The media tends to portray women athletes in a way that make them appear sexualized. Various media across the globe use sexualization of female athletes as a way to differentiate between genders. Unlike the male counterpart, women are not shown by the media as performance athletes, but they are used for beauty as well as sex appeal. It is because a majority of advertisers find this action appropriate in attracting their audiences especially men who enjoy looking at women whose most of body parts have been exposed.
There is a huge difference between the way in which two genders are portrayed by the media. Although most men are sexy, it is quite rare to find them having their body exposed as those of women. The media show them with the right attire, and anyone can tell the type of game they play. However, at first sight of women athletes, one confuses them to beauty model based on how they have been portrayed. It is a habit that is prominent and familiar in the society today; advertisers display what they think the viewer want to see instead of what they want them to learn (Fink, 2015).
It is only a small percentage of female athletes who get salaries from their competence and skills in the sport. The rest of professional female athletes used advertisements opportunities to expose their body to media to get money. It has been noted that majority of female athletes get most of their money from advisement rather than sports. They make their name, which enables them to get money through endorsements and exposure in the media. The society is used to seeing images of female athletes in bikinis instead of images of women well addressed for sports activities. Other women accept to be portrayed by media this way so that they rise to fame and the world can learn about them.
Theories
According to Ambedkarism theory of social justice, justice has always enhanced an idea of equality, compensation, and proportion. Equity has to do with the fair application of rules and regulations. The concept of justice according to Ambedkar was quite liberal and is grounded in human values. Therefore, the act of women portrayal in the media is a way of seeking for equality with men. For far too long women have been neglected and discriminated against based on their gender. Men are held with high regard in the society at the expense of women. Based on Ambedkar social theory, equality depends on knowledge, and it provides effects to mutual obligation as well as an understanding of rights that enhances unity to the members of society. Hence, people are brought together by equality that provides an atmosphere where every individual can enjoy the value of equality and liberty.
According to this theory, the women portrayal in the media is meant to convince the society to accept them and accord them same place as their male counterpart. They want to prove to the world what they are capable of doing, they have talent and potential, yet the world has neglected. Besides, the male-dominated societies where most of them are brought up do not provide them with a conducive environment to exercise their potential. Their portrayal in media enabled them to get recognized, and now in the recent years, they are incorporated in different games. Therefore, Ambedkarism has played a crucial role in enhancing the place of women in the society.
According to existentialism social theory, the life of a man is a continuous struggle despite having the freedom of choice. He creates a particular social system in future through his ideals. Moreover, man has unlimited freedom which cannot be destroyed using law or moral rule; it also cannot be rooted out using force or a system of obligation. However, every freedom comes with responsibility. The right to exercise any freedom starts at a point where the right of another man starts. Therefore, any human being is responsible for the ideals which he chooses as a free being regardless of the fact that his ideals are related to morality, justice, economic welfare or democracy. In a nutshell, this theory states that any man is responsible both for himself and others. Through choices, he is constantly creating some images to the outside world which other interpret in different ways.
Therefore, women in athletes feel it is their right to present themselves as they wish in the media. We are in a free world where everyone is at liberty to behave as he wants so long as he does not interfere with the rights of others. Most athletics feels that they owe no one an explanation of their choice and they should not be stopped from presenting themselves to the media as they deem fit, it is their right to do so. However, there have been some complaints in some parts of the world where some individuals feel that it is not right for women in athletics as well as other sports to expose some parts of their body because they encouraged immoralities in the society. The women assert that they are not responsible for what other people think about them, they should train their mind to think and concentrate on another issue about their life.
Rawls’ theory of social justice has been advanced to explain some issue was happening in the society. According to this theory, it is crucial to have inequalities in proper allocation if the effect will benefit least members of the society who have no one to offer a helping hand to them. According to Rawls, every person ought to enjoy equal rights. There should not be any cases of discrimination based on gender, race, status, age, etc. but every human being should be accorded his or her rights effectively. Therefore, the female gender feels that it does not find anything wrong with media portraying them when their body part is exposed.
They appreciate it that way, and it helps them enhance their skills in the game as well as encourage other women and young girls to come up and join the world of sports. There are many girls with potential to participate in a game, but since they have no one to mentor them, they don’t get a favorable environment to exercise their talents. Therefore, it is quite imported to create a flat form that will encourage such girls to come and change their lives through sports. It is done through the manner in which women portray themselves in media. Many girls come to notice them and admire them. As a result, they start exercise as they emulate what they see in the media.
In this era, there is a problem in the manner women are portrayed in the media. Through the use of these theories, this problem needs to be looked keenly and come up with an effective resolution that will provide lasting solutions. Showing women with most of their body parts exposed encourage moral decadence in the society. The photos and graphics are too revealing; it is unfortunate that they are seen by everyone including young children who are below18 years of age. When such children view those photos, it collapses their mind which is quite an unfortunate situation.
There should be a law in place to regulate the rate at which those photos appear in the media. For instance, they should be aired late at night when most children are asleep, and parent is back home from a job such that they can control what the children see on TV. The government, as well as other relevant authorities, should be strict against any TV station showing revealing photos of athletic women or from any other sport at the wrong time not accepted by the law. For magazine and other written materials with such photos of women in athletic, they should not be sold to any individual who is below 18 years of age. The shops selling that material should demand to see the identity card of their customers to make sure there is no one below the required age is in possession of such materials. As much as women as right, children as right too and they need to be expected. It is not necessary to expose them to these things when they are still young (Watson, & Murnen, 2017).
Based on Rawl’s theory, the society should pursue the greatest good that favors the entire society. People should always fight for common good of majority in the society. There should be trusted leaders whose role is to find out whether what people accept as reasonable is favorable to many people in the society, if not, there is a need to for people to change their values and sacrifice so that they can accommodate others. Women in athletic may be having good intentions and mean well in the way they are portrayed by the media, but for the sake of the good of many people, they should revisit their decision.
The society is big than an individual, and it is quite unfair to have few individuals who want to collapse the whole society. People should think of their future and find out if the decisions they are making today will enable them to get the future they want. It is not logical for women in athletics and other sports to enjoy the media freedom while the mind of future generation is being corrupted. The society will have failed in her mandate prepare the future generation. Hence, it is quite apparent to have a change of doing things that will accommodate the welfare of the majority.
Discussion
According to Existentialism theory, every individual is solely responsible for giving meaning to life as well as living it authentically and sincerely. Therefore, the decision and choices which any individual forms should mean well for others. It is too selfish to take action that will benefit an individual but mean bad for others. The society should be full of people who are selfless and cannot do anything without thinking of the consequence it will have on others.
Societies are different; there are some of them which have no problem having women in athletic portrayed with their body part exposed. There are others where such actions have a bad taste in the society. Therefore, the women in sport who would wish to be used in media advertisement should move to the societies where such actions are accommodated. That way, they will have no problem with anyone. Otherwise, in the region where such display of women photo in media is not welcome, it is important to respect people view and how they want to spend their lives. Therefore, justice, fairness, and cooperation will prevail in the society (Ba, 2018).
It is apparent that the issue of athletic women portrayal in the media is has a mix reaction. Based on the theories analyzed in this study, there should be a mutual understanding based on the way it should be handled. It is not right to impose on people the things they do not want since it is not everyone appreciates the portrayal of women as it is done through the media, a better way should be coming up with an effective way to accommodate everyone. Otherwise, the way it is done today in the society, it excludes some people who feel that their right to the usage of media is abused. A just society is the one who appreciated every individual and put measures in place to ensure all people feel a sense of belonging. Therefore, athletic women portrayal in the media should happen as per the agreement laid down by the society, and anything beyond that is immoral.
References
Ba, S. (2018). The ‘New Paradigm'of the Sociology of Childhood: Reflections on Social Justice Through the Italian Alternative Pedagogies. In Global Ideologies Surrounding Children's Rights and Social Justice (pp. 224-238). IGI Global.
Fink, J. S. (2015). Female athletes, women's sport, and the sport media commercial complex: Have we really “come a long way, baby”?. Sport Management Review, 18(3), 331-342.
Watson, A. R., & Murnen, S. K. (2017). Men's and Women's Responses to Idealized Body Types.
