We’ve all heard it before: more money and attention go to men’s sport because men’s sports are more popular. For women who are athletes, it’s a constant battle to be taken seriously for their accomplishments. On one front, the women need to work hard to keep the focus on their athletic achievement (as opposed to their looks, who they want to date, or what they post on social media). On another front, they struggle to get their share of media coverage.
Just ask Canadian tennis player, Eugenie Bouchard, who was once famously asked “to twirl” in an on-court interview and also, on a different occasion, asked who her ideal date would be. More recently, CBC sportscaster, Adam Kreek, blamed her Olympics singles loss on what she does on social media. He said:
“she’s posting pictures of herself, she’s holding up the toothpaste and she’s trying out different hairstyles.”
The remark inspired Canadian kayaker Adam Van Koeverden to respond in a blog post calling out sexism in sport (unfortunately titled “Feminism in Sport” instead of “Sexism in Sport,” which was really the topic and is the point).
And then we’ve got the now-familiar offenses from the first few days of coverage:
When Hungarian swimmer Katinka Hosszu set a new world record in the 400-meter individual medley on Saturday, NBC commenter Dan Hicks said, “There’s the guy responsible for turning Katinka Hosszu, his wife, into a whole different swimmer,” when the camera panned to her husband in the stands.
And:
the Chicago Tribune faced widespread scrutiny for publishing a story about U.S. trap shooter Corey Cogdell-Unrein (who happens to be married to a Chicago Bears football player) winning bronze with the following headline: “Wife of a Bears’ lineman wins bronze medal today in Rio Olympics.”
Many argued the headline was sexist because it identified Cogdell-Unrein as a wife, instead of an athlete.
And:
Also on Sunday, as U.S. swimmer Katie Ledecky beat her own world record in the women’s 400 metre freestyle, NBC commentator Rowdy Gaines said, “People think she swims like a man.”
Gaines tried to defend his remark as “a compliment.” But “swims like a man” is not much different from “runs like a girl” in the message it sends about the athletic capabilities of girls and women as inferior.
Ledecky, an astonishingly strong swimmer and well-known athlete in her own right, just can’t seem to escape or get out from the shadow of Michael Phelps. She’s been called “the female Michael Phelps,” and his silver medal gained the main headline while her world record breaking gold was relegated to a subtitle:
Time got the order right in its headline, “Ledecky Blows away Field as Phelps Settle for Silver in Final Individual Races of the Olympics.”
And of course, when the camera caught the unbelievably impressive US women’s gymnastics team laughing between events, an NBC commentator said, “they look like they might as well be standing in a mall.”
When you say stuff like that, social media responds:
Men’s tennis gold medalist, Andy Murray, was congratulated for an achievement the Venus and Serena Williams have both already accomplished: two Olympic gold medals. Murray caught the mistake and corrected it, saying, “I think Venus and Serena [Williams] have won about four each.”
The examples could go on and on and on. Why does this matter? This stuff isn’t just an irritating annoyance. It reveals a deeply sexist attitude that permeates mainstream media and culture. I mean, people said these things and thought they were okay. Editors approved these headlines. TV journalists think it’s okay to make off-the-cuff comments criticizing a world class athlete for posting selfies on social media and denigrating a truly formidable group of athletes (the US women’s gymnasts) by saying “they might as well be at a mall.” What does that even mean?
Myself, I’m finding the onslaught of sexist coverage during the Olympics this year to be wearying. I mean, people call the stuff out, apologies get made, and then tomorrow it happens again.
Cover the Athlete is an initiative that tries to raise awareness about this type of commentary. Awareness is the first step in achieving change. #covertheathlete posted an excellent video, which I’m sure many of you have already seen, that turns the tables, showing what it would look like if interviewers asked male athletes the same sorts of questions. You can watch the video here.
Despite how exhausting it is to stay vigilant and speak up when this type of thing happens, it’s an important equity issue.
Do you call people out, either on social media or face-to-face (depending), when they engage in “casual sexism” of the sort this year’s Olympic coverage displays?
