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Sex, Race And Sports
Say you believe the old saw about sports being a microcosm of society.
Suppose you think of these Games — which share entertainment-industry terrain
with popular film and music — as a physical representation of how our lives
play out. Each event is a text. Look at sports this way and you will
salivate over the opportunity to deconstruct the issues of race and gender
that will be illuminated by the eternal flame's lighting this month in Sydney.
If left to most sportswriters, a discussion of amateur athletics and
identity politics might end with black athlete Jesse Owens' facing down
Hitler in 1936. Beneath the information void, however, the annals of
Olympic glory are littered with tales of how we regard sex and color, from
Tommie Smith and John Carlos's Mexico City Black Power salute three decades
ago to this spring's outrage, when female East German competitors told of being unwittingly disfigured through steroids dispensed by that country as it went for the gold.
The opportunity to discuss gender and race is not lost on MediaChannel
affiliates, whose insights provide the foundation for Part I of our special
report. So, on your marks (and off the couch), get set (for some medal-worthy
articles and analysis), go.
— Donnell Alexander and Elinor Nauen, editors (editor@mediachannel.org).
Part II: Olympics Coverage as Commodity
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Australia's Original Sins
Will the Sydney Olympics bring aborigine issues to the country's — and the world's — consciousness? John Pilger observes that aboriginal runner Cathy Freeman's good-natured smile is being used to conceal the true state of the indigenous population.
From Carlton Interactive: John Pilger, July 10 2000
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On A Pedestal
Male athletes are treated "almost reverentially" by reporters, who are
likely to be patronizing or dismissive toward female athletes, according to the media watchdog group Women, Men and Media.
From Freedom Forum, November 13 1998
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The Flying Chador
Islamic countries may not be very advanced in sports, but the Islamic
Women's Games are at least a start, writes Fa'ezeh Hashemi, head of the
Islamic Countries' Women's Sports Solidarity Council. Coverage of these competitions by the foreign media, she says, lets women in other countries know what is happening.
From Index on Censorship, August 28 2000
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Sex Sells
One participant in an Australian Press Council panel on sports reporting notes that the media are blamed for the lack of coverage of sports involving women, non-elites, juniors, ethnics and the disabled. But shouldn't the sports themselves carry some of the responsibility, she asks, when they often don't provide media access and reliable information? From Australian Press Council, November 1 1995
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Too High For Hoops?
Still trying to figure out why NBA superstars Allen Iverson and Chris
Webber won't get to shine in Sydney, while certain players — who aren't even
the best players on their team — will? The answer may lie in a public service message on
marijuana "addiction" that aired during Iverson and Webber's matchup last
winter on NBC.
From The Black World Today, May 14 2000
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Rebellious Slaves Or The American Dream?
These days, writes Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua, racist metaphors are cast as a matter of culture rather than biology. The author raises disquieting questions about the persistence of racial
oppression, such as whether the lucrative salaries paid to professional
athletes are hush money for overlooking race and class issues.
From The Black World Today, July 12 1999
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Super Race Sunday
The Super Bowl is America's single biggest sporting event, watched by
hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Marcus G. Little discusses a
study that suggests announcers focus disproportionately on the physical
characteristics of blacks and the thinking ability of whites. Announcers
used animal or inanimate terms to refer to 11 players. All were African Americans.
From Center on Blacks and the Media,
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Lighter Shades Of Racism?
Black athletes were not more likely than other racial and ethnic groups to be described in physical terms, says a different study, from the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles, on how race, ethnicity and nationality of international athletes are portrayed. It seems that the biggest stereotypes of our day are reserved for Asian and Hispanic athletes. From Media Awareness Network, November 1 1995
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Speaking Sportuguese
"Rowe has missed the crucial point that male athletes are not sexualized on
the field, through framing, editing and commentary (three elements which
are constantly used to sexualize female athletes for a male gaze)." Kathryn
Goldie reviews David Rowe's "Sport, Culture and the Media: The Unruly
Trinity," a book that explores the relationship between sports and media,
particularly in Australia.
From M/C - A Journal of Media and Culture, June 19 2000
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AS THE MEDIA WATCH THE WORLD, WE WATCH THE
MEDIA.
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