Female Athletes in the "News" & Discourse Analysis

As I begin to teach a new course called Gender and Sport at the local state college, I'm trying to plan ahead.  I want the students in my course to be able to apply a series of protocols to different texts that we'll analyze together.  In this post, I’m going to introduce a protocol for analyzing sports print texts, such as from social media and traditional media.   

First, here's a template for the “discourse analysis” protocol.  

 Discourse Analysis Protocol

Find a language excerpt from the article that you find intriguing, unexpected, or curious. Write it on the template in the associated field in quotation marks.

Zoom in on one part of the excerpt due to its particular use of language.  Name the language device.

Interpret the implied, underlying meanings and messages within the language excerpt, also known as embedded assumptions.

Write a synthesis:  a statement that connects the language excerpt to the language device and the embedded assumption.

Language excerpt
Language device
Embedded assumptions
Synthesis:

Next, here are three texts I found this week on espnW, which self-describes as the "online destination for female sports fans and athletes."  What better place could my students and I journey together during our first week together of Gender and Sport--- right?

Well, here are sample discourse analyses I conducted.  You judge for yourself if espnW will be the best source for timely and culturally sensitive texts on Gender and Sport.

1) Kaillie Humphries Again Finds New Life on Bobsled Track"

Excerpt:  “Her parents flew to Italy to root for her. And then, four days before the race, her coach called her. Humphries would not be racing. There was no reason for her parents to have flown across the Atlantic. And perhaps Kaillie need not have done so, either.

"Right away, I just started crying and went to my room," Humphries recalled. "I thought, 'Do I stay here and gain experience from '06 or do I go home?' I decided to stay and support my team by cheering them on." 

Discourse device: Collation (many texts about female athletes incorporate references to crying as a pattern of reference)

Embedded assumptions:  Females who participate in the world of sport bring with them a genetic predisposition due to estrogen levels to be emotional rather than logical.  Expressing emotions in sport is a sign of weakness.

Synthesis:  Kaillie Humphies, who experienced disappointment, questions of self- and team-worth, and embarrassment, reacted by crying, which, as a weakness implied in this text, paralleled her own failure to make the Canadian Olympic bobsled team for the 2006 Torino Olympics.

"Danica Patrick Files for Divorce"

Language excerpt:  “The former IndyCar star consistently has avoided discussing her private life over the years. Media members were informed she would adhere to that policy during last week's Cup test at Daytona International Speedway.”

Discourse device:  private sphere; passive voice, promotional culture

Embedded assumptions:  According to the embedded assumptions within this text, Patrick has more that she could --- and should --- reveal about her private sphere identity to the media, which is only seeking to best serve its fans.  As a female athlete, Patrick has the responsibility to the fans who named her “the most popular driver in the Nationwide Series;” her role is different, with different obligations, than if she were a male athlete in the same sport.

Synthesis:  As a female athlete who has been allowed to participate in a male-dominated sport, Danica Patrick negated the implied responsibility she owes to her fans to reveal the private sphere details of her divorce due to the different expectations of female athletes.

"Shannon Miller Pregnant after Cancer"
Language excerpt: “Two years after discovering she had a rare form of ovarian cancer, Olympic champion gymnast Shannon Miller is expecting her second child.”

Discourse device: clauses (The sentence is divided into two clauses but three distinct parts:  1) discovery of cancer; 2) the accolade of Miller as Olympian; and, 3) her state of being pregnant.)

Embedded assumptions: Miller, as a female athlete, divides her life into mutually exclusive categories of femininity and athleticism.  The sentence, with its clauses weighted more heavily toward the feminine, demonstrates that female athletes necessarily must focus on their gender before their athleticism.

Synthesis: Miller’s life is a series of choices around her feminine and her athletic selves. Her femininity must take precedence over her athleticism.

Summary: 

Media sports text composers continue to apply evaluations of both athleticism and gender to athletes who are female, while male athletes--- and, of course, there are exceptions --- tend to be evaluated solely by their on the field/ court/ ice performance.  Gender binaries reproduce stereotypes about the diminished value of female athletes in comparison to their male counterparts.  Even when advertisers see real opportunities to produce revenue through promotion of female athletes, different standards apply to males than females.  

But "consumerism" is for week two of our course.... See you then.