Olympic Cleavage Coverage
Posted by sssss on Friday, Jan 22, 2010
The image above is not property of American Apparel. It’s one of the “beautiful/shy” Guo Jingjing, Chinese gold-medalist diver. (Although she’d make a nice model for the company, eh?)
Pirkko Markula, professor of socio-culture studies, uses JingJing as an example for the unequal treatment she believes the media places on women during the Olympic Games
After comparative research of male vs. female media coverage before, during and after the 2004 Olympics, the results show that media coverage of males during the Olympics fell from 88 percent to 40 percent, whereas female coverage rose from 5 percent to 25 percent. Markula points out that media coverage of female athletes is based mainly on their “body shape and appearance” rather than their athletic abilities.
I’m hoping they took into consideration how much of the female body is covered in the more graceful sports like synchronized swimming, ice-skating and gymnastics. Also, isn’t the body the focus of most sports?
Although it’s easy and fun to point the finger at creepy Greek cameramen, the group of researchers analyzed international newspaper coverage in their study. In other words, the Olympics isn’t just about global unity around sports. It’s about global sexism in sports coverage too!
As a woman, I have to admit that I’m personally more likely to watch sports during the Olympic games rather than watching football with the boys. I’d bet this is true of many women, internationally. And I’m also more likely to watch ice-skating or synchronized swimming, the girlier of Olympic sports.
Let me do a quick front flip: The winter games of 2010 will be taking place in Vancouver, which should mean more male coverage and less Olympic cleavage (sorry boys).
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sssss
electro cardiogram!
new york, United States
Member since 2009
my people come from the land of sand. Seema Shariat New York, NY
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sputnikchickBUSHWICK 28 days ago
JingJing is kinda cute.
Milano about 1 month ago
this could have definitely been sexier...
sputnikchickBUSHWICK 28 days ago
many things/people can...
smotherboard about 1 month ago
I can't wait for the Olympics...
_SOS_ about 1 month ago
Actually, this looks a lot like an AA ad, from the spandex to the post to the unsmiling face.
AlligatorDDT about 1 month ago
and the flat chest?
Anon7les about 1 month ago
The only flaw with this example is that Guo Jingjing was the best in her sport during her active years, and her medal records were more impressive than any of the male divers competing at the same time.
AlligatorDDT about 1 month ago
that makes sense then that she would get so much media coverage
modtechmod about 1 month ago
was looking forward to tights and leotards...blah@Vancouver.
storstygg about 1 month ago
that's cuz dudes are hairy and ugly. advantage: fembots
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