Game Face: Sports Reporters’ Use of Sexualized Language in Coverage of Women’s Professional Tennis

Over the last few decades, professional women tennis players have made great strides in breaking down the gender barrier on the court. Lycra and spandex have replaced long skirts, and female professional players now have been acknowledged for their strength and athleticism on the courts. Yet, despite changes on the court, the language used to describe women tennis players has not completely broken the gender gap: Sports writers still comment on the femininity, attire, and personal lives of female tennis players while remarking on male tennis players’ power, strength, and endurance on the court. This study used textual analysis to study media coverage of women tennis players over the last three decades, finding that sportswriters continue to use race and age as means of delegitimizing female players’ ability on the courts. Furthermore, several female players tended to be framed as failures on the court because of the missteps in their personal lives.

Publisher: Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, New Orleans Sheraton, New Orleans, LA, May 27, 2004
Year of Publication: 2004