From Athletic Superstars to Racialized Vixens: Representations of Women in Sports Illustrated, 1972 – 2010

• In Event: 136 - Open Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 07. Minority Experiences, Representations and Sampling

Abstract

Previous studies argue that media representations of women athletes emphasize their femininity, heterosexuality, and sex appeal rather than their athleticism. Based on a content analysis of nearly four decades of both articles and advertisements in Sports Illustrated, however, I find significant diversity in the representation of women athletes. In articles, women are overwhelmingly portrayed as strong, competent athletes, whereas advertisements use racialized and sexualized stereotypes such as white women as the “girl next door,” African American women as athletic, and Asian women as the sexualized other. By incorporating race into the analysis, the results of this study add nuance to prior research on women in sport media and offer encouraging data that demonstrate women are actually most often portrayed as athletic figures.

Author

• Kiera Duckworth, University at Buffalo