He informed me that his most frequently visited sites were CNN (and other news sites) to keep up on politics and TSN. Then a light bulb went on..... Of COURSE he would be visiting a sports site frequently! He's a 'guy' right??? And 'guys' are always into sports, right??
I then proceeded to visit TSN to check out if it was in fact gendered. I counted 13 images of MEN playing sports, and 3 images of male sports commentators / columnists. Where are the women's sports teams?? Women's sports highlights? Women sports analysts?? Is it just me or does this website seem like a boy's club only? After visiting, I decided to ask my man friend why there weren't any women's sports on the front page of the website. He chuckled and informed me that most women's sports 'aren't real sports'..... Excuse me???? As a female athlete, I contemplated giving him a swift drop kick to the stomach region... But I thought I would leave this one up to you guys. Is TSN and other sports sites gendered?? Hasn't society today made progress in recognizing female athletes achievements? Do any girls n in the class frequently visit the site, or other sports ones like it?
Can't wait to hear your thoughts :) !!
Aubrey B.
Yes it's gendered, but where are the professional women's sports teams?
ReplyDeletethis is because men's sports teams have always been giving more funding as they can "go further" with the sport. Eg. men can take hockey to NHL, where women can take it to WNHL (but there are fewer teams, fewer competators and almost no tv coverage). Only 1 woman made it to the NHL where she was a goalie and RUINED women's chances of being let in...she could not take the strength of men's shots, she couldnt keep up to the speed of the game and obviously she was critiqued and 'harrassed' by the media...women are built different than men...guys are naturally faster..thats just genetics...
TSN has more men's coverage as the majority of society is more exicted with the fast paced play of the game from men, and the fact that there are very few professional women's sports teams.
In sports sociology it was taught that "masculinity can be briefly defined as the performance or doing of maleness" (Canadian sport sociology, page105. Jane Crosman). another reason why i think TSN covers male sports more is because male sports is a prime example of masulinity [from this definition].
Pat Griffin, a feminist sports sociologist showed 4 ways in which sport shows power relations between men and women.
1)"sport defines and reinforces traditional definitions of masculinity"
2)"acceptable and safe context for male bonding and intimacy"
3)"sport reinforces male privellege and female subordination"
4)"sport establishes status among males and male heterosexuality'
(Canadian sport sociology, page105. Jane Crosman)
therefore, men=power=more coverage...its worth more/valued.
So, yes TSN/sports sites are definatly gendered, and this is due to the traditional nature of sports.
~beautiful bombshell~
By excluding women's sports this idea of men as better, faster, stronger is just perpetuated....and devalues women's sports. Yes genetically men are built superior to women in their strength and speed BUT that doesn't mean that all women and men reflect this. While watching the olympics the undervalue of women's sports became brutally evident. The announcers and commentators went on and on about the men's hockey while, frankly, the women were kicking butt! But of course it was nearly ignored because the men had to win the gold.....
ReplyDeleteoops.....Miss Frizz
ReplyDeleteI think that both the viewing demographic and less available funding for women's sports contributes to this issue.
ReplyDeleteI would disagree with Miss Frizz. There have been many studies that find that the average man and woman can lift roughly the same amount, so strength isn't really the issue here.
Think of the Olympics. Why did everyone watch the men's hockey despite the fact that women's was almost guaranteed a medal? I would argue that the inclusion of professional NHL players made a big difference. Unless you paid attention to the women's team, you wouldn't know that Kim St. Pierre is just as good of a goalie as Marc Andre Flurry.
What sports are women privileged in? Just step into the Outpost and see-- beach volleyball. Where women dress in bikinis and romp around in the sand. Lest I say that the enjoyment of this sport has very little to do with the actual quality of playing.
Aubrey, it's good that you comment on the de-legitimation of women's sport. Even women who step into men's sports, like NASCAR are written off, or regulated to being looked at in Playboy (Danika Patrick).
In the end, I think women's achievements are still evident in the fact that the majority of medals won for the Canadian Olympic team.
Macho Muffin
I live with brothers so I have watched my fair share of Sports Center and TSN... but I think that some good points have been made.
ReplyDeleteThere is one women commentator who commentates during the 'off watch time' which is during the day. She reports on golf, baseball etc... not really the 'popular' sport right now which is the NHL hockey. I have yet to see a female braudcast of a sport, only the highlights.
But since the Olympics are over, they showed the equal amount of male and female sports, but putting the male events first... We can see this in the adveristing that they did for the Mens Hockey Gold game. The women won gold too but there was adveristing or it was not a big deal.
I think that men dominate sports and I do not see that changing any time soon, but womens sports are not as 'interseting' as some would say than mens sports.
RDS