Sexism, stereotyping and missed opportunities in women's sport

https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/sexism-stereotyping-missed-opportunities-womens-sport/1405833

When the Chicago Tribune tweeted "Wife of a Bears’ lineman wins a bronze medal today in Rio Olympics", you might have assumed that media coverage of the Olympics had hit "peak sexism". Yet as the US women’s gymnastics team blew the competition away in their qualifying round, a commentator on NBC opined that the athletes looked like they "might as well be standing in front of the middle of a mall". The ensuing backlash across social media channels highlighted the growing disconnect between consumers’ view of female athletes and the perceived stereotyping by traditional media channels and brands. 

Lisa Parfitt, managing director of sports marketing agency Synergy, believes that mainstream media needs to catch up with consumers because the young generation coming to the fore simply will not accept behaviour that reinforces inequality or discrimination. "Women are athletes in their own right and the media would do well to think about tackling the conscious and unconscious bias that exists. But the debate in itself is progress; without increased profile and coverage, we wouldn’t be having this discussion," she explains.

However, the pace of progress – particularly in terms of the "investment gap" between men’s and women’s sport – is frustratingly slow for industry leaders. Women’s sport accounts for just 5.4% of the value of all sponsorship deals, and a movement towards equal pay and equal prize money remains far from complete. Nicola Miller, director of campaigns and engagement at charity Women in Sport, says there is a latent level of sexism in sport that hasn’t gone away yet. "The Olympics has put the issue under the microscope. From a public perspective, there is more interest in women’s sport but media coverage and sponsorship spend haven’t improved," she says.

According to Miller, while there was a great expectation that London 2012 would provide a tipping point – both in terms of the media coverage and sponsorship of women’s sport – the raised expectations haven’t yet translated into investment. "Consumer attitudes have shifted and brands are starting to catch up but, while the BBC and Sky Sports are making huge inroads into the coverage of women’s sport, we aren’t seeing that shift," she adds.

This year, an all-time high of 45% of Olympic athletes are women and, as the social media-driven #AskHerMore campaign to challenge sexism in the media continues to gain momentum, industry experts believe the expectation for progress will soon be matched by tangible increases in both marketing spend and media coverage. 

Sally Hancock, managing partner of sports sponsorship consultancy Y Sport, says that the industry has seen a greater recognition among media owners of the importance of women’s sport, driven by cash from brands including Newton Investment Management and SSE, which invested in the Women’s Boat Race and women’s football respectively. "The opportunity for brands to be a maverick and drive change is there, but rights holders need to stop looking at women’s sport as a poor relation," she explains.