Women and sportscasting: Internet objectification, no regulation

Erin Andrews, sports reporter from Atlanta, GA. In 2007, she was voted "America's Sexiest Sportscaster" by Playboy Magazine

William Huston from Globe Media (Toronto) recently discussed how female sportscasters are often valued more for their looks than their knowledge of the game. This isn’t just one reporter’s observation; it’s a problem, for both sports fans and women.

Huston focused his article on the story of Norma Wick, a sportscaster in Toronto who had been employed by Global Television in Vancouver as well as Orca Bay Sports & Entertainment covering the Vancouver Grizzlies. She was 40 years old and turned down for a job at the sports network. She was told she lacked experience and she just didn’t have “the magic.” Not quite the case.

The social reach of the topic of female sportscasters being judged for their looks extends far beyond the society of our neighbors in the north.

Women have made huge advances in TV sports broadcasting over the past 10 years. However, this impact has met its share of backlash by their primary audience, as men and sports networks have increasingly objectified, rated, ranked, hired and fired them based upon their looks alone.

“As the numbers have grown, the importance of their physical appearance has increased. More than ever, networks place an emphasis on youth and beauty, and, by no surprise, Playboy is now publishing an annual list of the sexiest sportscasters. Within that environment, women continue to struggle for credibility as sports journalists.”

What’s really interesting is that as women increase their presence in the professional sporting industry, the objectification of their existence pervades, particularly the Internet.

Try typing the phrase “female sportscasters” into Google. What do you find? Posts about “hottest sportscasters” that include pictures and rankings.

Perfect example – check out Spike.com’s blog post on September 11 of this year, which reads,

“Watching sports is awesome. Nothing beats a Sunday at home, in front of the box with your mates and a cold one. This male nirvana is usually a female-free zone… unless there happens to be a sexy sportscaster roaming the sidelines. Nothing compliments a good game more than a fine female sports reporter, and now it’s your chance to vote for the one that takes you into overtime.”

Seriously guys? I mean yes, it’s important that sportscasters are good looking (both male and female), but when you start objectifying them and ranking them (and posting about it) you’re crossing a line.. a line that doesn’t yet exist.

Spike isn’t the only one.

For example, Huston writes,

“It was suggested on a blog that a reporter should be taken “into the woods” and assaulted.

“Frightening,” is the way NBC’s Andrea Kremer describes some of the commentary posted on websites.

“The vitriol that is spewed out is unbelievable,” she said.

Wick said the violent, misogynistic tone of the online commentary shocked her.

“It’s really disturbing stuff,” she said. “I found that the more analytical I was as a reporter, the more vicious the commentary.”

Similarly, Deadspin, a site that I’ve repeatedly criticized for the disgusting depiction of female athletes, was called out by Globe Media for the way they discuss women in the industry.

“Also on deadspin, this was the lead to a note about Hazel Mae moving to MLB TV, alongside a picture of her in a tight low-cut dress perched on a television studio desk: “The sultry NESN lead anchor temptress will have to find a new sports desk to prop her stair-mastered caboose on top of next year.”

In November of this year, Deadspin was rated by Juiced Sports as number 1 in the top 100 most valuable sports blogs, worth well over $16 million.

Not surprisingly, Will Leitch, the founder of Deadspin.com, declined a request to be interviewed. Leitch obviously doesn’t want to be responsible for what’s being said. (I’m sure he dodges these questions all of the time).

In my opinion, when you instruct writers and editors to post teasers for sexist, degrading comments to be posted (which contributes to your popularity), you’re just as guilty as posting them yourself.

That doesn’t exactly excuse the fact that what’s being said is disgusting (and wrong), and it exists on your site.

Deadspin featured on the cover of Penthouse in February 2008

Oh, but it got you on the cover of the February issue of Penthouse, didn’t it? (picture left).

Leitch posted about it, saying,

“Finally, at last, our father has something about which to be proud of us.”

Deadspin prides itself on the large volume of commenting. It even features a Commentist Manifesto, which reads,

“We have never quite understood what we did to deserve them. But nevertheless, here they are, and we want to make sure that space below our panting inanities continues to be pretty much funnier than anything else we read every day.”

But is the talk about women really that funny?

No.

Because it’s disrespectful, degrading, and – not to mention – defamation.

But it doesn’t help that the networks are encouraging this behavior by hiring girls who may not know everything about the sport, the team and the game. This doesn’t happen at all networks and is certainly not the case for all female sportscasters, but it’s a trend that is beginning to become noticed.

The viscious comments on sites such as Deadspin sparked an HBO interview roundtable back in Aprl about sports bogs (see video at the bottom of this post).

Bob Costas, who led the roundtable discussion, calls the blogosphere the “Wild west” of the Internet, a saying it is,

“A virtual bulletin board where anyone can post anything. Opinions, photos, videos, all blurring the line between news and gossip, truth and rumor, commentary and insult.”

The roundable included Buzz Bissinger (Pulitzer prize-winning reporter), Will Leitch (Founder of Deadspin), and Braylon Edwards (wide reciever of Cleveland Browns).

As you can see in the video (below) Costas and Bissinger are highly critical of Leitch, and rightfully so.

It’s promising to me that “the greats” of sports journalism like Bissinger and Costas do support the quick, quality information that the blogs promote, but not support the type of disgusting commenting that goes up on sites like Deadspin.

Costas makes a great point when he says,

“There are great sports blogs out there that are well written, make good points, are insightful and are funny. But there’s a very large percentage where the quality is poor, and where the tone is abusive.”

Very, very true.

However, in this video, they center their discussion around the humiliation of male sports stars. They neglect to discuss how female sportscasters and female athletes are being objectified and humiliated through misogynistic innuendos which are permitted.

In the video, Leitch mentions that he posts things up there “to make them look human.”

I beg to ask the question, how does ranking and judging girls on their “hottness” make them look human? It doesn’t. It makes them look like a piece of meat.

Bissinger’s closing argument (directed at Leitch) was,

“I think you are perpetuating the future, and I think the future in the hands of guys like you is really, really going to dumb us down to a degree that I don’t know if we can recover from.”

It’s the sport that suffers when that happens, and guys, you’re only hurting yourselves. As for female sportscasters, if you keep up the portrayal, there will be weak questions, bad content, yet pretty girls, who will dress sexier and become a key focus of every game.

That doesn’t sound like a good future for the industry… or for the future of women who truly are cut out for the job.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfTKA5l6fi0

Layne Beachle, surfing and body image

Layne Beachley is regarded as the best female professional surfer in history.

I was sad to read on Sporty Sistas that Beachley has felt the unending pressures of body image that her career has placed upon her.

This is big news since this is someone whose ego should be boosted – she’s won the World Championship seven times in her career.

She became a professional surfer at the age of 16 and was ranked sixth in the world by the time she was 20.

But in the 1990′s, she suffered from two instances of “chronic fatigue,” which threatened to end her surfing career.

It turns out that the “chronic fatigue” story had a little more behind it.

According to Sporty Sistas, Beachle recently released Beneath the Waves – a chronicle of how she got liposuction on her tummy at the very young age of 24.

Here’s what Sporty Sistas had to say about this,

“It’s comforting to know she has body insecurities just like 99% of girls out there, but on the flip side Layne makes a really disturbing observation that a women’s sporting career can only truly flourish if they are beautiful.”

Personally, I don’t find that comforting at all. It’s so (incredibly) wrong when the best surfer in the world thinks she’s fat and she’s pressured to win AND look perfect.

I have no doubt that this is the result of the way women surfers are objectified in the media (much like many female athletes are).

Beachle was quoted in an article titled, Winners, if they only look good as well, where she said,

“If you don’t fit that image then you’re not worthy of support … It’s a really unreasonable ethic to have,” she says.

I totally agree with the Sporty Sistas when they say,

“admiration is not only about their sporting success, but also heavily due to their sex appeal.” and “sexiness is the defining attribute that determines how big these endorsement can get. And with endorsements comes the ability to drum up support, and thus promote a longer and more recognised career.”

They have valid point here, and they certainly drove it home.

Sexiness sells. That’s what the media is interested in. And anything (or anyone) that “sells” has a better chance of getting endorsed.

And sometimes, unfortunately for women, in order to be a successful, endorsed athlete, you need to be perfect on the field, in life, and in the mirror.

As a society, we have to ask ourselves – when it comes to the health of these athletes, where can we draw the line?