“Battling” Gendered Language: An Analysis of the Language Used by Sports Commentators in a Televised Coed Tennis Competition
1994; Human Kinetics; Volume: 11; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1123/ssj.11.3.298
ISSN1543-2785
AutoresChristy Halbert, Melissa Latimer,
Tópico(s)Sports Analytics and Performance
ResumoIn this study, we examine how sports commentators minimized women’s athletic participation, abilities, and achievements in the 1992 televised “Battle of the Champions” tennis competition between Martina Navratilova and Jimmy Connors. Using content analysis, we found clear differences in naming practices, adjective and adverb use, amount and type of praise and criticism, and character flaws attributed to the players. In the unique case of male versus female athletic competition it also becomes apparent that commentators “gender” the athletic event. Although women have made great strides in sport, their achievements will continue to be meaningless as long as sports broadcasters undermine, trivialize, and minimize women’s performances through biased commentaries.
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