NAME: JOANNA ROSS
UNIVERSITY NUMBER: ST 07002815
DEPARTMENT: CARDIFF SCHOOL OF SPORT
INSTITUTION: UNIVERSITY OF WALES INSTITUTE CARDIFF
‘TEAM ANDROCENTRIC’? AN INVESTIGATION OF SYMBOLIC
SUBVERSION OF MALE DOMINATION AND REPRESENTATION OF
SPORT IN UNIVERSITY PRINT MEDIA USING A MIXED METHODS
RESEARCH DESIGN
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1
CHAPTER TWO
Literature Review ....................................................................................................... 3
Gender ....................................................................................................................... 3
Gender Identity, the Body and Sport .......................................................................... 4
Media, Gender and Sport ......................................................................................... 12
Purpose of Study and Research Questions ............................................................. 16
CHAPTER THREE
Methodology ............................................................................................................ 17
Research Design ..................................................................................................... 20
Method ..................................................................................................................... 21
Sampling and Access .............................................................................................. 21
Data Collection......................................................................................................... 21
Data Analysis ........................................................................................................... 22
Ethical Considerations ............................................................................................. 27
CHAPTER FOUR
Results ..................................................................................................................... 28
Discussion ............................................................................................................... 31
Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 38
References............................................................................................................... 40
APPENDICES .......................................................................................................... 54
List of Tables
Table 1. Comparison of Transformative and Pragmatic Paradigms .................... 19
Table 2. Categories of Discursive Strategies used for Content Analysis ............ 25
Table 3. Total Number of Gendered Team and Individual Photographs ............. 28
Table 4. Total Mean Textual Columns (Squared Inches to 2 decimal places) .... 29
Table 5. Total Mean Photographic Columns (Squared Inches to 2 decimal places)
............................................................................................................................ 29
Table 6. Total Number of Gendered Active and Non-Active Photographs .......... 30
Table 7. Number of Times Discursive Categories Noted in Textual Analysis .... 30
Table 7a. Number of Times Discursive Categories Noted in Textual Analysis... 31
List of Figures
Figure 1. Establishing Heterosexuality in Women’s Rugby ................................... 7
Figure 2. Heterosexual femininity in sports media ............................................... 9
Figure 3. The Institutional(ised) Nature of Identity in and Around Sport.............. 13
Figure 4. Maintaining Masculinity through Representations of Femininity .......... 33
Figure 5. A Media Image of Male Athleticism ...................................................... 34
Figure 6. Contrasting Identities .......................................................................... 35
Acknowledgements
Firstly, I would like to thank my dissertation supervisor, Dr. Carly
Stewart, who continuously made me think in different ways. Thank
you for your support, advice and knowledge.
I would also like to thank the other lecturers that I will remember;
David Brown, Scott Fleming, Lisa Edwards and Ian Pritchard who
kept me interested, and inspired me.
Of course, I also thank Mike, Mum, Dad, my sister and my brothers
for their unconditional support, for being honest with me and
keeping it critical.
I
Abstract
Sport is predominantly masculine and male dominated.
This study used a
portrayal approach to investigate how a UK university’s print media symbolically
represented gender and hierarchies in sport, with reference to sociological topics
such as the body and construction of identity. Qualitatively based mixed methods
were used with triangulation and a parallel design. This involved a content and
discourse analysis to analyse textual and photographic features of print media.
Significant quantitative findings were calculated using the chi square statistical
test. The majority of photographs were found to be female and team orientated
(chi square = 16.66, p<0.01). Photographs of male tended to be active, and the
majority of female photographs were non-active (chi square = 6.96, p<0.01).
Asymmetrical gender marking of sports teams and an emphasis of female
stereotypes were also apparent. How the combined quantitative and qualitative
findings contributed to the symbolical subversion of male domination within sport
university print media was discussed.
An interpretation of the findings were
related to Michel Foucault’s (1972; 1980) concept of discourse and Pierre
Bourdieu’s (1992; 2001) notion of symbolic violence.
II
Introduction
The media has an important role in constructing the social world and can
reinforce dominant agendas by marginalising certain sections of society (Taylor,
1989). Gender can be reinforced through media and sport, which can be linked
to sociological topics such as the body, construction of identity, and social
hierarchies. These topics have been recognised as important issues in sociology
by influential figures such as Michel Foucault (1972), Pierre Bourdieu (2001),
Judith Butler (1990) and Michael Messner (1990) to name just a few. This study
sought to understand a relationship between sport, society and the media which
incorporated the embodiment of gender identity and social hierarchies.
This
involved the use of the University of Wales Institute Cardiff’s (UWIC) print media,
entitled ‘Retro’. Retro was chosen because it is, according to the University of
Wales Institute Cardiff (2009, p.48), ‘the highly regarded Students’ Union
newspaper that raises issues and provides information for UWIC students on
what is happening both on and off campus. It is an ideal opportunity to engage
the students in life at UWIC’. What types of issues it does raise is what this study
intends to investigate, and will probably differ somewhat from the intended
context of the quote. UWIC has a reputation for success in women’s rugby and
women’s basketball, which are traditionally male dominated sports (Wright and
Clarke, 1999; McCabe, 2008). The successes of female athletes at UWIC lead
me to question whether UWIC could subvert male domination in sport through
symbolic messages in the media.
To investigate this, a qualitatively based mixed methods approach was
chosen, which allowed both quantitative and qualitative methods to be used.
Quantitative research is relevant to this study as, through content analysis, it can
show recurring processes of representation that can affect values and beliefs
(Hesmondhalgh, 2006).
Qualitative research was also used as, through
discourse analysis, it can be more effective at revealing latent meanings
(Hesmondhalgh, 2006), and also adds significance beyond the superficial
quantitative findings (Onwuegbuzie and Leech, 2004).
1
To interpret the results, Foucault’s (1972) discourse theory and Bourdieu’s (1992;
2001) notion of symbolic violence were used, as they link the interpretation of
messages within society and the sociological issues already mentioned.
In 2009, when this study took place, several UWIC students represented
individual sports at an international level. Being a track athlete myself, I have
often noticed that individual sports seem to be under-represented in print media,
when considering the level of success achieved.
This added to the research question I wanted to ask, which became; does UWIC
subvert male domination in sport through symbolic messages in print media, and
does representation of sport correlate with success, regardless of it being team or
individual?
A brief research expectation was that the print media would not
represent a generalised ‘Team Androcentric’ view of sport; instead, UWIC’s
reputation for female sporting success would dominate print media, subverting
male domination in sport. The most coverage in the print media was expected to
be given to team sports, supported by Horne et al., (1999) who noted that team
sports often subordinated individual sports.
2
Literature Review
A critical review of past and present literature is useful for this study as it provides
a conceptual framework, consisting of gender, sport and the media. This review
is not exhaustive, as its purpose is to draw upon strengths and weaknesses of
relevant literature to clarify the aims and purpose of this study, progressing to
consequent research questions.
Gender
As the introduction suggested, this study was interested in the representation of
gender. Delamont (1980) referred to gender as all the non-biological aspects of
differences between males and females.
Connell (2002) progressed on this
simple definition and described gender as being part of language and grammar,
concepts, objects and states of mind. He defined the most common usage of
gender as ‘the cultural difference of women from men, based on biological
division between male and female’ (Connell, 2002, p.8).
Connell went on to
criticise this definition by suggesting that it is an over-simplification to presume
human life separates into just two parts. He also noted that the definition relies
on difference to produce gender, which could mean that we do not recognise
powerful gender dynamics.
Such a definition also ignores the homogeneity
among males and among females. Connell (2002) suggested that to get past
these criticisms, the focus should be on relations rather than differences.
Miller (1993) stated that differences can exist between equals, but
hierarchies can only exist between un-equals. Within a society that is socially
stratified, males can be seen as dominant. A hierarchy of gender, which Connell
(1987, 2002) termed as the gender order, or gender regime, is the social power
held by men which creates and sustains gender inequality. This has often been
referred to as hegemonic masculinity, where hegemony refers to the dominance
of one social group over another, used to gain and maintain power. Connell
(2002, p.54) stated that ‘The gender regimes of institutions usually correspond to
the overall gender order, but may depart from it’.
3
To gain an insight into whether certain institutions support or challenge the
gender order, this study will consider the relations between institutions, gender
identity, the body and sport.
Gender Identity, the Body and Sport
Jarvie (2006, p.224) stated that ‘Gender is experienced through the body and
therefore
experiences,
feelings
and
representations
are
fundamentally
related …to masculinity and femininity…’, suggesting that the concept of gender
is dependent on the body, making the body an important concept when
considering gender. Messner (1990) and Mayer (2000) argued that meanings
attached to gender are defined in relation to culture and societal norms, are
socially constructed and are therefore open to change.
This adheres to
Foucault’s (1972; 1980) discourse theory whereby social practices can control
the messages absorbed and reproduced by individuals, involving body image and
gender identity in relation to their sex.
A link between sex and gender has been described using sex/gender
systems. Vance (1984), cited in Mayer (2000, p.4), stated that ‘…gender serves
as the cultural marker of biological sex’; Sedgwick (1990, p.27) similarly
described gender as the ‘dichotomized social production and reproduction of
male and female identities and behaviours’. Sex/gender systems are ‘historically
and culturally specific arrogations of the human body for ideological purposes’ in
which ‘physiology, anatomy, and body codes (clothing, cosmetics, behaviours,
miens…) are taken over by institutions that use bodily difference to define and
coerce gender identity’ (Epstein and Straub, 1991, p.3). This study will seek to
find an insight into whether representation of sport has this dichotomised social
production of gender identity and whether body codes within sport as an
institution are used to define, or challenge, gender.
Two sociologists whose work has involved discussing the social
construction of identity and the embodiment gender are Michel Foucault and
Pierre Bourdieu. Both have some different but useful elements to draw upon
here.
4
McNay (1999) argued that Foucault's work on the body and the self was a central
source for theories of gender; however, she argued that Bourdieu's work on the
incorporation of the social into the body was more developed.
Bourdieu: Habitus, Gender and Sport
In The Logic of Practice, Bourdieu (1990) uses a concept of habitus, which refers
to an incorporated cognitive system of structures, which is an internal
embodiment of external social structures. Habitus is the structure through which
we produce our thoughts and actions, which in turn recreates our external social
structures. It can be thought of as a collective phenomenon, as it often similar
within groups of people located in similar social positions, spaces and cultures,
as are ideas about gender. Habitus can therefore be used to help explain the
construction and embodiment of gender as practical phenomenon which is similar
to Butler’s (1990) concept of performativity.
Bourdieu thought of habitus as
something people have, not something that they are; habitus is something by
which people are interpreted.
Bourdieu referred to a gendered habitus in his book Masculine Domination
(translated in 2001), which described the embodiment of domination from an
androcentric paradigm (a masculine dominated worldview), and commented that
the two sexes could be distinguished in relation to identity, but a paradox was
evident. Bourdieu (2001, p.22) described the visible differences between male
and female bodies to be the ‘guarantee of meanings and values’ that are
concurrent with society and culture, yet these bodies are perceived and
constructed in relation to an androcentric view.
That worldview is organised
according to what Bourdieu called ‘relational genders’ and so, gender is
constructed as two hierarchical social essences. In other words, the androcentric
paradigm ‘legitimises a relationship of domination by embedding it in a biological
nature that is itself a naturalized social construction’ (Bourdieu, 2001, p.23).
According to Scraton and Flintoff (2002), the androcentric worldview that
Bourdieu referred to is visible in a society where behaviour and aesthetics are
governed by institutions.
5
The institution of sport is an example of this, and can generally be seen as
androcentric due to stigma attached to it, such as heterosexual masculinity.
Sport often includes aggression, strength and power, which through training, can
produce
large,
defined
muscles;
aspects
that
emphasise
heterosexual
masculinity (Davis, 1997).
Institutions can be part of what Bourdieu referred to as fields, which are
areas specific to divisions in a society, such as education, sport, and politics, for
example. The domination within these fields can be seen as an act of symbolic
violence.
Symbolic violence is a concept developed by Bourdieu (1998) to
explain a particular mode of social power in society; it is an act that is not
physical, that is used to (re)stabilise a social order, such as the gender order,
through reification.
It is practiced indirectly through the control of cultural
mechanisms, such as images, language practices, and, and interactions, and
consequently, many of these mechanism are represented as symbolic meanings
in the media. Within a particular field, a person’s construction of themselves and
their identity can become a gesture of resistance, or as Bourdieu termed it, a sign
of ‘distinction’ (McNay, 1994, p.155). Bourdieu’s concept of habitus constrains,
but does not determine, an individual’s thoughts and actions.
This allows
distinction to happen.
More recently, Humberstone (2002) noted that sport has often been
considered as a site where gender identities are constructed, reinforced and
resisted or challenged. With regard to gender, sport has become an important
social activity for males in the preservation of stereotypical masculine behaviour,
attributes and ideologies. Sport has been considered an important area for both
physical and symbolic male dominance (Bourdieu, 2001) and also within a wider
context of power relations between males and females, including concepts such
as sexuality (Hundley and Billings, 2009; Halone, 2009; Hilbrecht et al., 2007). In
relation to symbolic violence, sport could provide an identity that challenges
gender norms, which an individual could use as resistance against stereotypes,
for example.
6
Brown (2006) stated that, for Bourdieu, the effectiveness of symbolic violence lies
in misrecognition, meaning that those subjected to symbolic violence may be
subjected to an act of violence but not recognise it at the time. This is because,
as Bourdieu (1998, p.168) stated, symbolic violence relies on:
the set of fundamental, pre-reflexive assumptions that social
agents engage in by the mere fact of taking the world for granted,
of accepting the world as it is, and of finding it natural because
their mind is constructed according to cognitive structures that
are issued out of the very structures of the world.
This is especially relevant to the sport of women’s rugby. Rugby is ‘naturally’ a
male and masculine associated sport, so female participants have tried to
overcome this by including ‘normal’ (stereotypically feminine) attributes such as
make-up, in an attempt to establish heterosexuality (Ezzell, 2009), illustrated in
Figure 1, three of the Ireland women’s rugby team - ‘Scrummy women’ (Daly,
2009).
Figure 1. Establishing Heterosexuality in Women’s Rugby
Jenkins (2002) noted that symbolic violence is a means through which
marginalization is accomplished, and so it can be seen as a process of power.
7
Therefore a person’s compliance to the symbolic violence to which they are
subjected legitimises this violence, and can serve to reinforce stereotypical
perceptions or it may, as in the example of the attention many female rugby
players pay to emphasizing their feminine appearance, signal resistance to
gender domination without directly challenging the categories of perception that
give rise to it .
Values attached to gender can be structured from the fields of sport and
education through repetitive practice, which inevitably leads to the structuring of
participants and students’ minds and bodies. These values can be visible by
actions and appearance, which, once embedded, become a product for
interpretation at a symbolic level.
discourse.
Those interpretations can then become
Bourdieu and Eagleton (1992) cited in McNay (1994, p.179-180)
spoke of these interpretations as a form of discipline:
Discipline…points towards something external.
Discipline is
enforced by a military strength; you must obey. In a sense it is
easy to revolt against discipline because you are conscious of it.
In fact, I think that in terms of symbolic domination, resistance is
more difficult, since it is something you absorb like air, something
you don’t feel pressured by; it is everywhere and nowhere, and to
escape from that is very difficult.
From this, it can be seen how symbolic power and discourse can be related. The
symbolic domination that Bourdieu spoke of can be related to Foucault’s (1972)
theory of discourse (discussed in the next section) in that discourse can be
messages in society that are not necessarily visible, but can be found in sources
such as print media, and are absorbed and (re)produced by individuals without
them necessarily being consciously aware.
For example, a norm such as
heterosexual femininity is evident in printed sports media advertising by
integrating messages that fit with the norm, such as Figure 2 - the front cover of
Volleyball Magazine (July 2009); a woman wearing make-up and very little
clothing is the selling point of the magazine.
8
Messages and images in society, and the embodiment of gender are factors that
can also be related to Foucault’s (1972) theory of discourse.
Figure 2. Heterosexual femininity in sports media
Foucault: Discourse, Gender and Sport
Butler (1993) suggested that Foucault's (1985) work on discipline considered that
the body is not a natural entity but is socially produced through regimes of
knowledge and power. Furthering Bourdieu’s ideas, McNay (1994) suggested
that, through a Foucauldian lens, certain practices of the self that can be easily
styled (such as gender) may be deeply imbedded in the psyche and upon the
body. For this reason, it may take more than an individual’s gesture of resistance
to change them. Sport, as a ‘traditionally androcentric arena’ (Pirinen, 1997a),
may be a contributing factor to this resistance. As Bourdieu discussed symbolic
violence as a way to (re)stabilise social order, Foucault (1972; 1977) used the
idea that discourse creates a form of discipline within society to maintain social
values and norms.
Like symbolic violence, the discipline created through
discourse is not always readily visible, and therefore hard to resist. As they are
not obvious, the messages that discourse produces in society are not always
recognised as oppressive or as discipline, and are therefore accepted uncritically.
9
An example of this is intensive training for sport; it is disciplined in its structure
but it is not necessarily overtly oppressive, the desire to maintain this training
then becomes the mechanism of control, often leaving participants feeling guilty if
they do not train. This links to Foucault’s (1977) idea of panopticism and selfsurveillance.1
Institutions can use discourse to maintain the social order related to that
institution. However, Foucault’s analysis of institutional power can be seen as
one-sided, as the power relations are only considered from the assertive point of
view, not from those subjected to power. In the nineteenth century, there was a
rapid growth of discourses on ‘deviant sexualities’ (McNay, 1994, p.96), which
served to reinforce social controls and legitimised heterosexuality as ‘normal’.
However, this in turn created ‘reverse discourses’ for homosexuality and others to
acknowledge their legitimacy. Reverse discourse can be applied to the context of
sport, as the discourse that ‘sex appropriate’ or ‘gender appropriate’ sports
employed, gives voice to the resistance of that discourse. Humberstone (2002)
noted that sport has often been considered as a site where gender identities are
constructed, reinforced and resisted or challenged. With regard to gender, sport
has become an important social activity for males in the preservation of
stereotypical masculine behaviour, attributes and ideologies.
Dunning and Maguire (1996) described sport as a validation of
masculinity, representational of an opportunity for the legitimate expression of
masculine aggression and display of physical prowess and power. Sports such
as women’s rugby, where the masculine characteristics of aggression and
strength are valued, can be paradoxical in terms of gender identity. Ezzell (2009)
found that collegiate female rugby players challenged aspects of femininity
through what Ezzell referred to as tough play, yet they received sexist and
homophobic stigma from others. Instead of rejecting this stigma, the players
identified with dominant and normative values, resulting in a ‘heterosexy-fit’
identity that ‘reinforced heterosexism and gender inequality’ (Ezzell, 2009, p.111).
1
See Cole et al. (2004, p.211-212) for more on panopticism.
10
Heterosexuality was defined by Davis (1997) as something people see as natural,
universal, and compelling within social contexts. Davis (1997, p.53) also argued
that some men ‘often...publicly define themselves as heterosexual so that others
will perceive them as masculine’. Connell’s (2000; 2002; 2005) work discussed
sport as a key definer of masculine male bodies in action, as did Messner (1999),
where male athletes link themselves into systems of power, status and privilege,
involving themselves with hegemonic masculinity in sport.
The media can be a source for normalising hegemonic meanings of the
body through discourse.
According to Foucault, bodies are subjected to
normative judgements or dividing practices. These are forces of normalisation
that produce and exclude by referring to a norm (Cole et al., 2004). Hargreaves
(1987, in Cole et al., 2004, p.213) considered the impact of sport in naturalising
the body, and concluded that is was ‘caught up in the regulatory production of
identity…’. The media is a resource in which the naturalisation of the body and
identity can be reproduced.
Wright and Clarke (1999) explored how sport was represented in print
media in relation to heterosexuality and homophobia in women’s rugby. They
found that the language and visual methods chosen in print media normalised the
view that rugby is a man’s game and that the female rugby players were
appointed as hegemonic versions of heterosexual femininity (Wright and Clarke,
1999). For example, Wright and Clarke (1999, p.233) noted that women were
represented as ‘tough, but not aggressive’. Quotes described women with ‘a
degree of admiration’ because they possessed the masculine characteristics of
toughness and aggression, yet there attention was still given to appearance, a
‘defining feature of femininity’ (Wright and Clarke, 1999, p.234). They noted that
when a comparison is made between women’s and men’s sport, it ‘seems almost
impossible to explain the differences in ways which do not draw and reproduce
hegemonic discourses of gender difference’ (Wright and Clarke, 1999, p.233).
The hegemony and heterosexuality integrated with the view of sport as
something that involves or enhances masculine characteristics encourages
gender stereotyping in sport.
11
Gender stereotyping in sport is not a recent issue, as Metheny’s (1967)
research argued that stereotyping in sport was related to gender role
expectations in the wider society, and that the categorisation of specific sports as
masculine or feminine was based on various aspects including physical force and
strength, bodily contact, and aesthetics. Indeed, research in America by Colley
et al. (1987) and Koivula (1995) has shown little change to the gendering of sport.
This links back to Bourdieu’s (1992) point that it is hard to challenge categories of
perception, relating to masculine and feminine sports, by using those very same
categories in making that challenge.
The next section considers the issues discussed in relation to the media
on a broader level.
Media, Gender and Sport
The media’s choice of sport coverage and how this coverage is displayed
influences the participants of sport, whoever is recognised for that participation,
and who reached a certain level of fulfilment through that participation (Pedersen,
2002). Therefore the media has importance in relation to sport and athletes. The
first sports pages in print media began to emerge towards the end of the
nineteenth century, with the launch of the Daily Mail in 1896 (Mason, 1993).
Through analysis of sport media, issues with gender representation have been
found. The proportion of media content that has been devoted to women is small
in comparison to men, the majority of which focused on aestheticised sports, for
example gymnastics and ice skating, which supposedly emphasise feminine
qualities (Duncan, 1990; Pirinen, 1997). Horne et al. (1999) argued that when a
female’s performance is reported in other sports, it is often a comparison to men
rather than an analysis of the performance itself. This would suggest that female
athletes have been unfairly represented in the media (Wensing and Bruce, 2003).
Individual sports have also been found to receive under-representation, as they
are traditionally subordinated by competitive team games (Horne et al., 1999).
The sports pages have also served to transmit and reproduce the dominance of
sporting institutions such as universities. The relation that an institution of higher
education, such as a university, has with identity and sport can be described with
reference to Figure 3 (Halone, 2009, in Hundley and Billings, 2009, p.255).
12
Figure 3. The Institutional(ised) Nature of Identity in and Around Sport
Through a series of levels, Figure 3 shows how symbolic messages in sport are
re-produced. By applying this model to university print media, it can be seen how
the social environment in university (institutional talk) can be converted to text,
and applied to a communicative system (print media) which is interactive as it is
available to the public; sport is then consumed through the print media,
symbolically. The media has a part in the complex cultural process whereby
particular pratices become dominant.
13
Giddens and Griffiths (2006) noted that newspapers were amongst the most
important early mass media (media of communication) and continue to be
significant.
Images in the media can influence ideas about gender, often
producing stereotypical images and normative messages (Gauntlett, 2008). A
study by Buysse and Embser-Herbert (2004) considered media images of gender
in relation to sport by an analysis of National Collegiate Athletic Association
media front cover photographs. They found that photographs of female athletes
are more likely to be passive opposed to active, and traditionally feminine. The
findings suggested very little difference between gendered images produced by
intercollegiate media and mainstream mass media. Pedersen (2002) argued that
mass media has helped to reinforce gender inequality with their biased coverage
of the institution of sport.
Pedersen’s (2002) study used content analysis to
investigate photographic coverage given to high school athletics in newspapers.
The study found that females received significantly less representation in
reference to the number of photographs and total photographic column inches.
Pedersen concluded that newspapers upheld hegemonic masculinity through
their under-representation and marginalisation of high school female athletics.
However, there have been an increasing number of studies of university campus
media have found that gender differences in media representations were to a
lesser extent than in mainstream media sources (Wann et al., 1998; Huffman et
al., 2004). Kane and Buysse (2005, p.214) examined the cultural narratives of
intercollegiate
media
guides
and found
an
‘unmistakable
shift
toward
representations of women as serious athletes and a sharp decline in gender
differences’.
Vincent et al.’s (2002) study also found a more equitable
representation of females in media sources.
Although some studies suggest a move towards equity of male and female
media coverage, other studies have shown, by using a discourse analysis, that
female athletes have often been referred to by their first names, whereas male
athletes were on most occasions introduced or known by their surnames (Pfister,
1989; Messner et al., 1990).
14
This can be referred to as a ‘gendered hierarchy of naming’, or infantilising,
which establishes a dominant/subordinate relationship through the use of
surnames/forenames, which supports the gender order in which men dominate
women (Fishwick and Leach, 1998; Connell, 2002).
Research into why and how females have been unfairly represented has
been done in both mainstream newspapers and university or inter-collegiate
newspapers. Eitzen and Zinn (1989) researched the naming and gender marking
of collegiate sports teams.
They found that approximately three eighths of
American colleges and universities had sexist names and over half had sexist
names and/or logos for their athletic teams.
This implied that the identity of
athletic teams contributed to the maintainance of male dominance within colleges
and universities. However, this study was conducted a relatively long time ago in
America, suggesting that a more recent study should be extended to other
countries.
Jones et al. (1999) furthered this research by relating to sports
pages in the media.
Using Matteo’s (1984) study classifying the gender
appropriateness of sport , they found that female athletes in male sports were
described by the print media using frequent male-to-female comparisons and
comments that had little to do with sports or the athlete’s performance. They
concluded that print media coverage of female athletes in female sports focused
on performance while reinforcing female stereotypes. However this study was
again based in America.
Vincent (2004, p.452) composed a study of British Newspaper coverage of
Wimbledon. The results of the study revealed that a relatively equitable amount
of coverage was given to female and male tennis players, although this coverage
was ‘imbued with a hegemonic masculinity…that served to produce striking
contrasts between tennis players of the two genders and to reproduce and
legitimize the gender order.’ Overall, this would suggest that media coverage
was becoming equitable in respect to the quantity of representation of male and
female athletes, but not in consideration of quality of content.
To further
Vincent’s (2004) research, Crossman et al. (2007) compared cross-national
newspaper coverage of male and female tennis players.
15
The findings of the study suggested that gender differences in sport are (in
relation to media coverage) becoming less significant, therefore opposing the
gender order in which males dominate females. King (2007) supported these
findings as he found a significant increase in media coverage of female athletes.
Mackay and Dallaire (2009) used content analysis and found that previous
research on university campus newspapers had shown an enduring disparity of
coverage featuring female athletes.
Their study used content analysis to
establish categories that identified gender differences, with aid from Wensing and
Bruce’s (2003) interpretation of unwritten rules that label females as ‘feminine
subjects’. Photographs were categorised as ‘action’ or ‘non-action’. The general
findings were that representation of gender was equitable in university
newspapers, considering quality of content and quantity, therefore challenging
the gender order and an androcentric view. This study will attempt to gain an
insight into media representations of gender differences, with the inclusion of
discourse analysis, and will further the research previously discussed by
considering the representation of team and individual sport.
Purpose of Study and Research Questions
To put it simply, the aim of this study is to gain an insight into the representation
of gender, and the coverage of team and individual sports, within the sports
pages of a university’s print media where sporting performance is at the core of
its ethos.
The university can also be seen as unique because, on first
appearances, women appear to dominate sporting performance in some high
profile sports. To achieve the aim of the study, a number of questions need to be
answered, such as the following. Is university media biased towards coverage of
male athletes, and if so does this accompany an androcentric viewpoint? Do
team sports subordinate individual sports in terms of media coverage? Is the
gender order in sport reinforced or challenged in media coverage? And does the
representation of sport have a dichotomised social production of gender identity?
Answers to these questions will provide just one interpretation of messages in the
media, and should be considered to only provide an insight into the issues
mentioned, not a definitive conclusion.
16
Methodology
Choosing a Mixed Methods Approach
When considering which method would be appropriate for this study, it
was important to recognise that certain factors influenced the choice of method.
Brannen (2005) stated that important influential factors to research included
paradigms and pragmatics. The term paradigm has been used to describe the
set of experiences, beliefs and cultural values that affect the way an individual
views the environment. Sparkes (1992, p.12) described a paradigm as a ‘world
view’, a way to make sense of a perceived ‘reality’. Therefore, paradigms were
important to consider in this research project as they informed the researcher of
what was important, relevant and reasonable. Recognising paradigms and their
function also meant the researcher realised the subjectivity involved with this
project and its methods, and how this affected the results or findings. Sparkes
(2002, p.12) noted that there can be no such thing as a neutral or innocent report,
since the ‘conventions of the text and language forms used are actively involved
in the construction of various realities’.
Collis and Hussey (2003) and Johnson and Duberley (2000) stated that
the two dominant research paradigms were quantitative and qualitative.
Onwuegbuzie and Leech (2004) suggested that it is not enough to use just one of
these methods by arguing that quantitative or qualitative research alone only
provides partial information at the most, and that relying on one or the other can
lead to misleading interpretations of data. The design for this study incorporated
this, and was based upon a combination of quantitative and qualitative research
paradigms, known as mixed methods.
Mixed methods research focuses on
collecting, analysing and mixing both quantitative and qualitative data.
Quantitative research was relative to this study because one aim was to establish
the recurrence of events or objects (for example, a specific content feature such
as a photograph). Qualitative aspects of the research lay in the interpretation of
the text, which used and developed thematic categories.
17
The quantitative side of this study was inductive as it noted ‘evidence’ which
could then be applied to generalisations and theory.
Conversely, the qualitative research was reductive as it used thematic
categories which included expectations, and then applied the findings to these
categories. The qualitative interpretation of results meant that the design was
emergent.
It was logical to assume that something that emerges cannot be
designed, but the term ‘design’ was still used in this study as it is a widely
recognised term used in undergraduate research projects (Smith et al., 2009).
The interpretive approach to data provided an insight rather than a generalisation
(Thomas, 2009). This study used a parallel mixed design as opposed to Morse’s
(1991, 2003) simultaneous or Creswell and Plano Clark’s (2007) concurrent
design, as the qualitative and quantitative data had to be collected at different
times due to there being only one researcher.
This study met the three
conditions that Onwuegbuzie and Leech (2004) stated should be met in order to
conduct a parallel mixed design; (1) both methods of data analysis (quantitative
and qualitative) should occur separately, (2) neither type of analysis builds on the
other during the data analysis stage, and (3) the results from each are not
compared until both sets of data analysis have been completed.
Pragmatism has been considered the best paradigm for justifying the use
of mixed methods, and both transformative and pragmatic paradigms have been
used as philosophical underpinnings of the mixed methods approach (Tashakkori
and Teddlie, 2003).
Information from Teddlie and Tashakkori’s (2009, p.88)
paradigm contrast table was adapted to show the relevance these two paradigms
have in relation to methods, epistemology, axiology and ontology, displayed in
Table 1.
This study incorporated the transformative paradigm in relation to
axiology and ontology as it considered women and individual sports to be
marginalised groups, and the concept of social hierarchies which involves power
relationships, therefore linking the results to a broader aspect in society.
18
The pragmatic paradigm is similarly involved as the study began with social
concepts and it was driven by anticipated consequences; the researcher chose
how and what to research (Cherryholmes, 1992), and what was chosen to study
was based upon the researcher’s personal values and interests. This study drew
upon both of these paradigms, as it was concerned with enhancing social justice
by considering the representation of gender in sport, and as a competitor in track
athletics, the study also included my individual interests, such as representation
of individual sport.
Table 1. Comparison of Transformative and Pragmatic Paradigms
Methods
Epistemology
Axiology
Ontology
Transformative
Pragmatism
Both qualitative and
Both qualitative and
quantitative
quantitative
Both subjective and objective,
Both subjective and
depending on stage of
objective, depending on
research
stage of research
All aspects of research guided
Values important in
by social justice
interpreting results
Diverse viewpoints regarding
Diverse viewpoints
social realities; explanations
regarding social realities;
that promote justice
explanations within personal
value systems
Miller and Brewer (2003) noted that some researchers who strongly
adhere to either an extreme qualitative or quantitative approach do not agree that
the two should be combined within a single research project.
However, the
advantage of using mixed methods is that it can provide a better understanding of
research problems in comparison to either approach alone. The mixed methods
approach provides strengths that offset the weaknesses of quantitative and
qualitative research.
19
Quantitative methods have been considered as weak when considering context
and meanings, and qualitative methods can be seen to be weak because
personal interpretations made by the researcher can be seen as biased or
unreliable, unless viewed from an interpretive paradigm (Patton, 1990; Creswell
and Plano Clark, 2007).
One of the main reasons for using mixed methods is that the quantitative
results can help interpret qualitative meanings. However, a weakness of a mixed
methods design is that if the results of the quantitative and qualitative research
do not correlate, it can be difficult to resolve. Re-examination of the data may be
necessary (Creswell and Plano Clark, 2007).
Research Design
From a researcher’s point of view, personal skills also influenced the
choice of research design. As this study suited skills associated with numbers
and textual analysis, as opposed to verbal skills which are useful for methods
using interviews, for example. Therefore, this study analysed secondary data,
and used a parallel mixed triangulation design. With regard to methods, the word
triangulation suggests a combination of three, yet Miller and Brewer (2003) noted
that when relating to approaches to social research, it is usual to refer to this term
when only two methods are combined. Denzin (1978) described methodological
triangulation as between method triangulation, where qualitative and quantitative
methods are combined to exploit the strengths of one another. Triangulation was
used in this study because it involved comparing and contrasting quantitative
statistical
results
with
interpretive
qualitative
findings.
Methodological
triangulation has been discussed at length in literature (Brewer and Hunter, 1989;
Greene et al., 1989; Morse, 1991, 2003; Creswell and Plano Clark, 2007).
20
Method
Sampling and Access
This project had no funding and had a set date for completion, both of
which affected the sampling of data. The data was collected from issues of Retro,
UWIC’s university newspaper, as it was readily available from a local UWIC
university campus at no cost. This also meant that the newspaper was available
to more than 1500 students and members of staff at UWIC at no cost, increasing
the likelihood that it was read, making it worthy of research. Each available hard
copy of Retro from September 2007 to September 2009 was used for analysis. A
total of nine issues of Retro were used for analysis.
It is interesting to note that
during a meeting with the editor, it was mentioned that more sport coverage has
been included in Retro since September 2007, as the editors’ interests have a big
influence on aspects of the content. However, as there are no previous issues of
Retro to compare this sample with, that stands as just the editor’s opinion.
Furthermore, this point leads into areas that this study is not prepared for in terms
of research.
Data Collection
Newspapers were used as resources in their own rights, as places which
construct identities for others to draw upon (as in discussed in the literature
review). To allocate available newspapers, the editor of Retro was contacted by
e-mail. The issues of Retro were collected from UWIC Students Union, Western
Avenue, Llandaff Campus, Llandaff, CF5 2YB, on the 30th September 2009, as
agreed with the editor. The UWIC sport sections of each Retro were analysed,
as they were the only sections relevant to the research questions.
A sport
section included any photo or column of writing that involved a UWIC sports
person.2 Although adverts within issues of Retro were relevant to representation
of sport and gender, they were not UWIC specific, so were not included in the
analysis.
Six unspecified columns written about sport at UWIC were not included in the results as
they did not refer to gender or team/individual sport and were therefore not relevant to
the study.
2
21
The researched sections were UWIC specific in order to produce clear and
comparable results. How the data was recorded is detailed in the specific data
analysis sections below.
In reference to Morse (2003), the data collection
method was QUAL + quan, indicating a qualitatively driven, quantitative and
qualitative parallel design.
Data Analysis
Content and Discourse Analysis
As a macro analysis, the focus here was on social groups rather than individuals.
The study used both content and discourse analysis within the methodology
which integrated thematic and statistical data.
Content analysis focuses on
description of the content (Miller and Brewer, 2003) and so was relevant to the
focus of part of this study.
Content analysis was used in this study to
quantitatively distinguish how much coverage the university campus newspapers
gave to female athletes compared to male athletes, and team sports compared to
individual sports. The content analysis was applied to the sports sections of the
newspapers, which consisted of enumeration and measurement of categorised
photographs and textual column inches, 3 and therefore provided a description
and analysis of it. The enumeration of photographs also enabled comparisons
within the data, producing statistical results, which were then related to
conceptual theory.
The qualitative methods involved a discourse analysis in an attempt to
uncover meanings in the text.
Discourse is usually referred to in terms in
linguistics; however sociologists such as Michel Foucault have theorised
otherwise. Wetherell et al. (2001) suggested that Foucault defined discourse as
a system of representation, and that discourse was the production of knowledge
through language.
‘socially
and
Fowler (1991, p.42) drew on this to define discourse as
institutionally
originating
3
ideology,
encoded
in
language’.
In accordance to previous research (Leath and Lumpkin, 1992; Pederson, 2002; Wanta, 2006
and King, 2007).
22
Fairclough’s (1995) approach to discourse analysis combined a predominant use
of the term ‘discourse’ and Foucault’s (1972) conception of discourse. Focusing
on how language is used, and considering discourse as ‘a social construction of
reality, a form of knowledge’ (Fairclough, 1995, p.18), enables a detailed analysis
of language in relation to social and cultural processes. Analysing media texts in
this way can provide information on issues of representation and identity. This
use of discourse was applied to the methods of this study. Specifically, this study
followed a categorical strategy to code data.
Qualitative analysis Process
The qualitative discourse analysis was completed first as the study was
qualitatively driven. This included a description of the text, an interpretation of
the relationship between the text and discursive processes, and an explanation of
the relationship between the discursive processes and social processes
(Fairclough, 1995a). The researcher looked for representation of gender within
regard to previously defined categories.
Categories used in the discourse
analysis were adapted from Mackay and Dallaire (2009, p.29), displayed in Table
2.
As this study was emergent, predefined categories were edited when
necessary. The categories allowed for the information in the sports pages to be
coded and compared with consistency and ‘trustworthiness’ - findings that are
‘worth paying attention to’ (Lincoln and Guba, 1985, p.300). However, deciding if
certain words fit certain categories involved an amount of subjectivity, which
highlighted a limitation of reducing data in this way.
The meanings of language and visual images can be interpreted in a way
that relates to Foucault’s (1972) discourse theory. Foucault (1972, p.80) used
the word ‘discourse’ in various ways; one use of the term referred to discourse as
a ‘regulated practice that accounts for a certain number of statements’. This
referred to social practices as a set of unwritten rules that can control meanings
attached to certain aspects of a culture or society. For example, rugby is a sport
that involves aggression and bodily contact, and is suited to strong, large
physiques which are typically heterosexual masculine characteristics (Wright and
Clarke, 1999).
23
This creates a sporting discourse which can be seen to shape social practices
and gender relations, such as heterosexual masculinity (Markula and Pringle,
2006). Miller and Brewer (2003) regarded systems of language and discourse as
attempts to produce and encode knowledge by certifying some claims and as
authoritative and others not. The content analysis used in Mackay and Dallaire’s
(2009) study categorised photographs as ‘action’ (athletes in uniform, on the
playing field and participating in the game), and ‘non-action’ (athletes not in
uniform, not on the playing field and not participating in the game, or a
combination of these). In this study, photographs will be categorised similarly;
‘action’ referred to athletes in sports kit and actively participating in sport, and
‘non-action’ referred to athletes not actively participating in sport, not in sports kit
or a combination of these. The difference was the location of the athlete was not
considered as this was seen to be irrelevant, as if the athlete is actively
participating, the photo will be classed as ‘action’ regardless of the environment.
Therefore, the categories consisted of male, female, individual sport and team
sport, and whether the photograph was active or not. As this part of the analysis
was inductive, the data was collected and then applied to theory. Each issue of
Retro was analysed in reference to these categories and the data was put into
tables and analysed with chi-square statistical test (see Table 3, 4, 5 and 6 in the
results section). The significance of what was found was compared to results of
the qualitative discourse analysis as part of the triangulation design.
24
Table 2. Categories of Discursive Strategies used for Content Analysis
Discursive strategy
Description
Gender marking
Identifying
the
gender
of
female
athletes, teams and sports without
indicating gender for male athletes,
teams and sports, and vice versa.
Establishing heterosexuality
Describing female (and male) athletes
as objects of heterosexual attraction
and referring to female athletes as
girlfriends of men (or male athletes as
boyfriends of women).
Emphasizing female stereotypes
Mentioning physical and emotional
and
material
characteristics
or
behaviours stereotypically associated
to femininity.
Emphasizing male stereotypes
Mentioning physical and emotional
characteristics
or
behaviours
stereotypically
associated
to
masculinity.
Infantilising
Describing athletes as ‘girls’, ‘ladies’
or ‘boys’, or using their first name
rather than their last name or whole
name without referring to the other
sex in the same way.
Non-sports related aspects
Mentioning
the
athletes’
family
relationships and personal life.
Comparisons of performance
Comparing
performance
female
to
teams’
male
team’s
performance.
Ambivalence
Juxtaposition of positive descriptions
and
images
with
others
that
undermine or trivialise female or male
efforts and successes.
25
Quantitative Analysis Process
Representation issues
As mentioned in the methodology section, paradigms effect the interpretation of
data. Subjectivity is inevitable, and shapes how a research project is done and
what results are found (Peshkin, 1988). What I, as the researcher, considered to
be norms and values will have affected how I interpreted the data. Sparkes
(2002,
p.11)
noted
that
qualitative
researchers
need
to
realise
the
‘epistemological challenge that knowledge can never be understood and
textualised from a fully objective sphere’. The messages perceived in the print
media were open to subjectivity, and instead of being discovered, I may have
created them. This is because I am, to an extent, a product of the social context.
My knowledge, therefore, is contextually bound and constructed through a
process of reflexive mediation, where what I studied I create through my
experience and the way my research is written (Sparkes, 2002).
Therefore, the subjectivity involved in this study was not necessarily a limitation
of the qualitative method, as any interpretation can be argued to be subjective,
including a broader perspective such as one generally held by a society, which is
what this study was fundamentally interested in.
Drawing upon Richardson’s (2000) judgement criteria, this study aims to
contribute to understanding part of the social world, and also incorporates
reflexivity throughout. I recognised from the start of this study that it was only an
interpretation or insight that would be found, not a ‘truth’. To ensure the results or
findings had trustworthiness, I tried to interpret the data in as many ways, which
was one reason why I chose a mixed methods approach.
Onwuegbuzie and
Leech (2004) investigated the role of mixed methods research in relation to
significant and worthwhile findings.
They defined significant findings for
quantitative research as being statistically significant, and in relation to qualitative
findings a significant finding is one that has meaning or representation.
26
Cohen (1997) and Thompson (2002) noted that a major limitation of quantitative
statistics is that researchers do not fully understand what statistical significance
tests do, or what they produce (for example, an incorrect interpretation of the p
value). Statistical significance does not always show whether a result indicates
the strength or size of an effect, as commonly believed.
Two limitations of
qualitative findings are representation and legitimacy (Flick, 2009). A lack of
representation suggests that the researcher has not adequately captured the
data.
Lack of legitimacy suggests that there has not been a substantial
assessment of the data.
The limitations specified were accounted for by a thorough study over a
period of time, using literature for guidance in relation to statistics and qualitative
data analysis.
Conducting a mixed methods analysis allowed a multiple
interpretation of findings in both the quantitative and qualitative research.
Ethical Considerations
According to Mertens and Ginsberg (2008) research ethics are formulated to
regulate the relations of researchers to the areas that they intend to study.
Newspapers are available to the public and due to the unobtrusive nature of this
study, no alterations were made to the content of the print media. Individuals
were not dealt with directly, but an interpretation of the findings was offered at the
end of the study in consideration of any ethical issues. The benefits of the study
outweigh the harm that may be experienced by readers; furthermore, this is likely
to be a minor issue. The research hopes to contribute to an understanding of the
social world, and have a positive effect on its readers. Any data used in the
study for exemplary reasons had previously been publicly published. The study
was approved by the UWIC ethical committee (approval for ethics form attached
in appendix A).
27
Results
A statistical test was performed on the categorised quantitative results in order to
establish a significance level, which indicated whether the results were or were
not due to chance. A chi square statistical test (Erickson and Nosanchuk, 1979)
is relevant for investigating whether distributions of categorical variables changed
significantly from one another.
The data used for the test consisted of 2x2
contingency tables, so the degrees of freedom value was always one. Probability
(p) was read from a table of critical values for chi-square (Erickson and
Nosanchuk, 1979, p. 382), using the conventionally accepted significance level of
0.01 or 1%. If the p value was less than 1%, the result was significant, and the
higher the chi square value is, the lower the p value is. The chi-square value was
calculated to two decimal places. The results are displayed in tables below.
The majority of photographs were female and team sport orientated (see
Table 3), which contrasts studies such as Pedersen (2002).
Table 3. Total Number of Gendered Team and Individual Photographs
Male
Female
Total
Team
28
55
83
Individual
20
5
25
Total
48
60
-
The chi square value is 16.66, therefore p<0.01, which indicated that there were
significantly more team photographs than individual, and that photographs of
females were more likely to be team sport orientated.
Photographic and textual column inches had a generally equal distribution
(see Table 4 and Table 5). This challenged Horne et al. (1999) who stated that
competitive team games have traditionally subordinated individual sports.
28
Table 4. Total Mean Textual Columns (Squared Inches to 2 decimal places)
Male
Female
Team
10.26
18.41
Individual
9.88
8.97
Total
20.14
27.38
The chi squared value is 1.29, therefore p>0.01, showing that the written
coverage given to individual sports in comparison to team sports was not
significant.
The amount of written column inches that males received in
comparison to females was also not significant.
Table 5. Total Mean Photographic Columns (Squared Inches to 2 decimal places)
Male
Female
Team
30.8
26.55
Individual
17.07
19.32
Total
47.87
45.87
The chi square value is 0.41, therefore p>0.01, indicating a result that is not
significant. The amount of photographic columns dedicated to individual sports
was generally less, but not significantly so. The photographs were found to be of
relatively equal size. This result gives the findings from Table 4 (total number of
photographs) more significance. This is because if, for example, the result here
had been significant in that female photographs were significantly larger than
male photographs, the total number of male photographs would have been
undermined.
There were significantly more photographs of females in non-active poses
compared to photographs of males in non-active poses (see Table 6).
29
This would suggest that the Retro newspapers were supporting the gender order
(Connell, 2002) and that the representation of active athletes was male
dominated, contrary to other research (Crossman et al., 2007; King, 2007;
Mackay and Dallaire, 2009) which suggested more equitable coverage.
Table 6. Total Number of Gendered Active and Non-Active Photographs
Male
Female
8
24
Active
40
36
Total
48
60
Non-active
The chi square value is 6.96, therefore p<0.01.
This shows that there were
significantly more photographs of females in non-active poses compared to
photographs of males in non-active poses. There were also significantly more
active male photographs than non-active male photographs.
Gender marking of female teams, the emphasis of female stereotypes, and the
mentioning of non-sport related aspects for both genders were all found through
the qualitative analysis of UWIC print media, displayed in Table 7 and Table 7a.
Table 7. Number of Times Discursive Categories Noted in Textual Analysis
Category
Gender
Establishing
Emphasizing
Emphasizing
Marking
Heterosexuality
Female
Male Stereotypes
stereotypes
Times
7 Female
Noted
1 Male
2 Female
30
8 Female
3 Female
3 Male
2 Male
Table 7a. Number of Times Discursive Categories Noted in Textual Analysis
Category
Infantilising
Non-Sports
Comparisons of
Related
Performance
Ambivalence
Aspects
Times
4 Female
9 Female
Noted
1 Male
8 Male
1 Male
1 Female
The categories with the most difference between males and females were gender
marking and emphasizing female stereotypes.
Similar results were found by
Eitzen and Zinn (1989) and Blinde et al. (1991).
Females were symbolically
infantilised by the print media when they were referrd to as ‘girls’, however in
comparison to the amount of written columns (an average of 27 squared inches
per issue, see Table 4), four counts of this was not considered as enough to
make a critical comparison. The meanings of these is discussed in the next
section.
Discussion
When considering the significance of the published material in UWIC’s print
media, I often questioned how and why certain text and photographs were
chosen for publication. As this study cannot answer all the questions it generated,
I acknowledged that I could not go into any great detail here.
However, by
considering Bourdieu’s (1990) concepts, the choice of published sport content in
UWIC’s print media could be seen as influenced by instinct and observation.
Drawing upon Bourdieu (1990), the photographers/writers/editors socialized
subjectivity or instinct, along with the actions/thought accepted and valued in
society, in addition to the objective social reality they are in, determines their
actions. This was simplified by Giulianotti (2005, p.157), using the generative
formula ‘(habitus x capital) + field = practice’. When a person’s habitus matches
the field they are involved in (education/media/sport) they may instinctively know
what photographs/text will be accepted and valued in the sports sections of
university print media. This is what Bourdieu (1977) referred to as cohesion
without concept.
31
This would suggest that the people involved with the content of the Retro
newspaper were not necessarily experts, or did not have specific guidelines to
follow. This suggestion is likely as Retro does not generate any direct profit.
The main research question posed by the study was; does UWIC subvert
male domination in sport through symbolic messages in print media, and does
representation of sport correlate with success, regardless of it being team or
individual? The latter part of this question can be answered relatively simply, in
terms of content analysis, which found that team sports received over three times
as much coverage compared to individual sports (see Table 3). This suggests
that team sports were the focus of representation, however to comment on the
representation of success, more specific research which includes levels of
competition and correlating results would be needed. The content analysis also
found that the majority of photographs were female. This finding provided an
insight into the first part of the main research question, as it goes against the
gender order as discussed by Connell (2002) suggesting that male domination is
being subverted through the cultural mechanism of female images in print media,
which could mean a shift toward equity of male and female media coverage. This
finding is supported by research such as Wann et al. (1998); Vincent et al. (2002);
Huffman et al. (2004) and Kane and Buysse (2005). However, as is often the
case in sociology, there is more to this result that the obvious.
A consequent question was whether or not sports coverage in university
media was accompanied by an androcentric viewpoint.
Tables 3, 4 and 6
suggest that UWIC’s print media was not biased towards coverage of male
athletes. However, by looking further, Table 6 shows that a disproportionate
amount of active and non-active photographs were given to males when
compared to females. Only one out of every five male photographs was nonactive, whereas four out of every six female photographs were non-active,
producing a similar trend to that found by Buysse and Embser-Herbert (2004).
Being active is a symbolically masculine principle of athleticism (Brown, 2005)
and so these figures could support the argument that even though coverage was
not biased towards males, there was still an androcentric viewpoint.
32
By continuing to incorporate this view, university sport is more likely to have a
masculine stigma attached to it, which helps to sustain ‘jock culture’ (Sparkes et
al., 2007), a common sporting subculture underpinned by a masculinity, that is
reproduced through student culture which dominates the higher education
environment in the United Kingdom.
The qualitative analysis highlighted asymmetrical gender marking of sports
teams, the emphasis of female stereotypes, and the mentioning of non-sport
related aspects for both genders (see Table 7 and Table 7a). The study found
that female stereotypes were emphasized in relation to female athletes, similar to
the findings of Jones et al.’s (1999) study. This was also evident in photographs
such as Figure 4 (Campbell, 2009, p. 24), whereby ‘masculinity is maintained
through ideological representations of femininity’ (Harris and Clayton, 2002,
p.397) by, for example, wearing jewellery, styled hairdos and wearing make up
(Duncan and Messner, 1998).
Figure 4. Maintaining Masculinity through Representations of Femininity
For this reason, representing female athletes with ideological femininity can
maintain androcentrism within the images of print media. Relating this finding to
Foucault (1985), females use their bodies and appearance to show social
knowledge of the gender hierarchy and challenge it.
33
However, this can be paradoxical as they are seen as serious participants of
sport, yet they cling to aspects of femininity not relevant to sport, such as wearing
jewellery. On a symbolic level, this could be interpreted as demeaning in relation
to their identity as dedicated athletes, as it suggests that appearance is still of
importance to them. This contrasts the images of male athletes, where the focus
is on action rather than appearance, illustrated by Figure 5 (Robinson, 2009, p.
24). Keeping this difference between the sexes sustains male (and masculine)
domination in sport and legitimises symbolic violence against female participants
in masculine sports.
Figure 5. A Media Image of Male Athleticism
Symbolic messages displayed through images in the media can give
meanings to identities. Figure 6 (Campbell, 2009, p.24) illustrates a contrast
between a picture of a female from waist up, in rugby kit (clearly noted by the
Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) logo), with a serious facial expression and her arms
folded in a defensive manner. Two other pictures are placed next to this, of her
wearing a dress and smiling, in a non sporting situation.
34
Figure 6. Contrasting Identities
The contrasting pictures gave me the impression that the photographer wanted to
portray a different identity for her in a sporting context, portraying the message
that sub-cultures such as sport have values concerning identity. In this case, a
masculine identity was suggested by the details of the photograph (as mentioned
above), linking rugby to masculinity.
The transformative perspective that formed part of this reasearch process deals
with asymmetric relations (Mertens, 2003) and asymmetrical gender marking was
found in this study in reference to team sports such as football. The gender of
female teams were identified, whereas the male equivalent was given no
indication of gender, suggesting that those teams are male orientated unless
stated otherwise. The gender marking of some sports teams was therefore
imbued with a hegemonic masculinity. This contributes to the maintainance of
male dominance within institutions such as universities.
Focusing on non-sport related aspects such as personal life and
personality, has been found to demean female performance and reinforce the
idea that female sports performance and success are secondary factors
(Wensing and Bruce, 2003).
Conversely, this study generally found the
mentioning of non-sport related aspects to be of almost equal amount for both
genders in relation to written content, and could therefore be seen as a discursive
technique used to vary the content and interest the reader, rather than belittle
sporting performance.
35
There were, however, a few instances where non-sport related aspects
contributed to other discursive strategies, such as reinforcing female stereotypes.
An example of this featured women’s rugby and women’s football (Retro, 2009;
Retro, 2009a). The women’s rugby team were asked ‘on a night out [what can]
the team can usually be found [doing?]’, to which the reply was ‘Stripping a
Rugby Fresher boy in Taffys’ (Retro, 2009a, p.24). This promotes a heterosexual
viewpoint, and by referring to ‘Taffys’ (the student bar at UWIC), it is suggesting
that female rugby players are dominant over males in their sport and within the
university social scene. In both Retro (2009, p.22) and Retro (2009a, p.24) the
questions, who is the ‘best dressed’, ‘worst dressed’ and ‘best dancer’ were
asked of both the women’s rugby and football teams, which reinforced the
connection between appearance and stereotypically feminine characteristics with
female athletes in masculine sports, therefore maintaining androcentrism within
these sports. It is relevant to note that the emphasis of female stereotypes was
found only in columns written about team sports in relation to females, and only in
columns referring to individual sport in relation to males.
This supports the
assumption that ‘team androcentric’ exists within university sport media.
Reflection on the Research Process
The mixed methods approach allowed me to interpret the information available to
me to a greater extent than if I had used a qualitative or quantitative method
alone. Throughout the discourse analysis, I found the easiest way to understand
the effect of variables such as a word, phrase or other detail, was to imagine
what would change if the variable changed, which is a common technique used in
this kind of analysis (Lacey, 1998). Using the combined results in this discussion
enabled me to expand my explanations which gave more support to my argument,
therefore adding to the contribution this study gives to understanding part of the
social world.
This study did not take class, ‘race’, age or ability (and disability) into
account, which could be seen as a limitation of the study.
36
However, these aspects were inherent implications/consequences of the
research process due to the limited time given to complete this study and could
therefore not be accounted for. Furthermore, as the researcher had no actual
interaction with people, the inclusion of these categories would have been subject
to the researcher’s opinion, making the significance questionable.
To further the study, the process of how and why the pictures were taken
and the selection process for publication could be investigated.
This could
involve interviews with the editor, photographer and publication team, noting their
gender and age, similar to Warren (2008) but in relation to university media. The
information attained from the interviews could be regarded with respect to
discourse (Foucault, 1972) because, as Fowler (1991, p.42) noted, journalists
adopt a style to write their articles and therefore are no longer an ‘individual
subject’. They become a ‘writer’ who is ‘constituted by the discourse’. Bourdieu
(1996, p.167) described this as an ideology which ‘directs the gaze towards the
apparent producer… and prevents us from asking who has created this ‘creator’
and the magic power of transubstantiation with which the ‘creator’ is endowed’.
Interviews with readers of Retro (students, staff and visitors) would also further
this study by investigating whether their opinions of the content correlated with
the results found here and the ways in which the findings link to social processes.
Cross-university comparisons and larger sample sizes over longer periods of time
would give more insight into whether there are patterns of representation and
factors effecting representation. A more specific analysis of Retro could be done
to highlight a link between specific sports and regional/national culture, and to
see how national identity is reflected in the media (Lippe, 2002), but specific to
university media. Similarly, a consequent study could focus on one specific sport
or sporting event to get a more in-depth understanding of representation of sport
in relation to male domination and androcentrism.
37
Conclusion
This study sought to provide an insight into whether male domination in sport was
subverted through symbolic messages in university print media, and if
representation of sport correlated with success, regardless of it being team or
individual. A quantitative content analysis was used to provide an interpretation
in regard to representation of team and individual sport.
Because of the
limitations of quantitative methods, the interpretation was limited, and could be
viewed as a weakness of this study. A more in-depth understanding would rely
on further research. The combination of the quantitative content analysis with a
qualitative discourse analysis revealed that male domination in sport was being
subverted, but only to an extent, as latent messages that emerged from written
articles suggested otherwise.
These messages brought forward other issues
such as sexuality and highlighted a paradox within gendered representation in
print media.
Masculine identities were present, especially in masculine sports, and
were reinforced by female participants in these sports, by their display of
ideological femininity.
Bourdieu’s (1990, 2001) concept of symbolic violence
provided a theoretical base which helped to explain this; the dominated (females)
complied with and legitimised male dominance and the embodied gender order
within sport.
This study has attempted to generate understanding about
gendered and embodied identity in sport, and the domination attached to the
symbolic representation of this, within university sport media.
A quote from
Giulianotti (2005, p.101) summarises the point of this study, and suggests how
issues such as masculine domination in sport may be overcome;
Once the forces of domination are fully exposed, we might
manufacture a cultural context that substitutes inclusion for
achievement, and allows for marginalized groups, particularly
women, to experience greater bodily transcendence within sport.
Overall, the results of this study suggested that UWIC’s print media challenged
the gender order in relation to the quantity of male and female coverage, but
reinforced it in relation to the quality of coverage and symbolic messages.
38
From this, one can suggest that UWIC seems to be symbolically subverting male
dominance, but not masculine dominance. This study concluded that print media
can provide a substantial contribution to understanding gendered identity in sport.
39
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International
APPENDICES
54
APPENDIX A
ETHICAL APPROVAL
APPENDIX B
CLASSIFICATIONS OF SPORT
Classifications of Team and Individual Sport
Classifications:
Team
Individual
Basketball
Athletics
Cheerleading
Badminton
Football
Boxing
Hockey
Golf
Lacrosse
Trampolining
Netball
Rugby
Water Polo