Women Athletes...Players or Playboys?

Paralympics 2012: The inspiring women fighting for gold 

       It is often complained that female athletes are frequently depicted by the media in a rather unfair and unequal manner to their counter male athletes. One journalists at bodybuilding.com argued that “women athletes tend to be poorly portrayed, both textually and pictorially, by the media” and “seem to be chosen more for their looks and ‘womanly traits’ as opposed to their sporting prowess.” Another columnist at womensenews.org wrote, “Photos of successful male athletes overwhelmingly show them in serious, action poses, while powerhouse women are often trivialized, romanticized, and sexualized.” While this point of view may be proven by various articles and profiles of women athletes throughout the media, it was recently disproven by CNN’s article, “Paralympics 2012: The inspiring women fighting for gold” by Lauren Said-Moorhouse. Throughout the article, Said-Moorhouse refers to the women athletes by using words such as “extraordinary,” “distinguished,” and “impressive sporting all-rounders.” Instead of presenting them in sensual or non-threatening poses, Said-Moorhouse pictures the women in her article in their uniforms in the midsts of competition or victory. She never demoralizes the women, but she rather contradicts most media depictions by praising them as strong athletic competitors.  

In her article, Said-Moorhouse broke the mold of traditional media depictions and presented the female Paralympic winners as competitors, athletes, and strong role-models rather than sexualizing, feminizing, or romanticizing them just because they are women.  This article proved to me the importance of stepping outside of social norms. It also depicted the profusion of viewpoints outside of those of the traditional media by helping me realize that there is no way to generalize the media. There is such an abundance of differing opinions, writing styles, and points of view circulating throughout the media that it is impossible to pinpoint one opinion and believe it as a universal truth. Exploring the media requires discernment, flexibility, and diligence in order to decipher what is fact and what is opinion. However, no matter what we read or what pictures we see, in the end it is our responsibility as human beings to form our own opinions and decide for ourselves who has the final say in our lives. So, will it be the media or will it be you?