Japan

World Cup brings normalcy to women’s sports

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Getty Images (Imae courtesy of http://www.fifa.com)

Despite the United States’ loss in the 2011 Fifa World Cup final to Japan, the tournament as a whole was a boost for the support of female athletes breaking twitter records and stereotypes both here and internationally.

The 1999 first-place finish for the American women is still remembered for Brandi Chastain’s shirtless celebration by many, including some media outlets who used the photo in their coverage of this year’s tournament. But this year’s second-place performance saw the team treated not as trailblazers, but as equals in their own right in a sport who’s women’s teams are often trivialized. The Huffington Post even used the tournament to highlight the role of Title IX in normalizing the access success of female athletes.

As Slate columnist Brian Phillips wrote, “the team managed to capture the nation’s attention without ever having to be a symbol for anything…They weren’t offering a corrective counterexample to the greedy/childish/immoral superstars playing men’s sports. They were just more or less kicking ass, as dramatically and unpredictably as possible.” Post-game coverage from Sports Illustrated.com and others also focused on the women’s performance as athletes, not as role models for their gender. The tournament’s media sponsor was Rogaine. For men.

However, some media coverage still angled to the role of women’s soccer on the international stage. Some fear that the game will start to become more like the men’s tournament, with over-dramatized injuries and theatrics that some say deters from the sport. Others worry that the increased popularity will take away from the diverse styles of play and creative strategies, rather than sheer physicality,  present in this year’s tournament. (Although the U.S. team was noted for being the fittest team in the team’s history.)

The team won’t be able to completely shake off its role-model persona; most local coverage of the tournament focused on young girls idolizing the tournament. But the tournament at least gave these athletes a well-deserved spot in the sports playbooks.

This is the Gender Report’s Week in Review, a weekly post that highlights some of the major stories related to gender issues this week. Some of these stories may have already appeared in our News Feed or in the week’s Gender Checks. We’ll at times include a longer analysis of stories as well as bring attention to stories that may have slipped through the cracks of the week’s news cycle.

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Gender Check – 3/23/11 Northeast

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*Gender Checks are quick examinations of gender representation in individual news articles for the purpose of discovering trends over time. Click here to read more.

Website: The New York Times

On The New York Times, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 7 p.m. EST on Wednesday, March 23 was titled “Tokyo Says Radiation In Water Puts Infants At Risk.” Its subject was the growing anxiety about contamination from Japan’s damaged nuclear power plants.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Authors: Male and Female (dual byline)

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male – Japanese official

2. Male – Japanese prime minister

3. Male – Japanese official

4. unknown- anonymous Western source

5. Male – clerk in Tokyo store

6. Male – Japanese resident

Notes/analysis: As the disaster in Japan continues to unfold, it is interesting to keep tracking the gender balance of victims portrayed and who is given official voice in the crisis.

Website: ProPublica

On ProPublica, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 7 p.m. EST on Wednesday, March 23 was titled “Aftershock: The Blast That Shook Psycho Platoon.” Its subject was the effects of blast concussions sustained during combat and the psychological treatment options. The story was a co-investigation with a reporter from NPR.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Authors: Male (dual byline)

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male – Iraqi veteran

2. Female – police officer

3. Male – staff army sergeant

4. Male – staff army sergeant

5. Male – soldier

6. Male – soldier

7. Male – army neuropsychologist

8. Female – doctor

9. Female – professor

10. Female – army doctor

11. Male – army officer

12. Male – father of a soldier

13. Male – friend of a soldier

14. Female – sister of soldier

15. Male – retired colonel

16. Male – director of veteran’s trauma center

17. Male – PTSD expert

18. Female – wife of soldier

19. Female – daughter of soldier

20. Female – wife of soldier

Notes/analysis: In a story focusing on the traumatic effects of war, all the soldiers featured were male, and with the exception of one father, all the family members interviewed were female.

Gender Check 3/16/11 – Northeast

Joy BaconLeave a comment
*Gender Checks are quick examinations of gender representation in individual news articles for the purpose of discovering trends over time. Click here to read more.

Website: The New York Times

On The New York Times, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 8 p.m. EST on Wednesday, March 16 was titled “U.S. Calls Radiation ‘Extremely High’ And Urges Deeper Caution In Japan.” Its subject was the developments with Japan’s damaged nuclear reactors.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Authors: Male (three bylines)

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male – chairman of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission

2. Male – spokesman for Tokyo Electric

3. Male – spokesman for NRC

4. Female – U.S. senator

5. Male – U.S. energy secretary

Notes/analysis: As much of the news will be dominated by the developing crisis and recovery in Japan, a study of the photographs is particularly interesting from a gender breakdown. Are women more prominent in photos of the surviving victims?

Website: ProPublica

On ProPublica, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 8:30 p.m. EST on Wednesday, March 16 was titled “Army Plans New Guidelines To Resolve Denials Of Purple Hearts to Brain-Injured Soldiers.” Its subject was a possible change in guidelines to accept brain injuries as legitimate combat injuries, making those soldiers eligible for the distinguished honor. The story was a co-investigation with a reporter from NPR.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Authors: Male (dual byline)

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male – Army general

2. Male – senior medical officer

3. Male – Army director of soldier programs and services

4. Male – U.S. congressman

5. Female – Army wife and founder of related organization

6. Male – retired army sergeant

Notes/analysis: