The Canadian women in the 2016 Rio Olympics have lit the stage with dazzling athletic performances winning the majority of Canada’s medals. The gold medal count began with Penny Oleksiak, and it was not until Day 9 that a male athlete won a medal. Despite the numerous achievements of the female athletes, there was a persistent failure in the media’s reporting of the women’s Olympic success.
We frequently saw headlines like “Wife of Bears’ lineman wins a bronze medal today in Rio Olympics” neglecting to give the athlete a name or describe her accolades. Corey Cogdell is a two-time Olympic bronze medal winner in the Women’s Trap Shooting. The media have consistently neglected to take women’s sports and their success as seriously as men’s sports. A CNN reported on a study from the United Kingdom that pointed out that men are three times more likely than women to be mentioned in a sporting context and women are disproportionately described with their marital status, age or appearance.
There is a clear gendered divide in how the media discusses men and women’s success in sport. Reporters tend to focus on comments or questions about women’s appearance or their outfits like the Australian reporter asking Eugenie Bouchard to “do a twirl” and tell the reporter about her outfit. This question was prompted after Bouchard had a dazzling performance and victory on the court. There is limited focus on these women’s elite athleticism and performance; instead, the focus is directed towards the number of selfies they take, or how happy they look after winning.
Frustrations with media reporting led to #AskHerMore, a social media campaign changing the kinds of questions the media asks women. Instead of perpetuating and reinforcing questions around appearance, #AskHerMore calls out sexist reporting and suggests ways to emphasize focus on women’s achievements. We are noticing in Calgary, the public is no longer tolerating bigotry with the swift response to a local fashion company’s Twitter fail.
Canada’s Olympic team had more women than men and are encouraging women to get into sport while creating opportunities for them to compete. We need role models for our children that demonstrate the incredible strength and perseverance we see with Olympic athletes. However, before all of that, we need the media to change how it discusses women’s triumphs and success in sport and in life.
At the YWCA of Calgary, we know that language matters in the way we speak, write and address women’s experiences. We will continue to advocate and work to shift the conversation away from appearances and towards achievements.
Go Canada!
