EPTOn June 08 2013 08:11 AUFKLARUNG wrote:
KEY ISSUES:
1. Sports is generally about performance and skills;
2. When it is mediated through mass media, specifically television, due to the media's visual nature, physical attractiveness (face) of the athletes become an important consideration;
3. This practice - emphasis on attractiveness - is more prevalent in women sports more than in men.
A. Physical unattractiveness does not hinder the watchability of a male athlete as long as he excels at his sport (Ribery) but physical unattractiveness (face, or the hesitation towards muscle-bound women like in weighlifting, WNBA, etc.) in women is a crucial factor in deciding an athlete's and the sports popularity.
B. On the converse side, attractive female athletes may and do enjoy immense popularity despite only
C. Media and sports executives encourage and aggressively enforce this phenomenon further be "regulating" the sports to highlight the femininity and sexuality of women, as in dress code.
POINTS OF DISCUSSION:
1. The discussion is not about whether male or female athletes have beautiful faces and bodies;
2. Is this solely because of the demography of the audience/viewer who are predominantly male, thus necessitating in the highlighting of the sexuality of women. Conversely, theoretically, if there were more women audience, would it be logical to conclude that men sports would be significantly sexualized as well?
3. Is this a good thing (sexualization for the sake of watchability)? Is there a women sports which is watch primarily because of the athletes skills, and how does it differ from the general practice of the "sports-entertainment" phenomenon. How do we remove or minimize the objectification of women sports?
KEY ISSUES:
1. Sports is generally about performance and skills;
2. When it is mediated through mass media, specifically television, due to the media's visual nature, physical attractiveness (face) of the athletes become an important consideration;
3. This practice - emphasis on attractiveness - is more prevalent in women sports more than in men.
A. Physical unattractiveness does not hinder the watchability of a male athlete as long as he excels at his sport (Ribery) but physical unattractiveness (face, or the hesitation towards muscle-bound women like in weighlifting, WNBA, etc.) in women is a crucial factor in deciding an athlete's and the sports popularity.
B. On the converse side, attractive female athletes may and do enjoy immense popularity despite only
C. Media and sports executives encourage and aggressively enforce this phenomenon further be "regulating" the sports to highlight the femininity and sexuality of women, as in dress code.
POINTS OF DISCUSSION:
1. The discussion is not about whether male or female athletes have beautiful faces and bodies;
2. Is this solely because of the demography of the audience/viewer who are predominantly male, thus necessitating in the highlighting of the sexuality of women. Conversely, theoretically, if there were more women audience, would it be logical to conclude that men sports would be significantly sexualized as well?
3. Is this a good thing (sexualization for the sake of watchability)? Is there a women sports which is watch primarily because of the athletes skills, and how does it differ from the general practice of the "sports-entertainment" phenomenon. How do we remove or minimize the objectification of women sports?
Think of the following athletes: Lebron James, Chris Bosh, Mike Tyson, Manny Paqcaiou, Michael Phelps, Kimbo Slice, Brock Lesner, Novak Djokovic, Ronaldinho, and Rooney. There are a lot others but let us stop here for now. This are people who are presently or at one time in the past have commanded the adulation of the people, who would not hesitate to spend time and money to watch them play.
Now consider the following. Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka, Meisha Tate, Michelle Jenneke, and Danica Patrick. These are incredible and successful athletes themselves, like the male group above. The difference is that the group above are one which by normal standards we would not consider aesthetically pleasing, but the latter group belong to people known for their beauty.
The argument for this case is that when it comes to men sports, appearance is not much of or at all a factor of popularity, as long as they are great athletes at their sports. On the women's side however, popularity is determined not only by excellence, but more so by physical attractiveness. Don't get me wrong, Sharapova, Azarenka, and others are great athletes, at the top of their respective sports at one time or the other, but it can be argued that their popularity is determined mostly on their being beautiful and sexy. They are more prone to submit to the viewers and desire to sexualize female, and to assume the view that they have to be pretty in order to demand attention. Case in point, these athletes may go down as #100 or #5000 in their sports, yet it wont matter. We would still watch Sharapova or Jenneke play tennis or run. I would. Another case in point, at one time, tennis and badminton players were required by the sanctioning bodies to wear skirts in order to appear feminine. It was not a problem in tennis as most are already into skirts. In badminton there was some resistance, claiming sexism. Another case in point, womens basketball and football. The world tunes in to watch FIBA and NBA. But who even watches WNBA or womens basketball and football in general?
Most importantly, even if we watch women athletes, sure bet goes that we watch them to watch and adore them, and not to watch them at play as athletes. Who cares about Sharapova's pasing shots or Jenneke's pacing. We simply want to admire their faces and bodies, mostly. This is not the case with men's sports. We dont watch the La Liga or UEFA, or NBA or whatever else in order to admire how handsome the male athletes are. You will be hard put to find someone who will tell you that Messi is good looking, although he is, but everyone will immediately tell you how great he is at football.
I know this is a complex issue, one that involves the viewers demographics, the economics of television production, and the cross-cultural attitude on gender roles in general, but what do you think about women in sports being sexualized?
![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/Marta_at_Union_at_Earthquakes_2010-09-15.jpg/400px-Marta_at_Union_at_Earthquakes_2010-09-15.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://cdn.petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2013/01/phelpstime1_mini.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://english.chosun.com/site/data/img_dir/2012/08/10/2012081001338_0.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://thechive.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/hot-chicks-sexy-golf-7.jpg?w=500&h=625)
![[image loading]](http://thechive.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/hot-chicks-sexy-golf-4.jpg?w=500&h=698)
