Conference turris::womannotes-v2

480.0. "Wide world of Stereotypes" by HANNAH::MODICA () Fri Mar 03 1989 14:33

From todays Globe, Derrick Z. Jackson article. Sections reprinted
without permission. Title also from article.

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	"The Amatuer Athletic Foundation of Los Angelos held a two day conf.
called "Getting over the Hurdle: Race and Gender in the Sports Media."
The conference focused on two of the most nagging problems in sports-the
stereotypical treatment of athletes of color and women. Debate centered on
stereotypes that make athletes of color seem less intelligent than their
white counterparts and those that trivialize women's athletics.."

	"Particularly disgusting was a video presentation of sports advertising
that showed women in sexually suggestive poses. In one ad, an athletic shoe was
headed straight for the mouth of a model."
"There was also a clip of a sportscast in which the camera focused on
the buttucks of players on a womens basketball team who were huddling 
during a timeout. The sportscaster said "and there's no butts about it.""
	
	"The refreshing tone of the conference was.... that 
the [organizations involved] began coming up with ways for television and 
newspapers to avoid sterotypes." 

Some of the suggestions Mr. Jackson offered in his article were:

o Avoid all inhuman and animalistic descriptions of athletes, such as
"monster" and "thoroughbred". Invariable it is athletes of color who are
tagged with such descriptions.

o Desist with such  descriptions as "pretty", "beautiful", and
"attractive". [These descriptions] have nothing to do with athletic
performance, deflect attention from whether the athelete has any brains,
and are reserved for white women.

o Stop calling female athletes 18 and over  "girls".

o Do not stereotype all African American and Latino athletes as using sports
to escape the ghetto. At Calgary, Debi Thomas, a middle-class suburban woman 
and a premed major was said on ABC-TV to have "street smarts".

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I've often wondered if the media isn't somewhat responsible for
the perpetuation of racism and sexism to some extent. Perhaps, thanks
to the efforts of the organizations (and individuals) who
particpated in this conference, we'll see a change for the better. 

I didn't have time to enter the whole article so I extracted what I thought
were the most important points. If anyone would like a copy of the whole
article, please send me mail and I'll be happy to send you one.

							Hank

                                            

    Re: .0
    
    >I've often wondered if the media isn't somewhat responsible for
    >the perpetuation of racism and sexism to some extent.
    
    No question in my mind.  A lot of unconscious habits are picked
    up at an early age and just carried along.  Conscious knowledge
    doesn't necessarily eliminate the habit.  I've done a pretty good
    job of eliminating some sexist assumptions from my mindset, but
    I haven't been successful with with racist assumptions or reactions.
    Probably because I haven't spent much time with people of different
    ethnic backgrounds.  I spend a goodly amount of time in the company
    of men, so it's easier for me to toss them into the category of
    "just people" (which means folks like me).  Familiarity doesn't
    necessarily breed contempt.

    Maybe it's just my own bit of stereotyping, but it's my impression
    that this happens far more in sports journalism than in other areas
    of journalism.
    
    This reminds me of a "public service" advertisement that used
    to be posted around back when I was in school. It went some-
    thing like:
    
    	"A racist is someone who thinks blacks make good
    	athletes but nothing else."
    
    --- jerry

    Perhaps this belongs in the "...but theres hope yet!" note but I 
    can't remember where that note is.
    
    I avoid most media these days, especially re sports, but I did see
    an international level gymnastics competition broadcast from George
    Mason University this past Sunday.  The athletes were referred to
    by commentators of both sexes as men and women (even though most
    of the women whose ages were mentioned were between 13 and 16).
    (Most of the men were at least 17.)  I didn't see the entire
    broadcast, only about 10 routines (male and female).
        
    They even discussed in a roundabout way the difficulty some of the
    female athletes experience in gymnastics when their bodies change;
    mass and the distribution thereof change their balance and strength
    characteristics.  The changes are too difficult for many to continue
    to compete at the top level, and I was impressed that they were
    able to discuss the 16-year-old competitor's (Brandy Johnson, I
    think was her name) "maturing" in terms of how it affected her ability
    to compete and recognized the efforts she had made to do so, without
    denigrating her or her competitors.  It reflected the reality of
    the sport and the competitors, and I thought they handled it well.
                 
    DougO