Within in the last week the focus on ESPN has for the most
part surrounded male athletes. Whether it is basketball, golf, football, or
even the Olympics, men took the center stage. Occasionally they had a
headlining article covering female athletes such as those covering the US
women’s hockey team or a recap on a collegiate basketball game. However, by in large these articles were scarce. Just looking at the homepage of ESPN it is obvious that men dominate the spotlight. For example, the main tabs for ESPN's website are dedicated to male sport only: "NFL", "NBA", "MLB", and "Men's College Basketball".
These findings support the research regarding the
presentation of women in sports media, where female sport is placed on the back burner and or ignored completely. This is partially due to fact that in
American society today, sports are seen as a part of “man culture”. Which, in
effect has unfortunately pushed the focus away from female athletics. This highlights the values that are ingrained and emphasized in American sport in regards to women and establishes men as the head.
However, while this may be
the case this is slowly changing and this kind of selective reporting is
being challenged. For example this week the US women’s hockey team received
more camera time and praise than the men did due to their superior performance
in the Olympics. In the past female sports have been brushed aside however,
this stigma is slowly changing, headway is being made, and popularity is
increasing. Yet even still such efforts need to continue and as a society we
need to make the statement that all people are truly equal regardless of
not only race but gender as well as we move forward.
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