Unequal Gender Bias Against Female Athletes In Sports Media Coverage: An Essay.

For the Academic Research Essay assignment, you will take a position on the topic you chose for the Informative Essay.

Topic: Unequal Gender Bias Against Female Athletes In Sports Media Coverage

You will need to not only argue your stance on the issue but also anticipate counterarguments and refute them. This essay will include summary of what scholars and researchers have said about your topic (“they say” ) and your response (“I say”).

The Impact of Sports Media on Society

The media has contributed a better part in this modern society in terms of covering different parts of events taking place in various parts of the world. In fact, people fully depend on the media to attain appropriate information in some of the areas where their interests are. One of the most popular media coverages that have gained popularity over the past years is sports media. A huge population of individuals originating from different backgrounds tends to value sports so much in their lives to an extent that they find it very hard to miss a particular sports game being covered by the media (Cooky, Cheryl et al 532). Television, radio together with several other types of media plays a crucial role when it comes to influencing the lives of various personalities. According to research, they tend to provide us with different forms of entertainment where a huge number of individuals have been able to fully base their beliefs off quite a number of issues that they normally see and even hear from the media (Easteal, Patricia et al 793) Additionally, the media is equipped with quite a number of positive aspects; however, as far as the major influence that they have on various individuals is concerned, it can always be accompanied with different negative aspects. One of the major downsides that are associated with social media is its ability to bring out certain aspects of negative perceptions in the lives of many viewers (Fink and Janet 287). One of the most popular examples that are attached to this situation is the coverage of both the men and women sports that normally takes place in different times of the year and in most of the times it normally occurs according to seasons. Both the professional together with college sports have been seen being displayed all over the media. In many occasions, they always tend to show up in televisions, magazines and also in different other forms of advertisements. In as much as it appears impressive concerning the level of attention that the sports get from huge population of individuals, the major problem with the sports media typically lies at the point where all the women's sports always don't receive appropriate and equivalent coverage that the men's sports always do under various circumstances (Brittain, Ian 487). Most of the issues pertaining sports media always tend to completely focus only on the men's sports leaving behind women's sports thereby making the sport not to get an equal attention that they always deserve in most of the cases. The unequal gender bias has gone to an extent where even if most of the women athletes are at some point covered in the media for specific reasons, a good number of them normally go through different situations involving feminization to an extent where they always get gender marked (Bruce and Toni 658). On the other hand, sports media has a record of holding a huge number of gender biases that are always against different types of sports that are held by women thus creating a negative perception of them within the surrounding society that contains people who originate from different backgrounds.

Unequal Gender Bias Against Female Athletes In Sports Media Coverage

Unequal gender bias has proved to be one of the major problems being experienced by individuals across the universe under various sectors including politics. The unequal gender bias that is brought on board by social media coverage as far as both the men's sports and women's sports are concerned, is one of the most discouraging issues so far that has led to the emergence of disagreements since people tend to understand the situation differently (Burton and Laura 311).  as far as the coverage of sports is concerned, a lot of issues have been raised pertaining to the situation. Sport is an event that involves both genders where women are known to be playing their own leagues and men also, on the other hand, tend to do the same. There are different levels of negative impacts that are normally experienced as a result of unequal gender bias towards female athletes when it comes to issues dealing with sports media coverage (Lindsey and Linda 537). One of the major negative impacts is that a huge number of women normally get discouraged to improve their performance and move to the next level since they feel neglected where nearly all their efforts are not recognized at all. This has made a large number of female athletes not to pursue their dreams according to how they planned at an initial stage thereby leading to the wastage of time and resources among these athletes (Boykoff, Jules, and Matthew 431-580). When you look at the way media coverage always gives the men's athletes the first priority in terms of covering the games, it is always clear that a large number of individuals normally turn up to watch these games through social media platforms like the television. the same scenario has never happened to the women athletes where the major cause of this is unequal gender bias that gives a lot of power to the men compared to the women. Lack of appropriate social media coverage has led to quite a number of assumptions pertaining what is entailed in the women's sports, this has further created lack of interest in their sporting activities across large populations of the world. It is indeed true that social media coverage doesn't give the women the first priority to express themselves when it comes to displaying quite a number of their respective sporting activities (Kaskan, Emily and Ivy 78-112). Gender equality in sports which clearly states that ‘all the men are always created to be equal' is a quote that was brought on board by an individual by the name Thomas Jefferson where this was stated in the declaration of independence and has been passed through many centuries. Apparently, there is a point that is missing within this phrase and that is the equal rights that should be given to the women just like the men (Davis and Laurel 314). Ever since the quote was written, there has been a drastic change in various conditions and time where various women have been able to attain these rights. In as much as many people see the equality related to both the men and women in this current era, one sensitive place that is not well presented is in the world of sporting activities (Hoeber and Larena 684). This is where both the men and women are believed to have totally different roles together with expectations. The Olympic games that normally covers different types of sporting activities will not give the women a chance to jump since they feel that it is dangerous for their lives. In fact, what is more, surprising is that there is no single woman that has ever jumped in any Olympic games? Women are not subjected to equal opportunities like the men (Shor and Eran 79). On the other hand, female athletes do not always receive the same sponsorship packages that are normally given to their fellow male sportsmen.  Men's sport's team always get publicly advertised compared to that of the women athletes. This gender bias is one of the worst things so far and it has totally changed the perceptions of different individuals.

Negative Impacts of Unequal Gender Bias Against Female Athletes

Conclusion

It is beyond any reasonable doubt that unequal gender bias has taken another level in this our current society. The female gender has been subjected to one of the toughest conditions so far that is hindering their development status thereby minimizing their chances of attaining their respective dreams in real time. I don't see the need why the government should ignore this situation making it get worse and worse each and every day. Due to this, various governments should come in with quite a number of strategies in order to minimize these conditions associated with gender bias when it comes to the coverage of various sports events that are played by the female athletes. On the other hand, there should also be the creation of awareness among various populations for them to understand the effects of this condition. Additionally, the major platform that can play an essential role in minimizing this issue is the media itself. In as much as the sports media have been able to neglect the coverage of the female athletes, they also have the potential of doing away with this by giving the women an equal opportunity to express themselves just like the men. By giving the women an opportunity in terms of covering the athletics activities, this means that they will be able to get a chance towards attaining some of their future goals and at the same time they will also be able to strongly support their skills and even strengthen their talents through the support that they will start getting from different people residing in various parts of the world. This can only happen when there is no discrimination as far as the media coverage is concerned. There is the need to come up with appropriate rules and regulations that govern the sports and media coverage to minimize any level of biases that might occur at any given time. this will give both genders an equal opportunity to express themselves.

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