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

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.