Over the last several decades, there has been an ongoing discussion over the role of women in the world of athletics reporting. This has always been a complex issue, in large part due to the fact that most athletes in the United States and elsewhere were traditionally men. As schools began providing more opportunity for female participation in various sports activities, more girls and women began taking an interest in athletics. As that interest rose, women journalists began vying for jobs covering athletics. Even with all the success they have enjoyed, however, gender discrimination in sports media remains a fact of life.
This should come as no surprise, though, given the recent nature of the quest for equality in this area. Women were not even permitted into men's locker rooms for player interviews until the mid-1970s, and no legal challenge asserting their right to engage in such interviews was undertaken until that decade was nearing its end. As a result, women were but minor players in the world of athletic reporting.
Progress has occurred in the decades that followed, however. Women now routinely conduct critical interviews in locker rooms. That's important, because those are often among the most emotionally intense and interesting interviews found at any game. They are the interviews that draw fans' attention, and help the reporter conducting them to gain the notoriety she needs to advance her career.
Still, decades later, women remain marginalized in a media universe that stubbornly clings to its male-dominated past. There are more women journalists, of course, and even a few female anchors on various sporting shows. Overall, however, women remain as sidelined as they were decades ago.
Take an American football game, for example. Most women reporters are walking the sidelines, close to the field. The male anchors provide most of the in-depth analysis of teams and players, while the women offer trivial details about how the players and coaches feel about their chances and their game plan.
While on those sidelines, these reporters encounter sexual comments, condescension, and hostility from fans, players, and coaches. Off the sidelines, they encounter much the same from team owners and others who see no need for women in the game. Many still want them nowhere near their offices, lockers, and game fields.
The main emphasis still seems to be on how attractive these women are, and how well their makeup looks on television. It sometimes seems as though they are the media's version of the teams' cheerleader squads. They're there to look young and pretty until they're no longer young, and then the networks bring in replacements cut from the same pattern.
Obviously, much more needs to be done to ensure that women have access to opportunities in this field that represent them as something more than window dressing. The good news is that times are changing and awareness of the problem is growing. The bad news is that it may yet be several more decades before true equality both on and off the field is finally achieved for these brave female sports journalists.
This should come as no surprise, though, given the recent nature of the quest for equality in this area. Women were not even permitted into men's locker rooms for player interviews until the mid-1970s, and no legal challenge asserting their right to engage in such interviews was undertaken until that decade was nearing its end. As a result, women were but minor players in the world of athletic reporting.
Progress has occurred in the decades that followed, however. Women now routinely conduct critical interviews in locker rooms. That's important, because those are often among the most emotionally intense and interesting interviews found at any game. They are the interviews that draw fans' attention, and help the reporter conducting them to gain the notoriety she needs to advance her career.
Still, decades later, women remain marginalized in a media universe that stubbornly clings to its male-dominated past. There are more women journalists, of course, and even a few female anchors on various sporting shows. Overall, however, women remain as sidelined as they were decades ago.
Take an American football game, for example. Most women reporters are walking the sidelines, close to the field. The male anchors provide most of the in-depth analysis of teams and players, while the women offer trivial details about how the players and coaches feel about their chances and their game plan.
While on those sidelines, these reporters encounter sexual comments, condescension, and hostility from fans, players, and coaches. Off the sidelines, they encounter much the same from team owners and others who see no need for women in the game. Many still want them nowhere near their offices, lockers, and game fields.
The main emphasis still seems to be on how attractive these women are, and how well their makeup looks on television. It sometimes seems as though they are the media's version of the teams' cheerleader squads. They're there to look young and pretty until they're no longer young, and then the networks bring in replacements cut from the same pattern.
Obviously, much more needs to be done to ensure that women have access to opportunities in this field that represent them as something more than window dressing. The good news is that times are changing and awareness of the problem is growing. The bad news is that it may yet be several more decades before true equality both on and off the field is finally achieved for these brave female sports journalists.
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