For this week's blog I chose to closely analyze the covers of Sports Illustrated magazine. I examined all of the SI covers from the year 2013.
How many of the SI covers of 2013 featured women?
The answer was a bit shocking knowing that both male and females participate in vast quantities of sports. Out of the 102 Sports Illustrated covers only 3 were female that's an estimate of 2 percent! Two of the SI covers featured model Kate Upton. She appeared on the SI swimsuit edition with nothing but a fur coat on. The other cover was with two Atlanta Braves baseball team members holding her on their shoulders. The Braves players and Kate all share the last name Upton. The last female on the SI cover was a Boston policewoman. The officer was featured along with two Boston policemen and Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz.
From the findings it is clear that gender inequality exists in sports media. No woman who is currently a professional/college/highschool athlete appeared on the covers of SI in 2013. Even when there was a woman on the cover it had to be accompanied by more men (aside from the swimsuit issue). The consequences for having this inequality in sports media correlates to the inequality of gender in actual sport. Popular magazines such as Sports Illustrated play an immense role in the general societies perception of sport. SI holds the power of being able to play a role in socially constructing how we view gender in sport.
References:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/magazine/photos/1305/si-covers-2013/16/
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