It’s no secret to anyone that women don’t receive a lot of
sports coverage most of the year. With the focus firmly on football, men’s basketball,
and baseball there isn’t much room for female athletes in mainstream media
coverage. Every two years the Olympics provide a welcome respite from this, but
not without a cost. During the summer and winter Olympics our televisions are
filled with images of hundreds of athletes from all over the world battling it
out in a wide variety of sports and, for once, we get approximately equal
coverage of the ladies and the men. The difference in the coverage lies in the
types of sports covered, specifically those most covered in prime-time.
When I watch prime-time coverage of men’s sports during the
Olympics it varies between almost all sports represented, but when women are
allowed coverage it tends to be in sports that offer a much more sexualized
view of women’s bodies like gymnastic, figure skating, and beach volleyball.
Let me be clear: I love all three of those sports and athletes in all Olympic
sports are astoundingly talented, but the unbalanced coverage is hard to miss. In
addition to watching these sports where the phrase “the fewer the clothes, the
better” seems to hold true, I’d like to see a little bit more of women’s
biathlon or women’s archery during the 8 to 10 pm hours.
It’s simple really. All I want is equal representation in
Olympic prime-time coverage. I don’t think that that is so difficult and I
anticipate it will happen slowly over the next few decades whether we realize
it or not because that is the nature of the Olympics. We love to see our
athletes, all of them, compete and news outlets will get that message. You won’t
lose me, at least, if you show a little less beach volleyball and a little more
table tennis.
