This blog post is about the NBA.com Dance Bracket 2010, which I had no idea even existed…did you? If you click on a Dance Team logo, for example the Luvabulls (yes…roll eyes at the name) you will see pictures of the dancers so that you can appropriately vote. I couldn’t find any criteria for what I’m supposed to be voting for, so I’m guessing it is a vote for the best dancers?
Females comprise a growing, and predominately untapped, market of sport fans. In a previous blog about female sport fans, I summarized the statistics about the percentage of women that attend professional sport events.
I’m joining Tolcser (@ticktock6) in challenging the NBA and other professional sports to ask their female fans–what can we do for you?! Who’s in?
3/25/10 addition: Tolscer just added another great blog on the “Body Shot” contest the Memphis Grizzlies are currently running pertaining to their dancers The Grizz Girls and their “preparation” for the NBA.com Dance Bracket. It just keeps getting better…it certainly is MARCH MADNESS!!
The most recent version of Acosta & Carpenter’s longitudinal (33 years!) research on Women in Intercollegiate Sport is now available on their website. Some good news highlights:
42.6% of women’s teams are coached by a female head coach, a number that has remained stable over the last four years
HIGHEST EVER number of paid assistant coaches of women’s teams, 57.6% which are female
HIGHEST EVER number (n= 12,702) of females employed in intercollegiate athletics
Director of The Institute of Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES), Richard Lapchick states in the report, “Nineteen women’s tournament teams had a 100 percent graduation rate for their teams. Women do much better academically than men. Furthermore, the academic success gap between African‐American and white women’s basketball student‐athletes is smaller, although still significant, than between African‐American and white men’s basketball student‐athletes.”
Keeping it real with some data during March Madness…
This will be a random blog post and as I can’t find a common link except to apply a critical lens to each issue. Here are five interesting pieces to check out:
1. A parody Got No Game with Paul Mecurio: Race in Sports (HBO) brings to life race and gender ideologies which operate largely unassailed in sport contexts. It particularly highlights race logic--the idea that athletic achievement can be determined by race even though determining such things by skin color is an arbitrary social construct.
2. Last week Baylor freshman Britney Griner punched an opposing player in the face during a women’s basketball game. You could sense the outrage and horror was coming, much like it did when Elizabeth Lambert was caught on tape doing similar behaviors in a soccer match last fall. Inside Higher Ed published an article titled “The Decline of Sportswomanship?” that points out the double standard we expect female athletes to uphold. In this article is a great quote from Carrie L. Lukas, vice president for policy and economics for the Independent Women’s Forum “Girls are either a goody-two-shoes or a total bad-ass. We need to give them space to just be girls.”
3. Dave Zirin of The Edge of Sports, one of my fave journalists, wrote a great piece this week titled “How Sports Attacks Public Education” which summarizes how students are fed up with rising tuition that puts them into debt and faculty are fed up with no pay increases and in some cases furloughs that puts them behind cost of living increases, while men’s “revenue” sport coaches get huge salary packages and brand new stadiums.
4. The Girl Scout Research Institute released a new report, Good Intentions: The Beliefs and Values of Teens and Tweens Today. The report is a national study conducted by the GSRI in partnership with Harris Interactive explores what youth today value and how they go about making decisions, based on research conducted with 3,263 3rd to 12th-graders from around the country.
5. Marilyn Morgan, a manuscript cataloger in the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute is examining the cultural history of women’s bathing suits, and what it reveals about American society. She is writing a book about the topic titled “Beauty at the Beach: Marathon Swimmers, the Media, and Gender Roles in American Culture, 1900-1940,” which I can’t wait to read!
…and to conclude a great quote from Kay Yow, NC State Women’s Basketball Coach (RIP) “When life kicks you make sure you are kicked forward!”
So I’ve been offline for a few days and I come down off the slopes from boarding in the Tahoe area to an email from a blog fan (you know who you are!) with a few links to Reebok’s new ad campaign and product line. Please click on these links, but the short story on the marketing tag line for Reebok’s new EasyTone sneakers is “better legs and a better butt with every step”. What?
My question is this—if Reebok’s target market is women who want to buy ‘performance gear’, how does this commerical appeal to women? With this ad, who are they really trying to get to “rethink their perceptions of [women’s] sports”?
I’m putting together a presentation on “Differences Coaching Boys and Girls: The Facts and the Myths”. Given my position as the Associate Director in The Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport, without fail every time I give a coach or parent workshop, this question is raised– “What are the differences in coaching girls?”
I can’t summarize an entire hour presentation here, but I will tell you there are a set of evidence-based coaching behaviors every coach should employ regardless of the gender of the athlete. Here are a few of those strategies:
•Develop skills
•Provide rationale for tasks & limits
•Inquire about & acknowledge feelings
•Allow as much choice as possible within limits
To learn more about this workshop or to schedule one for your organization, contact me via email at nmlavoi@gmail.com
Over the weekend a Minnesota sport parent assaulted a youth basketball commissioner following an in-house game played by sixth graders. The the father was disgruntled over the officiating during his son’s game. From some of the research I’ve conducted with colleagues pertaining to what we call “Background Anger” the spark to this parent’s violent behaviors is consistent with our data.
We’ve found that many things make sport parents angry, but two big themes are more likely to set off sport parents: 1) their perceptions of injustice and, 2) their perceptions of incompetence. This father was was upset because he perceived “the timekeeping of the game” at the end of overtime was not correct (incompetence), and most likely felt it disadvantaged his son’s team (injustice). Based on what data exists, I would argue this combination of sport parent perceptions along side the fact the game was in overtime and probably emotionally charged, provided a perfect storm for an egregious background anger incident to occur.
Our data shows background anger incidents by sport parents are more likely to occur with travel, not in-house levels of youth sport. However, this example illustrates that no level of youth sport is immune to background anger. Requiring research-based education for sport parents, like Minnesota Parents Learning About Youth Sports (MN PLAYS™) or the MYSA Parents And Coaches Together (PACT™), can help to reduce the liklihood these type of incidents.
To see a video clip of me discussing this issue on Fox News 9, click here.
In rebuttal to the “Vonn Watch” Sports Illlustrated cover blog post I made, many people commented and pointed out that A.J. Kitt was similarly posed in 1992 and no one called it sexual. I don’t recall the media buzz, so I’ll have to take their word on this point, but I’m inclined to believe it to be true.
Many argued the cover of Kitt was “exactly the same” which provided evidence that male athletes, particularly skiers, can be similarly portrayed in the media.
I would argue from a sport media research perspective that these covers, while at first glance appear to be “exactly the same”, they are in fact not similar in many key facets. The reason why the Kitt photo is unlikely to be interpreted as sexualized, while the Vonn cover might, is the focus on this post.
1. Kitt is literally “in action” doing his sport, Vonn is posed in a tuck position–she is not literally skiing.
2. Kitt has his helmet on, Vonn does not. Skiers don’t ski without their helmets.
3. Kitt is looking down the hill as he would DURING COMPETITION, Vonn is posed looking sideways (not downhill) into the camera.
4. Kitt appears to be actually in context on the mountain, Vonn in her picture appears to be super imposed with the mountains in the background. (However, I am not certain of this)
5. Kitt is leaning down the hill which connotes forward motion during his event, Vonn is static and while she is in a tuck position there are many other positions she performs in the course of a race that could of been used that might be construed as less sexualized.
Another point many made on the blog about this photo comparison, is that we had to “see Vonn without her helmet” because otherwise no one would know who she is because skiing is such an obscure sport. However, Kitt is pictured with his helmet on where we can’t see his face. He is identified by a caption. I would argue skiing is no more or less obscure today than it was in 1992. Therefore, the argument that we need to “see Vonn’s face” to know who she is does not hold up.
I will make one last point that might lend credence to the sexualized argument (albeit subliminally). There is one ironic twist to the Vonn cover photo if you didn’t catch it prior. Someone who works in the media pointed out to me that if you look at how the text in the bottom right corner aligns, you can clearly see the word “AsS” is spelled out vertically (start with the capital “A” in America and look down to the next line of text). Is this coincidental?
Is it great that a female was on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Olympic preview issue–YES! Could the photo chosen been a better representation of the great athleticism and talent of Lindsey Vonn–YES!
Ok, so if you didn’t agree with my critique (and many didn’t!) of the February 8, 2010 Sports Illustrated cover of Olympian Lindsey Vonn that can be interpreted as sexualized, the photographs of Vonn and other female athletes inthe 2010 SISwimsuit Issuebeing released today (shown here below) might help illustrate some of my original points.
Sports Illustrated 2010 Swimsuit Issue
I became aware of these pictures, from a news story in the Minneapolis Star Tribune that ran today which stated, “Minnesota skiing sensation Lindsey Vonn is among a quartet of Olympic athletes featured in this year’s Sports IllustratedSwimsuit Issue that is out today in print and online.” The online version of the SI Swimsuit Issue includes video clips of the Olympic Stars doing their photo shoots.
The critique here is the same, when we DO see female athletes (some of the best in the world at their respective sports!) which happens in only 6-8% of all sport media, they are more often than not in poses that highlight physical attractiveness, femininity, and can be interpreted as sexualized. Is it coincidental that the four female Olympians portrayed here are all blond, attractive, feminine looking, and sexy according to societal norms?Arguably, the Vonn SI cover can be interpreted (or not) as sexualized, but these images are clearly sexualizing in nature and tone.
The obvious target market for the Swimsuit Issue is men. Therefore, the idea that “sex sells” is viable and research does support that sex sells. What I want to argue however, and some emerging research is supporting, that sex sells sex…but sex does not sell women’s sport.
The point being, by seeing Vonn on the cover of SI, these images of female Olympians, or any other female athlete… does it make the male demographic more likely to attend and pay for a ticket to an event where these women are competing, buy merchandise, or read a story about them? Researchers say it is unlikely. So yes, sex sells sex but it likely does not promote women’s sport or female athletes in a way that helps to grow women’s sport in a meaningful and sustainable way.
The last point I want to highlight is these type of images also reinforce to consumers what is most important and valued in terms of female athletes and females in general, and meaning is constructed from what is chosen to be included and not included. If you want to read more about how the sexualization of females affects everyone, particularly young girls, go to the American Psychological Foundation’s Task Force Report on the Sexualization of Girls. The report can be downloaded for free, and in short states, “The proliferation of sexualized images of girls and young women in advertising, merchandising, and media is harming girls’ self-image and healthy development. This report explores the cognitive and emotional consequences, consequences for mental and physical health, and impact on development of a healthy sexual self-image.”
Therefore, I hope to see many more images like the one below in the weeks to follow, as Vonn (who I really hope is healthy enough to race given her shin injury) and other female Olympians have great potential to be positive role models, not only for girls, but for us all.
To see a video segment of me talking with KARE11 reporter Jana Shortal about why sexualized images of female athletes are problematic, click here.
Lindsey Vonn, Great Athlete..in action, in uniform, on the slope.
What I have found interesting about the Vonn post, is not that so many disagreed with my critique of the cover, but that many of the comments contained personal attacks and vulgarity. Dr. Marie Hardin of the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism offers some insights about this occurrence on her blog post. I want to take a different slant on the resulting backlash of the Vonn post, as I think it may be representative of a larger societal trend.
I have believed for some time (as have others) that we as citizens of a democracy have lost the ability for civil, public discussion around issues in which we are in disagreement.
Having a discussion in which multiple points of view are encouraged and respected, people participate responsibly, and the common and equal humanity and dignity of each person is affirmed are some of the civic skills necessary for the continued flourishing of a democracy. The ability to critically think about information, whether you agree or disagree, is also a civic skill. Many scholars, including Robert Putnam, have argued that our declining civic skills, civic engagement and social capital (i.e., social organization such as networks, norms, and social trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit) does not bode well for sustaining a healthy democracy. I’m concerned that with the growing popularity of social and digital media, that our ability to interact meaningfully, publicly and civilly will continue to erode. What are the implications for our common good, the public good, and our society? What role should sport play in promoting civic engagement?
The institution of sport, particularly sport teams and including sport media, have great potential foster civic engagement. Yet, scarce empirical evidence exists which examines the potential of sport for fostering citizenship, facilitating dialogue, and building community in a way that leads to increased and meaningful participation in the democratic process.
Some scholars, including myself, believe sport teams can provide formative experiences of community, civic engagement, and belonging and are ideally suited for offering a genuine experience of democratic citizenship. Building community, means developing a team where members are committed to the common good, help shape the life of the group, and nurture capacities for citizenship within and beyond the team and themselves. Sports can be a major influence on how youth eventually relate to the broader culture around them. When athletes experience a sense of belonging and feel like a valued and important member of a small community, such as a sport team, it provides a psychological foundation of engagement, obligation and responsibility which, can translate into the potential for active civic engagement. Athletes also learn other valuable skills which are important for civic engagement including, the process of striving for collective goals, tolerance of political, religious, and racial diversity, and negotiation and management of conflict and difference. Sport teams can provide a way for young people to experience and practice shaping a community in the interest of mutual goals and the common good–all important aspects of a democracy. However, the tremendous potential of sports (and perhaps sports blogs!) as a vehicle for promoting civic engagement often goes untapped.
One goal of writing this blog, is to provide a critical evidence-based point of view on a particular topic. I don’t ask readers to agree, but my hope is that readers will consider a different perspective or point of view and engage in respectful debate. I do not wish to silence any perspective, which is why I approved a representative sampling of comments made in response to the Vonn blog. I want this blog to promote dialogue and perhaps build civic skills. Many of the comments were very insightful and interesting, but when the dialogue devolves into personal attacks and vulgarity I become concerned with what this means for us a community and a society at large.
I’ve thought to myself and predicted out loud that leading up to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics that we would see a LOT of Lindsey Vonn in the media.
Vonn is first a GREAT athlete, but she also represents the norm of feminine attractiveness. The combination of athleticism and attractiveness make Vonn the likely poster girl of the US Olympic Team, and the media hasn’t disappointed in constructing her as such.
Not to be left out, Sports Illustrated is featuring Vonn on their February 8,2010 cover (pictured here). For those of you who follow SI Covers, know that female athletes are RARELY featured on the cover.
2007 Sports Illustrated Covers Featuring Women
Over the last 60 years researchers have shown that about 4% of all SI covers have portrayed women.
When females are featured on the cover of SI, they are more likely than not to be in sexualized poses and not in action–and the most recent Vonn cover is no exception.
NOTE: Please read my follow up post below in the comments section, in response to blog readers differing opinions about this post.
Follow up response:
I’ve been getting a lot of comments in this particular blog. It seems I’ve touched a nerve and many disagree with my interpretation of Vonn on the cover of SI. And many of the comments provide alternative perspectives, which is good for discussion. First, let me say I am a fan of Vonn. I have nothing against her and am proud she is a Minnesotan. I am also not saying that Vonn thrives on the attention of the sport media, or seeks it out. I believe she is being covered so frequently because of the combination of the skill, accomplishment, AND her appearance. I have to disagree that this pose is “in action”. In sport media research, we would code this Vonn cover as a passive shot. She is not actually ON the slope skiing, with her helmet on. She IS in a posed tuck position in an attempt to simulate what actually skiing would look like. Yes she is “in uniform” but not her complete uniform and she appears to be on the slope. Picture this as a way to frame what I’m trying to get at: Picture a male ski racer in a similar pose on the cover of SI, smiling at the camera. Would we see that? How would you react to that picture, verses the picture of Vonn? As one blog commenter seemed to hint at, this pose is “ok” because she is hot and sexy, so she is nice to look at. How would “we” feel if the female skier did not meet normative standards of feminine attractiveness (i.e., she was “ugly”) and was in the same pose? I appreciate everyone’s willingness to share their opinions.
Some have brought up a good point that male athletes have been photographed in similar poses, and I do not deny this fact. However, the argument is that because female athletes only receive 6-8% of all sport media coverage regardless of the medium, that when we DO see them it is MORE LIKELY in poses that highlight traditional gender norms, femininity and framed in a way that can be interpreted as sexualized. So yes, Ohno or Kitt have been on the cover in similar ways but we will more likely see male athletes in action, on the court/ice/mat, and in their uniform that we will female athletes, this is a proven fact over the last 25 years of sport media research. -nml
Follow up Part 2 (2/6/10): Thank you to everyone who has submitted a comment. I have approved a sampling of the hundreds of comments that are representative of the varying opinions about this cover and issue. As you can read in the “About This Blog” tab, my goal with this blog is “help readers see the issues I write about with a different perspective (not necessarily one that you agree with)”. It is clear not everyone agreed with the critique of the Vonn SI cover and that is the point, to stimulate dialogue about an issue. If you are interested in one explanation as to why this post generated so much discussion and attacks on me personally , click here.
Follow up Part 3 (2/8/10): This blog got so much exposure due to the fact it was picked up by USA Today, Yahoo Sports, and more recently CoCo Perez, among other media outlets.
One Sport Voice 