The media objectifies women in sports by portraying them in ways to emphasise their heterosexuality and femininity and some scholars identify this as a risk factor encouraging sexual harassment and violence.  In 2018 Larry Nassar, a former USA gymnastics national team doctor, was sent to prison for sexually abusing hundreds of gymnasts during his career. At his sentencing, athletes described how the sport’s culture was partly responsible for allowing objectification and  abuse of young women and girls.  In the Tokyo Olympics, the German women’s gymnastics team wore full body unitards to challenge the sexualisation of female athletes during their final round, with German gymnast Voss saying, “We hope gymnasts uncomfortable in the usual outfits will feel emboldened to follow our example”.

PERCEPTIONS OF WOMEN IN SPORT

According to a study done by the University of Cambridge, the combination of words used concerning women in sports include “married”, “unmarried” “aged”, “pregnant”, and “older” and most emphasised their physical appearance. In contrast, the combination of words used to describe men were “fastest”, “strong”, “big”, “real”, and “great”, all emphasising their athletic capability. It also noted that men are two or three times more likely to be mentioned while discussing sports than women. The only context where women are referred to more is to mark their sports as “other”. The study said, “Men’s sport is often considered the default – for example, we are more inclined to refer to women’s football, whereas men’s football is just called football.”.

THE GENDER PAY GAP

The gender pay gap also contributes to the objectification of female athletes. Female players are paid significantly less than their male counterparts. The average WNBA athlete makes approximately 1.5% of the average salary of an NBA athlete. Thus, female athletes rely heavily on endorsements for money. During the 1984 Olympics, women were photographed in a very sexualised manner, with images zoomed in on their pelvic regions or buttocks. Naturally, these types of photos, along with the athletes posing in them, became very popular very fast. Many female athletes noticed this and took advantage of it; for example, when sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner started racing in self-designed tracksuits or painted her nails in bright colors, she started gaining more publicity and endorsements than her sister-in-law Jackie Joyner Kersee, even though at the time Jackie had more athletic accomplishments. This trend was further followed by other athletes, such as when Amanda Beard appeared nude in Playboy. This act sparked much controversy, while some applauded Beard for having the courage to take such a step, many criticised Beard, calling her selfish. Beard further defended herself by saying it was merely a business decision. In an ESPN article, a former college athlete noted that “by being ‘sexy’, these female athletes could also undermine the accomplishments of past and future athletes.”  

This attitude leaves women in a no-win situation, a paradox of sorts. They receive less to no attention if they say no to sexualisation but receive condemnation for accepting the same—either way, devaluing their athletic capability.

Diva is a ninth grader in India, working towards her IGCSE exams. She is a candidate in Dexterity to college CDP program, and is interning at Kuviraa; an organization working towards political empowerment for women across India.