For Us All? Nine for IX and the Representation of Women in Sport

Click name to view affiliation

Dawn Heinecken University of Louisville

Search for other papers by Dawn Heinecken in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
*
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1123/wspaj.2017-0005
In Print:
Volume 26: Issue 1
Page Range:
23–32
Restricted access

ESPN’s documentary series Nine for IX is the most significant series of documentary films focusing on women in sport to date. Highlighting the accomplishments of female athletes and coaches, the series counters the erasure of sportswomen found elsewhere in media, and is further notable for being produced and directed entirely by women. Despite women’s controlling role in production, however, analysis of the films in the series reveals that they often reproduce conventional strategies of feminizing sportswomen. The series’ conventional representation of women in sport is particularly significant in light of its representation of Title IX legislation, in which the law is used to signify the empowered status of female athletes while erasing continuing inequalities faced by women in sport.

Heinecken is with the Dept. of Women’s and Gender Studies, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY.

Address author correspondence to Dawn Heinecken at d0hein01@louisville.edu.
  • Collapse
  • Expand
Cover Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal

  • Acosta, R.V., & Carpenter, L.J. (2014). Women in intercollegiate Sport. A longitudinal national study. Thirty-Seven Year Update. 1977–2014. Retrieved from http://www.acostacarpenter.org

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Aitken, I. (1998). The documentary film movement: An anthology. Edinburgh, UK: University of Edinburgh Press.

  • Belmonte, L.A. (2008). Selling the US way: US propaganda and the Cold War. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.

  • Billings, A.C. (2007). From diving boards to pole vaults: Gendered athlete portrayals in the ‘Big Four’ sports at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics. Southern Communication Journal, 72(4), 329–344. doi:10.1080/10417940701667563

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Billings, A.C., & Blackstone, K.B. (2015). Sprawling hagiography: ESPN’s 30 for 30 series and the untangling of sports memories. In J. McGuire, G.G. Armfield, & A. Earnheardt (Eds.), The ESPN effect: Exploring the worldwide leader in sports (pp. 157–167). New York, NY: Peter Lang.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Bissell, K.L. (2006). Game face: Sports reporters use of sexualized language in coverage of women’s professional tennis. In L.K Fuller (Ed.), Sport, rhetoric and gender: Historical perspectives and media representations (pp. 85–96). New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Breuning, J.E., Armstong, K.L., & Pastore, D.L. (2005). Listening to voices: The experience of African American female student athletes. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 76(1), 82–100.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Breuning, J.E., & Dixon, M. (2008). Situating work-family negotiations within a life course perspectives: Insights on the gendered experiences of NCAA Division 1 head coaching mothers. Sex Roles, 58(10), 10–23. doi:10.1007/s11199-007-9350-x

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Bruce, T. (2016). New rules for new times: Sportswomen and media representation in the third wave. Sex Roles, 74(7–8), 361–376.

  • Bryant, A. (2012, June 27). Title IX at 40: Most schools still aren’t in compliance. The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved from http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2012/0627/Title-IX-at-40-Most-schools-still-aren-t-in-compliance

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Budgeon, S. (2010). The contradictions of successful femininity: Third Wave feminism, postfeminism, and ‘New Femininities.’ In R. Gill & C. Scharff (Eds.), New femininities: Postfeminism, neoliberalism and subjectivity (pp. 279–291). New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Cahn, S.K. (2015). Coming on strong: Gender and sexuality in twentieth century women’s sport (2nd ed.). Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Christopherson, N., Janning, M., & McConnell, E.D. (2002). Two kicks forward, one kick back: A content analysis of media discourse on the 1999 World Cup Soccer Championship. Sociology of Sport Journal, 19(2), 170–188. doi:10.1123/ssj.19.2.170

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Collins, P.H. (2000). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. New York, NY: Routledge.

  • Cooky, C., Messner, M., & Hextrum, R.H. (2013). Women play sport, but not on TV: A longitudinal study of televised news media. Communication & Sport, 1(2), 203–230. doi:10.1177/2167479513476947

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Crosson, S. (2013). Sport and film. New York, NY: Routledge.

  • Daddario, G. (1994). Chilly scenes of the 1992 Winter Games: The mass media and the marginalization of female athletes. Sociology of Sport Journal, 11(3), 275–288.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Daniels, D.B. (2005). You throw like a girl: Sports and misogyny on the silver screen. Film and History, 35(1), 29–38.

  • Daniels, E. (2009). Sex object athletes and sexy athletes: How media representations of women athletes can impact adolescent girls and college women. Journal of Adolescent Research, 24(4), 399–422. doi:10.1177/0743558409336748

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Daniels, E. (2012). Sexy versus strong: What girls and women think of female athletes. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 33, 79–90. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2011.12.002

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Daniels, E.A., & Wartena, H. (2011). Athlete or sex symbol: What boys think of media representations of female athletes. Sex Roles, 65(7–8), 566–571.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Das, A. (2016, April 21). Pay disparity in US Soccer? It’s complicated. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com

  • DeVos won’t commit to enforcing Title IX. (2017, January, 18). Women Talk Sports. Retrieved from http://womentalksports.com/devos-wont-commit-to-enforcing-title-ix/

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Douglas, D. (2002). To be young, gifted, black and female. Sociology of Sport Online, 5(2), 1–16. Retrieved from http://physed.otago.ac.nz/sosol/v5i2/v5i2_3.html.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Douglas, S., & Michaels, M. (2005). The Mommy myth: The idealization of motherhood and how it has undermined all women. New York, NY: The Free Press

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Farrey, T. (2012, June 6). Too high a price to play. ESPNW. Retrieved from http://www.espn.com/espnw/title-ix/article/7986414/too-high-price-play

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Felshin, J. (1974). The triple option…. For women in sport. Quest, 21(1), 36–40. doi:10.1080/00336297.1974.10519789

  • Fink, J.S. (2015). Female athletes, women’s sports and the sport media commercial complex: Have we really come a “long way baby”? Sport Management Review, 18(3), 331–342. doi:10.1016/j.smr.2014.05.001

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Fuchs, C. (2013). A few brief moments: Truth and image in sports documentaries. In Z. Ingle & D.M. Sutera (Eds.), Gender and genre in sports documentaries (pp. 3–18). Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • George, C., Hartley, A., & Paris, J. (2001). The representation of female athletes in textual and visual media. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 6(2), 94–101.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Gill, R. (2007). Gender and the media. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.

  • Gill, R. (2015). Supersexualize Me! Advertising and the midriffs. In G. Dines & J.M. Humez (Eds.), Gender, race, class in the media: A critical reader (4th ed.). London, UK: Sage.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Gillis, S, Howie, G., & Munford, R. (2007). Third Wave feminism: A critical exploration (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

  • Glass, A. (2015, December 7). Why the USWNT is “over” the Turf, gender discrimination. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com

  • Godoy-Pressland, A. (2014). ‘Nothing to report;’ A semi-longitudinal investigation of the print media coverage of sportswomen in British Sunday newspapers. Media, Culture, and Society, 36(5), 595–609. doi:10.1177/0163443714532977

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Harrison, L.A., & Secorea, A.M. (2010). College students’ attitudes toward the sexualization of professional women athletes. Journal of Sport Behavior, 33(4), 403–426.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hartman, K.L. (2015). ESPN’s mythological rhetoric of Title IX. In J. McGuire, G.G. Armfield, & A. Earnheardt (Eds.), The ESPN effect: Exploring the worldwide leader in sports (pp. 97–109). New York, NY: Peter Lang.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Heywood, L. (2007). Producing girls: Empire, sport and the neoliberal body. In J. Hargreaves & P. Vertinksy (Eds.), Physical culture, power and the body (pp. 101–120). London, UK: Routledge.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hughson, J. (2009). Sport and history on the ground: Documentary and the feature film. Sport and Society, 12(1), 118–133. doi:10.1080/17430430802472350

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hull, K., Smith, L.R., & Schmittel, A. (2015). Form or function? An examination of ESPN Magazine’s “Body Issue.” Visual Communication Quarterly, 22(2), 106–117. doi:10.1080/15551393.2015.1042159

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Ingle, Z. (2013). Introduction. In Z. Ingle & D.M. Sutera (Eds.), Identity and myth in sports documentaries: Critical essays (pp. i–xiii). Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kamphoff, C.S. (2010). Bargaining with patriarchy. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 81(3), 360–372. PubMed

  • Kane, M.J., LaVoi, N.M., & Fink, J.S. (2013). Exploring elite female athletes’ interpretations of sport media images: A window into the construction of sexual identity and “selling sex” in women’s sports. Communication and Sport, 1(3), 269–298. doi:10.1177/2167479512473585

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kane, M.J., & Maxwell, H. (2011). Expanding the boundaries of sport media research: Using critical theory to explore consumer responses to representations of Women’s Sports. Journal of Sport Management, 25(3), 202–216. doi:10.1123/jsm.25.3.202

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kinnick, K.N. (1988). Gender bias in newspaper profiles of 1996 Olympic athletes: A content analysis of five major dailies. Women’s Studies in Communication, 21(2), 212–237.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Knight, J., & Giuliano, T. (2001). He’s a Laker; She’s a ‘looker’: The consequences of gender stereotypical portrayals of male and female athletes in the print media. Sex Roles, 45, 217–229. doi:10.1023/A:1013553811620

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Krane, V., Choi, P.Y.L., Baird, S.M., Aimar, C.M., & Kauer, K. (2004). Living the paradox: Female athletes negotiate femininity and muscularity. Sex Roles, 50(5–6), 315–329. doi:10.1023/B:SERS.0000018888.48437.4f

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kusz, K.W. (2008). Remasculinizing American white guys in/through new millennium American sports films. Sport in Society, 11(2–3), 209–226. doi:10.1080/17430430701823448

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Lavelle, K.L. (2014). ‘Plays like a guy’: A rhetorical analysis of Brittney Griner in sports media. Journal of Sports Media, 9(2), 115–131. doi:10.1353/jsm.2014.0007

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Lavelle, K.L. (2015a). As Venus Turns: A feminist soap opera analysis of Venus Vs. Journal of Sports Media, 10(2), 1–16. doi:10.1353/jsm.2015.0010

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Lavelle, K.L. (2015b). The ESPN effect: Representation of women in 30 for 30 Films. In J. McGuire, G.G. Armfield, & A. Earnheardt (Eds.), The ESPN effect: Exploring the worldwide leader in sports (pp. 127–138). New York, UK: Peter Lang.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • LaVoi, N. (2016). A report on head coaches of select NCAA Division 1 teams. Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport. Retrieved from http://www.tuckercenter.org

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • LaVoi, N., & Dutove, J.K. (2012). Barriers and supports for female coaches: An ecological model. Sports Coaching Review, 1(1), 17–37. doi:10.1080/21640629.2012.695891

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Lieberman, V. (2015). Sports heroines on film: A critical study of cinematic women athletes, coaches and owners. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Lindner, K. (2011). Bodies in action: Female athleticism on the cinema screen. Feminist Media Studies, 11(3), 321–345. doi:10.1080/14680777.2010.535316

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Machin, D., & Mayr, A. (2012). How to do critical discourse analysis. London, UK: Sage

  • Mawson, L.M. (2006). “Sportswomanship: The cultural acceptance of sport for women versus the accommodation of cultured women in sport.” In L.K. Fuller (Ed.), Sport, rhetoric and gender: Historical perspectives and media representations. (pp. 19–30). New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • McDonald, I. (2007). Situating the sport documentary. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 31(3), 208–225. doi:10.1177/0193723507304608

  • McKay, J., & Johnson, H. (2008). Pornographic eroticism and sexual grotesquerie in representations of African American sportswomen. Social Identities, 14(4), 491–504. doi:10.1080/13504630802211985

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • McNiece, M.A. (2013). Role models and regular people: Cultures of hegemony in the world of Murderball. In Z. Ingle & D.M. Sutera (Eds.) Gender and genre in sports documentaries (pp. ix–xiii). Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • McRobbie, A. (2009). The aftermath of feminism: Gender, culture, and social change. London, UK: Sage.

  • Meân, L. (2015). The 99ers: Celebrating the mythological. Journal of Sport Media, 10(2), 31–43.

  • Messner, M. (1990). When bodies are weapons: Masculinity and violence in sport. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 25, 203–220. doi:10.1177/101269029002500303

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • National Collegiate Athletic Association. (2016). NCAA race and gender demographics database. Retrieved from http://web1.ncaa.org/rgdSearch/exec/main

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Norman, L. (2010). Bearing the burden of doubt. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 81(4), 506–517.

  • Pearson, D. (2001). The depiction of women in sport films. Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, 10(1), 103–124. doi:10.1123/wspaj.10.1.103

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Pegoraro, A. (2015). Nine for IX: Branded: From affect to action. Journal of Sport Media, 10(2), 45–63. doi:10.1353/jsm.2015.0013

  • Sabo, D. (2007). Pigskin, patriarchy and pain. In P.S. Rothenberg (Ed.), Race, class and gender in the United States: An integrated study (7th ed.). New York, NY: Worth.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Schultz, J. (2005). Reading the catsuit: Serena Williams and the production of blackness at the 2002 US Open. Journal of Sport and Society, 29(3), 338–357.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Sherry, E., Osborne, A., & Nicholson, M. (2016). Images of sports women: A review. Sex Roles, 74, 299–309. doi:10.1007/s11199-015-0493-x

  • Shugart, H. (2003). She shoots, she scores: Mediated constructions of contemporary female athletes in coverage of the 1999 US Women’s Soccer Team. Western Journal of Communication, 67(1), 1–31.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Spencer, N.E. (2010). Content analysis of US women in the 2004 Athens Olympics in USA Today. In T. Bruce, J. Hovden, & P. Markula (Eds.), Sportswomen in the Olympics: A global content analysis of newspaper coverage (pp. 183–194). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Sutera, D.M. (2013). Introduction. In Z. Ingle & D.M. Sutera (Eds.), Gender and genre in sports documentaries (pp. ix–xiii). Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Tack, T. (2017, March 9). After the protests: Kaepernick’s future uncertain. PoliticusSports. Retrieved from http://sports.politicususa.com/2017/03/09/after-the-protests-kaepernick-future-in-the-nfl-is-uncertain.html

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Thomas, R.M. (1994, March 3). Yacht racing: America’s Cup: At last an all-female crew. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Thomsen, S.R., Bower, D.W., & Barnes, M.D. (2004). Photographic images in women’s health, fitness and sports magazines and the physical concepts of a group of adolescent female volleyball players. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 28(3), 266–283. doi:10.1177/0193723504266991

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Title IX and Athletics. (2017). National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education. Retrieved from http://ncwge.org/athletics.html

  • Verbrugge, M.H. (2012). Active bodies: A history of women’s physical education in 20th century America. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Vertinksy, P. (1998). Run Jane run: Central tensions in the current debate about enhancing women’s health through exercise. Women and Health, 27(4), 81–111. doi:10.1300/J013v27n04_06

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Vincent, J. (2004). Game, sex and match: The construction of gender in British newspaper coverage of the 2000 Wimbledon Championships. Sociology of Sport Journal, 21(4), 435–456.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Vogan, T. (2013). Chronicling sport, branding institutions: The television sports documentary from broadcast to cable.“ In P.M. Pederson (Ed.), Routledge handbook of sport communication (pp. 128–136). New York, NY: Routledge.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Weber, J.D., & Carini, R.M. (2013). Where are the female athletes in sports illustrated? A content analysis of covers (2000–2011). International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 48(2), 196–203. doi:10.1177/1012690211434230

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Whannel, G. (2008). Winning and losing respect: Narratives of identity in sports films. Sport in Society, 11(2–3), 195–208. doi:10.1080/17430430701823422

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Wolfe, S. (2009). Sexuality and socialism: History, politics and theory of LGBT liberation. Chicago, IL: Haymarket Books.

  • Wolter, S. (2015). ESPNW: Catering to a new audience. In J. McGuire, G.G. Armfield, & A. Earnheardt (Eds.), The ESPN effect: Exploring the worldwide leader in sports (pp. 111–126). New York, NY: Peter Lang.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Williams, S, & Paisner, D. (2009). On the line. New York, NY: Hatchette Book Group.

  • Witt, K., & Swift, E.M. (2005). Only with passion. New York, NY: PublicAffairs.

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 3163 405 143
Full Text Views 107 29 0
PDF Downloads 90 31 0