Sunday, October 13, 2013
Brandon Focht- Sex Sells Sex, Not Sports
As
we have talked about several times in class the controversy of the media
portraying female athletes as feminine and heterosexual. We are used to the
feed from the media however, and we are far more comfortable with women being
portrayed in a sexual manner then men. The example from class with Anna
Kournikova in a sports bra advertisement was a lot more comfortable to see than
the male cricket player wearing a jock strap with cricket gear. The caption was
the same for both "Only the ball should bounce," but both the guys
and girls reacted the same way to both advertisements. It was more generic with
Anna Kournikova just in her sports bra, and there were not any looks of disgust
on our classmate’s faces. When the advertisement with the cricket player was
shown in the PowerPoint there were some comments, and laughter made by people
in our class because it made us uncomfortable. We are used to the media giving
female athletes this image and displaying them more for sexual prowess, than
their ability as an athlete. Lindsey Vonn had the same thing done in Sports
Illustrated after she was succeeding in alpine skiing in the Olympics and World
Cup Championships. After Mary Jo Kane did studies it was found that most fans
of female athletics did not believe that sexual pictures, and media of female
athletes increased their interest in women's sports. I think that fans of
female sports are not going to change their opinion of female athletics with
these sexual images the media portrays, it will help keep younger men
interested in female athletics, but it could hurt female fans, and older men
who are fans as well.
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Brandon,
ReplyDeleteI liked your reaction to the examples of Anna Kournikova and the male cricket player in the class example because I had the exact same reaction when I saw it in that I found the Anna one perfectly normal, but the cricket one out of place. I think it was interesting how they could both say the same thing but also evoke such a different reaction at the same time. I think it has to do with the media as well, because they portray women and use their sexuality so casually but its not the same case for men. That is why these ads can evoke such different emotions, because we are conditioned to not think anything of female sexuality. At the other end, male sexuality being used to push a product isn't as common in the sports world so it is different when you do come across such an advertisement.
-Travis Kash
Brandon,
ReplyDeleteI liked your reaction to the examples of Anna Kournikova and the male cricket player in the class example because I had the exact same reaction when I saw it in that I found the Anna one perfectly normal, but the cricket one out of place. I think it was interesting how they could both say the same thing but also evoke such a different reaction at the same time. I think it has to do with the media as well, because they portray women and use their sexuality so casually but its not the same case for men. That is why these ads can evoke such different emotions, because we are conditioned to not think anything of female sexuality. At the other end, male sexuality being used to push a product isn't as common in the sports world so it is different when you do come across such an advertisement.
-Travis Kash
I agree that there is definitely a different reaction when men and women are portrayed sexually. As you stated no one was shocked by Anna Kournikova in just her sports bra because we’ve been conditioned to see images like that in the media. When we saw the male cricket player however, there was a much stronger reaction as it was just not something we typically see. Traditionally women have been more often portrayed in a sexual manner to sell products and that probably contributed to the variance in our reactions to the two ads. It is refreshing to see an outlet like ESPN the Magazine use both male and female forms in their body issue to serve as stark contrast to Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit edition. If more media outlets provide more equal coverage like this perhaps a future class won’t react strongly to either advertisement.
ReplyDeleteMax Perry
Female athletes are placed in a difficult situation. Exposure for these athletes is tough to come by, as the media heavily favors male sports and athletes in terms of TV coverage. Females are forced to look to external sources to gain the attention that it takes to be successful in the sports world. These external opportunities are a double-edged sword, however. Many women, such as Danica Patrick, have used their sex appeal to gain more exposure and become more popular. In most cases, this technique works, but some may lose respect for the individual to the provocative nature of the advertisements. It is unfair that women have to decide whether they want to pose half-naked in order to gain some popularity, but unfortunately sex really does sell and it seems that that is the best method in today’s society. Hopefully, the efforts of ESPN and other media outlets to bring more attention to women’s sports will lead to fewer women having to pose in these advertisements.
ReplyDeleteShaun Higgins
Female athletes are placed in a difficult situation. Exposure for these athletes is tough to come by, as the media heavily favors male sports and athletes in terms of TV coverage. Females are forced to look to external sources to gain the attention that it takes to be successful in the sports world. These external opportunities are a double-edged sword, however. Many women, such as Danica Patrick, have used their sex appeal to gain more exposure and become more popular. In most cases, this technique works, but some may lose respect for the individual to the provocative nature of the advertisements. It is unfair that women have to decide whether they want to pose half-naked in order to gain some popularity, but unfortunately sex really does sell and it seems that that is the best method in today’s society. Hopefully, the efforts of ESPN and other media outlets to bring more attention to women’s sports will lead to fewer women having to pose in these advertisements.
ReplyDeleteShaun Higgins
Brandon,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with what you said about that fans of female sports don’t necessarily change their opinion of female athletics when sexual ads are created. I do think that there is a possibility that the nature of the ad might cause some adverse effects, though. For the most part, I have not had my opinion change for an athlete based on advertisements that they model for in their free time. I understand that athletics might not always be the highest paying job for non-popular sports, so they need to supplement their income anyway possible. A common theme on advertisements today is that sex sells, so it has to be assumed that anyone involved in modeling for advertisements will eventually be involved in sexual ads, also. And I don’t think that those ads cause people to lose interest in female sports. However, I think if the female athlete is involved in less appropriate ads, like Brandi Chastain in Gear Magazine, that can have a negative effect on her popularity, especially in the eyes of her younger fans. Those kinds of ads can cause opinions to change, so I think that female athletes must keep that in mind when they are asked to be in advertisements.
Nicole Zawislan