Gender Representation of Athletes in Finnish and Swedish Tabloids
The study examines quantitatively and qualitatively gender representation in Finnish and Swedish tabloids’ sports coverage during Athens 2004 summer and Turin 2006 winter Olympics. Several media studies argue that sports journalism marginalises women’s sports and sexualises female athletes. The resu...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Sciendo
2016-11-01
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| Series: | Nordicom Review |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/nor-2016-0012 |
| _version_ | 1797712545336786944 |
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| author | Laine Antti |
| author_facet | Laine Antti |
| author_sort | Laine Antti |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The study examines quantitatively and qualitatively gender representation in Finnish and Swedish tabloids’ sports coverage during Athens 2004 summer and Turin 2006 winter Olympics. Several media studies argue that sports journalism marginalises women’s sports and sexualises female athletes. The results of this study show that male athletes received more coverage than female athletes in every tabloid, but when the number of domestic participants and their level of success were considered, neither country’s tabloids quantitatively marginalised women’s sports. Qualitative analysis found that research stereotypes showing trivialisation and sexualisation of female athletes were incorrect, with the exception of Finnish tabloids representations of female athletes participating in sports that are considered masculine. For the most part, female athletes were represented in the same way as male athletes. However, it should be emphasised that the material is limited to Olympics coverage: during such major sporting events women are treated more equally, particularly quantitatively. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T07:23:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8423da97c01c460c8bda14bcff7ec05c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2001-5119 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T07:23:20Z |
| publishDate | 2016-11-01 |
| publisher | Sciendo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nordicom Review |
| spelling | doaj.art-8423da97c01c460c8bda14bcff7ec05c2023-09-02T22:16:43ZengSciendoNordicom Review2001-51192016-11-01372839810.1515/nor-2016-0012Gender Representation of Athletes in Finnish and Swedish TabloidsLaine Antti0Ph.D., Postdoctoral Researcher, The Department of Sport Sciences, Unit of Social Sciences of Sport, University of JyväskyläThe study examines quantitatively and qualitatively gender representation in Finnish and Swedish tabloids’ sports coverage during Athens 2004 summer and Turin 2006 winter Olympics. Several media studies argue that sports journalism marginalises women’s sports and sexualises female athletes. The results of this study show that male athletes received more coverage than female athletes in every tabloid, but when the number of domestic participants and their level of success were considered, neither country’s tabloids quantitatively marginalised women’s sports. Qualitative analysis found that research stereotypes showing trivialisation and sexualisation of female athletes were incorrect, with the exception of Finnish tabloids representations of female athletes participating in sports that are considered masculine. For the most part, female athletes were represented in the same way as male athletes. However, it should be emphasised that the material is limited to Olympics coverage: during such major sporting events women are treated more equally, particularly quantitatively.https://doi.org/10.1515/nor-2016-0012sports journalismsports mediagendertabloidscontent analysisolympics |
| spellingShingle | Laine Antti Gender Representation of Athletes in Finnish and Swedish Tabloids Nordicom Review sports journalism sports media gender tabloids content analysis olympics |
| title | Gender Representation of Athletes in Finnish and Swedish Tabloids |
| title_full | Gender Representation of Athletes in Finnish and Swedish Tabloids |
| title_fullStr | Gender Representation of Athletes in Finnish and Swedish Tabloids |
| title_full_unstemmed | Gender Representation of Athletes in Finnish and Swedish Tabloids |
| title_short | Gender Representation of Athletes in Finnish and Swedish Tabloids |
| title_sort | gender representation of athletes in finnish and swedish tabloids |
| topic | sports journalism sports media gender tabloids content analysis olympics |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1515/nor-2016-0012 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT laineantti genderrepresentationofathletesinfinnishandswedishtabloids |