Project Statement

When researching for my essay I came across a lot of sexist advertising targeted towards women who are physically active. I realised that a lot of this, in particularly the This Girl Can campaign, was celebrated and seen as a triumph. This campaign successfully managed to encourage over 1 million women to become more active despite the whole campaign subtly objectifying women and viewing them as sex objects. The campaign suggests that women must look attractive at all times, even enduring exercise. Quotes such as ‘sweating like a pig, feeling like a fox’ and ‘under these gloves is a beautiful manicure’ further emphasises this ‘desire’ women have to look glamorous for men. If this was a campaign targeting men there would be no such expectations, they would be allowed to be seen as sweaty and muddy. 

Despite the campaign’s target audience being women they chose to use provocative imagery to attract male attention. 

Following these findings I read a lot of articles about how sports women are portrayed and how they are taught that in order to be successful they must be sexy and appeal to men. This apparently helps them achieve a bigger fan base and more media coverage. 

My original question was ‘Does The Way Women Are Represented Through Sports Branding and The Media Influence Their Attitudes Towards Physical Activity?’. The answer to this question is yes it does. Women are lead to believe that they must look attractive whilst exercising which makes them less likely to take part as they are fearful of being judged for looking sweaty and not conforming to this sexist stereotype set by the media/ branding. 

My practical outcome targets this issue at the source and is aimed at branding agencies and charities that fund campaigns such as ‘This Girl Can’. The aim is to educate them about what their sexist campaigns and ads are doing to women in society and the shockingly low fitness levels of girls and women across the country. I chose to create a publication to send out to these companies as I thought it would be the most appropriate way to do it. The booklet is short and straight to the point so that it is more likely to be read as it won’t take long. I’ve used a lot of visuals throughout to break up the text as well as making my facts page interesting.

Overall I am pleased with how the project has turned out and think my outcome works well with my essay as it teaches people what I have learnt during my research process. On reflection I think there could’ve been some focus on a digital version of the publication, something straight to the point that would be used on social media. I think this would reach a larger audience as it could be shared online, however the booklet can still be passed on and shared.