Images of Sport in Popular Nonsport Magazines: Power and Performance versus Pleasure and Participation

This research aims to analyze the relationship between sport and the gender order in society by focusing on sport-related images (N = 312) found in popular nonsport men's and women's magazines (N = 46). We find that sport images are often found in both men's and women's nonsport magazines, though these images are more common in magazines that target men. Interestingly, the types of sports portrayed differ greatly depending on the audience. Advertisers and media publishers emphasize images of power and performance sports for men, while pleasure and participation activities are more likely for women. We also note that when sport images contain representations of minorities, they do so in nonintegrated fashion. Hence we conclude that images of sport in nonsport magazines primarily serve to reinforce the existing gender and racial order.

[1]  M. Messner,et al.  The Televised Sports Manhood Formula , 2000 .

[2]  L. Treiber,et al.  RACE, GENDER, AND STATUS: A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF PRINT ADVERTISEMENTS IN FOUR POPULAR MAGAZINES , 2000 .

[3]  D. Sabo,et al.  Masculinities, Gender Relations, and Sport , 2000 .

[4]  Susan Tyler Eastman,et al.  Sportscasting and Sports Reporting , 2000 .

[5]  C. Cole.  The Year that Girls Ruled , 2000 .

[6]  D. Crane.  Gender and Hegemony in Fashion Magazines: Women's Interpretations of Fashion Photographs , 1999 .

[7]  Mathieu Albert,et al.  Conceptions of Masculinity and of Gender Transgressions in Sport among Adolescent Boys , 1999 .

[8]  T. Curry,et al.  Marketing Masculinity: Gender Identity and Popular Magazines , 1998 .

[9]  Riitta Pirinen.  The Construction of Women’s Positions in Sport: A Textual Analysis of Articles on Female Athletes in Finnish Women’s Magazines , 1997 .

[10]  T. Curry,et al.  Black Americans in Popular Magazines: The Effects of Audience Characteristics and the Persistence of Stereotypes , 1996 .

[11]  Kenneth L. Shropshire,et al.  In Black and White: Race and Sports in America , 1996 .

[12]  Joseph Dorinson.  Ethnicity and Sport in North American History and Culture , 1996 .

[13]  M. Kane.  RESISTANCE/TRANSFORMATION OF THE OPPOSITIONAL BINARY: EXPOSING SPORT AS A CONTINUUM , 1995 .

[14]  Sue Alexander.  Gender bias in British television coverage of major athletic championships , 1994 .

[15]  W. Simons.  Ethnicity and Sport in North American History and Culture , 1994 .

[16]  J. Gillett,et al.  Reading the muscular body: a critical decoding of advertisements in Flex magazine. , 1994 .

[17]  M. Duncan.  THE POLITICS OF WOMEN'S BODY IMAGES AND PRACTICES: FOUCAULT, THE PANOPTICON, AND SHAPE MAGAZINE , 1994 .

[18]  A. Furnham,et al.  The stereotyped portrayal of men and women in British television advertisements , 1993 .

[19]  M. Duncan.  Representation and the Gun that Points Bachwards , 1993 .

[20]  Michael A. Messner,et al.  SEPARATING THE MEN FROM THE GIRLS: , 1993 .

[21]  A. Lumpkin,et al.  An Analysis of Sportswomen On the Covers and in the Feature Articles of Women's Sports and Fitness Magazine, 1975-1989 , 1992 .

[22]  Angela Lumpkin,et al.  An analysis of Sports Illustrated feature articles, 1954-1987 , 1991 .

[23]  M. Messner,et al.  The Gender of Audience Building: Televised Coverage of Women's and Men's NCAA Basketball* , 2001 .

[24]  H. Lenskyj.  Power and Play: Gender and Sexuality Issues in Sport and Physical Activity , 1990 .

[25]  S. Birrell,et al.  Double Fault: Renee Richards and the Construction and Naturalization of Difference , 1990 .

[26]  T. Curry,et al.  Sport Identity and Motivation for Sport Participation: A Comparison Between American College Athletes and Austrian Student Sport Club Members , 1989 .

[27]  B Francis,et al.  Power play. , 1989, Advancing clinical care : official journal of NOAADN.

[28]  Margaret Carlisle Duncan,et al.  Denial of Power in Televised Women’s Sports , 1988 .

[29]  J. Coakley,et al.  Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies , 1978 .

[30]  L. Z. McArthur,et al.  The Portrayal of Men and Women in American Television Commercials. , 1975 .