Gender in Sports Media

In the 2nd article comparing the Swimsuit issue and the ESPN body issue, “Female Bodies on Display: Attitudes regarding Female Athlete Photos in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and ESPN: The Magazine’s Body Issue,” the study looked at how people perceive female athletes in these two different magazines: Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, and ESPN’s Body Issue. (Smallwood, Brown, and Billings 2014). The study found that people rated the athletes in the Swimsuit Issue as more feminine and sexual, while they rated the athletes in the Body Issue as more athletic and muscular. These findings suggest that sexualizing female athletes might actually help to sell women’s sports. (Smallwood, Brown, and Billings 2014). Thus, this study helps highlight that sex sells and also the need for change in how we portray women’s athletic abilities behind their beauty.

In a more recent article, the same portrayal of women in the ESPN body issue is prevalent. The article, “Naked Function, Athletic Form: Acceptable Sexuality and the Myth of Empowerment in ESPN’s Body Issue.” focused on the sexualization and objectification of athletes (Pena and Scott 2022). The study found that many of the female athletes’ photos had no references to their sport and were featured in poses inviting a heterosexual male gaze (Pena and Scott 2022). An example of this in their study was “Williams from 2009 and O’Hara from 2019. Both are featured in submissive poses—they are sitting on the ground, arms and legs crossed, in sexualized positions without any reference to sport (Pena and Scott 2022:11).”

Both female athletes were portrayed without their sports object and on the floor. When looking at these pictures, there is little likelihood one would be able to tell the woman pictured was an athlete, unless one had prior knowledge about the athlete or was familiar with them, like with Williams, who is one of the most recognizable athletes in the world (Pena and Scott 2022).