Ronaldo?s wife in super feat, The star
Date: September 21, 2002
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Brazilian soccer player Milene Domingues?s record earns her a 3.3 million transfer deal to a Spanish club.
Brazilian soccer player Milene Domingues?s record earns her a 3.3 million transfer deal to a Spanish club.
This article may be used to:
- Provide an example of blatant gender stereotypes in the media.
- Show how language and packaging contributes to the stereotyping of women in the media.
Trainer’s notes
This story about a woman international soccer player is a good example of how gender biases and prejudices are conveyed in and through the media.
The headline starts by introducing the soccer player as ‘Ronaldo’s wife’, so immediately for the reader her identity is tied to her husband. In other words, her most prominent role is that of a wife to a famous male soccer star. This tagging of Milene, not as a soccer player and star in her own right, but as Ronaldo’s wife, continues right throughout the story and is the description of her used in the caption.
The Gender and Media Baseline Study for
Southern Africa, produced by Gender Links and MISA, showed that women are much more likely to be identified as a wife, daughter or mother than a man is likely to be identified as a husband or son. The regional average for women is 11 percent, compared to two percent for men.
Southern Africa, produced by Gender Links and MISA, showed that women are much more likely to be identified as a wife, daughter or mother than a man is likely to be identified as a husband or son. The regional average for women is 11 percent, compared to two percent for men.
Training tip: Ask the trainees to consider that the story is about Ronaldo. How would it have been written? You can ask them to write the headline and intro only. Would the fact that Ronaldo is married and has a son be mentioned?
Throughout the story Milene’s soccer skill is played down and the fact that she is Ronaldo’s wife and the mother of his child is the central focus on the story. Also her age is given in the story, but her husband’s is not. The media also often tags women by their age, physical characteristics which is not done with men.
The fact that she has been traded to a Spanish team for a sum which makes her the highest earning woman footballer outside of the US, which is the main news, has been buried at the end of the fifth paragraph in the story. She is not even introduced in the intro. The story backs into Milene, the news item, after introducing first her husband.
Throughout the story her achievement is compared or discussed in relation to that of her husband. For eg her salary is described as “small change to her husband – top scorer in this year’s World Cup – who earns that in 15 minutes.”
And when she is accessed, her voice reflects the wish for her husband to watch her debut. She and her husband speak in this story, and his voice is placed before her’s. She is portrayed as a passive participant in the story, and is ‘talked about’, rather than being portrayed as an active, accomplished footballer.
By promoting the traditional gender stereotype that a woman’s place is to be married and in the home as a mother, this story completely devalues Milene Domingues as an international skilled soccer player in her own right.
There are strong gender stereotyped messages in this story:
- A woman’s achievement is to be a wife and mother;
- A woman in the same field as her husband cannot be on the same level as her partner—in terms of skills, salary and visibility.
- A woman should not blow her own horn. Notice that Milene is written about and her voice is used only once in the story towards the end.
The total packaging of this story and the way it is written reinforce the stereotype of women should not be in sports. Milene’s role is to be a supportive wife to her famous husband. When women step out of the traditional gender roles, the media, through the use of language, keeps them in their place.
Training exercises
Exercise one: Read the case study and discuss the following:
- What is the most important fact about Milene Domingues that is learnt from this story?
- How is the soccer player portrayed?
- What is the central focus of the story?
- What is a better approach?
Exercise two: Using the case study, discuss the following:
- Go through the story, headline and caption, and identify the words and phrases that stereotype Milene in a traditional gender role.
- Does Milene have an identity in her own right? Why do you think her identity is not strong in the story? Explain answer.
- What does the image of Milene convey? Is the caption appropriate?
- Is the headline appropriate?
- How would you re-write the headline and the caption?
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