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Introduction

In sports, sexism is a common issue that has affected a large number of people. Sexism refers to the discrimination or the prejudices on a person based on their sex or gender. Anyone can be a victim of sexism, but in most cases, females are mostly affected. Sexism has been linked to certain types of stereotypes and gender roles to which include beliefs of gender superiority. Various articles have been written in an attempt to bring the issue of sexism in sports.

1. Katz, Ron. Forbes, 2015. “Cross-Gender Representation in Sportscasting.” Forbes.com. Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/rkatz/2015/11/28/gross-gender-discrimination-in-sportscasting/#5f9277de691cKatz brings the reader’s attention in his article the various standards used by the sports viewers to judge men and women sportscasters. According to her research, Katz found that the male presenters in sports are judged by the viewers based on their knowledge of sports as well as their ability to speak. On the other hand, women are judged differently; that is, they are judged based on their appearance and sexiness. The article is significant, and of significant value, in that, it tries to answer the questions raised regarding people’s perception of women in sports media. Due to the stereotyping by the audience, the females, therefore, struggle to gain credibility in a field that is male-dominated, taking into consideration that both males and females are judged in different ways. Katz also notes in the article how some organizations in the professional sports try to encourage their employees to interview minority candidates for management posts, but this is not in existence in the current time since there have not been measures set by either organizations or the government to bridge the gap in gender discrimination, aimed to judge both men and women in the sports media in a similar way.  

2. Madkour, Abraham D., 2017. “Women in sports media cite progress, obstacles.” Sports Business Journal, sportsbusinessdaily.com. Retrieved from: https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2017/03/06/Opinion/From-The-Executive-Editor.aspx

Madkour exposes sexism in the media landscape as he discusses the challenges faced by women in sports media. Women face challenges in the sports media because it is a male-dominated field, and therefore, they have to be much prepared and have to fight and be as twice prepared as men. Besides, women have to work hard on their game so that they can be compared on a similar scale. The reason as to why women have to prepare and extra harder is because women’s mistakes are perceived to carry a lot of backlashes as well as a lot of consequences simply because they are females. The article states that women have fought a huge battle and have come a long way in the sports industry, but despite this there has always existed a negative reaction towards them as the audience solely base their perceptions on the acceptable roles of women in sports, perceptions which totally disregards the women’s experience and expertise on sexism. The article is of great value as it helps in bringing into light some of the popular perceptions from the audience to the women in sports media. However, the article may be biased as it is not peer-reviewed.     

3. Mastro, D., Seate, A. A., Blecha, E., & Gallegos, M. (2012). The wide world of sports reporting: The influence of gender-and race-based expectations on evaluations of sports reporters. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 89(3), 458-474.

The article is a journal that also explains the theme of sexism in sports. The journal raises a question of how the visual framing, as well as the content, tend to affect the audience perception of both the reporter and the message. Besides, the journal also discusses how the expectations on race and gender goes an extra mile in affecting how the viewers tend to judge a script caster in the sports media and as to whether or not the presenters are perceived as credible and competent. The article explains the audience perception through various studies conducted on the audience reactions to various newspaper excerpts and as well through response to questions asked to the participants to help in figuring out the audience preconceived perceptions concerning gender and sports. According to the article, the study found that the audience associated certain journalists who were of the same race and gender to be more credible and at the same time better in terms of information source in regards to sports compared to their counterparts. The article is a credible source as it is a peer-reviewed article and thus a valuable source as it discusses the impact of intersectionality on the sports media. Besides, the journal has relevant data on gender and sports coverage ratio.  

4. Mudrick, M., & Lin, C. A. (2017). Looking on from the sideline: Perceived role congruity of women sports journalists. Journal of Sports Media, 12(2), 79-101.

The article is a journal addressing sexism in sports. The journal incorporates studies done by students to determine how attractiveness and gender influence the audience in judging the presenters. Besides the studies also helps in deciding how the attractiveness impacts on the loyalty of the audience in the perception of the trustworthiness and expertise of the sports presenter. The results of the study found that the congruity in gender role between the sport type and the presenter is a crucial factor on how the audience perceives the information that is being provided, for example, women presenting in a female sporting event are judged better than when presenting on a male event. Besides, most of the women reporting in the sports industry, which are perceived to be of male appropriate are viewed to be incongruent and most probably out of place with the image portrayed by the sporting event. In sports presentation, attractive presenters are portrayed to be more reliable than the unattractive ones, which is a kind of bias that tend to judge people wrongly. The study is valid and dependable as it contains relevant information on sexism and as well raises the key point of the significance of gender roles in media presentation, especially in sports. It also stipulates the consequences of failing to adhere to the rules of congruity, which makes them less credible and reliable to the audience. 

5. Weathers, M., Sanderson, J., Matthey, P., Grevious, A., Warren, S., & Tehan, M. (2014). The tweet life of Erin and Kirk: A gendered analysis of professional sports broadcasters’ self-presentation on Twitter. Journal of Sports Media, 9(2), 1-24.

The article is peer-reviewed as it is a journal on sports, thus a credible source. In the article, the authors discuss sexism that exists in the social media platform as well as the difference between genders in presentation. The journal provides insights on Twitter profiles of both male and female sports presenters, comparing their tweets to discern the differences that exist in the manner through which the two portrays themselves to the audience. The study examined topics which the two journalists had tweeted as well as the tweet frequency. The study results depicted that both had a similar mode of presentation to which conformed to the prevailing stereotypes and ideologies which surround the sports field. However, the female presenter was much focused on tweeting about her personal life and more emphasis on topics related to fashion, events of her day and family while the male presenter, on the other hand, tweeted on what was happening in sports, providing analysis and predictions to sports fans.