told that athletic competence (i.e., athleticism) is, or should be, paramount. Unfortunately, when an excellent opportunity to address that subject comes up, it is altogether missed. The gentleman in the studio, there ostensibly as a friendly witness, says that female basketball players have better "fundamentals." Why? Well, because they can't rely (as much?) on athletic gifts. The slight is overlooked, however, and the discussion continues on with seemingly less relevant matters.

The top male athletes no doubt rule the roost in sports media. They can do no wrong, and their options are almost limitless; do something silly or degrading, Star Male Athlete? not to worry, hardly a question will be asked or an eyebrow raised. But these are the top athletes at their sport/position in the world, and in sports, practically by definition, that is what matters most. (Why you hear much about Tiger Woods, and not so much about, say, Jerry Kelly.)

The problem for female athletes is that few fall into this category, which isn't, of course, their fault. In many cases, where they theoretically could, they aren't allowed to compete directly with men, and thus can't prove themselves against the established best. Moreover, outmoded, traditional ideals of femininity keep them from fully developing their physical prowess, atrophied from generations of forced neglect; e.g., it still isn't entirely acceptable for a woman to develop large, powerful muscles—something many women are quite capable of doing.

Clearly, then, this research at best skims the central issue, and has no relevance at all to the career choices or personal expressions of someone like Chantelle Anderson. (I suspect sex does sell sport, as it does most things, to some degree, probably varying based on how well a particular sport relates to sex. But again, this isn't the biggest issue facing female athletes anyway.)

I must also point out something not to be overlooked about the research: it is based on focus groups, not the most reliable means to make determinations of this kind. From the link already provided:

"Focus groups are not a panacea for tapping 'true' feelings. People often do not themselves understand their own motivations and preferences and thus cannot articulate them well. People have complex, even conflicting motivations which may come together in unpredictable ways given only slightly varying ways of presenting a stimulus. People may give acceptable or politically correct responses in front of peers, and they may act differently in real situations compared with hypothetical ones. They may be aware of the study's sponsorship and tell the researcher what they believe he or she wants to hear. People tend to express views which enhance their own image of themselves, and they also may formulate opinions "on the spot," lacking any real commitment to what they say. And people lie."

And:

"Focus groups are generally a poor choice when quantitative information is desired (ex., when one wants to know the percentage of people who will buy product X or vote for candidate X). The small size of focus groups makes any estimates of quantitative proportions unreliable, even if the members of the focus group are representative of the target population. By the same token, focus group research is a poor choice for multivariate research, where one again needs the stability of large random samples to be ably to disaggregate the effects of explanatory variables through statistical techniques."

So what we have, in actuality, is research that proves little or nothing but probably found what it was looking for. (Trust me, it would take a study far more comprehensive, with many more controls, than this one to come close to proving that, in all cases, sex doesn't sell sport.) But what is more, it says even less about the truly onerous obstacles confronting female athletes.

Support women's sports and SHARE this story with your friends!

• Sports
• SportsPLUS
• OpEd
• Discrimination/Title IX
• Media/Marketing

View Original Post at blog.athleticwomen.com

View robm's Full Profile

There are 2 comments on this post. Join the discussion!

Adventure Pam says:

I listened to the interview last night, and they had a lot of great points. I think there is a big difference between sexy magazine covers and the lingerie bowl which makes me cringe. http://www.spike.com/video/lingerie-football/3032012 I do admit that I watch sports to admire the hot men and women and their athleticism. ( I'd rather play then watch anyway). I agree that women's sports have bigger obstacles. Here are some statistics that I include in my media kit: - Female athletes receive only 3% of ESPN The Magazine's written coverage, and 5% of the photographic coverage. (Eagleman, A.N. and Pedersen, P.M. (2007). Source: An analysis of the coverage (and promotion) of females and males in ESPN The Magazine. Published on the women's Sports Foundation Web site on Sept. 11, 2007, http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/cgi-bin/iowa/issues/article.html?record=1222.) - Since 1997, only 34 (7%) of Sports Illustrated's 508 issues have featured women on the cover. Of those 34 covers, five (1%) showed women as part of a larger feature story about some aspect of sports (ticket prices, fans, and top sports colleges) and 10 (2%) covers featured models for SI's notorious swimsuit issue. Source: (Women's Sports Foundation research, January 1997, February 2007) -The results of a survey of 285 newspapers found that nearly 25% of editors agreed with the statement "women are naturally less athletic than are men." Additionally, roughly half of the editors stated that Title IX has impaired men's sports. Source: (Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly cited in Research Finds Lack of women's Coverage, June 1, 2005). - A recent study by the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State found that 26% of female newspaper sports reporters and 52% of male newspaper sports reporters agreed with the statement "Title IX has hurt men's sports." Additionally, 35% of men agreed with the statement "I think Title IX needs to be changed" versus only 11% of women. Seventy-six percent say that their newspaper gives adequate coverage to women's sports, while in reality, women receive around 8% of the total coverage. Interestingly, the majority of both men and women said that they believed more women should be hired in sports departments. Source: (Sports journalists, Title IX and women's sports: Attitudes and impact. John Curley Center for Sports Journalism, 2007.)

Saturday, May 16, 2009 at 3:50pm EDT

robm says:

Pam: I sense you understand this better than most. There are places where sex and sport might intersect appropriately, others where they would not. After all, sex is part of nature, part of life--in moderation, there is nothing evil about it. That some people, men and women, straight and gay (http://www.afterellen.com/node/26763), might, or might not, be drawn to sport for amorous reasons isn't an important issue. And frankly, the attention it often gets in our community is unwarranted, best left to Pat Robertson's 700 Club. Your media kit, however, contains the key to what is, I think, the biggest obstacle facing female athletes today: "The results of a survey of 285 newspapers found that nearly 25% of editors agreed with the statement 'women are naturally less athletic than are men.'" Till that changes, it will remain hard for female athletes to get nearly as much recognition (cf. fan and media attention for Division III/Division I, semi-pro/pro, etc.). Our efforts, then, should be directed at preserving opportunities for women (like Title IX), so that you, the female athlete, can take full advantage of them without letting soft, often homophobic notions of femininity hold you back.

Saturday, May 16, 2009 at 5:26pm EDT

Leave Your Comment:  Read our comment policy

Login  |  Sign Up

LOGIN TO WOMEN TALK SPORTS:

Username: 

Password: 

SIGNUP FOR A WOMEN TALK SPORTS ACCOUNT:

A Women Talk Sports account allows you to maintain a profile at www.womentalksports.com and login to comment on posts using your WTS identity.

Fields marked with a * are required.

Your First Name*: 

Your Last Name*: 

Your E-mail*: 

Your Website: 

Your Location: 

Your Twitter Username: 

Create a WTS Username*: 

Create a Password*: 

Confirm Password*: 

Check here to receive bi-weekly emails from Women Talk Sports and partners highlighting discussions on our site and upcoming women's sporting events, as well as informing you of new products, services and special offers.

I accept the Terms & Conditions for joining Women Talk Sports