Importance Of Media Representation In Women's Sports

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Importance of Media Representation in Female Sports

In the United States, there are numerous channels on TV that broadcast sports live. ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC are some of the largest sports broadcasters in the nation. However when you turn on one of these major channels, you expect to see men's baseball, or basketball. This is a stigma in the United States showcasing how men's sports are superior to women's sports. A study done in 2019 came to the conclusion that only 14% of sports highlights and news were about women teams or individuals. Meanwhile the other 86% were turned towards mens sports. Women's sports are incredibly underrepresented in the media, underscoring the idea of conforming to gender norms.
The idea of strong female representation in sports should be focused on more often because it is used to inspire younger generations on how far women have come, and how they keep taking steps towards equality. To improve the amount of representation in the media for female sports, more funding should be offered for female students, and media coverage on popular channels …show more content…

If only some smaller channels broadcast female achievements, then there are a limited number of chances to highlight female athletes. This is causing an absence of inspiration for young girls to pursue sports and promote gender equality. The reason that the inspiration of women's sports is such a struggle is because of the lack of opportunities given. More specifically, according to ASM Scholarships, 88 percent of athletic scholarships are given to men, only leaving 12 percent for women. Balancing this percentage to 50/50 would greatly help the representation and broadcasting of women’s sports, because there would be more female talent brought, therefore drawing more attention to