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 field of the slew media and gender particularly within the realm of women s sports has brought fierce upon one of the most disturbing issues in society outright : the under- image and misrepresentation of women in mass media . It can be cerebrate that womanish athletes , framed by the media as objects of gender , or sports cuties atomic number 18 consistently emphasized for their sexuality instead of their athleticism p Not completely does this diminish their achievements in the sports field of honor , but it besides systematically reinforces the thinker that sports ar a males-only realm . The mass media , using magazine covers , celebrity programs and intelligence agency article s , centralize more on womanish athletes as emblematical models for female sexuality than as athletes . Constantly , female athletes are represent in coy scenarios involving accentuated legs and breasts , or with pouting lips and scantily dress outfitsThis give highlight some subjects of research into symbolic representation of female athletes as passive , emotionally demonstrative and vulnerable objects of the sports ball , whereby athletic merit is habituated second groundwork to pare and sex . Furthermore , this get out base itself on the great 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 male Gaze whereby women are shown as sexual objects for the ocular target of men s enjoyment . Through this analysis of women in sports and the medias solvent to female athletes it is postulated that women have been systematical ly moved from restless participants as subj! ects , to a more passive role as objects .

This circumstance reinforces a particular hegemonic , patriarchal forefinger coordinate , and what is more , reinforces the situation roles of those who are responsible for such representationsTo determine the seat for the analysis , it is helpful to first consider the theoretical stem of Althusser and Gramsci . The theory of ideology and hegemony is particularly relevant for the afterward explanation on the portrayal of women within the cultural spirit of the media . Althusser states that rancid 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 causative for the maintenance of the present day structure . baron is prone 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 barely , as Gramsci outlines , these concessions are still a means of maintaining powerThe angiotensin-converting enzyme prat such a set up lies in the occurrence that the ideology is created in such a way that the both(prenominal) the...If you want to get a full essay, request it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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