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The article, The Effects Of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport is about the marketing and advertising of women within the sport of MMA and the UFC. Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche fought for the first ever female title in 2013. Following this fight Ronda Rousey went on to be very successful in her MMA career. Rousey had helped grow the UFC audience considerably. It was always said that sports like boxing, and MMA should be left to men who are supposed to be stronger and more violent then women. I totally oppose that stance and believe that women and men should have equal opportunity at whatever it may be. The article also looks at the advertising for such events between men and women. Studies have found that physical attraction plays a huge role in consumer participation. Women athletes popularity tends to be based more off of attraction then skill. Men are predominantly based on their talent. Many women athletes are none just as much for their looks as they are their performance. Endorsers began to catch onto this idea and hit the ground running. Endorsing companies would bring in beautiful women to endorse their products and they saw good results. This study also shows that female consumers would much rather see a female who is knowledgeable about their sport and craft rather the sexual advertisement.

This is a great article that really brings out the truth in our society. I have never taken this kind of thing into consideration before. Now that I have thought about it everyone consumer behaviors are different, we all like different things. Personally, I love the UFC whether it is women or men. I believe women deserve every chance that men get in all sports. Sexual advertising will continue to be the epicenter of sports advertising and will continue to create jobs and allow for more successful athletes down the road.
https://bblearn.astate.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-6639288-dt-content-rid-29071190_1/courses/63701.201860/Greenwell%20et%20al.%2C%202017_The%20effects%20of%20sexualized%20and%20violent%20presentation%20of%20women%20in%20combat%20sport.pdf

# data[].attributes.body
The article, The Effects Of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport is about the marketing and advertising of women within the sport of MMA and the UFC. Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche fought for the first ever female title in 2013. Following this fight Ronda Rousey went on to be very successful in her MMA career. Rousey had helped grow the UFC audience considerably. It was always said that sports like boxing, and MMA should be left to men who are supposed to be stronger and more violent then women. I totally oppose that stance and believe that women and men should have equal opportunity at whatever it may be. The article also looks at the advertising for such events between men and women. Studies have found that physical attraction plays a huge role in consumer participation. Women athletes popularity tends to be based more off of attraction then skill. Men are predominantly based on their talent. Many women athletes are none just as much for their looks as they are their performance. Endorsers began to catch onto this idea and hit the ground running. Endorsing companies would bring in beautiful women to endorse their products and they saw good results. This study also shows that female consumers would much rather see a female who is knowledgeable about their sport and craft rather the sexual advertisement.

This is a great article that really brings out the truth in our society. I have never taken this kind of thing into consideration before. Now that I have thought about it everyone consumer behaviors are different, we all like different things. Personally, I love the UFC whether it is women or men. I believe women deserve every chance that men get in all sports. Sexual advertising will continue to be the epicenter of sports advertising and will continue to create jobs and allow for more successful athletes down the road.

The article, The Effects Of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport is about the marketing and advertising of women within the sport of MMA and the UFC. Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche fought for the first ever female title in 2013. Following this fight Ronda Rousey went on to be very successful in her MMA career. Rousey had helped grow the UFC audience considerably. It was always said that sports like boxing, and MMA should be left to men who are supposed to be stronger and more violent then women. I totally oppose that stance and believe that women and men should have equal opportunity at whatever it may be. The article also looks at the advertising for such events between men and women. Studies have found that physical attraction plays a huge role in consumer participation. Women athletes popularity tends to be based more off of attraction then skill. Men are predominantly based on their talent. Many women athletes are none just as much for their looks as they are their performance. Endorsers began to catch onto this idea and hit the ground running. Endorsing companies would bring in beautiful women to endorse their products and they saw good results. This study also shows that female consumers would much rather see a female who is knowledgeable about their sport and craft rather the sexual advertisement.

This is a great article that really brings out the truth in our society. I have never taken this kind of thing into consideration before. Now that I have thought about it everyone consumer behaviors are different, we all like different things. Personally, I love the UFC whether it is women or men. I believe women deserve every chance that men get in all sports. Sexual advertising will continue to be the epicenter of sports advertising and will continue to create jobs and allow for more successful athletes down the road.

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This week shows the gap in values based on social constructs of gender norms.

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I thought that this week.s article was a very interesting read. I was not surprised that the female participants did not have positive views of the sex appeal advertisement. I think women and female athletes have worked hard for society to take them seriously. Sex appeal advertisement works against that progress. Female athletes should be given the same courtesy for their talents as their male counterparts without having to objectify themselves. I agree with the authors that perhaps it is best to steer clear of this form of advertisement in sport. Especially, if we want to change the cultural views surrounding female athletes.

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Women in sports have not always been something that is accepted. The article this week talked about how in 2013 women took a big leap into the sports realm with two women fighting in the UFC championship for the first time. This opened up women to fighting in a lot of organizations. One problem with women in sports is the way we are portrayed. Women are seen as sexual objects and so when they are advertised they are perceived in a sexy way. We are made eye candy and this makes us look not as tough or really even portrays the sport being played. When we are portrayed in a way as the article called “combat” the female is seen as strong, tough, and smart. Women struggle being taken seriously in the sports world on a daily basis that needs to be fixed. They need to be seen more equal and treated like males do. Since the UFC fight you do see more female sports being broadcasted on TV. We are slowly making our way into the sports spotlight, but the way we get portrayed needs to be fixed and more appropriate.

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I am definitely not shocked that women have to use their physical attraction to get more attention or to shine the light on their sport.  There has never been a fair line when it comes to males and females playing the same sport.  These customs started way before we were thought of, and even though these customs are being defied daily, I am a firm believer that they will stick.  Men will also expect women to show skin for attention, and they will always think they are more aggressive and can always do more or better than women.  The sexual adversity that goes on in MMA boxing is definitely not acceptable, but it won’t change. Mike Brown is a great example of the mindset men actually have when they think of women fighting professionally, and quite frankly, it’s sad. Gender roles have been in place for years, and they have changed over the century, and they are still evolving.  I was a basketball player, and I will always believe that I was just as tough, if not tougher than any male playing.  Competition and aggression are two characteristics the article states are masculine qualities, BUT I have a team of 15 girls who LOVE to compete and are very aggressive. The WNBA is a great example for the topic this week.  They aren’t really popular because they don’t show that sexual side that men want to see. It is full of aggression that the NBA shows, but it is more favored with them because they are males.  This article was a great read, but the results show how some men have ZERO morals and only see women as sexual beings. Women competing in combat sports is now a social norm, and while physical attractiveness is attached to talent, it definitely shouldn’t be.

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Over the past 10 years the participation of women in sports generally dominated by male athletes has grown exponentially. As this has grown, so has the use of female athletes in advertising. While the number of advertisements has grown, the focus and type of these advertisements have not. Due to it majority male audience, combat sports leagues and advertisers have generally shown their female athlete representatives in a sexualized nature to appeal to their male viewers. This study looked at these sexualized ads and gauged both male and female respondent’s perceptions of the advertisement’s effectiveness on both the sport, product advertised, and athlete depicted. This study showed that these sexualized ads had a positive effect on the perceptions of their male consumers than it did their females, as expected.

The main problem with these sexualized ads, and their success at receiving positive reception from male consumers, is that it not only does not accurately depict the product being advertised, but also diminishes the skill and expertise of the athlete being depicted. In the case of Ronda Rousey or Gina Carano, their skill as athletes in combat sports were overlooked as their commercial appeal was based on their physical attractiveness. By comparison popular male athletes, who have some of the same accolades and skill are judged on their results and that is what they are advertised as.

In summation I feel that gender equality in sports will never be equal until we, as sport consumers, can view female athletes and their brands in the same light that we view male athletes.

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All female athletes are faced with sexualized representation in advertisements. The authors demonstrated this struggle that pertains to one specific type of female athlete who competes in combat sport. Because combat sport is already masculine in nature, female athletes in this sport have to deal with the perception of being seen as masculine. Female sports that align with stereotypical gender norms are viewed as nonaggressive and graceful. Thus, combat sports are not feminine at all. For a female who wishes to still portray some feminine characteristics, it can be difficult for her to manage the impressions of others who see her as masculine just because of her profession. That is why it can be tempting as a female athlete, especially one in combat sport to allow herself to be sexualized in ads in order to help control other’s perceptions. If advertising and other media outlets would work to improve the representation of all female athletes, complimenting them for their talents without making them appear to be overly masculine, then the athletes would not feel compelled to allow sexualization in representation which they do not truly want.

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The effects of serialized and violent presentations of women in combat sports addresses many important issues that are important in today's society. People have a prescription of women when participating in sports. Most people think of women and think about a very attractive athlete. women in combat sports are some of the most important women in sports in my opinion.while all other women athletes are important, women in combat sports are forming a new mold for all women. while some of these women are attractive they are competing in a sport that is generally thought of as a mans sport. a fighting sport is not generally thought to have women involved. this is why i believe that women competing in combat sports are doing the most for the gender roll stereotypes.

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Women’s sports are always such an interesting, yet sensitive topic for myself. Maybe I should say passionate, instead of sensitive. It disgusts me that women’s sports have to be sexually advertised for men to have any interest in it. However, I understand not all men feel this way, but unfortunately this is the reality that we live in. Women have fought long and hard for all of their rights and equality, and this article shows that we are still on an uphill battle. It is unfair that consumers’ and promoters’ sole focus are a woman’s physical appearance and attractiveness, and not her athleticism. Just internalize what the former UFC fighter Mark Bocek, stated: “It’s difficult for an obese women’s MMA fighter to get in, but if she has different skills and has cool bikini shots, she can get in”. That statement sparked something inside of me.  Not only are women body shamed, but women athletes also get paid poorly. When will it stop? When will women in athletics get the respect and wage that they deserve? I understand that women’s sports have come a long way, but we have a long way to go. As a whole, women should support women’s sports more.

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The authors of “The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport” addressed an important concept in sport today. Are women treated equally in the sport world today? The answer to that question is very far from what it should be. Female sports do not get as much attention as male sports do. The sad part is, women sports get more attention if they have a “sexual” sense to them. For instance, beach volleyball players tend to wear less clothing, but they have a good turnout to their events.  This article shared another great example with female fighters. Men were more interested in the event if they saw a sexual ad. This is not fair to females because they have the ability and skills to be out their competing, but because it is not a “feminine” sport they need to find a way to bring more consumers. Female athletes are talented, and they deserve to be treated that way. I would agree that women are much more inclined to have a positive opinion on the combat ad over the sexual ad. Women sports have come a long way, but finding the right way to market them has a lot of room for growth. 

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The authors of “The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport” addressed an important concept in sport today. Are women treated equally in the sport world today? The answer to that question is very far from what it should be. Female sports do not get as much attention as male sports do. The sad part is, women sports get more attention if they have a “sexual” sense to them. For instance, beach volleyball players tend to wear less clothing, but they have a good turnout to their events.  This article shared another great example with female fighters. Men were more interested in the event if they saw a sexual ad. This is not fair to females because they have the ability and skills to be out their competing, but because it is not a “feminine” sport they need to find a way to bring more consumers. Female athletes are talented, and they deserve to be treated that way. I would agree that women are much more inclined to have a positive opinion on the combat ad over the sexual ad. Women sports have come a long way, but finding the right way to market them has a lot of room for growth. 

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The article The Effects of Sexualized and violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sports makes some unique points in gender roles in sports. With combat sports like UFC fighting, physical attractiveness has little to no effect on the popularity of any male fighter or event. It is in most cases based on the fighters’ past performances  and dominance. Women in this realm of sport are judged and showcased based on their physical attribute only because of the overall view on women participating in this type of sport has yet to be fully accepted. Although it seems as if gender roles in sports is an issue that won’t go away, I feel like sports analyst and sport managers should broadcast the gains women have made in sport rather than the ongoing issues. At the end of the day, women have made tremendous strides in sport of any kind and are continuing to break barriers day by day. Ronda Rousey and the other women UFC fighters are paving the way for future women UFC fighters to gain equal respect and treatment from society.

# data[].attributes.subject
The article The Effects of Sexualized and violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sports makes some unique points in gender roles in sports. With combat sports like UFC fighting, physical attractiveness has little to no effect on the popularity of any male fighter or event. It is in most cases based on the fighters’ past performances  and dominance. Women in this realm of sport are judged and showcased based on their physical attribute only because of the overall view on women participating in this type of sport has yet to be fully accepted. Although it seems as if gender roles in sports is an issue that won’t go away, I feel like sports analyst and sport managers should broadcast the gains women have made in sport rather than the ongoing issues. At the end of the day, women have made tremendous strides in sport of any kind and are continuing to break barriers day by day. Ronda Rousey and the other women UFC fighters are paving the way for future women UFC fighters to gain equal respect and treatment from society.

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The article, The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sports, is incredibly timely as our society is grappling with the perceptions of women. Having followed mixed martial arts (MMA) and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) from a distance over the years, I really found the premise for the study to be compelling. One athlete in particular that I have followed over the years is Paige VanZant. This is mostly due to the fact that she competed in Season 22 of Dancing with the Stars and started modifying her image to be less combative and more sexual in nature. Paige serves as a really good representation for the concepts broached in this study as she had been an incredibly respected and feared MMA competitor due to her success in the octagon. Since changing her image to be more feminine, the perceptions of her skill as a fighter have been more critical. In terms of brand management, both the UFC and Paige have really leaned on her image to further their brands. The UFC has routinely shown the juxtaposition of beautiful women in a sexualized image and then one second later an image of a bloodied and bruised female athlete. Even on social media, Paige finds a similar balance by posting pictures and stories about her training in addition to sexualized photos. I can’t say that the findings from this study revealed anything new, but this study does give some additional evidence to support notions that we generally know already. Based on the commentary regarding future research opportunities, I would be interested to see the findings of a comparable study centered on male athletes.

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The article The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sports discusses a topic that I believe is importation in our society today. In the article, the authors discuss the sexualization and violent presentation of females in combat sports, specifically MMA. Marketing and advertisement is such a major key when it comes to MMA fights. Fights are advertised and promoted long before they are scheduled to happen. The participants are put on display for the world, the way that the organization choses to market them is important. It came as no surprise to me that men and women had different views on the presentation of these female athletes. Men were more excited about the event when the female athletes were sexualized and women preferred when the advertisement was neutral. When it comes to MMA the audience is mainly men and marketing has appealed to this. The female UFC fighters have typically been sexualized for marketing and advertisement. In my opinion this completely takes the attention away from their athleticism and capabilities. If we are advertising them in such a sexual way then how can their athletic abilities ever be the main focus? I strongly agree with the authors when they end the article with the statement that it would be better if sexualized imagery was avoided in these advertisements.

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How far have women's sports come in today's society? More specifically, has our perception of female athletes advanced in recent years? These are questions that I had as I read  T. Christopher Greenwell, Jason M. Simmons, Meg Hancock, Megan Shreffler, and Dustin Thorn's article "The Effects of Sexualized and Violent
Presentations
of Women in Combat Sport". The article takes a look at the marketing methods for the promotion of female athletes and the different perceptions consumers have based on how those athletes are presented. The  contrasting methods studied were sexual advertisements and ones that emphasized their skill or violent ability. While women put more stock in the female athletes perceived skill, male consumers on average had better responses to promotions that emphasized a female's sexual attractiveness. Sadly, I'm not surprised by this and it leads me to believe that we still have a long way to go in giving female athletes the respect they deserve or have earned through their improved skills and athletic abilities.

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The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sports made plenty of good points regarding the double standard between men’s and women’s sports marketing, perception and presentation. The paragraph that struck me the most was the number of supporting examples the author cited when discussing physical attractiveness and how that plays a major role in the marketing of women’s sports. The piece I found most interesting was that a study conducted via twitter conversations found that the majority of male UFC fights were registering conversations about the athlete’s athleticism, fighting style, etc. However, when the Female fights were studied, the majority of the conversation was dominated by people talking about the physical appearance and attractiveness, and not their physical capabilities or athleticism. Furthermore, the research showed that the marketing for female athletes, tends to be more sexually suggestive in nature. For example, Lexi Thompson, an LPGA professional golfer posed topless with just a golf towel for the cover of golf magazine. This narrative takes away from the true talents that these unbelievable athletes have and puts the focus on their physical appearance instead. The first step in gaining equality in Women’s combat sports, is to change this process and get the attention focused on athletics, nothing else.

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Week 2 Discussion

Roosevelt Gipson
1m
Week 2 Discussion
The perception of women in sports is always an interesting topic. As far as combat the perception of what it should look like is in the eye of be holder. Many people mostly males want to see women in sports bras and panties fighting. As the article says the people who come with those types of uniforms in mind have a different motive for what they want to see. As a whole both males and females are wearing uniforms to portray their body figures as sex symbols. The theory of sex sales is very true. People will spend money to come and get entertained.
Women are objectified in sports all over world. TV producers believe the only way to make women athletics interesting is by shortening their skirts and showing cleavage. Women can be just as great in athletics as men. Until women stop allowing this to happen it will continue.
Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Schreffer, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The effects of sexualized and violent presentations of women in combat sport. Journal
of Sport Management, 10, 533-545.

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Ashley Lomonaco
1m
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Edwin Ortiz
4m
Week 2 Discussion
After reading the article and seeing how female combat athletes were being advertised and promoted it was no surprise to see this.  These women sports that are considered more masculine tend to have people who market the women in a way to make them seem more feminine.  Nicknames given to female athletes and the amount of times that a women is described by her physical attractiveness as well as her talent rather than just her talent is quite obvious to how the women in combat sports are marketed to the audience.  The issue with this is the largest part of the consumer base for these types of sports are male.  Males typically like for women to stick to traditional feminine gender roles.  When there are women competing in sport which is considered masculine and not conforming to these traditional roles it seems to “turn off” many of these men from that particular athlete or event.  So the research stated what most people probably already knew.  That advertisements that are more sexual in nature tend to be received more positively by men than by women.  Overall I thought the study confirmed what many had thought already about the way the female athletes are viewed and how physical attractiveness plays a role in their commercial success even though it has not effect on their success as an athlete.

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management,31(6), 533-545. doi:10.1123/jsm.2016-0333

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Week 2 Discussion

taylorstupka
7m
Week 2 Discussion
This particular article discusses how consumers respond to media involving female athletes in combat sports, focusing specifically on mixed martial arts (MMA). Consumers participating in the study were exposed to several types of advertisements including a sexualized version, neutral version, and combat version. Each advertisement featured the same female fighter. As the researchers hypothesized, male participants reported a more positive attitude to the sexualized ad and combat ad than the neutral ad while women reported a more positive attitude to the neutral ad and combat ad than the sexualized ad. Men’s perceptions of female athletes, particularly female fighters, are likely to chance once the men have seen them participate in their respective sport.
It seems that so few media outlets celebrate the talent, work ethic, or accomplishments of female athletes. However, the blame does not fall solely on the media. We still see so many popular female athletes who feed into the objectification of women by posing topless for a magazine, shooting a sexually charged commercial, or taking part in one of the countless methods in which the media sexualizes women. As long as there are female athletes who continue to partake in these “sex sells” types of marketing campaigns, there won’t be any progress toward eliminating this issue.

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management,31(6), 533-545. doi:10.1123/jsm.2016-0333
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Discussion Week 2

Lamario Richards
34m
Discussion Week 2
Female athletes have had to play in much poor facilities and under more stringent dress codes than their male athlete counterparts. The public has overlooked the discriminated against female athletes in how they are portrayed in media. Most female athletes combat the masculine and homosexual and stigmas that come from participating in sports. These unfair slopes required the writing of Title IX of the Education Amendments as it is the law that has most impacted women’s sports. U.S. Representative Patsy Mink pinned and subsequently got the amendment passed by Congress in 1972. So it is of no shock that women athletes are portrayed differently in media and over sexualized. The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport covered so many aspects of how and why this exploitative practice happens. Contrasting to male athletes, female athletes do not have the privilege of being depicted as performance athletes, as coverage of their beauty dominates their on-field accomplishments. Most important to me was the connection of attractiveness and the perceived gender association of a particular sport. “Interestingly, Postow (1980) determined masculine sports reinforce male identity and serve to maintain men as separate from women. Sports such as baseball, boxing, combat sports, football, rugby, soccer, ice hockey, and wrestling have been identified as masculine sports (Koivula, 2001)” (Greenwell 2017) When I continued to read along I stumbled upon the comments about brad awareness and loyalty. The major brands are auctioning off the sexuality of female athletes to use the age old adage that sex sales. “Athletes can be considered brands as they have a name, distinctive appearance, and personality (Carlson & Donavan, 2013; Thomson, 2006). Just as nonhuman brands are comprised of associations consumers make with a product (Keller, 2008), athlete brands are the associations consumers make with an athlete (Parmentier & Fischer, 2012). Athlete brands are important as they contribute to important consumer behaviors. An athlete’s brand image predicts psychological commitment to an athlete’s brand (Arai, Ko, & Kaplanidou, 2013; Arai, Ko, & Ross, 2014).” (Greenwell 2017) The power for change is in the economic power of women and their ability to unplug from brands that practice this type of marketing.
References
Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31(6), 533-545. doi:10.1123/jsm.2016-0333
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Discussion Week 2

Robert Howell
1h
Discussion Week 2

I wasn’t surprised when I found out that women in sports were advertised in sa exual manner more than men. I think that MMA has been amplified by talented women fighters like Ronda Rousey and many others. It’s a shame that women have to be portrayed in a sexualized manner to gain recognition. Women are just as talented as their male counterparts because they train together. I think this is because women are n’t perceiveda to be athletic or strong. For example, the WNBA doesn't gain much attention because people view it as boring. Some even say the WNBA games are too fundamental. That is weird NBA players are critiqued for having the lack of fundamentals. This has a lot to do with bias and lack of respect for the female athlete. I’m sure this could change if we change the narrative. We should support women's sports like we do male-dominated sports. We have to start getting young girls signed up for sports and support them the entire way. We should also make programs to introduce them to other aspects of the sports industries. I believe this would shine a brighter light on women dominated sports and inspire young girls to follow in their footsteps.

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Week 2 Discussion

Reed Willis
1h
Week 2 Discussion
The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport discusses research related to how different depictions of women fighters affects consumers perceptions. In sport, sports that are more physical have typically been labeled as masculine and sports that emphasize grace and beauty have been labeled as feminine. Combat sports have been labeled as masculine and women fighters have at times been dismissed as less skilled. The authors of this article examined how male and female consumers react to sexualized, combative and neutral advertisements. Men were found to react more positively to sexualized and combative images, although the sexualized image caused men to view the fighter as having less skill. Women responded more positively to the neutral image. This creates a dilemma for advertisers of combat sport. In order to attract a male audience sexualized or combative images should be used, but to attract more females to viewing the sport, neutral images should be used. For long term success, it seems that showing the female athletes as competitors in their sport would create the biggest draw and grow the perception of women fighters as highly skilled athletes.

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management,31(6), 533-545. doi:10.1123/jsm.2016-0333

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Anonymous 19m
This is Patrick Yarberry: I agree, I believe the best way to secure the majority of an audience is to focus on the skill of the competitors and to help display the fact that what the athletes are doing is elite. I think it also comes down to a matter of respect from the organizations to not take advantage of trying to "sexualize" their sport. Women who are competing are not competing to be physically attractive, they are competing and training to be the best at their craft, and out of respect of that, I think it is important to display their skill via advertisements.
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patrick_yarberry
1h
Week 2 Discussion
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Anonymous 40m
(The software will not allow me to edit my post so I will post my discussion in this comment.) After reading this article, it is apparent that sex plays an extremely important role in marketing, promoting, and building excitement around an event, especially combat sports. Interestingly enough, the style of the advertisements in relation to the event has a different impact on men and women. Whether the promotional material depicts the combatants in a neutral concept, combative concept, or sexual concept, depends on the success of the outcome of the advertisement for the desired audience. Personally, I would like to see all the materials for each female combat sport be centered in a neutral tone, maybe even slightly leaning toward combative, as this is the nature of the sport. My hope is that one day female competitors can compete on a playing field that is focused on their skills, rather than their sex appeal.

Anonymous 23m
This is Patrick Yarberry. Reference: Greenwell, T.C. Simmons, J.M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31 (6), 533-545.
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Discussion Week 2

Jeffery Brewington
1h
Discussion Week 2

Jeffery W. Brewington

Discussion Week 2

After reading this article on The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Which discuss the different ways women are advertise in sports and how they are looked upon. We as men in society look at women as sexual humans and they must be feminine. But as we have come to learn that women want to be seen equal and be able to participate in the same sports as men. For example, MMA and UFC was a masculine sport until women broke into the sport. But, they were not look at as sexual they were considered masculine so to help with this opinionated judgement. To be total honest with it was a shocker for me to see to beautiful females beat the 🤬 out of each other women are not fighters. They are supposed to be soft but, it has changed as time goes on. They started advertising women that were involved in the sport in a sexual way shooting photos with partial nudity. In which I feel help bring in more money for not only the women but, for the sport itself. The ways of research were three forms of advertisement with photos one was neutral the second was sexual, and the final one was combative promoting violence. As a result, the men look at the sexual, combative photos on higher level than others. My opinion is that most men who watch a women sport is not just for the sport itself but, they look at it in a sexual way man are attracted to women. As it has always been and will always be sex sells no matter what sport or business. Overall the article was a great way of letting us she how we all react to certain visual aspect of women in sports.

Reference

Greenwell, T., Simmons, J., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M. & Thorn, D.  (2017) The effects of sexualized and violent presentations of women in combat sport.   Journal of Sport Management.  31, 533-545.

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Week 2 Discussion Board Post

Ryan Howard
1h
Week 2 Discussion Board Post
In this week’s article, The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport, the authors look at the way that men and women respond to the methods of advertising used when promoting women in sports. Specifically, the article keys in on how men and women react differently to the various ways that women are portrayed in advertising campaigns. The study chose to use an experimental design in which data was gathered using Amazon Mechanical Turk in order to compile a large sample size of participants for the study. In order to be considered, the participants had to self-identify as sports fans, be a resident of the United States, and have a favorable rating as an online respondent. These respondents were then exposed to six advertisements with varying representations of female MMA athletes. For the visual ads, one represented the female athlete in a sexualized manner, another showed the female athlete in a neutral photo, and the final showed the same female athlete in an action photo in which she was fighting another female athlete. The purpose of the study was to see if men and women might react differently to each ad. As many would expect, there was indeed a difference in perception of female athletes’ ability based on the way they were represented by both men and women. As expected, the photos in which the female athletes were sexualized were more appealing to men but made men feel as though the women were not highly skilled. Women also did not favor the ads where the women were sexualized, rather they were partial to the neutral photos even more so than the men did. Overall, I believe this study was a very interesting one and provides great insight to our society’s perception of gender roles and how both sexes react to women participating in sports that go against society’s beliefs about what the norms are for each gender.

References
Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31(6), 533–545. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.library.astate.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspxdirect=true&db=s3h&AN=125676286&site=eds-live&scope=site

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Week 2 Discussion

Kylie Huck
2h
Week 2 Discussion
This week’s article focuses on research done on how women are portrayed in combat sports and how it is then advertised. From years past women have been objectified and sexualized to draw attention to their event or when they will be fighting. Also if men see a women in a combat sport they may see them as more masculine and less feminine, especially in a combat sport. They basically did 3 different studies; one is where the athlete is sexualized the next is more focused on their talent and 3rd was a mash up of both to see which would gain more attention. This article does not surprise me at all. It is upsetting to know that women that are extremely talented in their sport have to do this to gain a larger view audience by the time of their event. Even if their audience is large are people more focused on the ad they put up or their actual talent?   From the way I see it men can be “turned off” by a women being more athletic to them. I think they see it as a threat. So when female fighters do advertisements that objectifies themselves it puts it more back to the gender rolls and males then see them as being less of a threat.

Reference
Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management,31(6), 533-545. doi:10.1123/jsm.2016-0333

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Ryan Howard 1h
Hi Kylie,

Ryan Howard 1h
I think this is a great response to the article and I agree with you. I am the first to admit that before I had daughters I was not cognizant of the way that women were sexualized in sports. The fact that so many world class female athletes are only as popular as their looks will take them is not fair at all. While I will say that attractiveness is important for both gender when it comes to endorsements, a male that is not attractive is much more likely to still be praised for his play than a woman that lacks traits that the general public might consider attractive. This experiment's results weren't surprising to me either. I just hope that we can make strides as a society so that if my daughters who are currently 7 and 4 can be respected for their abilities, not just their attractiveness.
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Week 2 Discussion

richard_ritz
2h
Week 2 Discussion
This article highlights how the sexual expression of female athletes may make them more appealing to male viewers. It has been concluded that female athletes who are not presented in a sexual way, have been found to be perceived as less attractive, more effective or talented athletically and less successful. However, the influx of athletes such as Rhonda Rousey into other mainstream media, this could be an issue of the past. One of the biggest examples of the time being different and changing is the WWE. In the 1990’s, World Wrestling Entertainment’s women’s division was more about how much skin they could show and how sexual the female athletes could be while minimizing their athletic opportunities. Very few had the opportunities to show how athletically talented they were. However, the new generation of female superstars are given more opportunities. They have been given premium time slots on the shows, better scripting, less sexual character-based stories and are premiering the very first all women Pay-Per-View. While sex still sells in the grand scheme of sports, it has slowly progressed from the more male chauvinistic times. As a dad with a daughter, I am so glad to see us progressing, but hope we can progress more for her and all of the future women in the world.

Greenwell, T., Simmons, J., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M. & Thorn, D.  (2017)  The effects of sexualized and violent presentations of women in combat sport.   Journal of Sport Management.  31, 533-545.
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Jeffery Brewington 1h
Mr.Ritz, I have to say that you did a very good job on expressing the information from this article.And i must say that i agree with you on how we as men look at women in sports.Most of us watch it just to she the beautiful women and the skin that they show at these events.You also gave a great example WWE with all the beautiful women in their outfits. But, women really are started to emerge into the spotlight of men's sports.I mean lets think about how many times have you been watch a women sporting event and heard another male say man look at her man she is fine LOL.
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Discussion #2 Women in Combat Sports

Eugene WimbyIII
2h
Discussion #2 Women in Combat Sports
Week two’s article dives into the subject of women in combat sports. Only in recent years have women been able to participate in the top mixed martial arts organization in the Ultimate Fighters Championship. On February 23, 2013, two women impacted the UFC incredibly in becoming the first female bout headline in the organization history. With this accomplishment, researchers began to analyze the impact of women in combat sports and how influential the marketing portrayals are in attracting consumers. In the article, the study focused on the effect of the promotions, be it sexualized and/or violent, had on the different consumers at home. The article states gender stereotypes and views has an impact on male and female consumers with “Women’s participation in combat sport, such as MMA, is contrary to traditional gender norms” (Greenwell et. al 2017). Because of this, the promoters would try to appeal to the fan base by putting out sexualized and violent advertisements to attract more attention. The studies showed the some of these tactics were successful and others not depending on the gender of the consumer. Women did not feel the need to have many sexual or violent promotions compared to neutral ones and men felt that neutral promotions would have been enough but seemed even more interested with some violent and sexualized promotions.

To me the article shows the evolvement of women in professional sports and even more so combat sports. I believe women should be viewed as the skilled, hard working, trained professional athletes just like men are and not subjected to using certain stereotypical ways to promote their brand and sport. It should be understood they could use any promotion but not feel obligated into doing certain marketing schemes in order to further the growth and notoriety of women in combat sports or any other sport.

Greenwell, T. Christopher, et al. “The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport.” Journal of Sport Management, vol. 31, no. 6, 2017, pp. 533–545.
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Week 2 Discussion

Kylie Long
2h
Week 2 Discussion
The article this week presented a dilemma that we face as a society and as future marketers of women in sports. I was not surprised by the findings of this study. Sexualized images of women are on display in all aspects of society, so it only makes sense that they have made their way into the sports world as well. We do not see hypersexualized images of male athletes. The main reason we see sexualized images of women is because that is what the men want to see. Advertisements are targeted toward the most profitable consumer sport which in the case of combative sports is unfortunately not women. As advertising techniques evolve and develop, we need to find a way to represent these strong and powerful women as more than just nice bodies on a TV screen. They are so much more than that. Their bodies provide them with super human abilities and talents that deserve to be recognized just like their male counterparts.

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WEEK 2 DISCUSSION

Richard Griffith
2h
WEEK 2 DISCUSSION
I think MMA has an overwhelmingly male following. It is because of this predominately male following, marketing for these events is geared towards attracting the attention of the male population. No one forces these women to fight, in the UFC or at all, and no one is forcing them to do anything that causes them to feel uncomfortable by being sexualized. No one forces women to sign the contracts that they sign. I think if you are uncomfortable with something, it's pretty simple, don't do it. Women are extremely aware of what they are doing and its perception and effect on people, especially men, and to cast off all responsibility for their actions and choices is irresponsible to say the least. I think that if women put a better product in the ring, they would be better compensated for what they do. They typically do not draw as much revenue in for the corporation, so it doesn't make sense to pay them like they do strictly from a business perspective. When they do perform at a high level, it is proven that they are better compensated, just like in Rhonda Rousey's case. I think the constant finger pointing at men for the "struggles" that women in sports go through is wrong and that if women want change, then they should be proactive and have higher standards for themselves and stop playing victim and blaming others for the circumstances that they have willingly put themselves into.
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Kylie Long 2h
Richard, no one is saying these women were "forced" to do anything. The hypersexualization of the female body is an issue that transcends the sports realm. Just because it has been about attracting the attention of men doesn't ,mean it must continue to be. The purpose of this article was to learn how to better serve and represent sportswomen in combative sports. The study did find that men prefer these sexualized images while women do not. The activities, hobbies and sport of women are not produced for the male gaze. Women are strong, powerful and capable and it is about time they are consistently represented as such.

Ryan Howard 1h
I agree with you completely Kylie! I think that the opinion that women are to blamed because of the way that they are portrayed is ridiculous. It is very apparent that we live in a world that is dominated by the male perspective. To say that if women don't like it, they don't have to fight is a statement that I have a problem with. People said the same thing to women that didn't like having their bottoms pinched in the workplace. Thankfully, we now have something called Sexual Harassment. That is change that came about by women AND men being brave enough to see that the "old way" of treating women like objects is wrong so policies were implemented. Hopefully, we can get to a point where women are treated equally in sports. Unfortunately, I think we are a long way from getting there in sports when equal pay for equal work still creates controversy in industries that aren't sports related.
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Week 2 Discussion

Tullis Beasley
2h
Week 2 Discussion

Unfortunately, I find myself to be unsurprised by the information that the article presented. The fact that men have a higher or increased responsiveness to sexualized marketing of female athletes in combat sports like mixed martial arts is not surprising to me. The current objectifying of women that is accepted in our society breed this type of mentality and the fact that it is acceptable speaks to the nature of the marketers and their push for increased consumer response. The marketers are going to cater to what sells and puts more money in their pockets, and currently that is sex, the sport itself does not sell enough, now they focus on the sport through the perception of sex. It is surprising to me that the attitude and responsiveness of women to this type of marketing is different than males, I personally would be under the assumption that women would feel that same way about the current state or marketing female athletes in combat sports. I agree with the researchers and their calling for similar research to be conducted on male athletes and how marketing of them can effect consumer perception.

Greenwell, T., Simmons, J., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M. & Thorn, D.  (2017)  The effects of sexualized and violent presentations of women in combat sport.   Journal of Sport Management.  31, 533-545.

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Women in Combat Sports

Eniz Camdzic
3h
Women in Combat Sports
This article was very eye-opening. While I understand that "sex sells", there has to be another way to promote the sport   I am not surprised at the findings of the research presented. The entertainment industry has always been based on appearance and how the looks are portrayed. Women for sure have it harder than men in that regard. I feel like they are being exploited for their physical features more than men. The study focused on how women athletes are being graded for their appearance as opposed to their ability to play the sport. While the idea of "sex sells" has always been around, I'd be curious to see how the industry would look without it. I believe continued experiments would be able to dictate this. I don't understand why people wouldn't be interested in at least trying it out. It seems as if the general conclusion is that women get based on their appearance and men get based on their ability.
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Discussion Board #2 Women in Combat Sports

kaliejonovich
3h
Discussion Board #2 Women in Combat Sports
I was not surprised by the content or findings of the research presented in the article in regards to male testing subjects preferring or confirming the fighters level of sexiness was directly related to the level of violence the ad was or wasn’t portraying. While many ad agencies are stepping out of their comfort zone in regards to marketing athletes who may not fit the prototypical model of beauty we still have a long way to go in regards to telling these strong women and men’s stories without relying on their looks so prevalently. The reality is that sexualization of women in sport is always going to be there because the dialogue of women is still shaped around us being the submissive. While studies and culture in 2018 show this is not always the case anymore, ad’s and big business marketing are still far behind the change. In regards to lifestyle branding you see the likes of Kevin Durant and LeBron James having shoe deals however no deal has ever been made for Mia Hamm cleats, or Diana Tourasi Nike Basketball shoes. Based on this article and research I would say that there is endless opportunity for women who are fearless in wanting to pursue their own lifestyle brands, while she may not be an athlete Kylie Jenner is a perfect example to use. I hope to see in the future a Serena Williams tennis branded sneaker, racket, ect. to come from Nike or someone as she is one of the most decorated athletes of our generation.

Greenwell, T., Simmons, J., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M. & Thorn, D.  (2017)  The effects of sexualized and violent presentations of women in combat sport.   Journal of Sport Management.  31, 533-545.
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richard_ritz 2h
I was not surprised by the finding at all myself. I do feel that things have become better from the times when the only women in Sports Illustrated was during the swimsuit addition. I do find that it is very disrespectful that people still see women athletics as less than men's. I coach girls basketball and even when our team is better than our boys, we still do not get the fan support because we are not as "athletic" as the boys. It is incredibly disrespectful to female athletes, especially our girls, who out work the boys.

Raven Ward 21m
The swimsuit addition of sports illustrated is a joke, it completely makes men only respect women with their clothes off. I'm ok for ladies showing off their feminine vibe but when it takes away from their skills and talent its degrading.
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Brady Hochhalter
4h
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Week 2 Discussion

Brady Hochhalter
4h
Week 2 Discussion
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Discussion

Bailey Burnett
4h
Discussion
Week two’s article discusses the effects of women in combat sport. Not too long ago women were not participating in combat sport and until just recently they really got next to no coverage for their sport. Mixed martial arts is male dominant sport and for females to step in is great progress towards gender equalization. For example, the article talks about February 2013 as being a pivotal date for women’s mixed martial arts because it was the first time tat two women competed for the UFC and made headlines for the same organization. A huge issue for me in this article is that women are seen more sexualized than men and more than that, their main opportunities come from their physical attractiveness where males are seen more for their talent. I hope that as society today continues to normalize gender equality this physical appearance versus talent fades and athletes are seen as athletes not just on how they look. One thing that I found interesting was that the authors said “Women may find little value in watching sports in which women challenge traditional gender roles” (p. 536). At first I disagreed but then I thought about myself and how I do not like to watch MMA fights although I do not like to watch men or women. But I feel that if someone wants to compete and challenge themselves then who am I to judge them?

Greenwell, T., Simmons, J., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M. & Thorn, D.  (2017)  The effects of sexualized and violent presentations of women in combat sport.  Journal of Sport
Management.  31, 533-545.

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kaliejonovich 3h
Bailey, Thank you for sharing your honest opinion on the watching of MMA fights. I too hope that as we continue to grow as a society individuals will be judged upon their talents and less upon their physical attractiveness. One part of the article I enjoyed that I would be interested to here your insight on was the topic of lifestyle branding and image. A great example of this was when Serena Williams was visibily upset this year at a world championship tournament and the backlash was that her passion was out of line and unload-like. This personally agitated me and caught a lot of national attention due to Serena being vocal about how if she were a man in the sport of tennis she would only be viewed as passionate or fired up and that would be okay. I appreciate your insight on what you think in this matter and how relatable you believe that is to this article talking about Women in Combat sports.
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DB 2 Women in Combat Sports

Joshua Harrison
4h
DB 2 Women in Combat Sports
The presentation of women in sports is a fascinating topic. First, I find it most interesting where women who compete in combat sports are seen as less talented because they pose in a way that is perceived as sexualized whereas if a woman poses in a neutral or combat ad, they are seen as less attractive but a more skilled fighter. I feel as though this article highlights the principle that women are evaluated by attractiveness first and athleticism or talent secondly. The study conducted essentially varied by the way these women in these combat sports where portrayed as well as adding a nickname that in one way sexualized the athlete while also adding a nickname that emphasized the athlete's athletic ability.  The subjects rated teach of the fighters on their level of sexiness and all the level of violence the picture portrayed.  Essentially, these findings confirmed the idea that men found sexualized advertisement more positive and responded more positively toward the event.

Greenwell, T., Simmons, J., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M. & Thorn, D.  (2017)  The effects of sexualized and violent presentations of women in combat sport.   Journal of Sport Management.  31, 533-545.
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Women in Combat Sports

Baker Dane Helton
5h
Women in Combat Sports
This article brought to light some interesting points about how women in sports are treated in advertising. The idea that sex sells is not a new one, but an overplayed one. These athletes are the best in the world at what they do and they should not have to rely on marketing that is sexualized in order to promote their sports. While this may be bad, it isn't even the worst. Leagues such as the Lingerie Football League do not even pretend as if they are not trying to sexualize the sport and usually use sex appeal as their main selling point. While it has been proven that sex does sell, that does not mean we
should continue to sexualize female athletes for economic gain. We should, instead, find a way
to highlight just h
ow talented these athletes are in order to get more people to tune in strictly to
watch them compete.
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Casey Vaughan 3h
I found it odd how woman had never been participants in the UFC until recent years but then it makes since because of the stigmas around woman and violence within competition. I also noticed that these athletes should be recognized for their talent and not sexual appeal for marketing strategies. I agree on the fact that we should highlight the females in the sports of fighting or whatever it may be and highlight their actual skills and talents that they worked so hard to get them their because thats truly what gender equality would based upon.

Raymond Parker 3h
I concur, with regards to sports, individuals naturally consider men like ladies don't exist or don't come close. Individuals are excessively bustling taking a stab at, making it impossible to make ladies all the more explicitly engaging when we are normally engaging. ladies in basketball who has become well known for being incredible yet no one discusses them.the authority should advance the aptitude of the female members, with the end goal to select more female members and fans. The exploration demonstrated that the edge between the male and female members was not amazingly vast, male fans and female fans would be captivated basically by the combat ads
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Discussion 2

Jake Brehmer
3h
Discussion 2
This study utilizes an experimental design to investigate how different presentations (sexualized, neutral, and
combat) of female athletes competing in a combat sport such as mixed martial arts, a sport defying traditional
gender norms, affect consumers’ attitudes toward the advertising, event, and athlete brand.  The overall idea is that if they sexualize competitors, people will find them attractive and it will attract a larger crowd to the event. The sample was drawn through Amazon Mechanical Turk, an online service where requesters are able to
hire temporary workers to complete surveys.  A series of six advertisements (3 photo and 2 text) was
used to closely represent print advertising for actual
MMA events.  Study respondents were randomly assigned to one
of the six experimental groups.  A total of 457 subjects completed the questionnaire, and 434 subjects (95%) were usable.  The study found male and female consumers responded differently
to increasing levels of violence in advertising by illustrating how sexualized imagery can also have different effects for male and female consumers. Specifically, when the advertisement presented a female fighter in a sexualized manner, male subjects reported a more positive attitude toward the ad and more positive attitude toward the event than when they viewed the neutral
advertisement.

Greenwell T.C. et al. (2017).  The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport.
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Raymond Parker 3h
I concur with you that it isn't reasonable for the members. The article clarified it well by indicating how the allure of ladies could acquire watchers, however it truly isn't reasonable for the members. The members need to be looked for their athletic capacity and ability, not as a result of what they look like. There isn't balance between sexual orientation in all of game at the present time and I trust that can be cured.
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Anonymous
5h
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Discussion 2

Raymond Parker
3h
Discussion 2
This article uncovered some fascinating focuses about how ladies in professional sports are treated in promoting. The possibility that sex offers is definitely not another one, yet an exaggerated one. These competitors are the best on the planet at what they do and they ought not to need to depend on advertising that is sexualized with the end goal to advance their games. While this might be terrible, it isn't even the most noticeably bad. Groups, for example, the Lingerie Football League don't imagine as though they are not endeavoring to sexualize the game and for the most part utilize sex claim as their fundamental offering point. While it has been demonstrated that sex sells, that does not mean we should keep on sexualizing female competitors for financial gain. We should, rather, discover a way to feature exactly how skilled these competitors are with the end goal to get more individuals to tune in entirely to watch them contend.

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Discussion 2

scott_brooks
5h
Discussion 2
The effecsts of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport:

The article is discussing the effect of gender roles and how it has hindered the overall progress of women in sport as the hope to find equality in sport, and more specifically MMA. The topic they used was how women in MMA have been sexualized in advertisements and how what the negative effects have been and how these ads overall have hurt women as they search for equality in MMA. The overall idea is if they sexualize the competitors, they will be found to more attractive and it will draw a larger crowd. But sport is meant to draw a large crowd due to the talent of the competitors not because they are attractive. I understand how this is a large problem for women in every sport and how they will continue to struggle to find equality. Women are told they shouldn't compete in a sport like MMA because girls in our society are told they are supposed to play less contact sports or not play sports at all. I think if we hope to progress and move forward there has to be a way to watch MMA for what it is and not to market it for something it is not. That is not fair to the participants.

Greenwell, C., & Simmons, J. N. (n.d.). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 533-545. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
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Jake Brehmer 4h
I agree with you that it is not fair to the participants. The article explained it well by showing how the attractiveness of women could gain more viewers, but it really isn't fair to the participants. The participants want to be watched for their athletic ability and skill, not because of how they look. There isn't equality between gender in all of sport right now and I hope that can be remedied.
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Discussion 2

ryan richardson
6h
Discussion 2
The presentation of women in athletics varies from sport to sport. The topic of this article was about how women are portrayed in mixed martial arts. Women in UFC or MMA are sexualized and it states that it helps with memory retention for males. Which is pretty degrading. Back in 2003 when the first headline for women's UFC was brought to life, it was a huge topic for people to discuss. There was many different outcomes on peoples opinions. Males had positive viewpoints on females joining the UFC while females had neutral/negative outlooks on this. In response to the ads they use for women, ones with a sexual pose were deemed to be more feminine and more likely to lose as opposed to a neutral stance who felt they were more combative. On the 🤬 side, the sexualized images and ads have the ability to turn away viewers. They say this discredits the athletes ability and turns users away. One of the key components to keeping viewers is the attractiveness of the sport, which is why they use women.
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scott_brooks 5h
I agree with your closing thought that this discredits the womens ability to play the sport and that it is not fair. They explained how by showing the attractiveness of the women cold gain viewers but how is that fair to the women who compete in MMA. I just hope that we can find ways to bring equality to women sport. My wife is a college basketball coach and it is hard to see who the administration does not go to the same lengths to promote the womens team as they do for the mens team.
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Discussion 2

Jacob Iles
5h
Discussion 2

The article in this week’s reading attempted to tackle an important issue in today’s political and sports landscape.  The historical imbalance between men and women’s sports goes far beyond the white lines of the playing surface.  Over the last, half century, it has spilled over into the way in which advertisers promote their athletes and their brands, particularly female athletes.  Lets be honest.  We have always heard that sex sales and advertisers have used that mindset to promote women in a way that has been different from the way that they promote male counterparts.  My viewpoint is that by using attraction (sex) as a marketing tool, it undermines the ability of the athlete to be taken seriously.  Women dressed scantily to promote themselves are using attraction to sell to the consumers rather than physical ability or talent.  However, it has been the participation in promotions by women that has continued to portray women in such ways. At some point, women must decide for themselves if they want to be thought of as a sex symbol or as a professional athlete.  Promoting women in a sexual manner is effective when it seeks to lure male viewers; however, the question remains if that strategy will continue to work as society keeps evolving.
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Eniz Camdzic 4h
I understand what you are trying to say Jacob but I'm not sure if I completely agree. Is it really up to the women if they want to be thought of as a sex symbol or a professional athlete? Its sad but I do think the upper management decides on that. I would like for the athlete to decide how to market themselves but these are large corporations who pay people to make those marketing decisions. Obviously the athlete can choose how to market themselves on social media especially but the corporations do have a large say in how they promote the athlete.

Bailey Burnett 4h
I agree with your comment that it undermines the athlete when physical appearance becomes involved. As a female I would love to see others stand up (like you pointed out) for themselves as an athlete and not do the "sexual photoshoots" but I think it would take one of the most powerful women athletes in the world to make this a tend because I have a feeling that females do this because if they do not it may hurt their career or not give them the career advances they need.

Joshua Harrison 3h
Excellent thought Bailey, I agree that it will take an athlete who is and has proven themselves on the largest of stages to stand up and not to do the "sexual photoshoots". Also, without a doubt I feel as though some of the most successful female athletes have sexualized themselves through advertisement thus putting themselves in a position to seem more successful that potentially a competitor that has failed to put themselves in a similar situation.

Kylie Long 2h
Women in sports are not given as many opportunities to be represented as their male counterparts. I am not sure that a prominent athlete who can afford to pass up work will be enough change. There will always be someone below her who needs the money or the spotlight and might not view the ad as exploitation. I think the real change must come from the consumers. We must decide what we want to see and be more vocal about it. It will take time but something must be done.
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Discussion 2

Timothy Melton
6h
Discussion 2

I found this article to be somewhat informative, however, I believe if we just stop and think for a moment we would realize that we have done this in society more than just towards women in sports. We try to sexualize everything now a days in our society because “sex sells”. Look at any advertisement for medicine, chips, cookies, drinks, etc. we see that women are used as a sexual means to make money. Ten years ago, I may not have been as open to the reality that this was going on but now that I have a daughter it is disturbing how much everything is sexualized. I loved watching the Ronda Rowsey fights because I felt like she was super talented in her sport. Now we look up and they have used her to sell magazines for sports illustrated. She is now looked at by some as a piece of meat because she is wrestling in the WWE. Less clothes, higher ratings and more money is going to be made. I know that it sells to the male audience, but how can it be harmful to the female audience. It objectifies women and young girls who look up to these athletes begin trying to imitate them. We, as a society, need to definitely look at the path we have traveled and see where we can do a better job of promoting women without having to portray them sexually.

Greenwell, T., Simmons, J., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal Of Sport Management, 31(6), 533-545. doi: 10.1123/jsm.2016-0333

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Discussion 2

Dominic Drury
7h
Discussion 2
I thought that this article was very interesting and informative. Although this topic is a major issue in combat sports, I also think that the topic of sexualized adds of women’s is an issue outside of combat sports and needs to be addressed. In my sports sociology class during my undergrad I learned that through photoshop, these type of ads sway female athletes ideas of what a “typical” athletic women looks like and in many cases it has shown to be dangerous, and not to mention sexist. According to the article, “This study sought to understand how sport consumers view different presentations of women competing in violent sport and how those different presentations affect attitudes toward the advertising, the event, and the athletes’ brands…” the article found that the way they promote male combat athletes is different than how female athletes are promoted. For example, for women, the athlete that was advertised tended to be less talented but more attractive. It also found that sexualizing female athletes may be a promotional benefit for their male viewers, however it has a negative effect on female viewers. Females are being negatively affects by these ads and I think that it goes well beyond just combat sports. Overall, I think that advertising athletes should be equal for both male and females. Females should not be used just for their looks and should not be sexualized and portrayed in an attractive way just to promote the opposite sex.
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Joshua Harrison 4h
I definitely agree with your thought process of this topic. I do not believe that women should have to sexualized in their adds for their event in whatever sport is able to maximize its potential viewers. I also find it fairly hypocritical that women are expected to present themselves in a sexualized manner whilst the same time losing the competitive edge or the appearance of being tough especially in a combative sport such as mma or the ufc.
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Women in Combat Sports

Anonymous
7h
Women in Combat Sports
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Women in Combat Sports.

Anonymous
7h
Women in Combat Sports.
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Discussion 2

Amy Cullen
6h
Discussion 2
I found this week’s article very intriguing. “The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport” by Greenwell et al. discussed a study in which they surveyed participants after they were shown different types of advertising involving women athletes who participate in combat sports, such as mixed martial arts (MMA). There were three types of ads: combat, neutral and sexualized. Unsurprisingly, male respondents reported higher attitudes towards the sexualized ads and the event they were advertising than the female respondents. Females preferred the neutral ads. However, both females and males felt the athlete in the sexualized ad was less talented, less successful, less tough and less wholesome than the fighters in the other two types of ads.

I minored in Women’s Studies during my undergrad, so this article was right up my alley. I absolutely agree with the phrase, “sex sells,” when it comes to advertisements, though in my experience, the exploitative nature of women is what sells far more than the attractive nature of ads. Everyone’s experiences and opinions are different, but in mine, men’s sexualized ads are received in an “innocent,” way by female consumers. Females tend to appreciate an attractive face and physique; comments tend to be along the lines of, “he’s so hot,” “look at those abs,” etc. However, when it comes to women’s sexualized ads, male consumers are far more degrading and hostile over them. As a whole, males tend to look at female models as goods or products to be used or consumed, rather than as people. Comments along the lines of, “the things I would do to her,” is very problematic and suggests a lack of consent; “the things we would do together,” would be more appropriate. Despite the many large strides women have made towards equality, the idea of “sex sells” in advertising still holds on strongly.

Women in sports are definitely more accepted and welcomed than they were last century (think of the era that the movie A League of Their Own portrays), but we still do not have the same opportunities, attention and compensation as male athletes, despite having the same amount (or more) of talent. This article just proves that women still aren’t taken as seriously as they should be in sport. Some might say, “its their decision to participate in a sexualized ad, how is that anyone else’s fault?” As I said, women do not receive the same amount of compensation as men do in the same or equivalent sports. So, women sometimes have to participate in other ways of making money, like ads. It’s a way of getting the attention and money they deserve and need; sometimes, it can be the difference between putting food on the table and going hungry. It is so difficult to be a successful women athlete, that any opportunity to get their name and face out there is often taken. A quote from UFC fighter Mike Brown used in the article states that if he were to pay to see women fight, they should at least be topless (Greenwell et al. 2017). But, as this study shows, women who participate in sexualized ads are seen as less talented, less successful, less tough and less wholesome. It’s a vicious cycle.

Greenwell, T.C., Simmons, J.M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sports. Journal of Sport Management, 31(6), 533-545. doi:10.1123/jsm.2016-0333

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Bailey Burnett 3h
As women's studies is your minor you have a lot more knowledge on this subject than I do. Do you think if the pay was equal between men and women that the women would stop doing the photoshoots etc? Do you think that society has made such an impact on this subject that it will continue without change regardless?
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The article "The effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport" is an interesting look into the perception of women in sports that don't fit within typical gender norms. While the issue examines the the objectification of women and how girls participate in "guys sports" it also subtly examines these thing through the gender stereotypes of the male psyche. Stereotypes, while painting with broad strokes, highlight things that are mostly true even if not universally. For example, when discussing the advertisement of female events such as MMA or using examples such as Anna Kournikova or Danika Patrick, the assumption in the advertising is in order to attract the male viewer, the ad must objectify the women and highlight her beauty in order for the average male to have interest and engage. So, while the objectification is viewed as problematic in the way that it marginalizes women, it is also problematic that advertising and branding views men as only able to engage with visual sexual stimulation. So, in order to address the objectification of women, you must also address the assumptions of advertisers that men are only willing to engage in the objectification of women. A very interesting look into the evolution of some of these stereotypes is the case of Serena Williams (and by extension, Venus Williams). When the Williams sisters broke onto the scene, it wasn't their sexuality that was highlighted, but their anti-sexuality. They were described as "beasts, mannish, manly". Frankly, it seemed the sports world struggled to grapple with dominant female athletes that didn't fit within the typical anglo male definitions of beauty. Over the span of the career, people have been able to focus on the dominance of Serena while making her appearance a sidebar. In this case, her marketing became less about her looks and more about her ability as the wins and trophies racked up. However, the common denominator is that the wins were more impressive because she is a woman.

Caleb Coats
8h
The article "The effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport" is an interesting look into the perception of women in sports that don't fit within typical gender norms. While the issue examines the the objectification of women and how girls participate in "guys sports" it also subtly examines these thing through the gender stereotypes of the male psyche. Stereotypes, while painting with broad strokes, highlight things that are mostly true even if not universally. For example, when discussing the advertisement of female events such as MMA or using examples such as Anna Kournikova or Danika Patrick, the assumption in the advertising is in order to attract the male viewer, the ad must objectify the women and highlight her beauty in order for the average male to have interest and engage. So, while the objectification is viewed as problematic in the way that it marginalizes women, it is also problematic that advertising and branding views men as only able to engage with visual sexual stimulation. So, in order to address the objectification of women, you must also address the assumptions of advertisers that men are only willing to engage in the objectification of women. A very interesting look into the evolution of some of these stereotypes is the case of Serena Williams (and by extension, Venus Williams). When the Williams sisters broke onto the scene, it wasn't their sexuality that was highlighted, but their anti-sexuality. They were described as "beasts, mannish, manly". Frankly, it seemed the sports world struggled to grapple with dominant female athletes that didn't fit within the typical anglo male definitions of beauty. Over the span of the career, people have been able to focus on the dominance of Serena while making her appearance a sidebar. In this case, her marketing became less about her looks and more about her ability as the wins and trophies racked up. However, the common denominator is that the wins were more impressive because she is a woman.
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Amy Cullen 8h
Hi Caleb! I really liked your post. The Williams sisters are a great example of how women's looks are talked about first, and their accomplishments and talents are an afterthought. The fact that Serena Williams is often described as manly, beastly, and unattractive because she is strong is so infuriating. Why can’t they talk about her incredible history in tennis? Or her philanthropic work? Race could definitely be a factor in this discussion as well, but as the article only discusses sex, I’ll stick to that. There is a very particular ideal that women are supposed to fit, and anyone outside that ideal is picked apart. I truly believe the male ego is the issue with Serena Williams’s body, not her. Perhaps the men who insult her appearance do so because subconsciously, they know she is stronger, faster, and more powerful than they are, and that scares them. In the ideal misogynistic man’s world, women should be small, pretty, skinny, and quiet. And female athletes tend to step outside those requirements.
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Casey Vaughan
1h
Discussion 2
The basis of this article was taking an in-depth look into mixed martial arts and the phenomenon of the UFC which has always been a sport dominated by male participants. The article is titled as "The effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Woman in Combat Sport", the breaking of the norms and adding in female participants the mixed martial arts world has now grown considerably and once again proving that the promotion of female participants has helped the sport grow into one of the most thrilling and excitable sporting events. With the growing number of female participants the question is asked "how do you market and promote fighting of the female athlete?". The answer can be found in regards to how sports consumers view woman who are competing in violent sport and how differences in presentations affect consumers attitude. A few things that have big influences on the role of female participants in violent sports come by physical attraction, being how the role of sexuality plays in marketing. Physical attraction has also been found to be a big motivator in sports consumption which does not surprise me considering how popular the UFC already was adding female participants would only make it that much more enjoyable for fans of the sport.The next factor we take a look into gender roles in sport, when considering how violent and male dominated typically you would not consider woman to be involved because most of all woman's sports are low contact and no violence however that is not the case with UFC and thats why it is so appealing for consumers. Woman have been breaking the norms associated with gender stereotyping in the UFC to MMA and it has become a high dollar enterprise. Endorser effectiveness is also how participants a major contributor in in how consumers will portray the female athlete. Personally i think that having females participate in the UFC and MMA is great for the sports and it will only help create better gender quality in other sports for years to come. It is refreshing to see honestly and I'm excited to see how this growth and upturn will continue to have a positive effect on woman's participation in male dominated sports.

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management,31(6), 533-545. doi:10.1123/jsm.2016-0333
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Garrett Haag
8h
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The journal article entitled, “The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport,” is about peoples perceptions of female combat athletes after being used in three different advertisement strategies. One being a sexualized strategy, where the advertiser focused more on the female athlete being attractive. A second being a combat strategy where the advertiser focused more on the physicality of the female athlete and their strength and training techniques. And a third strategy being more of a neutral approach taking some of both strategies and meshing them together. The results were as traditional expected, for the sexualized strategy viewers felt that the female athlete was very attractive and didn’t feel as though they should be participating in a combat sport, which discredited the athletes ability in the octagon. They look at the athlete as more of a sex symbol, which in world we live in today It seems that sex sells so I see why the advertiser used this strategy, but in a advertisement for a combat event, I’m not quite sure if this would be the most effective strategy. For the combat advertisement, it made viewers feel less attracted to the athlete, and it showcased their brute nature, more of a dominating force. It would be what you would expect of a combat event, more like how they promote the mens events. The neutral approach had viewers feeling that the athlete was less wholesome of a person. Because it did not lean in either direction and did not give that fighter a personality. After looking at each strategy, it is hard to determine the best strategy to use in promoting these type of events for both women and men. Would you rather have people view the event for what the athletes are really working for, in being combat athletes who train daily. Or would you want to sale pay-per-views to people who are attracted to the athletes and leave the combat athletes discredited in their hard work and determination? I guess it just depends on the promoter of the fight and the opinions of the fighters themselves. Some will want to looked upon for their hard work and their skills in the octagon, while others may not care and are there just to make money.
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sarah_rodrigue 6h
I agree with your position that there is no one answer to the issue of misrepresentation of women in combat sports. Frankly speaking, advertisements show women sexuality and objectify it for years. I think we are so used to this concept and idea that it is not odd anymore. Combat sports can be controversial and it is definite that not everyone in the audience of the advertisements is ready for this sport. I believe that your point that it depends on the women whether they are comfortable with such portrayal or not. They should be able to have a say and explain their position in case they are not comfortable with the advertisement. Their opinion should be considered and in case they do not approve, the advertisement should be changed and not shown to the public audience.
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Mitchell Houghton
8h
Discussion 2
This was a very interesting article that went into detail on the subject of how female combat sports competitors were advertised. The article did a great job of exploring both how female fighters were viewed in sexualized manner as compared to a combat neutral manner. It is no surprise that males responded with higher attitudes the the sexualized photos than females did. As well as females responding higher to the neutral combat poses than the sexual ones. When it comes to combat spots it is important to acknowledge that the sport revolves around paper view buys i order to make money. So it is hard to fault MMA and the UFC for portraying females in this manner. I feel that it is important for a follow up article to dive into how females view men in a sexualized manner versus a neutral combat manner.
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christop_fussell
9h
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In the 2000s we have seen a change in our societal views regarding women in violent sports such as MMA or boxing. In the 1950’s it would have been unheard of for a female to compete in mixed martial arts or a boxing match. Today, female athletes competing in these two sports are widely accepted by a majority of male and female television viewers.   This however does not change the stereotypical attitude of advertisers and a majority of television viewers in regards to their views about physical attractiveness in selling products and promoting their sport. This bias is focused at our female athletes. A male MMA fighter/male athlete regardless of physical attractiveness can and will be used in endorsements and advertisements for their sport.  For males when it comes to endorsements athletic ability is more important than physical attractiveness. In order for a female athlete to be considered a spokesman for a product or their sport they need to have more than just athletic ability they also need physical attractiveness.  Television viewers and spectators are biased towards the more physically attractive female athlete. Even with the advancement in women’s rights our country has seen over the last quarter century, most viewers still respond more favorable to looks and athletic ability rather than just athletic ability.

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Mitchell Houghton 8h
I really enjoyed reading your post. i agree with you on several of your points. I agree that men tend to gravitate toward the more attractive females such as Paige Vanzant. I especially liked the thought about males fighters being able to get endorsements based on fighting skills where as females have to get endorsements based on their looks because that is what sells in female MMA.

ryan richardson 6h
I like your viewpoints on certain aspects of this topic. It was unheard of for women to be involved in fighting in the past. We have progressed to a new idea of how women are seen and involved in sports. The idea of men getting endorsements on fighting skills is good but they also portray an image just like the girls do.
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Melanie Aldridge
9h
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The article was a study on how different types of advertisements for female MMA athletes were viewed by consumers. They looked at sexulaized, combat, and neutral presentations. When the advertisement was presented in a sexualized way, the female athletes were seen as less talented and skilled than the other presentations. It seems that female athletes are already typically viewed as less talented than males, especially at “masculine” sports. It is sad that female athletes often do not receive the respect they deserve for their athletic abilities, and that more often than not they are judged by their looks. Presenting female athletes in a sexualized way downplays their athletic ability and is not necessary since the study found these advertisements were not more effective than the combat presentations. Combat or neutral advertisements were viewed as the female athletes being more successful and talented. It seemed that combat advertisements would have the overall best response by males and females alike and that sexualized advertisements are most likely not effective long term. Female athletes deserve to be respected for their abilities, and advertisements should help that. If they represent female athletes well, then the media, promoters, and sponsors would probably be more likely to follow. Finding the most effective long-term approach to presenting female athletes in advertisements could bring more attention to female sports and athletes which could change how they are viewed.

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31(6), 533-545. doi:10.1123/jsm.2016-0333
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Amy Cullen 7h
Hi Melanie! I absolutely, 100% agree with your post. Women athletes and their talents should definitely be the first thing that is discussed when they come up in conversation. Their weight, their face, their hair, whether or not they'll get married or have children, etc. are not relevant to their athletic performance at all. One thing that really stuck out to me from this article was about how some women athletes engage in “doing girl,” during their games/matches, such as wearing a bow in their hair or wearing makeup. The fact that so many women feel the need to remind their viewers that they are women is so infuriating, and the best way they can think to do that is by wearing things traditionally feminine, like bows and makeup. A lot of girls teams also tend to wear feminine colored jerseys, like pinks, purples and light blues, and have names such a “Sweet Cleats,” (my softball team when I was 11), whereas boys teams are typically named after professional teams in that sport (like the Dodgers in baseball, or Lions in football). The need to subtly remind spectators that athletes are female is something I just do not understand.

jamescowan4 7h
Melanie, I agree with you female sports deserve to be respected for their abilities. Media and marketing advertisements can help with that as well. If the media was to start marketing female sports more and to advertise certain positive ways the viewers would start to pay more attention and the views would grow. I feel women want to be viewed when playing sports for their abilities just like men. So many times women are judge differently than men, including size and talent. As a man coaching females I challenge my female players to push through all adversity that come. Always give it your all.

Mercedes Queen 4h
I like how you talked about long term approach. Yes sometimes advertisers think if they sexualize the athlete they would get more views and more people interested, but the study showed that not really the case. You are right. Advertisers, promoters, sponsers should all look at the long term effects and focus on increasing viewership of women in combat sports for the intended sport, combat abilities.
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I completely agree with y

Kathleen Gallagher
9h
I completely agree with you about sex sells.  If you look at all the most popular athletes, they are attractive or good looking.  They dress nice, their teeth are perfect and they have the money to do this.  I can't think of one professional athlete that is not good looking.  Even the athletes that are at the collegiate level in the spotlight, are good looking.  If an athlete would not be as good looking, a magazine could make them look good anyways.  So most everything is based on appearance and I am not sure this will change.  As far as promoting women in a sexualized way, this is what majority of men want.  But if marketers started promoting women in a tough manner, would it really change the attitudes towards the athletes?  I don't believe it will.  We as society do like appearance, but we like ability too!
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Timothy Melton 6h
Kathleen, I think you hit the nail on the head. We have allowed ourselves to become infatuated with looks and outward appearances that we fail to realize the athletes have talents too. I also agree that I'm not sure that if we tried to promote women as tough, talented athletes we would have a different outlook. We live in a time where sex is all around us and it sells. Look at commercials for tylenol, they promote it by showing that we want let a little pain slow us down. There is a woman half dressed in the background.
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Mercedes Queen
10h
Discussion 2
The way advertisers try to portray anything is all about viewership. Their job is to make sure as many people view that ad and get interested. This article tries to explain how consumers might view women differently based off how they are portrayed by the ad. This article mainly took a look at combat sports, however these portrayals are very relevant in majority of women's sports. Our society has raised us to judge people by their appearances first. Even though men are more likely to subject women based off appearances does not mean that women do not do the same when seeing men in ads or playing sports. I thought this article was really good discussing contributing factors as to why consumers attitudes change based off how an ad portrays an athlete. A follow up article could be men portrayal in the opposite category like figure skating or ballet.
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Kathleen Gallagher 10h
You are correct when you say society has made us look at appearance first then ability second. Even if you look at the magazine cover that you posted, they always make the people look exceptionally good, with no blemishes or negative body images. This is what all images look like on all magazines covers. I also like the idea of the next study being about men participating in ballet or figure skating. We will always have our preconceived notions, but it would be interesting to here what women and men have to say about men competing in feminine sport. I for one, know i only look at articles that interest me and I don't focus on appearance. But, our profession is in sports, so we may look at things differently.

Dominic Drury 7h
Hi Caleb and Kathleen, I agree with you that we should have the same study done for Men. Although it may be an issue on both sides, I think that the negative portay and sometimes fake as Kathleen was saying is very bad and I think has a worse affect on women than it does on men. I think that photoshop can be very dangerous and gives a non-realistic image that women try to achieve. In other studies done, this has found to be very dangerous.

Eniz Camdzic 3h
I loved your post Mercedes! Its important to key in on the appearance. Its always been about the appearance. In a day in age where we swipe right off of instant attraction, we are continuing to be focused on appearance immediately. The ads do have a lot of power in shifting consumer attitudes. The idea of posing men athletes doing ballet is also very intriguing. I would love to see this done as an experiment.
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The perception of women in sports is always an interesting topic. As far as combat

Roosevelt Gipson
13h
The perception of women in sports is always an interesting topic. As far as combat
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Discussion 2

dylan_biedron
19h
Discussion 2
This was an interesting article that made some interesting finds in the world of women's sports and the perception of women athletes. The researchers Greenwell, Simmons, Schreffler, and Thorn provide valuable insights in their journal article: "The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport." In their study, the authors examined consumer attitude and perception of brand when comparing the presentation of women athletes between a sexualized, neutral, or combat image. Both male and female respondents found the sexualized presentations appealing, although female subjects found the neutral presentation preferable, compared to the sexualized preference of male subjects. When it comes to success in the world of combat sport, the female fighters in neutral or combat poses were seen as tougher, more successful fighters due to the nature of combat sport.
I think this research is significant when it comes to female athletes and building a brand or image for an athlete. The attractiveness of an athlete may bring in the people initially, but a businesslike, successful image must be shown to portray seriousness and professionalism as a combat athlete.
I am curious if a similar study could be done for male athletes. Does physical attractiveness matter for male athletes, or does professional success determine the perception or attitude towards and athlete. Is there a connection with physical attractiveness of an athlete and athletic performance? Possibly. If an athlete is shown in a sexualized manner off the field and successful on the field, do people connect the two? Advertising and presentation are what can create a brand. It is important that we consider these questions when attempting to drive interest and create  appealing advertising for athletes.

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31(6), 533–545.
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Trying to get more viewers is the goal of most any sport. Many studies have been done in an attempt to figure out what will draw more viewers into female sports. It is even more difficult when your are dealing with that sport that challenges gender stereotypes such as MMA. This article looked at the ways in which female MMA fighters should be staged in order to see what would draw more interest. They were staged in sexy poses, neutral poses, and combat poses. The male participants were more interested in the ads with the sexual and poses, over the combat and neutral poses, and indicated more interest in an event based off of the sexual and combat poses over the neutral poses. The females were not as interested in the sexual poses as the neutral. The main conclusion is that sexual poses may draw in more males, but not females. This seems to be a trend in many studies, but I found this quote to be very important. "Once men watch women in combat sport, men may be likely to change their perceptions of womenfighters from objects to talented athletes (as cited in Greenwell, et. al, Hancock et al.,2014) Other studies have found that when someone is a fan, they don't pay attention to the attractiveness as much. They are more interested in the sport, however, how do you draw more interest in certain sports, get people to watch, to become a fan? Is the use of these types of images the only way?

Victoria Eskola
22h
Trying to get more viewers is the goal of most any sport.  Many studies have been done in an attempt to figure out what will draw more viewers into female sports.  It is even more difficult when your are dealing with that sport that challenges gender stereotypes such as MMA.  This article looked at the ways in which female MMA fighters should be staged in order to see what would draw more interest.  They were staged in sexy poses, neutral poses, and combat poses.  The male participants were more interested in the ads with the sexual and poses, over the combat and neutral poses, and indicated more interest in an event based off of the sexual and combat poses over the neutral poses.  The females were not as interested in the sexual poses as the neutral.  The main conclusion is that sexual poses may draw in more males, but not females.  This  seems to be a trend in many studies, but I found this quote to be very important.  "Once men watch women in combat sport, men may be likely to change their perceptions of womenfighters from objects to talented athletes (as cited in Greenwell, et. al, Hancock et al.,2014)  Other studies have found that when someone is a fan, they don't pay attention to the attractiveness as much.  They are more interested in the sport, however, how do you draw more interest in certain sports, get people to watch, to become a fan?  Is the use of these types of images the only way?

Greenwell, T., Simmons, J., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M. & Thorn, D.  (2017)  The effects of sexualized and violent presentations of women in combat sport.  Journal of Sport
Management.  31, 533-545.  https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2016-0333

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Pedro SolisJr 13h
I agree with you about the males having a more positive impact on sexualized presentation as compared to females. Females responded better to the neutral and combative presentations. In my opinion, I believe that athletes will draw attention to sports fans depending on their ability. There were 3 presentations that were being studied in this article for research on how the promotion gets impacted. In the modern day world, promoters just care about making money and selling tickets, so if they feel that sexualized or combative approaches is the way to go , I don't think they care how they promote women in combat sports.
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Trusten Desoto
23h
Wk 2 Discussion
This study focuses on the effect on fans and consumers of mixed martial arts and other related combat sports. The study that was presented in the article focused on three forms of advertisement: neutral, combat, and sexualized. This study did not focus on one gender when it came to fans and consumers; it focuses on both male and female consumers and fans. This study found that male consumers were more interested in advertisements that displayed sexualized and combat images. This finding does not surprise me due to the fact that as sport fans we tend to notice the physical appearance of female athletes before we notice the athletic ability or skill level. Physical attractiveness is a major factor in many aspects of life, so the evidence that pointed out the sexualized nature of advertisements did not come as a surprise to me. The neutral aspect of the advertisements tend to be favored more by female viewers than by male viewers; I believe this is due to many female viewers and female athletes want to be seen and viewed for their athletic abilities and their talents rather than by their appearance. Through out the history of sports, the role of female athletes have changed. In the beginning, female athletes were expected to participate in elegant sports such as figure skating, gymnastics, and even ballet, and now female athletes participate in basketball, rugby, and combat sports. With more studies such as this one, I believe that physical appearance will begin to fade in advertisements and more people will recognize female athletes for their talents and abilities.
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David Paschal 22h
There was one thing that stuck out to me in your response. You said " This finding does not surprise me because as sports fans we tend to notice the physical appearance of female athletes before we notice athletic ability or skill level". Do you feel that we notice the physical appearance first because of being a sports fan, or do you think it is because our society has trained us to judge people based on their appearance?

Mitchell Houghton 8h
David to address your question. I dont think that anyone has been trained by society. It simply falls into what men like out of female athletes in general. As fans we gravitate towards what we are interested in. It is the same for female fighters in mma.
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Week 2 Discussion

Lydell Key
1d
Week 2 Discussion

This study utilizes an experimental design to investigate how different presentations (sexualized, neutral, and combat) of female athletes competing in a combat sport such as mixed martial arts, a sport defying traditional gender norm, affect consumers’ attitudes toward the advertising, event, and athlete brand.  When the female athlete in the advertisement was in a sexualized presentation, male subjects reported higher attitudes toward the advertisement and the event than the female subjects.  Physical attraction may play a bigger role when female athletes are featured.  There is theoretical support for why physical attraction influences behaviors.  The physical attractiveness stereotype suggests people who are seen as attractive are assumed to possess other desirable traits, and attractiveness can positively influence judgments.  Physical attractiveness has also been found to be a significant motivator of sport consumption and significantly influences public interest in sports.  Gender roles are shared beliefs about the attributes of men and women.  For example, women possess (or are expected to possess) communal characteristics such as nurturance, kindness, submissiveness, expression/emotion, and compassion.  Men, on the other hand, are expected to be more agentic–assertive, dominant, aggressive, instrumental, and independent.  However, women participating in combat sport defy traditional gender stereotypes, men have been found to be more interested in sport when women conformed to more feminine stereotypes.  The benefit of understanding the impact of various portrayals of female athletes should be of concern to event promoters and the individual female athletes as both attempt to maximize their ability to gain a stronger market share through enhancing the athlete brand image.  When it comes to women in combat sports for me, I enjoy watching for both reasons of the good athletes as well as the attractive athletes.
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benjamin_morgan4 1d
I enjoy watching both as well. While reading the article, I started to compare men and women basketball. As a fan of basketball in general, I enjoy watching both but my reasons are different. Women basketball has more flow and movement on offense. Women basketball just seems to display overall team play on both ends of the court. Men basketball is more flashy and the tempo is faster which create more highlights and memorable moments.

Trusten Desoto 23h
Like you Benjamin, I enjoy watching most of women's basketball due to the fundamentals of basketball is presented more in women's basketball than in men's basketball. I believe that more men should watch women's basketball for the fact that they can learn how to better themselves in the fundamental side of the sport. I think that it is a matter of time that people will see female athletes for their talent and abilities rather than the physical attractiveness of the athletes.
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Discussion Board 2

mirandal_jones
10h
Discussion Board 2
The current study is centered around understanding how women are viewed in combat sport such as the MMA.  Critical issues have surfaced and this study helps with the explanation on how consumers view women competing in violent sport and how different exhibitions (sexualized, neutral, and combat) affect the consumers’ attitudes. This study also gives results that should help the marketing efforts of those promoting women participating in sports, which defy traditional gender roles. (Greenwell, Simmons, Hancock, Shreffler, & Thorn, 2017)

The study discussed a major contributor that affect the consumers viewership; physical attraction. Physical attractiveness plays a bigger role when female athletes are featured. Sex sales. More often than not, women advertisements are sexually suggestive in nature. From my perspective as a female but more importantly as a physical educator, I think the overall attractiveness of any athlete has a positive impact on their viewership. There is a desired look when it comes to sports. The physical attractiveness does not always have to be sexualized but it does become effective on the consumers attitude toward what they are promoting.

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of
Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31(6), 533-545. doi:10.1123/jsm.2016-0333

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Kathleen Gallagher 9h
I completely agree with you about sex sells. If you look at all the most popular athletes, they are attractive or good looking. They dress nice, their teeth are perfect and they have the money to do this. I can't think of one professional athlete that is not good looking. Even the athletes that are at the collegiate level in the spotlight, are good looking. If an athlete would not be as good looking, a magazine could make them look good anyways. So most everything is based on appearance and I am not sure this will change. As far as promoting women in a sexualized way, this is what majority of men want. But if marketers started promoting women in a tough manner, would it really change the attitudes towards the athletes? I don't believe it will. We as society do like appearance, but we like ability too!
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Women in Combat Sports

benjamin_morgan4
1d
Women in Combat Sports
The authors of this article focused on the advertisement effect on consumers/fans of mixed martial arts and other combat sports. The study that is described in the article focused on 3 forms of advertisement, sexualized, neutral, and combat. The results of the study showed that men showed more interest in the event where the advertisement of the event was sexualized or combat. The results for men do not surprise me as it refers to women in athletics because often times we when watching female athletes compete, we notice the physical appearance of the athlete first before we gain notice of her athletic ability. As far as the combat attribute, most men who are sport fans gravitate towards violence in sports. I am not surprise by the women results as well. The women of the study had a high score for the advertisements that were neutral. The reason why I am not surprise is because female athletes want to be recognized for their athletic ability and talents while also being respected still as a woman.  That balance between fulfilling their roles as an athlete and as a woman. Those roles are changing from what they use to be in the past. The role of females in sports was for them to participate in elegant and fluent sports such as gymnastics, figure skating, ballet.  The role has change because there are for combat sports for women to participate in and some of the coaches of these sports are men.

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kevin_wathen 1d
I think the societel gender roles is what steered women into those sports such as gymnastics. I think what's socially acceptable is not always the best approach. Women should be able to participate in all sports offered and be seen in accordance to their athletic ability. Trying to sexualize the female athlete to appeal towards male consumership is not a good practice.

Colby Parker 10h
I feel the same way about not being surprised that the males who were part of this study gravitated more towards the sexualized advertisements and promotions. Until recent years women in combat sports was unheard of. When women began to make their way into combat sports I feel as if they were not being taking serious. In the case of Ronda Rousey she had to market herself based on her physical appearance in order to gain followers to show off her skills in the octagon.
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Women in Combat Sports

Erik Lemley
1d
Women in Combat Sports
The article titled, The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport, by Greenwell et al., is a research study that intends to determine the impact of various types of advertisements on male and female sport fans. The study purpose is not only to determine how best to appeal to consumers of sport, but also to infer on the impact of portrayal on female fighter marketability. I was not surprised that women preferred the neutral ads, I was however surprised that the gap between the male and female preference was slim in relation to ads that showed the fighters in combat form. As the authors pointed out, this shows that the acceptability of females in combat sports is becoming more prevalent. I was surprised and disappointed that the ads used were only in print form. In today’s society, very few ads are of the print variety. The study failed in include video ads, which would most likely have a far greater impact on fan interest and marketability. I wonder if the results would have been completely different if video ads been used in the study. I would also be interested to see how video ad reaction would have compared to print ad reaction. The study also used groups of people that qualified based on identifying themselves as sports fans. It is important to understand what non-sports fans think, to gain insight on increasing fans of the sport.

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benjamin_morgan4 1d
I like the suggestion of a video ad to be use in future testing. I think this will alter some of the results because sport fans are more attentive to videos instead of having to read an ad. The videos would probably involve female athletes movement in slow motion for the viewer to observe her physical appearance over her athletic ability.

Trusten Desoto 23h
I agree with you again Benjamin on your thoughts on watching video ads rather than print ads. People in today's society much rather watch a video than read an article or even a short ad. I think videos convey more of an emotional pull than do print ads. Having more video ads with female athletes in them may help increase the ability to notice athletic talent and skill.
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Week 2 Discussion

James Basta
1d
Week 2 Discussion

This article from Greenwell, The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport, takes on some very interesting ideas revolving around how women in sports are portrayed under certain contexts. The article examined how different portrayals of women in sexualized and non-sexualized manners could affect consumer’s mindsets regarding female MMA fighters. Greenwell writes that the study seeks to “understand how sport consumers view women competing in violent sport and how different presentations affect consumers’ attitudes”, (534). Using different advertisement techniques distributed in the form of a questionnaire the data showed several different responses in consumers. One interesting response was that when women were presented in a more sexualized manner males were more likely to view the event and the fighter in a positive light comparted to a fighter who was not portrayed in a sexualized manner. The data also showed that for men violent and sexualized ads were more effective than neutral ads. This is interesting considering women were on the other side of the spectrum, with the data suggesting that women responded more positively to neutral ads, thus suggesting that a more effective marketing strategy for women would be to not focus as much on the sexuality. (541)

This to me does not strike me as a particularly novel concept, as much of it follows a fairly rational track of thought. Many of the posts are right in assessing that for men especially, sex sells, which has been true and will remain true in my opinion. The article has one interesting point in the conclusion which states that “presenting female athletes in a sexual manner may be effective for drawing males, the core MMA demographic, but can be less effective in enticing female consumers,” (541). To me this clearly indicates that since the core of MMA is already predominantly male, it makes more sense to move away from predominantly sexualized ads to as attract more of the female population to reach a wider range of individuals rather than advertising to those who are already firmly invested in combat sports viewership.

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31(6), 533-54
5. Doi:10.1123/jsm.2016-0333

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sarah_rodrigue 6h
You make a very interesting point that the combat sports should shift the dynamics in their area with the help of marketing. Neutral ads seem to attract women more. However, women seem to be not interested in this sport as much. I think that you are right, it is important to open the market for women as well. Of course, men are more invested in the sport and they do not need reminders why they enjoy combat sports. However, women do not seem to show the same amount of interest, so I agree that neutral ads can change the moods that women have towards the combat sports. In addition, athletes may feel better about what they do and feel less sexually pressured. Also, it may change the moods that are present on the actual matches. I agree with your viewpoint that this research could serve as a good explanation why they may shift the moods in their advertisements and in such a way, we can change the sports and its target audience. Therefore, marketing is a powerful tool.
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Women in Combat Sports

Anonymous
1d
Women in Combat Sports

The article titled, The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport, by Greenwell et al., is a research study that intends to determine the impact of various types of advertisements on male and female sport fans. The study purpose is not only to determine how best to appeal to consumers of sport, but also to infer on the impact of portrayal on female fighter marketability. I was not surprised that women preferred the neutral ads, I was however surprised that the gap between the male and female preference was slim in relation to ads that showed the fighters in combat form. As the authors pointed out, this shows that the acceptability of females in combat sports is becoming more prevalent. I was surprised and disappointed that the ads used were only in print form. In today’s society, very few ads are of the print variety. The study failed in include video ads, which would most likely have a far greater impact on fan interest and marketability. I wonder if the results would have been completely different if video ads been used in the study. I would also be interested to see how video ad reaction would have compared to print ad reaction. The study also used groups of people that qualified based on identifying themselves as sports fans. It is important to understand what non-sports fans think, to gain insight on increasing fans of the sport.

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michael_prandy 10h
I agree with you that having video ads or commercials as the primary study would have been more interesting. I wonder as well if that would have changed the outcomes or the views of the women in the combat ads. I would bet that most of the ads that are viewed are commercials of the up coming event while watching their favorite sport or team. I somewhat agree that it would have been interesting to have results from an non-sport point of view as well, and if non--sport fans ads would be differently constructed to gain their interest to watch. This was an interesting article and just shows that for however long I can remember---Sex Sale....right or wrong.
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Week 2 Discussion

David Martin
1d
Week 2 Discussion
In the assigned article this week, the authors attempted to analyze the effects of the way female athletes who participate in combat sport are portrayed in advertising and the impact that may have on their brand. Women in combat sport are already at a disadvantage in that they are perceived to be less talented or skilled simply because they are women.
They first examined the differences in consumer attitudes toward athlete images and portrayals when promoting an event, in this case, mixed martial arts. Second, they attempted to assess the potential impact of the images on the athlete’s brand.
As hypothesized, male consumers viewed the sexualized portrayals favorably invoking a more positive attitude toward the event being promoted. However, they found that there was little difference in male attitudes when the focus of the ads was combat related suggesting that either method would attract male viewership. Women on the other hand preferred the non-sexual approach to promotion. They also found that women tend to have negative attitudes toward the ads that have escalated levels of violence and had positive attitudes toward the ads showing women in combat.
As far as brand is concerned, the findings were consistent with previous research which suggested that the more attractive the athlete or endorser, the more positive qualities he/she is perceived to have. However, the athlete that was more attractive was also thought to be less skilled.
In my opinion, this seems to be a stigma in other women’s sports, particularly those that are stereotypically played by men. I believe that we see glimpses of this in basketball, tennis, golf, as well as others. The female athlete often is more appreciated as a figure than for her ability. So much of the presentation appears to be geared toward a feminizing of the athletes. Although the level of play may not be the same, the talent is certainly there. Likewise, in MMA, the strength and power may be on a different level, but the technique and athleticism can certainly be appreciated as well.

Greenwall, T.C., Simmons, J.M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D., (2017). The effects of sexualized and violent presentations of women in combat sport. Journal of Sport Management 31: 533-545. doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2016-0333
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James Basta 1d
Your comment “the female athlete often is more appreciated as a figure than for her ability,” is sadly often a real reality. All too often when I watch my sister compete as a high level figure skater I hear comments along the lines of “she’s such a beautiful skater” as opposed to “she’s so talented” and it’s sad in many ways this article goes along to confirm this line of thought in modern sports. It’s a very thin line of vernacular language being used but it effects subconsciously a lot of current opinions.

dylan_biedron 19h
Something that I find interesting, is the fact that more often than not, the perceived "more attractive" female athlete is also very successful in their sport. When it comes to athletes, both male and female, great athleticism often contributed to higher levels of attractiveness. Physical fitness and skill are attractive attributes that also happen to be beneficial in sport.When it comes to female athletes, some people may be more interested in her looks, but without at least some success as an athlete, physical attractiveness will not mean as much.
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Week 2 Discussion

Ben Hickethier
1d
Week 2 Discussion
This article’s focus was to study the reactions of different genders, as well as their views on advertising ads featuring female fighters within the Mixed Martial Arts sport. The study provided three different examples of how the female fighter is represented in ads.  These included; sexualized, combative and neutral. It is not a surprise that the more inclusion our society has on female athletes in sports such as Mixed Martial Arts, the more creative ways we will see of how they market these athletes. One of the points of emphasis is how physical attraction continues to drive consumer attitudes toward a sport or athlete.  This physical attraction, as well as perceived sexuality of an individual (especially female athletes), is the one of the most important factors for them to be endorsed.

One example that the study  found was that males reported a more positive attitude when a female fighter is advertised in a sexual manner. However, they also reported a positive attitude when they viewed the neutral advertisement. The study also touched on the fact that women viewing these presentations would rather focus on the athlete herself, than the athlete’s sexuality.

In my opinion, advertising or promoting female athletes in a sexualized way will continue to be promoted not only in Mixed Martial Arts sports, but in all sports. The reality is that this type of promotion will continually draw in male viewers who may not watch a certain sport otherwise. Moving advertisements to a more neutral or non-sexualized contexts may show to be more positive with females, but it is crucial to consider who most of the viewers are comprised of. It is my understanding that the viewership of males is something that the promoters cannot ignore as it is a desperate need for the sport to continue to be successful. Unless women stop taking certain endorsements or decline shooting advertisements in a sexual manner, this way of promotion will continue as an accepted practice.

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Victoria Eskola 23h
You make a good point about the fact that this way to promote female athletes will continued as long as women continue to accept these type of endorsements. I read and article about a national soccer tournament in Brazil that based participation on talent, but more on physical attractiveness. There were certain requirements, such as having long hair, that the women had to conform to no matter how good they were at soccer. Some average players were taken over good players because they were seen as being more attractive. The article interviewed some of the players that participated. Most of them hated that certain people weren't chosen and didn't think it was fair. However, they participated in the tournament because they knew that this would help their career and give them more exposure. I am sure it is the same reason that female athletes accept these type of endorsements. They think it will get them exposure and help their career. I don't know the answer on how to fix this, but it doesn't look like it is going anywhere soon.

Colby Parker 10h
Ben, I agree with you on the fact that I believe female athletes will continue to be marketed and promoted based on their physical appearance rather than their athletic ability. Unfortunately that is just the society that we live in. As I was reading this article I started to think about some famous female athletes. Two that came to mind were Hope Solo and Alex Morgan. These are two very accessional athletes on the soccer field, but I feel are more known for their physical appearance. These two athletes, like Ronda Rousey, have been marketed and promoted based on their physical appearance to gain a fanbase to follow them in order to show off their athletic ability.
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Week 2 Discussion

jamescowan4
1d
Week 2 Discussion
In the article The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sports the researchers discuss different ways of marketing females in combat sports in mixed martial arts.  The researcher discuss if physical attractiveness has any impact on consumer’s attitudes towards women.  Many of the consumers feel that they would rather see a physically attractive female with talent in an advertisement opposed to neutral woman. The responses of females were the complete opposite. This article highlights a conversation I have had with my women’s tennis team.  Once one of my players asked why is that when they advertise women in tennis, they have women to show more of their body.  One of the other players response was “duh that is because sex sells.”  I then told her that for years when marketing women advertisements they like to advise women in provocative ways.  Physical attraction influences consumers because often time they are persuaded based off attraction.

When it comes to professional fighting in my opinion women want to be viewed just like men in their perspective profession.  They want to be seen as a fighter and not a sex symbol. Often times male consumers do not support women who engage in the so called “masculine” sports unless they are displayed sexually in some aspect. The times have changed in the sports world where woman are not just limited to certain sports. They should be viewed in the same way as male athletes are, and shouldn’t have to be physically attractive to be recognized. Their talent should be enough and we as future sports leaders should emphasis the importance of this.

Reference:

Greenwell, T., Simmons, J., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M. and Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport
Management, 31(6), pp.533-545.

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Lydell Key 1d
Yes these women only want to be treated as equals and not as sexual objects. They should at this point and with the amount of time that they have put into this sport they should have gained the respect that is due to them. Early on in women combat sport there were some women who were trying to take advantage of their sexuality and they were not very skilled fighters. Now no matter if they are attractive or not they all take the sport serious and have very good skill sets that rival the males.
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Week 2 Discussion

Collin Minga
1d
Week 2 Discussion
Women's sports have grown tremendously over the past decade. Female athletes are beginning to become more recognized for their achievements. This article is a great representation of how women in sports in general are viewed. The research that is conducted in this article involving women involved in MMA and the effects of the different presentations of women in the sport bring to light some of the issues that women deal with in sports compared to males. I believe the results of this study show exactly what the majority of males like. Two things that males typically navigate to are sex and action/violence. The results show that males tend to lean towards the sexualized ads or the combat ads. Females tend to be more in favor of the ads that are neutral. These results confirm  the stereotype that involves males enjoying sex and action or violence. Sexualized ads may draw more male consumers but it also may drive female consumers away. The issue that these sexualized ads creates is that it perceives female fighters are less skilled and less successful. Future studies could research how male and females perceive ads for other sports other than combat sports to compare the findings. Hopefully the future of women's sports in general will continue to grow just as they have in MMA as both males and females become more involved in female athletics.
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jamescowan4 1d
Collin I personally think that female sports are growing. Danaka Patrick with Nascar racing she accomplished the impossible by becoming a competitive Nascar driver. Also, how you can look at WWE and the women in professional wrestling. WWE just had its first all women’s pay-per-view showing. This is a prime example of how women can set the tone for so called “masculine” sports. In tennis Bill Jean King and Serena Williams both fought for equal pay. They achieved their intended goal, however there is still much to overcome when it comes to women’s sports. I completely agree with you when it comes to males and what they prefer.
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Women Athletes in Combat

ineka_martin
1d
Women Athletes in Combat
This article sheds a good light on the misrepresentation of female athletes in sport as "sex symbols."  The article focused on women in combat sports such as MMA.  Because of the violent nature of MMA, female fighters are often portrayed in more feminine poses in advertising.  This technique is used to draw in more viewers.  While effective for male viewers, female viewers negatively reacted to sexualized promotions.  The article also discusses how most female athletes are referred to in feminine terms and based on their attractiveness, as opposed to their male counterparts who are reported on based on their talent.  The study concluded that it is better to leave the sexual imagery and sexualization of female athletes out of advertising of combat sports due to the image it projects that that women are more feminine and less talented.

Resources:
Greenwell, T.C.,  Simmons, J.M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., Thorn, D.  2017.  The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport.  Journal of Sport Management 31 (6), 533 - 545.  Accessed from https://ezproxy.library.astate.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=125676286&site=eds-live&scope=site
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richard_ritz 2h
It still amazes me that men still judge women athletes on how attractive they are in the sport they participate. As the article has shown, sex sells. But do you believe that is only limited to men? I feel that many women are the same when it comes to how a male athlete looks. Are they more likely to be drawn to a competitor that is more attractive?
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Week 2 Discussion

David Hendershot
1d
Week 2 Discussion
Women's sports has come a long way to say the least, and I think that it will improve as we continue to see women defy the odds of gender roles. Women's basketball and softball have flourished especially in the collegiate scene, and people are wanting to watch women sports more than they are men's sports. This research discusses women in violent sports such as MMA and UFC and how they should be marketed. The reason behind the research on combat sports is because the sport defies the gender stereotype and shows that behind all the make-up and hairstyle women can be tough and rigid just like men.
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Week 2 Discussion

catherin_dunn
1d
Week 2 Discussion

This article studied the effects of different advertising techniques regarding sexualizing female athletes.  Specifically, this study was analyzing female athletes in MMA, a sport that defies gender stereotypes. From this one topic the researchers studied six different hypotheses. The one that I found lead to the most interesting results was Hypothesis 3 which read, “Consumers will have more positive performance-related brand perceptions toward combative representations of female fighters than toward neutral or sexualized representations” (Greenwell, Simmons, Hancock, Shreffler & Thorn, 2017). It was determined in the study that this hypothesis was only partially confirmed as viewers had more similar, positive reactions while the athlete was in a neutral or combative representation, than the sexualized representation. Specifically, those reactions were that the athlete appeared to be more talented, successful, and tougher (Greenwell et al., 2017). These results showed a great improvement in the nature of society. The fact that we have somewhat normalized female participation in stereotypically male sports is huge progress for gender equalization. Likewise, not only did the results show it was normalized but also that the women were viewed in a positive light! While the results of the other hypotheses show that there is still a market for sexualizing women in advertisements, this hypothesis proved that a company can have success marketing women for being successful and strong in their sport, even if it is considered a masculine sport.

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31(6), 533–545. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.library.astate.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=125676286&site=eds-live&scope=site

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ineka_martin 1d
I agree that this hypothesis gave the best analogy for women representation in combat sport. Women are often portrayed as feminine and referred to as "girl" or "young lady" and posed in a sexual nature rather than highlighting their actual talent to play the sport - even combat sports. I also like that this was proven to be a more successful means of advertising when they shed light on their actual talent rather than their attractiveness.

Michael Shedd 23h
Yes, this hypothesis had surprisingly contradictory results to the other hypotheses. It is great to see that it was possible for women to be seen as talented, strong, and skilled competitors.
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Week 2 Discussion

tonya_raborn
1d
Week 2 Discussion
This article brings to light conversation that has gone on around my circle of friends forever.  The perception of female athletes dependent upon how they are portrayed.  The research in this article tests the perception based female athletes portrayed in a sexual, neutral or combative manner and the affects each of those have on attitude, brand and consumption.  The effectiveness of advertising varies based off of who is viewing that advertisement. Males tend to have a greater reaction when females are represented through their sexuality. Where women tend to have a more positive reaction to female athletes that are portrayed as neutral or combative.
Female athletes portrayed in a sexual manner may not be seen for their full athletic potential. In the same respect, those being portrayed in a neutral or combative manner may not have all of their attributes recognized either.
While this article focused on females athletes in MMA, it is my opinion that some of the same characteristics and findings would exist in a multitude of sports.
I would like to see further research done going beyond the scope of just looking at female athletes in MMA to  comparing the views when looking at both male and female athletes in various sport arenas.
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James Basta 1d
I think you are right in stating that looking “beyond the scope of just looking at female athletes in MMA” would be wise for this sort of research. Combat sports are very distinct in their culture and looking at sports such as figure skating, tennis, golf or any other sort of sport that would typically be associated with higher prestige so to speak would certainly help put this article in more of a complete context.

Melanie Aldridge 9h
I agree with you that some of the same characteristics and findings would be seen in other female sports as well. Maybe not as much with the more “feminine” sports, but especially with the more “masculine” sports. A study on different sports and how males are viewed would be interesting to compare. Possibly take a sport that males and females participate in, such as basketball, and do a similar study. Also, I believe it would benefit to research the best way to advertise female athletes in a way that most of their attributes are displayed. The goal should be to draw in more viewers as well as promote the athlete and sport in the best way possible.
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Week 2 Discussion

Nathan Rininger
1d
Week 2 Discussion
I used Greenwell’s article as a source for my term paper in another class. My topic was challenges in advertising and this was a big one in my opinion. The article shows that when women were shown in a more sexualized manor in advertisements, they were viewed as more personable as opposed to being presented in a more combat-oriented manor. This presents a problem. On one hand, sexualized fighters may create higher attitudes and interests. On the other hand they could be viewed as a lesser fighter.  Advertisers have to make the judgement call. It may seem easy to say that the advertiser should always do what’s right and promote the fighters as the athletes that they are. But they also have to balance that with their job of drumming up interest and viewership however they can.

Often times, the female fights are only undercard fights for pay-per-view fights. Rarely are they headlining the fight. The current driving force behind people watching the female fights is the fights that follow them. It is not fair, but it is the reality with many female sports. I think the movement by Nike to try to include a variety of athletes has been a step in the right direction. I hope more companies will follow their lead.

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Collin Minga 1d
Your last thought is the most important factor I believe in changing the perceptions of female athletes and female sports. As more companies begin to involve them and publicize them for who they are and what they do, I think that more people will begin to appreciate and enjoy female sports.

Pedro SolisJr 12h
I agree with your post and how women combat sports are the under card for big events and understand that promoters need to use whatever sells the event. I have my owe personal believe that everyone should get the recognition for their ability and talent but that’s not the case for organizations trying to make money. I like the approach the Nike is taking and showing support for athletes with different backgrounds and genders. Nike has one of the biggest shoes companies in the world and can impact buyers to support certain athletes with the promotion through commercials and can present however they wish.
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Week 2 Discussion

Shane Buchanan
1d
Week 2 Discussion
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Week 2

Raven Ward
2d
Week 2
For those who are not familiar with UFC, may want to watch the fight coming up Nov 3rd.  In the UFC organization women are always on the ballot to fight but they are the pre entertainment for the men. On February 23, 2013 Ronda Rousey and Liz Carnouche made UFC history by headlining UFC 157. Women are known to be soft and feminine but these ladies showed they could compete with the men. Ronda was the crowds fan favorite because her brand makes her more relatable. Ronda doesn’t present herself manly or masculine. Companies think the only way to present and sell tickets for females is sex appeal. A fighter’s skills should be the determine factor in the public.  I feel like more marketing towards female audience is needed in order to help grow the female viewers. Males are drawn to sex and the research proved such. I was not surprised at the results. Sex is everywhere in advertisement; these companies sell these athletes for their attributes versus their skills.

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31(6), 533–545. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.library.astate.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=125676286&site=eds-live&scope=site
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David Paschal 22h
I agree that Rhonda completely proved that the women can fight and handle the spotlight in the main event. Also, you are right that she never considered herself to be manly or present herself that way. However, I do know that she did acknowledge that she was muscular than most women. Instead, though, I feel that Rhonda did a good job of promoting a "love you body for what it is" stance. I feel that she did a great job in helping little girls start to understand that they didnt't have to fit into a certain box just because society believed that they did.

dylan_biedron 19h
I think Rhonda Rousey is a great example case for this study. A casual viewer may be drawn in by her physical attractiveness or sexualized advertising. More of her "hard-core" fans were much more interested in her fighting ability and skill. She was able to bring in causal viewers while simultaneously presenting herself as a skilled fighter to the die-hard UFC fans. Probably why she was so popular and the face of UFC while in her prime.
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Week 2 Discussion

Lauren Bradshaw
2d
Week 2 Discussion
This article focuses on how consumers see female athletes when they are portrayed in one of three ways sexual, violent, or neutral. A lot of ads have female athletes portrayed in a sexual way which men think of in a positive way but most women are on the opposing side. Although the ad may be appealing and attract some consumers it has nothing to do with their ability. It seems as if they are trying to down play their talent. I think this happens only because it’s still not fully acceptable for women to play “Masculine” sports. I like that the author brings up brand. A lot of people don’t understand that each athlete/ individual has their own and image or brand they are building.

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kstraub716 1d
I totally agree with you about how they try and down play their talent and go after their physical attraction to get consumers attention. My first thought was when Brandi Chastain from the US Women’s World Cup Soccer team in 2013 took her shirt off after scoring the winning goal. Right after that moment all you heard from commentators was she took her shirt off or how lady like is that for an athlete to do. No one concentrated on her ability to shoot a winning shot under immense pressure. Then under it states hit a penalty kick for the win. The headlines of the article even state “Changed World Cup and took her shirt off” (Mandell, 2013). Even though this was not a staged sexualized ad, the sexualized text and picture shown below goes to show you that this has been going on for a while and isn’t anything recent. While I don’t condone to this type of promoting or marketing I believe that skill level should be brought into play more than an image. Then I see it from some of my friends who have a favorite football team especially my sister. Oh, Aaron Rodgers is so hot and she’s a die hard Green Bay fan even though he’s not used in a sexualized manner. I think that promoters/markets are taking the easy way out with women and using their looks to help increase the events. ReferenceMandell, N. (2013, October 10). 14 years ago Brandi Chastain changed U.S. soccer, won a World Cup, and took her shirt off. Retrieved from https://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/10/14- years-ago-brandi-chastain-changed-u-s-soccer-won-a-world-cup-and-took-her- shirt-off

kstraub716 1d
I guess padlet doesn't let you add photos so it didn't show up.

tonya_raborn 1d
Lauren, I agree too that it seems as though when it comes to promoting strong female athletes the focus goes to her looks or sexuality. In concentrating on this from a MMA point of view, I think it is safe to say that males make up the majority when looking at spectators. I feel that males are going to watch these fights regardless of whether the fighters are male or female. With that being said, I do think that consumption of these female fights are made more appealing to males through the use of portraying the sexuality of the female fighters. I do think these types of ads may contribute to the loss of female consumers, but not at a rate that would matter much.
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Discussion Board 2.1

Michael Shedd
2d
Discussion Board 2.1
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Week 2 Discussion

benton_austin
2d
Week 2 Discussion
This article focuses on the emergence of female fighters in the world of Mixed Martial Arts and the reactions of different genders in regard to the way the fighter is represented in Ads. In the studies provided, female fighters are shown in 3 separate lights including sexualized, combative and neutral. Men found that the sexualized version is more appealing but is less credible as a fighter. Women share the same doubt of the female fighters ability when in the sexualized stance.

The results of this article are surprising to myself personally because I am not a fan of watching MMA. I do not find the sexualized version of a fighter to be more appealing, I feel that a fighters skills should be the deciding factor in their public image. The fact that men were so swayed by the presentation of the athletes shows the power that media and sports marketing have on the average viewer. It is shameful in my opinion that women cannot hold the attention of men by merit alone.

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jay_johnson2 2d
I don't disagree with your take on an athlete's public image, but is this only shameful because it is regarding the sexualization of an athlete or is it shameful because athletes are not being evaluated on their skill, but rather non-sport related qualities? I ask because I think there are a lot of athletes, both male and female, who gain fame and popularity based on characteristics not related to their skill in a sport.

ineka_martin 1d
I agree that, unfortunately, the visual given in advertising sets the tone for viewership. I also like that you said it was shameful that men are more swayed by the sexual content that the actual talent of the fighter. I would love to see men sexualized in advertising and see how male viewership is affected!

Melanie Aldridge 9h
I believe it is very disappointing that women cannot hold the attention of men by merit alone,. Female athletes work extremely hard at their sport just like male athletes do, and yet they are usually viewed as less. I am not a fan of MMA either, but I think a fighters skills, no matter male or female, should be how they are presented. The sports media and marketing industry have a huge impact on most viewers with how they present female athletes, and if they would present them in a way that displays their skills above all else, then maybe they could hold others attention by merit alone.
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Week 2 Discussion

jay_johnson2
2d
Week 2 Discussion
The article focuses specifically on the way men and women react to seeing different versions of advertisements for women in MMA. The different advertisements presented were sexualized, combative and neutral. As expected, men preferred the sexualized version and also had positive reactions to the combative advertisements. Women preferred the neutral advertisements and didn’t react positively to the sexualized or combative versions.

I thought it was interesting that, while men reacted positively to the sexualized version, they thought that version was the poorest fighter of the three versions. Men reacted positively to the combative version and thought that version was the most competent. I think it would serve MMA well to advertise in this way. By advertising your athletes as “eye candy,” diminishes their athletic prowess and cheapens their sport. Also, the article suggests this may only be an effective form of advertising for a short term as men may lose interest. By marketing their fighters as combative athletes, they receive the positive reactions from male spectators without marginalizing the fighters and their sport.

I think it is also important to mention the article states the majority of spectators of MMA (male fighters or female fighters) are male, which is why the focus is on the male audience. More research is needed in the area of MMA marketing toward a female audience. Specifically, the sexualization of male fighters. This may help MMA to bring in a higher female viewership.
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benton_austin 2d
I agree with your ideas to attempt to raise the number of female viewers, but dont think that females refuse to watch because of the reasons listed. I feel that the "low-brow" nature of MMA is the real reason for low female viewer numbers. If the sport was portrayed in a more professional manner, It would be a much needed improvement to the culture of the sport.
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Discussion 2.1

Armond Weh-Weh
2d
Discussion 2.1
This article focuses on a huge dilemma not just in MMA, but also in all of sports dealing with female athletes. Most companies believe that the only way to sell tickets for female athletes is for their advertisements to be sexualized. The problem with this is that this has nothing to do with their sport or athletic ability. There was a sample of athletes taken during this article and most female respondents preferred the same type of presentations that males get over the male respondents. This would be an obvious choice considering how much men love to idolize women’s bodies more than admiring their abilities. I believe this to be the case because females just aren’t respected as much when it comes to sports. They may be good, but they will never be considered better than men. Which means that they will never be considered one of the best. When you mention the best basketball players, women are never mentioned. This is the same case when it comes to MMA sports or any other sport where men are considered dominant. This is why I believe women advertisements are sexualized because this could be one of the only advantages they are considered to have.
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Raven Ward 2d
I agree, when it comes to sports, people automatically think of men like women don't exist or don't compare. People are too busy trying to make women more sexually appealing when we are naturally sexy appealing. Lisa Leslie, Mya Moore are women in basketball who has made a name for themselves for being great but nobody talks about them.
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Discussion 2.1

cal_lasister
2d
Discussion 2.1
In my undergrad studies I focused on Greek history. It was interesting how women were treated during the development of sports and the first Olympics. The reason why participants competed in the nude was to keep women from entering into the competitions. Therefore sexuality in sports is really nothing new. Women in those days created their own footraces and competitions. Unfortunately with media and advertising dollars as stakeholders in combat sports, perceptions become slanted more toward sexuality and less capability.  as stated by others in the class, this has been a constant issue for quite some time in all of women's sports. Just recently in sports Serena Williams became a controversial subject due to a McEnroe moment. John McEnroe has exhibited aggressive behavior in his playing days but it was never related to his gender identity as to why he was having a meltdown.
Nike has challenged this standard by featuring transgender athletes. The marketing and advertising directors of the sports world must evolve to be more sensitive to the changing times in women"s sports.
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kstraub716
2d
Discussion 2.1
This article deals with how our society portrays women in masculine sports.  UFC is one of the nations leading combat sports and it wasn’t until 2013 when women made their debut in the industry.  The industry was full of men pounding away at each other until one either gave up, got knocked out or a submission was performed.  This was labeled as one of the toughest sports in the sports industry and labeled as a masculine sport.  When females came into the industry it was out of the normality and they were looked at as masculine instead of feminine.  That was until promoters and marketers found a way to for males to become attracted to the sexualized imagery of the female fighter.  The imagery is what brought attention to the female fighters, men were not worried about their skill it was the physical attraction that got their attention.  This is sad to say for our society these days that we are that low to only rout for a female going off of their looks rather than their physical ability.  Female wrestlers are not portrayed this way, in college we had a female wrestling team and it was more about the skill and production of wins rather than how they looked.  Do females bring money in and brand an image for UFC?  Sure, they do, and the promoters have done a good job at promoting them using sexualized imagery and text.  I remember when Rhonda Rousey was fighting against Holly Holm there were so many ads about Rhonda and her beastly combat attractiveness but then you have Holly Holm who was portrayed as the beauty queen of UFC.  In the study they used the person with less skill as the sexualized image and this was a prime example of that done by UFC promoters.  At the end of the day UFC is a business and they will do whatever they can to gain the attention of their consumers.  It’s very sad to see that they are using women in a sexualized way to promote their industry.  I wonder if they didn’t and just used combat imagery how would the ratings be right now?  It seems that UFC became more popular when women fights were present on the fight card as well.  I’m confused why men think its so attractive watching two women beating the 🤬 out of each other.  It reminds me of being at a bar when they have mud wrestling contests for women or jelly fights.  Some people watch it for the skill, but I can almost guarantee that 80% of the men that watched that fight were more attracted to the women rather than watching their skill.

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Women in Combat Sports

Kevin Berry
2d
Women in Combat Sports
I found the results of this study to be not surprising at all but also, as a fan, and someone who trains in MMA found the research done to be quite interesting. The authors looked at how the style of imaging (sexualized, neutral, combat) affected consumer’s feelings towards a fighter or a specific fighting event. Not surprisingly the male fans were more drawn to the sexualized advertisements while the female fans preferred the more neutral ones.  There were other findings in the study but this was the most prominent result. The study also looked at the effects the imaging would have on the athletes branding and how the results could change how athletes brand and market themselves.

As I mentioned previously, none of the findings of the study were all that surprising. The differences in gender reactions to the various styles of ads, were exactly what I would have guessed just using common sense and gender stereotypes. I think a bigger sample size would have been more useful and I would like to see a similar type study done that focuses on people who identify as ‘super fans’ of the MMA world and see how their scores differ from the casual fans. I would think that those in the MMA community would have different reactions, especially to the branding of athletes, based on the different styles of advertisements because there is going to be an inherent level of respect for the fighters regardless of ad style when you are someone who is heavily involved in MMA either as a fan or participant.

I also think the limitations of the study were a key point. These were all print advertisements so there was no research done on how video ads, specifically on the internet or social media would affect viewers choices and feelings towards fighters and events.
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Anonymous 1d
Kevin I definitely agree with you this article was not surprising at all because outside of MMA, UFC, and sports in general sex sells. Males are more attracted to sexy advertisement. I think personally sexy ads catch more attention whether positive or negative from both males and females. I would've also liked to see super fans in this survey and not just random surveyors. I think the super fans options would've been more realistic since they pay attention so much to everything and they actually spend money on magazines and events. If the researchers really want to further investigate on this topic the best thing would be to select MMA/UFC super fans that watch, engage, and spend on the brand.
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Discussion 2: Women in Combat Sports

Miles Drummond
2d
Discussion 2: Women in Combat Sports
As stated in the title this article focuses predominantly on women in combat sports. More specifically on observations made on consumers attitudes towards these female athletes. attitudes of these consumers, whether positive or negative, are shaping the way that advertisers for these female athletes are showing off their products to the public. being that the women are portrayed as either skilled athletes, sexual/physical attraction, and in a neutral light when advertising to promote these MMA events.
physical attraction is a very effective advertising tool for these events as the audience viewing these events are predominately male. Males tend to respond more positively, in terms of viewing numbers, to sexualized advertising of female combat athletes. the research found that this stereotype was in fact correct with males responding more positively to the sexualized ads. while at the same time finding that women found these sexualized ads less favorable. With the current state of combat sports and the growth and support women are getting in these combat sports. advertisers will have to adjust their advertising styles for the women of these combat sports. focusing not only on their physical attractiveness, but their skill in MMA combat sports as well.

Advertising and promotion has been, and will always be, about making as much money from that particular event as possible. unfortunate as it is to say sexuality tends to sell very well in this day and age. not everyone has this particular view, sexualizing women for profit, when it comes to women in combat sports, but it is very prominent. it will continue to be that way until we as a society change our views about women in general.

I believe that their will be change in the way that women are portrayed in the media, but it will have to come after our views as a society change. for this is the reason why the change in MMA and other sports females participate in tend to use sexualized and physical attractive advertising techniques. Once society as a whole shifts is views and portrayals of women and what is considered "attractive" then we will see a paralleled shift in the world of sports as well.
Greenwell, T.C., Simmons, J.M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). the Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentation of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31(6), 533-545.
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Erik Lemley 1d
It seems that for the sport of female MMA to grow, the leadership will need to promote the skill of the female participants, in order to recruit more female participants and fans. The research showed that the margin between the male and female participants was not extremely large, male fans and female fans would be intrigued simply by the combat advertisements. The struggle for female participants is that while the combat ads give a perception of their skill, "sex sells" and they may be more marketable through sexual advertisements. The research seems to show that it is a catch-22 in terms of marketability.
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Discussion Post 2: Women in Combat Sports

Eric Solis
2d
Discussion Post 2: Women in Combat Sports
This article studies the way female combat athletes are portrayed in the media and more so in advertising. Typically when male athletes are competing there tends to an emphasis in violence and physicality to promote the fight. Compared to female athletes, they are advertised more on their physical attraction or sex appeal rather than their actual talent. In a sport where it’s mostly dominated and viewed by men this tends to be the trend. Not only are women sexualized but they aren’t taken serious. Many great female combat athletes like Ronda Rousey have helped improve the growth of women in the UFC and have changed people’s perception of women in combat sports. However, advertisers know that “physical attraction is an important contributor to consumer attitudes evidenced by the role sexuality plays in marketing” (Greenwell, Simmons, Shreffler, Thorn). Even though it is wrong to advertise women for their looks rather than ability, advertisers know it’s going to sell. Advertisers aren’t going to try and sell something to a market that isn’t going to work. They want to hype up the event as much as they can and get people (males) more intrigued to buy the fights.

Results showed that female fighters preferred a more neutral advertisement than males did. The results also showed that when advertisements were in the sexual nature they were more favorable towards the male audience but also degraded female combat fighter’s physical ability.

I believe that there needs to be a change in the way women are portrayed in the media and it all starts with going against the norm and trying to change the way people perceive women’s sports. Women’s sports needed to be on the same level as men as far as pay and marketing opportunities. Once these changes are made it will create a trend to elevate women’s sports.

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31(6), 533–545. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.library.astate.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=125676286&site=eds-live&scope=site

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dakota_saeler 2d
I agree with your statement on how certain women have changed how we look at women competing in combat sports. Rhonda Rousey changed the sport of MMA forever. She showed that women in a "man's sport" should be taken seriously. I agree that sexualizing women sells to consumers watching. There needs to be a change to how female athletes are viewed.

Armond Weh-Weh 2d
I agree with your assessment here. I am a huge fan of MMA, and it has taken over the fight world. UFC is a big reason for this. It surprisingly started with Ronda Rousey, who helped bring a huge spotlight to the UFC. She started the rise for women athletes in the UFC, and since then their division has taken off. You have stars like Holly Holm and Cyborg who are considered absolute beast. So I definitely agree that this was a good time to study this particular area and sport because of the quick rise in such a short amount of time.

jay_johnson2 2d
I understand the frustration with women's sports not being presented on the same stage as men. My question is how do we level the playing field? People in marketing are paid to make the most effective advertisements possible. While it may be unfortunate, I would imagine this is why female athletes are sexualized so often, because it's effective. Additionally, networks televise and promote events that will get ratings. I hope with the continued growth of women's' sports we can start seeing female athletes as competitors and stop leaning on sexualization for promotion of women's' sports.
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Women in Combat Sports

michael_prandy
2d
Women in Combat Sports

This Article was about how people look at women who compete in combat sports such as UFC or MMA.  Researchers compared how sexuality/physical attraction compared to portraying women as skilled athletes or combative and also in a neutral light in advertising and promoting these events.

Physical attraction plays a large role in how the events are viewed because most of the audience of combative sports are men.  Men traditionally respond to the sexual aspect of advertising in a more favorable manner than do women.  The researcher found just that; women found the sexuality in the promotional ads less favorable overall.  With the growth women in combative sports, advertisers are now using ads that promote both aspects of women in the sport.  Promoters still push the sexuality of the athletes but also their skill and ability (Knock out vs. Bone Crusher).

Promotion and advertising for as long as I can remember has used sexuality to sell just about everything.  Promoting and advertising an event is about making as much money as possible, so if selling sex makes money that’s what they will sell.  Obviously not all of society view women as sexual objects that can be told what to do and how to do things but until more of society decides these views are unacceptable it will continue.

I have two girls of my own and have coached girls’ sports, I see more and more of the skill, hard work, dedication, and determination that these athletes put into their trade.  I have a great appreciation for what and how they perform at such high levels and that this younger generation of athletes have someone to look up to and it has nothing to do with how you look.
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Armond Weh-Weh 2d
I agree with your comments overall in this post. I think you did a very good analysis of the article. I believe physical attraction is a huge reason why this is such an issue. It sucks for females as well because this is really the only way that they can get recognized unfortunately. I am sure the way that they think of it is that if you have an advantage, you should use it in any way. Especially in a field where males are so dominant. Women are considered beautiful creatures and this is just the cards that they have been dealt.

Erik Lemley 1d
I definitely agree with your assessment that sex sells and those that promote sports, will continue to use sexuality as a technique of promotion. However it was refreshing to see that the respondents viewed the fighters in the sexual ads as inferior fighters, and the fighters in the combat poses as more skilled. This shows a change to a more accepting culture of female combat sports. The more people show value to the skill of the athletes over how they look, the more progress will be made. The gap in the different ads seemed to be small enough that it would be possible for the MMA to advertise female fights based on the combat skill that the athletes possess, and may actually increase the fan base by doing so.
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Women in Combat Sports

Adam Lucas
2d
Women in Combat Sports
This article studies the way female athletes in combat sports are advertised and how consumers interest in the sports changes based on the advertising methods. The study found that females preferred a more neutral presentation significantly more than males. Both male and females felt that the fighter in the sexualized advertisements was more attractive and charming than the fighter in the neutral or combat ads and more personable than the fighter in the combat ads. However, people also thought that the females in the sexualized ads were less talented than the ones in the neutral ads.
When it comes to promoting combat sports featuring more contact and violence than traditional sports marketers have a variety of options. One UFC event used the nationality of two male fighters. Also for two male fighters the ads focused on the physicality and violence. The promotion of female fighters used physical attraction and/or sex appeal.
It doesn’t surprise me that when promoting female athletes that some advertisers want to sexualize their advertisements. Sex is, unfortunately, everywhere in advertisements. For example, I am a huge baseball fan as well as my entire family. However, we can’t watch a baseball game without having to see commercials about ED or a Hardees commercial with a half-naked model on the screen. It makes it very difficult to watch sporting events with my nephews who are all eight years old and under. So when it comes to combat sports, while they are gaining a lot of followers, adding female fighters needs to gain attention so it will become popular. So the advertisers working for combat sports do what every other sports advertisements do, they appeal to the sexuality and attractiveness to females to try and gain the attention of more fans.

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Michael Riazzi 2d
You are right in saying sex is everywhere in advertising. The old montra was "sex sells". It always has and always will.

Michael Riazzi 2d
Cont: I Agree with you that the women that watched the sexualized advert did not like the ad, and felt like there was little to no skill involved. The way the UFC used the nationality of the fighter is a clever way around sexualizing the fighters. this also leads to the point that most people liked the nonsexualized ads better than the purely sexualized according to the study. this would also open the doors to a younger fan base because the parents would be less worried with ads the youths are seeing.

Casey Vaughan 3h
I thought you pin pointed exactly what the article was trying to relay to us in that females in the sport of UFC have more sexuality based advertisements to try to lure in more fans because a lot of people don't understand the hard work and talent it takes to be in the UFC but more as "people just fighting in an octagon like barbarians". I think its unfortunate that sex appeal plays a role in female athletes but at the same time you can't get everyone to learn and understand a predominately male sport so whatever it takes to make the business money.
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Women in Combat Sports

kevin_wathen
2d
Women in Combat Sports
This article observed consumers attitudes toward women in combat sports. These attitudes both negative and positive have helped shaped the way in which advertisers are appealing their products to the consumer. When creating advertisements that are sexual in nature the results have been more favorable to the male audience but undermine the female's physical ability.
Female athletes are also taking on endorsement deals from companies like Carl's Jr., Golf Digest and Sports Illustrated that are portraying women in a hypersexualized role. This portrayal helps us understand traditional societal norms that are slowly changing but still remain in the industry. In order to change these norms advertisers must portray female athletes for their ability instead of their attractiveness.
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benton_austin 2d
The advertising that is utilized to enthrall the male viewer is silly to even comprehend, yet it is extremely effective. It is a shameful thing that the gender that I identify with is so selfish and childish that women are treated as sex objects and not athletes or actresses. Our female athletes will never be taken seriously until male viewers can grow enough to see value in women that is beyond look and sexuality.

Nathan Rininger 1d
I agree with you and Benton. It is ridiculous that its still allowed to advertise in that manor. Unfortunately, we are far too slow to change. In too many ways, men are still believed by many as more competent by many ignorant people. If you look at most political offices or executive positions in most fields, they are held by men. Society seems to be changing, but it is far too slow.

Dominic Drury 7h
I agree with all three of you. I am clad Benton that you brought up how this issue goes far beyond just combat sports, and sports in general. These advertisements are meant to bring in business to that particular company and unfortunately this issues is not going to change until our society changes. If men keep having a positive reaction to attractive, and many times fake (photoshopped) females in ads, this sexualization is going to continue.
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Women in Combat Sports

chandler_stephens
2d
Women in Combat Sports
In an industry typically dominated by men, women have made a push into the non-traditional gender role of participating in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). This article focused on how best to advertise these females and the events in which they are involved by testing whether sexualized, combative, or neutral ads would be the best fit. Physical attraction has been found to be one of the most crucial factors of a potential product endorser and a significant influencer of sport consumption and public interest in sport. The researchers found that the sexual nature of some advertisements may be more appealing to men than to women which typically is more representative of the population of people that watch MMA. However, these sexualized ads make the athletes appear less skilled, talented, and respected by viewers.
The result of men finding the sexualized ads appealing was not surprising to me. I was surprised however at the result of women appealing to the combative ads as well as the neutral ads. I agree with the author’s conclusion that these sexualized ads may only be beneficial in the short-term and not the long-term. I agree that over time, these ads can demoralize women and make the female fighters less effective in promotions. I feel like a good neutral ground would be to promote them in a combative ad because those appealed to both men and women just not as much as sexualized or neutral. This way, you keep the reputation of the female athlete’s actual ability in tact. I do think it would be intriguing to look at the opposite case scenario in which male fighters were portrayed in sexualized, combative, or neutral ads to see how they are perceived. I would imagine that even if they were sexualized, they wouldn’t face the same issue of "not being taken seriously" as females do.

Greenwell, T.C., Simmons, J.M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., and Thorn, D. (2017). The effects of sexualized and violent presentations of women in combat sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31. 533-545.
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Erik Lemley 1d
I completely agree with your assessment of the article and your beliefs. In terms of growing the sport it would be interesting to see how potential fans that are female would react to male fighters portrayed in a sexual manner. I think even male fans might question the ability of a male fighter if he was advertised using a "glamour shot" type of photo.
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Women in Combat Sports

Joshua Anderson
2d
Women in Combat Sports
This weeks article brought forth interesting commentary on how groups like UFC, Bellatore, and Invicta, go about advertising for events, and in turn the response and reactions of the viewers to the ways in which female fighters are presented. The study in itself is very interesting and timely in the sense that there has been a strong uptick in the number of not only female fighters, but also female fights which garner main event or co-main event status.  The results of the study were fairly predictable in the sense that men reacted more favorably to ad with women presented in a sexualized manner, and females reacted less favorably.  When presented in a more neutral way or a way in which their combat was the focus, the female fighters were seen in a much different light, and their skills were legitimized by both the men and women who were apart of the observation.

Again I do not think this data would surprise anyone who remotely follows not only women's MMA, but also anyone who follows women's sports as a whole. The study lacked a strong comparison between the ways in which the same sample viewed male fighters, to really develop a discussion about the differences in views between fighters of different genders.

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chandler_stephens 2d
While I agree that a study of males needs to be included in order to really develop a discussion about the difference in genders, I don't think that that was the topic of this article. To me, the topic of this article was specifically looking at females. I do think that it would be interesting to do another study, but with males and then compare the results with that of this study to develop a thorough topic of discussion on the different view of genders in combat sport and how they are perceived by the public.

Victoria Eskola 23h
Piggybacking off of this article, I found an article that looked at soccer and the attractiveness and athletic ability of both males and females. Although the athletes portrayed were just shown playing and with a very neutral photo, the study found that attractiveness equally effected the attention given to both male and female soccer players. Seems to be a lot of research to indicate that women don't seem to be as interested in the sexualized images of women, but would be interesting to see if if they feel the same way about male athletes. Is this a way to get more female viewers, which is the argument as to why the female athletes have to be sexualized , because the target audience for sports is men and this is how you get them to watch female sports. Would more female viewers lead to focusing on male attractiveness and less on female? Who knows?!
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Women in Combat Sports

Caitlin Carney
2d
Women in Combat Sports
The underlying purpose was to evaluate the theory behind “sex selling”. Results of the article and supporting researched determined that women preferred a neutral position. Meaning neither sexual, nor combative image presentation. But what was shocking to me is that women responded to the fighter in a sexualized ad was “charming and more attractive” than comparing to other ads. The statistics and results presented in this article are very applicable to today’s society. Many women are training for historically male sports such as mixed martial arts, to include jiu itsu, and more “fantasy” leagues such as the lingerie league of women’s tackle football. I am not sure that there is a more obvious example of sex sells that the lingerie league. While it does not get any, or at least any that I have seen, televised air time, it might be easy to assume there are subscriptions via cable or internet providers to reach viewers.
Advertisers are also extremely selective in their personalities used for images and print. Thankfully, there has been a gradual transition after much backlash has been given to companies. Women have based their self worth on their likeness to the advertisement; how  their image appeared to be compared to the model. I was one of those women who found most clothing ads a personal attack because I didn’t look a certain way. This goes back to the research and results from this study; women felt more comfortable with a neutral advertisement, but seemed to feel empowered by a woman who was in a combative position, but still sexualized.

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Joshua Anderson 2d
I agree with you 100%... Advertisement in so much more psychology than it just trying to sell their product. They speak to the target group they hope to sell, and often times "put-off" those that do not fit that population. It has been that way since the 1920s when advertising took off and has not changed. Not only does sex sell, but people who are well known (actors/actresses, singers, sports icons) are the greatest source of information, moral compass, elections, etc... Thus, you see all of these people giving their hot take for controversial issues as they know the influence they have as individuals in the public eye.

Adam Lucas 2d
I agree with your opinions. As a male, I can't stand a lot of these advertisements on television today that are pushing the boundaries on what they can show when it comes to women in advertisements. As i mentioned in my post, I can't watch sporting events without an inappropriate commercial popping up with a female or male doing something sexual or having a sexual meaning behind it. I watch sports all the time with my nephews and other younger family members and it is ridiculous how much advertisements use sex as a way to get people's attention.

Kevin Berry 2d
The issue you raise about feeling bad if you don't look a certain way is going to be an ongoing issue that only we as a society can fix if we teach our youth differently. We have to have parents, coaches, teachers, etc. driving home the point to girls at very young ages that it doesn't matter what you look like or what your body type is. We need to be focussing on just being healthy, mentally and physically. You can have a bad BMI rating and still be healthy. You can be skinny and be unhealthy. What is important is what you do to take care of your body and mind.

cal_lasister 2d
Caitlin thanks for sharing your insights. I have a sister who was a good softball player, but as she got older, she felt to discouraged about playing because there was not enough pathways for women to be successful in sports. It is frustrating that women in sports cannot be recognized just for their skills and talent, and paid equally and respected.

tonya_raborn 1d
As an elementary physical education teacher, I have to help reverse the effects of this type of advertisement on a daily basis. I have so many students that see things on the various types of media and think that it is the only way to be. Young aspiring female athletes are exposed to so many confusing messages today. These girls think they should look a certain way, dress a certain way and even act a certain way all thanks to the advertising that is being put out every day. I try to explain and enforce to them to rely on their abilities. I try to get them to see that their ability to play ball, dance and even succeed academically are their tickets to success. They have a hard time "buying in" to this theory because of what they see being portrayed as what is great.
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Women in Combat Sports

Molly Lambert
2d
Women in Combat Sports
This article focuses on the effects of sexualized and violent ways women are viewed in combat sports. At the beginning it states the fact of how far combat sports for women have come in just five years . It made history when Rhonda Rousey and Liz Carmouche were able to compete as a Ultimate Fighting Championship that was featured everywhere. As time has shown not only are women getting to compete but now it has big effect on how women are viewed in these sports. In this study it shows that men are view on their talent but women are viewed mainly on the visual side of advertising. Men have made it well clear that even past how good they are they need to have a nice body. They want to understand how sport consumers view women competing in violent sports. When looking into this, physical attraction is the most important factor for someone who is looking to endorse the athlete. As a former women athlete I feel like this is true but very sad for people who compete in combat sports and are great but may not necessarily have the best body. This article has definitely brought attention to the situation and as I have looked into more articles it is only getting worse for women.
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David Martin 1d
I thought it was interesting when the author referenced the comment of a former male MMA fighter that basically said that an obese woman would be passed up for an athlete with good looks. In an era where society seems to be more accepting of a wider range of female body types, why not open up the opportunity to larger athletes in the world of MMA. If the athlete is skilled and trained, she should get shot as well.
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Women in Combat Sports

boneal21
3d
Women in Combat Sports
This article was about how female athletes who competed in combat sports were viewed by advertisers/respondents by reviewing past advertising of Mixed Martial Arts events.  One of the theories presented dealt with providing the respondents photo ads depicting sexuality and physical attractiveness and asked the respondents whether physical attraction of the females in the ads played a part in making them want to watch the event.  Although we see this all the time in advertising, we (men) seem to have tuned out what we are being sold and will look favorably on the product.

This form of marketing is obviously successful as it has continued to be the blanket format to most advertising, particularly as it relates to trying to get men to go to events or to purchase products.  This is seen even in the sport of boxing as the women in bikinis show the round cards before each round.

I thought it was an interesting hypothesis in the remarks for future research was would men and women respondents react the same if men were featured in ads depicting them in sexual and/or violent portrayals.  We have seen this form of advertising before with Fabio, the long haired gentleman starring in ads for a butter company.  This ad seemed to be a hit for women and not so much for men.  Which is why I believe women will continue to be used in this sexualized form of advertising versus men.

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Joshua Anderson 2d
I too found it that it would be interesting to look at the the way in which these same people would view the ads if it was a male fighter opposed to a female fighter. I also found it interesting that a study like this had not yet been completed looking at male fighters as MMA has been around along time and I'm sure the advertisers themselves have targeted potential PPV purchasers with sexualized, neutral, and combat driven ads in the past.
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spinneme
3d
This article looks into consumer's attitudes towards women fighters in the UFC using advertisements that portray them in a sexual, neutral and combative manners.  One of the important subjects talked about in this article was physical attraction. It is clear that physical attraction is an important contributor our attitudes. This statement is true  because sexuality plays a big role in marketing. It is safe to say that physical attraction plays a bigger role in female athletics than male athletics. If you have a twitter account and search a popular female athlete you will almost always see a tweet that talks about their looks or body, and not their athletic ability. One current stereotype is that people who are found to be more attractive are assumed to have other positive traits. This is unfortunate and hopefully we can look more into women's athletic ability instead of their physical attractiveness moving forward as well as judging men and women on all traits other than looks.
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Lauren Bradshaw 2d
I like how you talked about athletes who are more attractive tend to have positive traits. I also think athletes that who are more attractive tend to attract more attention despite their talents! This is seen a lot in women sports. I think better looking female athletes get more attention!
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Women in Combat Sports

brandon_palidar
3d
Women in Combat Sports

This article focused on the effects of violent/sexualized advertisements of who participate in combat sports. The article states that women have been experiencing sexual discrimination when they participate in combat sports. Sports especially combat sports have definitely been a male dominated industry. Combat sports are so male dominated that even Dana White who is the president of the Ultimate Fighter Championships (UFC) stated in a press conference in the early states of the UFC that there will never be a women who participates in the UFC. A number of years later his statement at that press conference was proven wrong, and since then women have been fighting a battle in the industry to be treated with respect and not made out to be sexualized for promotion of their fights. In one part of the article it was stated that male fighters could wear any sporting clothes desired for advertising their fights. On the other hand women were limited to wearing  “skimpy” or provocative clothing for their fight advertisements. This was conducted because combat sports are such a male dominated industry, and two females in a ring may not intrigue the male spectators. So in efforts to get the attention of these male spectators they have sexualized females who participate in the sport advertisement.
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Isaiah Lopez 2d
Brandon, I found it so crazy that the actual President of the UFC made such a statement and then a couple years later had two female fighters headlining a pay-per-view. Not only did they headline the pay-per-view but it was the highest in-arena attendance in UFC history which is a big accomplishment. Even with all that being said, you are still right, it is a male dominated sport. Women have made great strides and advancements in UFC and in sports in general but the sexualizing of females still continues by marketing teams and is seem in advertisements.
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Women in Combat Sports

spinneme
3d
Women in Combat Sports
This article looks into consumer's attitudes towards women fighters in the UFC using advertisements that portray them in a sexual, neutral and combative manners.  One of the important subjects talked about in this article was physical attraction. It is clear that physical attraction is an important contributor our attitudes. This statement is true  because sexuality plays a big role in marketing. It is safe to say that physical attraction plays a bigger role in female athletics than male athletics. If you have a twitter account and search a popular female athlete you will almost always see a tweet that talks about their looks or body, and not their athletic ability. One current stereotype is that people who are found to be more attractive are assumed to have other positive traits. This is unfortunate and hopefully we can look more into women's athletic ability instead of their physical attractiveness moving forward as well as judging men and women on all traits other than looks.
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Adam Lucas 2d
I agree that our society needs to move away from viewing female athletes in a sexual manner and look at their talents instead. I think one thing would help would be when female athletes who post pictures with very little clothing on social media or in magazines etc. don't help that cause. Not saying women are to blame of this at all, just that when female athletes do that it doesn't help turning people away from looking at them as an attractive person other than a good athlete.

dakota_saeler 2d
I agree that female athletes are viewed and even advertised because of their looks. So many female athletes have their talents ignored because of their looks. There are so many talented female athletes, but get judged because of their looks. I believe we as a society need to learn to stop advertising these athletes as "eye candy" and advertise them for their abilities. The problem is that the old mantra, "sex sells" is still a huge factor in today's society.
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Women in Combat Sports

Cory Gatto
3d
Women in Combat Sports
Unfortunately, spectators who view women’s sports often evaluate the female athlete based on their looks sometimes more than their level of skill. I think of a few years back when Danica Patrick joined NASCAR. Yea she was a good racer, but she was mostly popular because of her attractive advertisements on www.godaddy.com. There is a similar pattern when it comes to the advertisement of women who are involved in combat sports such as mixed martial arts. Professional wrestling also follows the same pattern as men are advertised as big strong athletes whereas females are portrayed as sexual in their advertisements. The article explains that when conversations take place about male athletes, their talent is usually the topic of discussion. In contrast, when female athletes are being talked about, the topic of discussion involves both talent and their attractiveness (Greenwell, 2016). I believe that the reason that this problem is so common in the sport industry is because at the end of the day, money is every business’ biggest motivator. Looking at the UFC, if portraying their women a certain way in their advertisements is going to increase their ratings and help them sell more tickets that is what they are going to do. I’m not saying I agree but business’ don’t care if we agree or not as long as they are making as much money as possible.

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Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentation of Women in Combat Sport

Krystal Weaver
3d
Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentation of Women in Combat Sport
There has always been a huge issue with women in the sport industry. This article is discussing women in combat sports. The gender role in sports is huge. The article also express what gender means to them. "Gender is the socially constructed rules, behaviors, activities and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women. Many always feel as if women can not fully participate in sports. Most sports are looked at as being masculine.
It was also mentioned that physical attraction is a huge part when it comes to being featured on any media. As we glance at the women sports today, think about the women that are featured on media. All the women have great physiques and attractive facial features.

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Cory Gatto 3d
I like the point you brought up about the women in sports media. All one has to do is turn on any sports media show (SportsCenter, etc.) and notice that every woman portrayed would be considered attractive by most people. It is unfortunate when you think about it because I’m sure that there have been a number of more qualified people who applied for a particular job in this industry that may not have received it because they were deemed less attractive then someone who is less qualified than them.

David Scorzelli 2d
These more qualified people always end up being commentators for games that keep them off the camera. Their voices are heard yet they are rarely shown on the television. it is sad that they are disqualified from live on set broadcasting just because they may not fit the "prototypical look"
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Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport

sarah_rodrigue
3d
Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport
The article focused on the effects of sexualized and violent presentation of women in combat sports. It explains that women were subjected to discrimination when it comes to sport. Over the years, the sports sector has been one of the male dominator industries. Women were supposed to fight for their rights for them to be treated well. One of the aspects that the article has focused on is the way women were supposed to conduct their sports adverts. For the male, they could wear any sporting clothes, and it would not be considered to be immoral (Greenwell, 2016). On the other hand, women were subjected to certain ways of dressing even when they are conducting these types of adverts. Over the years, women rights in the sporting sectors were limited, and the government was not putting any measure to address it. In that light, the researchers conducted an experiment that would explain the perception of women towards the way they are treated in the sporting sector.

Gender roles in sport is another topic that the article has focused on as it affects the way women are perceived in the sporting sector. In most cases, men are considered aggressive and tough even when they are competing in different sports. On the other hand, women are considered less aggressive and show a lot of kindness. In that regards, the women are given fewer roles in that sporting industry. It is important to note that as much as women compete among each other, they need to be motivated to put more effort. When they are treated in that way, it makes them develop the notion that the men as more superior to them. As such, it also affects their general performance.

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Krystal Weaver 3d
You pulled out so many good points in your padlet. I agree with everything you have posted. Women or gender in sports will forever be a topic in sports. I do not think women will ever get the publicity males receive from sports. Athlete brand image should not only focus on appearance more than athletes performances.
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The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport

kevin_jones4
3d
The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport
This was a very interesting article that I used in previous course when I wrote a paper on the sexualization of the female athletes in sport advertisements. The authors completed a study on the affects of female fighters and how they are used as promotional figures. Men have always viewed women in more sexual context when it comes to advertising and the better a female look or attractive their bodies are goes a long way in increasing male viewers. Men interest declined when they viewed the women fighters in a masculine state such in a combat position and it was the complete opposite for women. Their interest were more higher in the combat poses and neutral poses of female fighters and were more turned off by the sexualization of the female fighters. With major shifts in all of women combat sports the mixed martial arts world was the first to view women as fighters and not sexual objects. If you look back in the early 1990's in the wrestling world before MMA, women wrestlers were always sexualized on television, magazines, and video games. Now, women wrestlers are more celebrated for their in ring ability instead how sexually attractive they are. Women are now beginning to be viewed as athletes in the consumer eyes. They do not have to use their looks for promotional reasons anymore. Even though sexualization of the female is still being used in some cases of sports advertisements, we are now seeing more with their sport abilities and talents as marketing tools.
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Women in Combat Sports

Isaiah Lopez
3d
Women in Combat Sports
There has been a huge rise and interest in female fighters in MMA, ecpecially in the UFC. Female title bouts have headlined major pay-per-view events for the company and some of the biggest names in the industry are women fighters, such as Ronda Rousey and "Cyborg". In this article, research was gathered to test the different hypothesis on the perception of women in combat sports and how women are perceived through different advertises being used. The three different presentations used for research were sexualized, neutral, and combat advertisements. There was four hypothesis that experts came up with before studies were taken. The results provided support to most of the experts hypothesis. One hypothesis that was correct that I anticipated to be that way was that male consumers had more of a positive attitude toward an advertisement featuring sexualized representations of female fighters. The other hypothesis I predicted to be true was female consumers had a less favorable attitude toward sexualized advertising in general, especially towards female models shown in a sexual manner. Personally, I feel that women should be advertised as an athlete because that is what they put their time, effort, and energy into becoming. This article was a very interesting one and I am glad to see the interest in women sports rising, not only in UFC but in every sport.
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spinneme 3d
I like how you mentioned the rise and interest in the female side of the MMA and how there have been some women fights that have highlighted pay per view events. As we have previously read, women in sports are often times judged by what sports they are playing and how they look, rather than their athletic ability. By having women fighters in UFC highlight major events, the UFC has made a statement that they are highlighting their women for their abilities. This is a great step in changing the stereotype in UFC, and also helps female athletics in general.
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Women in Combat Sport

Zach Anderson
3d
Women in Combat Sport
This article is all about the way that women are perceived in combat sport especially Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). The article talks about how women are seen in different perspectives through advertisements and events. The article looked at three different things that portrayed women differently in advertisements (sexualized, combat, and neutral). It was concluded that men took a favoring toward the sexaualized advertisements verse the combat and neutral. On the contrary, women had positive attitudes toward the combat and neutral ads verse the sexualized advertisements. Women like to be seen as equal and not for just their beauty. It was stated in the article that men found the women who were physically attractive (sexualized) to have more personal traits and attributes, but were probably less talented and successful. The article also states that men are still preview women as not being violent. Men are not as attracted to the event for the violence, but from the beauty of the female fighters. This idea needs to change that women can not do what a man can do. Women need to be seen for their talents when it comes to sports and not their beauty. Beauty will get them no where in the sport. The only thing it can do is maybe grab the attention of  men to pay attention until they recognize their talents and enhance brand image.

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D2: Women in Combat Sports

Michael Riazzi
3d
D2: Women in Combat Sports
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Women in Combat Sports

andrewlatson95
3d
Women in Combat Sports
This article explains how gender affects the sports world today. This article brought up how using women to advertise sports increases the chances of them getting more men to watch a particular sport. As I look back at some MMA advertisements, I remember seeing women being use as advertisements to promote MMA fights. The article also states that when women are use for advertisements, other women are less likely to view that sporting event. I do not believe that if women weren’t used for advertising, men would not watch the sport. I believe men will watch the sport regardless of who advertises the particular sport. I think that using women for advertising is just another way to persuade men to view the sport. I do believe that women are as guilty as men in some ways. Some women watch sports just because of a man’s looks. The article also talks about how women who looks girly participating in a sport is less likely to get respect as an athletes. In my personal believe, I do not judge by looks, I judge by skills. I feel that women have a right to be exactly who they are while participating in sports. I believe that sporting organization have a right to advertise however they want to, but we do need to respect our female athletes as athletes.
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Anonymous 1d
As a women I personally like to see female athletes that look amazing and will still beat you with lipstick on. I don't mind seeing female athletes all dolled up, but I don't like to see them with all their clothes off posing half naked. That's where the lack of respect comes in. As long as b marketing keeps it tasteful. It's hard for female athletes to express their beauty. As a former athlete it was hard to keep my hair and nails done because you are constantly working out constantly training and sweating. There is no time for that. So when i see female athletes looking fabulous I commend them and society needs to so more represented. Your beauty shouldn't take away from your skills! I also agree with you that some women watch sports because their favorite player is attractive! It goes both ways in society everybody enjoys looking at something or someone that is physically attractive.

mirandal_jones 11h
As long as females keep signing the contracts for these endorsement deals that allow for their body to be portrayed in a sexual way, it will continue to happen. But I also think while being a former athlete who is also female, I enjoy seeing female athletes in their prime. Each sport has their desired look and when these athletes meet the consumers needs I think it benefits everyone. Men are also sexualized in many endorsement deals. But when a male poses top less, its a little different than a woman posing showing half her breast. Its a complete double standard that I do not think will ever be resolved.
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Women in Combat Sports

Eric Solis
3d
Women in Combat Sports
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Women in Combat Sport

Katie Gallagher
3d
Women in Combat Sport
The purpose of this article was to show the attitudes of males and females towards sexualized, neutral, and combat advertisements of women in combat sport. Women AD's tend to focus on the attractiveness of the athletes and not their athletic ability.  The authors focused on 4 hypothesis focusing on gender attitudes towards advertisements and gender perceptions toward performance and non-performance based branding.  It was not surprising that men had positive attitudes toward sexualized representation or that women had positive attitudes towards combat presentation of women athletes.  Yes these are society norms, but they are actually changing as MMA or UFC are gaining popularity.  If I were to ask people about what they would think about MMA female fighters being represented in a neutral or combat way, I don't think people would disagree with this.  Women are being held to a different standard in the athletic world, and I may be naive, but I believe that majority of consumers would not mind this kind of representation.  Yes, sex sells, but I would rather know that I am attending a talented, good fight than knowing how they look.  Lastly, the challenge I had with this article is that it only used one medium, photos.  I believe that using video as the medium could skew these results because it is much more impressionable than photos.
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Katie Gallagher 3d
Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The effects of sexualized and violent presentations of women in combat sport. The Journal of Sport Management, 31, 533-545.

Isaiah Lopez 3d
I was also not surprised by the results found by the research. The fact that men had positive attitudes toward sexualized representation and that women had a positive attitudes towards more of a combat presentation approach seemed like that would be the case. I completely agree with you about the talent being more important than the overall look of the athletes. The video medium would be a total different story if it was used. They would be able to show the true talent of the athletes with the video advertisement.
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Women in Combat Sports

Maggie Anstett
3d
Women in Combat Sports
I found that this article was somewhat common knowledge for how our society views female athletes and female athletes participating in combat or historically masculine sports and the results of the study showed similar connection to the popular beliefs of the American population. I found the quote by Mike Brown stated in the article where he said, “if he were to pay to see women fight, they should at least be topless,” to be a key point that hit home on the whole topic of female fighters. I would like to point out when Brandi Chastain whipped off her shirt in celebration at the Women’s World Cup when she scored the winning penalty for the U.S. in 1999 that the world went in uproar. You had females saying it was a display of female athletic power and you had males saying it was so disrespectful. I wonder how Mike Brown would feel about that? I personally feel that female athletes are not taken as seriously as males. A male athlete doesn’t have to think about how he looks the day of the game however females need to look attractive while competing. Like the article states the femininity stereotyping definitely comes in to play.
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Megan Voth 3d
Why do yup think a female has too look attractive while competing? That is a little bit of a stereotypical comment, because that may depend on the female. I certainly do not care how I look when I compete, I just care about playing, competing, and winning. Not every female is the same. Society views females as symbols of beauty, which is why some females care too much about physical attractiveness. Some females care too much about being accepted by society, feeling valued and appreciated by their looks. Why do you think people are not interested in female sports? A female competing against another female is the same competition as a male competing against another male.

Cory Gatto 3d
I don’t think that you’re understanding Maggie’s point. She is not saying that she feels this way. She is simply stating how a majority of the population views women’s sports. Females do not necessarily HAVE to look attractive while involved in athletics. However as the article states, their attractiveness plays a role in their popularity which causes females to care about their physical traits while playing a sport. Also, you’re right about female competition being the same as male competition. With that being said, if you look at the ratings its pretty obvious that the interest level in women’s sports is vastly lower than the interest in male sports. Maggie wasn’t saying she thinks people aren’t as interested in women’s sports, she was stating a fact because unfortunately, that is true and there is tons of evidence to prove it.

Eric Solis 2d
I agree with you on how this is common knowledge. Although article points out everything that is wrong with the way women are perceived in women's sports they don't offer a way that it can be changed. It seems to me that they are only pointing out the negatives without a solution or at least trying to figure out a way to fix the issue. In my opinion women's sports should be taken very serious. The US women's soccer team is very dominant and way better than the men's soccer team yet they aren't treated equally. Examples like this need to me exploited and talked about in order to make a serious change of perception of women's sports.
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Women in Sports (Combat)

Jeremiah Quattlebaum
3d
Women in Sports (Combat)
I side in the article with the statement of looking at more expertise than what the person can do rather than how sexual manipulating they are presented in. There are many that look good but are average to below at best but still get more attention than those that are more of a quality player (or fighter). Definitely hats off to those who have both! I think though many of these values that are placed on looks are a reflection on our society today. Good looks are more desirable than skill and achievement through hard work (without the looks). It seems like that is the only thing that can sell at times. Speaking for myself, I am not a big fan of female combat sports but I also understand that there is a large population of female fighters that do enjoy it. That is great and I can support that. I do wish however that more would be placed on actual achievement than rewarding the “prettier” ones. Mainstream media is very guilty of this. I also understand the value of money and the importance that is placed on advertising. It is a business and one that doesn’t stop for just anyone. I suppose I am still a firm believer of positive presentation. As a coach and teacher, I deal with youth that have broken homes and need role models to look up to that succeed through hard work rather than looks. The highly visible athletes in today’s world are who many of my students and athletes look to and those that are physically gifted are at times few and far between. Sometimes our youth can be blinded by “looks” instead of the work it might take to get to the same level.

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management,31(6), 533-545. doi:10.1123/jsm.2016-0333
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Megan Voth 3d
Why is society extremely concerned with physical attractiveness and looks? It seems to be within every single portion of life. I thought athletics could be the atmosphere where athletes just go out there and play, fight, or perform disregarding how a females makeup looked or how her hair fell in place. Why does all that matter? Who cares about how we look, we are all children of God and He created all of us beautiful in His own image. Too many people in society is concerned with looks and physical attractiveness. How can this be changed without it continuing to get worse and worse?

Ben Hickethier 1d
I like your take on the article Jeremiah. I want my son to grow up and understand no matter what, hard-work and waking up every day and going after what he wants is key. He may look to some of these sports figures as role models, and I can only hope that they are the ones who conduct themselves in a way that is professional and respectful, and don't exploit themselves. To respond to Megan Voth comment, it is all about $$ when it comes to why society is concerned with physical attractiveness. If a male or female athlete are offered a lot of money to endorse a company, but in return must do a commercial that might have a sexual component to it, they can decide to do it or not. The reality is that the average person would rather view someone they find attractive versus unattractive. Whether that is right or wrong, that's just reality. I am not sure this will change with the way the media is evolving.

mirandal_jones 10h
Megan-"Why is society extremely concerned with physical attractiveness?" Everything we select, do, or desire is based upon our attractiveness to it. For example, when you select your groceries, do you pick up the bruised overripe bananas, or do you pick up the perfectly yellow ones? More people are going to select the "perfect" ones. So when watching sports are you going to watch overweight and un-athletic people perform or would you rather watch fit and athletic people? Its sad but our society bases everything we do on the acceptance of others. And how we are accepted is based primarily on our looks.
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I find this article holds many true details about human nature and the psychology of men and women. There is a very primitive instinct in us that draws our attention to the opposite sex. I am a firm believer that men are far more involved in this conversation of sexual attraction, but women have their moments as well. It is no surprise that sports have capitalized on marketing their products by using sexual references to capture the attention of audiences, in fact it is smart. People pay attention and tune in with positive and negative feedback, but like they say, “any press, is good press”. Now, you can weigh in on this conversation by joining the party that is against sexual exploitation of female athletes, or you can choose to accept that this is how some sports figure and big experiences are portrayed. In my opinion, I must agree with many of you, I too think that we are behind when it comes to representation of female athletes in all sports. The term “professional athlete” relates to a skill set that is acquired and used by a very elite few on this planet. The term does not hold bias to gender and is meant to represent a body of work that an individual has spent a lifetime developing. It is a shame to see many advertising methods focus on the “body” rather than the “body of work”. Men that have been paying attention to society around them, will understand that we must be very cautions with what we say and how we act around women. I say this, not to weigh in on a social topic, but to show that times are changing, and the voice of all women is becoming stronger and more independent. The days of keeping female athletes in a small box, will soon be no more.

Michael Bond
3d
I find this article holds many true details about human nature and the psychology of men and women. There is a very primitive instinct in us that draws our attention to the opposite sex. I am a firm believer that men are far more involved in this conversation of sexual attraction, but women have their moments as well. It is no surprise that sports have capitalized on marketing their products by using sexual references to capture the attention of audiences, in fact it is smart. People pay attention and tune in with positive and negative feedback, but like they say, “any press, is good press”. Now, you can weigh in on this conversation by joining the party that is against sexual exploitation of female athletes, or you can choose to accept that this is how some sports figure and big experiences are portrayed. In my opinion, I must agree with many of you, I too think that we are behind when it comes to representation of female athletes in all sports. The term “professional athlete” relates to a skill set that is acquired and used by a very elite few on this planet. The term does not hold bias to gender and is meant to represent a body of work that an individual has spent a lifetime developing. It is a shame to see many advertising methods focus on the “body” rather than the “body of work”. Men that have been paying attention to society around them, will understand that we must be very cautions with what we say and how we act around women. I say this, not to weigh in on a social topic, but to show that times are changing, and the voice of all women is becoming stronger and more independent. The days of keeping female athletes in a small box, will soon be no more.
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Jeremiah Quattlebaum 3d
I agree completely. I have a daughter, I want her to do and believe that she can become whatever she wants to accomplish. I do however want to see her do it in a manner that doesn't seek to exploit her looks in those ways. Combat sports are acceptable in both gender in today's world even though there is still much discussion about the belief about whether women should or shouldn't do it. If they do then great, let's focus and celebrate the nature of it itself rather than sexualize it where that is the only reason people tune in.

Isaiah Lopez 3d
And that is exactly what these advertisement agencies and marketing teams are doing. They know how to reach their viewers and to bring in more fans so they are just capitalizing on what works and I do not see that changing. I really liked this post and how you defined a "professional athlete", I could not agree more. You also made a valid point when you said the voice of all women is becoming stronger and more independent. Female athletes are taking the world by storm and in some cases they have already become a global icon, Serena Williams and Ronda Rousey just to name a few.
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Women in Combat Sports

Megan Voth
3d
Women in Combat Sports

Authors of this article describe the differences and spectrums of how men and women feel toward sexualized advertisements versus neutral advertisements. Most respondents said they prefer women to stay in the traditional gender roles of nonviolent sports and stick to the society norm. However, within the discussion section of Greenwell et al. (2017), they claimed that women who were advertised in a neutral or combat condition, she was viewed as more talented, successful, and tougher. Not only do men disagree with putting women in violent advertisements, but so do women. Females are not seen in society as people who participate in sports with physical overpowerment of opponents by body contact, direct use of bodily force to heavy object, projection of obeyed into or through space over distances, and face-to-face competition in which body contact may happen. Competition and aggression are strictly masculine terms. Women are seen as one who possessed beauty, grace, and nonaggression.

My questions and concerns remain of why women are seen in this perspective in society. Multiple times in the article it states that people believe and think that women should not be in violent sports or advertisements, but why? Why are women seen as dainty, sensitive, weak human beings? Where did this start? When did society create this stereotype?
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Zach Anderson 3d
Megan, I think you bring up very good points. I also think you ask very good questions. Society has definitely change and will continue to change throughout time. You ask the question of where this idea of women not being treated as equal as men started. I believe this idea came from a long time ago. Men have almost always been in a power position, but I think society is now starting to realize that women can do the same as men. However, I do think as a society we need to stop trying to compare each other, because God made us differently. That is perfectly okay too. I believe that anyone can do anything they want too if they put their mind to something. I believe that society needs to stop worrying about all the looks and perceptions of people and worry about how to help others. There should be encouragement for all to participate in whatever sport or activity. This will continue to be on going topic as women progress more and more into what used to be "man's world."
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Women in Combat Sports

Dustin Hectorne
4d
Women in Combat Sports
I found this article to be very interesting. I have read and studied s a few articles on the different views on women in sport, but never one that talked about combat sports. It amazes me when I really sit back and look and see at how far behind the times we really are. So many issues I feel like we are past, yet me are not even close to where we should be. The article talks about how masculine sport is characterized by "physical overpowerment of opponent(s) by body contact, (b) direct use of bodily force to heavy object, (c) projection of body into or through space over distances, and (d) face-to-face  competition in which body contact may happen." (Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017) The article also talks about how when women participate in masculine sports they often wear make-up and put bows in their hair to remind people that they are still women. This is a problem that must change. It is hard to say the the media needs to change because their job is to sell. I think we need to change so they will have to sell something else. We need to educate young men on how to treat and view women and also educate young women on how to view themselves.
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Women in Combat Sports

kristian_borosvsk
4d
Women in Combat Sports
In this article, the depiction of women athletes in combat sports is topic for discussion and research for marketability based off of their physical presentation. The researchers measured male and female attitudes towards women MMA fighters based off of sexualized, neutral, and combative presentations in advertising and attitudes towards events. As I read previous discussions posted, I agree with many statements that have been made, such as"sex sells". Even though these are elite athletes our society still portrays them as women who are inferior to men. Over the years gender equality has been a huge topic for discussion and debate. However when we talk about professional sports, its about MONEY. These women do not have to show themselves, or wear skimpy clothing. It is not a requirement to participate, however, if they want to make money then they have to decide how they are going to market themselves and if they are willing to participate in a sport that has financial success based off of sexualization of its participants. There are many things wrong with our society and some cultural beliefs. Why we feel that women need to be sexualized in everything in order for money to be made is a topic for further discussion. However the choice is ultimately up to the participant, do I represent myself in a way that is against moral beliefs or abandon the moral code for the monetary gain?
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Women In Combat Sports

Omar Goodson
4d
Women In Combat Sports
This article expresses the lopsided depiction of men and women in combat sports (let alone in the sport industry period). Sex cells in any form, especially in women's sports. Even in such a brutal sport as the MMA, men want to see skin doesn't matter which women are fighting as long as they are "topless". We have to give credit where credit is due. These Female athletes train just as much as their male counterparts, and do not need to be objectified or sold as a "hottie with hands". Skin and sexual depiction of female athletes look and sell well for consumers (which are mainly male buyers of the product) but is money more important than equality? ( i guess so!) At the end of the day does being sexy or pretty keep you from getting your teeth knocked out? not in MMA bouts. These ladies have actual talent, and talent keeps you employed. So lets treat our ladies as professional athletes and not like night club dancers.
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nathanie_heath 3d
Omar I think you are spot on in your description of the depiction of men and women in combat sport is lopsided. The way that promotions of men and women in any sporting context is different. I think sex sales and in industries that are looking to make as much money as possible the promoters and advertisers will continue to exploit this for profit. I think its important to have discussions about the talent of the competitors rather than their appearance which has no direct value in their sport other than the promoters ability to create story lines like the one from the study, Heartbreaker/bonebreaker.

Zach Anderson 3d
I believe you both have hit the nail on the head. Women are seen differently in any sports world. Their talents have meant nothing so far and it comes from their physical appearance. It does not help that all the advertisers promote is beauty. Beauty gets you no where in any sport. It can be seen, that you have never seen an female athlete who was the best at a sport who was "ugly." That is because all the promotions go to the "sexy" athletes even if they are not the best, but they will be portrayed that way because of their beauty. Women do not need to be idolized for their looks. They should be looked upon for their talents and success they have done in their sport. They do not look at beauty in men sports, they look at the best talent. So why not do the same for these ladies?
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Discussion 2

nicholas_geyer
4d
Discussion 2

Certainly an interesting journal, with research that is more potent today, than probably ever before. Frankly, sexism not only in sport, but in general is probably as high and as center screen as it has ever been in our world. While it's something we as a society will need to continue to chip away at, research and studies like this will only continue to bring it to the forefront of both sports, as well as academia in general. We know that 'sex sells', “Specifically, when the advertisement presented a female fighter in a sexualized manner, male subjects reported a more positive attitude toward the ad and more positive attitude toward the event than when they viewed the neutral advertisement” (Greenwell et al., 2017). This isn't new, and research has portrayed this for many years. However, when societal viewpoints creep in, and we see things like “respondents felt the fighter in the
sexualized ad was less talented, less successful, and less tough than the fighter in the neutral or combat ads and less wholesome than the fighter in the neutral ad” (Greenwell et al., 2017), that's when there is a bigger issue at hand. Being beautiful, sexy, whatever the adjective may be, has absolutely zero impact on talent, success, or toughness. Being able to look past the physical appearance, knowing there is a distinct separation of the two, is where we need to move forward to as a society. The perpetuation of the stereotype, with research confirming it, shows a true need for viewpoints to change.

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31(6), 533-545. doi:10.1123/jsm.2016-0333
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This article was very interesting and to the point. This is my 2nd or 3rd article to research or read about the impact women are having in sports. This article really focuses on women athletes in combat sports such as the MMA. Gender equality has been a topic of discussion for years and still appears to be a point of emphasis. The idea of MMA using women to sell tickets and advertise basically off of sexy and appealing fights is an idea. The idea is that women are just sold on being sexualized and promoted in skimpy clothes. I feel that the woman is an athlete who competes and has the choice to do so which also means she has the choice to be marketed as a sex symbol or athlete. Another topic of discussion is that female athletes train and work just as hard if not harder than male athletes but the reward is far less. The money brought in by women fights is less than men, therefore the payout is less for women fights. Call it sexist or call it whatever you want but it is this way in every sport, so there is not much you can do about it. I think ESPN and other sports networks do a great job advertising womens sports as much as mens but the interest of peers is just not there.

Justin Purvis
3d
This article was very interesting and to the point. This is my 2nd or 3rd article to research or read about the impact women are having in sports. This article really focuses on women athletes in combat sports such as the MMA. Gender equality has been a topic of discussion for years and still appears to be a point of emphasis. The idea of MMA using women to sell tickets and advertise basically off of sexy and appealing fights is an idea. The idea is that women are just sold on being sexualized and promoted in skimpy clothes. I feel that the woman is an athlete who competes and has the choice to do so which also means she has the choice to be marketed as a sex symbol or athlete.  Another topic of discussion is that female athletes train and work just as hard if not harder than male athletes but the reward is far less. The money brought in by women fights is less than men, therefore the payout is less for women fights. Call it sexist or call it whatever you want but it is this way in every sport, so there is not much you can do about it. I think ESPN and other sports networks do a great job advertising womens sports as much as mens but the interest of peers is just not there.
Greenwell, T.C., Simmons, J.M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M. & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effort of Sexualized and Violent Presentation of Women in Combat Sports.
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Megan Voth 3d
Why is the interest of peers not there when viewing women's sports? Is it because women's sports are just slower, less powerful, less interesting, slower with less athletic ability? Women playing other women is the same exact competition as men playing other men.I definitely agree with your point about how women should be able to be identified and marketed as an athlete if that is what she chooses. Women are viewed as sex symbols way too often in society, and in some ways this is getting worse in the world. On the other hand, I do believe that gender inequality is becoming a topic that pops up often.

spinneme 3d
I also agree that ESPN and other sports networks do a great job advertising and showing women's sporting events. Some of these events include the WNBA, the women's NCAA basketball and softball tournaments, and the four major tennis tournaments. I would like to see the ratings of the men's sports compared to the women's to really see if there is a big discrepancy in interest. I give credit to the UFC for having women's fights highlight the major events that take place on pay per view. To me this shows that the fighters are being highlighted for their abilities, rather than physical attractiveness. Hopefully this continues in the UFC and other sports and audiences can take note.

Ben Hickethier 1d
There is absolutely a huge discrepancy of ratings of people viewing men sports vs. women sports. It is not even close. However, this may not always be the case in specific sports or certain events. Even though the WNBA has had more viewership recently (2018) since it was aired on ESPN or ESPN 2, it is not even close to the viewership of the NBA. To follow up to Megan Voth comments, I believe that it is mainly for those exact reasons that male sports are viewed more than women. Explain to me if that wasn't the case, why viewership hasn't evened out in female vs. male viewership?
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Women in Combat Sports

zack_breland
4d
Women in Combat Sports
This article sought to investigate how imegary and text affected the attitudes of consumers toward an athlete's brand, the event, and the advertisement. In recent time the Mixed Martial Arts has exploded in popularity as a male sport. Since 2013, the popularity has evened out by more women becoming interested in the sport. Mr. White the president of the UFC has allowed several females to fight in the octagon, the most recent and famous is Ronda Rousey. This has raised ides on how to effectively promote a fight when two female fighters square up. This experimental design study found that Men have a more positive attitude toward the fighter and event when they are advertise the fighter and event in a sexualized manner, rather than in a netural manner. Females, have the most positive attitude when the event and fighter is advertised in a neutral
manner. Females, a more receptive attitude when the traditional gender roles are challenged, and had a negative attitude when the fighter or even is advertised in a sexualized manner.
Moreover, It would be really interesting
to see how this study would turn out if you examined the females attitude toward an event where males were advertised in a sexualized manner.

Greenwell,T.C., Simmons, J.M., Hancock, M. Shreffler M. and Thorn, D. (2017) The Effort of Sexualized and Violent Presentation of Women in Combat Sports.
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Ben Hickethier 1d
I agree with your last statement. I wonder or am very interested in seeing how females react to males in a sexual advertisement or promotion. I think that we would generally see similar results of positivity from female viewership. I believe that unless the women who are put in positions to say no to sexualized advertisements in certain sports, I don't realistically see anything changing. I look at Danica Patrick's career. She made a lot of money off sexually suggestive advertisements, (like Go Daddy), and she never won a race. I think when it comes to making money, it is tough for people to say no to advertisements such as these.
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Module 2 - Women in Combat Sports

trevor_biedron
4d
Module 2 - Women in Combat Sports
This article presented several ideas that I am familiar with as I wrote a paper on this same topic just few months ago. During my time researching for that paper, there was one common theme that ran through all of the journal articles that I read. That theme was how gender roles defined how men and women were supposed to view sports, what sports men and women were supposed to play, and how consumers viewed those men and women playing sports.

It is not uncommon for society to promote the idea that men play sports for "glory" and "prestige", and victory, while women play purely for participation and that women's sports are there simply to fulfill some sort of opportunity gap instead of promoting the actual outstanding athletic ability and competitiveness of women's sports.

Another idea that I find very interesting and that is very prevalent especially in mainstream media is the "dual" nature of female athletes. The idea that female athletes are either attractive, athletically gifted and in very rare cases, both. This is not something that male athletes are graded on, but is something that plays a huge role in the success, marketability, and societal presentation of female athletes. Male athletes can be successful on purely ability alone, but female athletes have to have secondary attractive qualities to reach near the same level of success and exposure.

I certainly do not blame the media companies and promoters who are trying to attract the largest audiences for MMA fights, they are simply giving the fans what they want in a for-profit business venture. The main target for them is male viewers, so giving the male viewers what they want is how they can make the most money. Yes, there are a lot of female fans who watch MMA as well, but there is large room for improvement in increasing female viewership that could be achieved if the presentations were equalized a bit between males and females in MMA. As a male, if I would like to see a more fair presentation of female athletes, it is up to me and other male fans to not give in to the easy marketing tactics that MMA promoters might use for female fights, but to watch and appreciate female athletic events based solely on athletic ability instead of of attractiveness-based factors. This can be applied to all masculine sports, not just combat sports. This however, is not something that can be done easily overnight. Sports, fandom is a reflection of society, and in today's society and culture, the promotion and use of female attractiveness is all over the place. So, while changing how male viewers view women's sports is a good start, it will take an overall culture change to really make a difference in how female athletes are viewed by society, whether that is combat sports or not. This is obviously no easy task, but the recent women's empowerment movements over the last couple years in America can be promising lead-ins to more cultural changes as far as how female athletes are treated in society in America and around the world.

Source Article:
Greenwell, T. & C., Simmons, J. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31, 533-545.
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Women in Combat Sports Week 2

hannah_kagen
4d
Women in Combat Sports Week 2
Every sport and organization spend an enormous amount of money on promotion and advertising. This article researches the effects of promotion of women in combat sports. Male sports have always been the most popular on TV and live events, women sports always seem to get the back burner. When women sports are being promoted such as MMA you see those athletes in the bare minimum clothing in order to help draw more attention to that event. There have been times especially in MMA where they focused more on the promotion and advertising of the event than they did the actual event. I think this has always been an issue but now I believe that people are slowing trying to make that change. Physical attraction and gender clearly play a role in any promotion of sports. More women are now making their way into the spotlights of many sports. Sports such as MMA or UFC used to be considered a male sport because of the violence, now women have made their way into both. As a society when we see women being shown in little clothing sexual attraction is what happens, not promoting the athlete. However, the athlete is presented is how they are going to be viewed. The results clearly showed that male and females reacted differently when the advertisement for an event was being promoted. Males subjects had a more positive attitude towards the event when it was shown in a sexualized manner while female consumers were the opposite.
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Jeremiah Quattlebaum 3d
I think it's such a complex problem that is associated with the advertisement and promotion of sports. Would women's sport thrive in these areas where the sexualization of females exists? What if the practice was outlawed and the promotion was based on results and the sport itself? For myself, that is where I would like it to go but I just wonder if those that are making these decisions believe it is possible to do without the former. We should be able to celebrate the accomplishments and the purity of women's sports by themselves without factoring in looks or attractiveness. However, it still seems that a large portion of the populations (mainly men) won't tune in unless it is a good looking figure fighting or playing. That to me creates the issue of could it exist without sexual appeal.

kristian_borosvsk 2d
I have always found interesting that the promotion does not match the event. I agree that women sports are on the rise but if it is going to be taken seriously then the promotional strategies are going to have to change. However if sex appeal is what is bringing in the money, at what point does athlete make the choice to conform to the social norm or to take a stand and risk losing money and status. Events like "lingerie football", is making women's athletics take a step backwards. If women's athletics are going to take a turn towards being as competitive as the men's sports then they nee to incorporate strategies that involve less sex appeal to promote the event or sport. This was a great study of how the attitudes of men and women change due to the presentation of the athlete.
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Discussion 2

ross_huber_12
4d
Discussion 2
The article The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations
of Women in Combat Sport, discusses the women in MMA and how it is viewed by the public. Also, in this article is discusses the differences between how men are viewed and categorized in combat sports vs. how women are viewed in combat sports. One of the biggest take aways from the article is how men and women are seen in their prospective sport, as well as how they are advertised. Men are advertised as athletic and strong in combat sports. While a lot of the women are looked at as too masculine or not pretty. Also, for lady sports the sport itself usually tries to sell their "product" or sport by often showing off their more "lady-like or attractive professionals. Int the article it says when attractive females were advertised in combat sports the men consumers were more intrigued to watch. While women viewers did not make their decisions to watch based on looks. Unfortunately, female athletes are still sexualized in their sports instead of treated as strictly athletes.
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trevor_biedron 4d
Your comments about how women athletes are often thought of as unfeminine in certain sports or if they look a certain way is very spot-on. It is not uncommon for more athletic looking female athletes who possess more masculine athletic traits such as more muscle mass, or aggressiveness to by passed in media presentations or even accused of being "manly". This is very damaging to female athletes when they cannot pursue traits that make them better as athletes because of the negative connotations or lack of media coverage due to their more perceived masculine appearance. All this does is promote less competitiveness in women's sports and leads less people to take women's sports seriously when more attention is given to the looks of an athlete than their ability. This is very obviously unfair to female athletes and as professionals in the sport industry it is up to us to promote athleticism, opportunities, and equal presentations of all athletes, male and female.
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Discussion 2: Women Portrayals in Combat Sports

Mike Stringer Jr.
4d
Discussion 2: Women Portrayals in Combat Sports
The Greenwell article researches the impact that sexualized advertisement has on the perception of the athlete and event. Sports marketing is a field that is vital for the promotion of sporting events and athletes. This is a multibillion dollar industry and much research is done to insure the most positive results. This article focuses on the perception of women in combat sports such as mixed martial arts. The author used the survey method of research to gather data on the attitudes of fans towards female MMA athletes based on advertisement. I felt like this was the appropriate method to conduct for this research. The participants were adequate in number and randomness. These participants viewed three print ads, sexualized, neutral, and combat. As predicted, the sexualized ads produced a more positive attitude with men and the neutral more positive with women.
For marketers and athletes it is import to have an image or brand that makes your product attractive to the masses.  You can see this at all levels of sports.  At lower levels it is ethics and values, collegiate level it is integrity, professional level-sex sells.
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trevor_biedron 4d
One thing that the different societal perceptions between men and women does is that it puts a lot more pressure on female athletes to bring something else to the table along with their athleticism. There is no similar pressure for male athletes, as they can achieve great success on just their athletic ability alone. To go along with your last comment about the differences at different levels of sport, I think the female attractiveness, requirement definitely goes up as more money (professional sports) becomes involved. In high school and college sports, the presentation of female athletes as sex-symbols is very much lower (from my personal observations) and the differences between male and female athlete representation is more equal. It is when more money gets involved that female athletes begin to feel pressured into selling more of themselves to maximize their exposure as elite level athletes. Female athletes are appreciated based on athletic ability alone much more commonly at amateur levels, so we as sport industry professionals should work on finding ways to continue that appreciation for female athletics without the need for sexual appeal or requiring female athletes to sell more once they reach the professional levels. One way I think this can be achieved is more TV time for female amateur athletic events. There is very often, high school boys football games or basketball games and highlights in the media that highlight athletic ability. An increase in exposure for amateur level female athletics can promote a better culture of athletic appreciation for female athletes rather than just basing media exposure of elite level female athletes on other factors such as attractiveness.

Michael Bond 3d
I agree that the "

Michael Bond 3d
I agree that the "professional" sports world is to blame for the current depiction of female athletes. It would be a rather "taboo" move to make such sexual comments about female athletes in this modern time. Many coaches and college programs are currently being examined for misconduct towards female athletes. We live in a very fragile time. That being said, what happens when we get to the conversation of professional sports? Does all that is ethical and correct get tossed out and forgotten due to the need to turn a profit? I agree that the coverage of armature athletics needs to be increased. This would bode well for the conversation of equal representation in sports.
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Discussion 2

David Paschal
4d
Discussion 2
Because of newness of women stepping into the spotlight of professional combat sports, a unique sense of opinion. By a unique sense of opinion, what that means is it goes against the norms society has on multiple levels. The first level is combat sports is seen as a masculine sport meaning that society feels it is a sports that should only be reserved for men. The second level is how the women are portrayed. When the promotion portrays the women fighters based on their sexual appearance, the viewership is up but the credibility of the fighter takes a drastic drop. On the other hand, if the fighter is seen as masculine then their credibility improves but the importance to view the fight drops. The fighting promotions have a predicament on their hands. They want to maximize the viewing population of the males (ones who were already watching the events) while also grow the female viewership. However, the sexualization works well for the males and growing them but hinders female viewership. When it is reversed though, the males drop viewership and the females gain.
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Eric Solis 2d
I think since women are so new in the fighting space this offers advertisers a gateway into changing the perception of women in sports. This hasn't been done before and this is the perfect opportunity to make a change. Especially in a sport that is so violent women can show the side of them people don't know about. Ronda Rousey helped put UFC on the map for women and is a great example that women can compete at a high level just as men can. I think it is important to focus on the talent rather than sexualized advertisements. People are going to be looking at anything sexy in the fight but will be watching two great female athletes compete.
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Discussion 2

jamaal_cummings
4d
Discussion 2
This article discusses women in combat sports and how they are perceived by both men and women in marketing campaigns. Gender stereotyping or typical gender roles play a part in how an individual perceives a woman athlete in an ad. Combat sports are commonly accepted as a sport for males while sports such as gymnastics, figure skating, ballet, synchronized swimming help to feed into female gender stereotypes. I found it very interesting how males and females perceive an ad debating on how the ad is conveyed. Ads typically with females’ athletes focus more on their sexuality/looks versus their athletic ability or success in their respective sport. Sexualizing an ad may help to gain the male attention, but in turn may make that population feel as though the female athlete is less skilled. To attract the female audience, marketers should focus neutral advertising as opposed to sexualized or combative content. Females do not want to see sexualized content of female athletes because it takes away from the athlete’s accomplishments and they would prefer no violent content. In my opinion, marketers should focus on neutral advertising that displays the athlete’s athletic ability. Marketers are placed in a tough position when it comes to combat sports as many do not want to see violence in an ad and when it is the norm the sexualize female athletes.

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Discussion 2

Colby Parker
4d
Discussion 2
This article talks about women in combat sports and how they are perceived by male and females. In order to market their events they have to appeal to both their male and female target market. A study was conducted using a sexualized promotion, neutral promotion, and combat promotion. In their graphic chart it was clear that the male population did not have any interest in the neutral advertisement. The male population responded strongly to the sexualized and combat promotion. The female population responded strongly to the neutral and combat promotion. This makes it difficult to promote women in the MMA or combat sports because you are trying to reach both target markets and show both male and female markets that females belong in combat sports. Females have been perceived in the past to not participate in combat sports. However, the UFC and MMA have opened many doors for women in combat sports. The problem is without being sexualized for their beauty instead of their talent of MMA some men will not take them seriously in this role. On the other hand, women will not take them seriously if they are sexualized in their promotions. These athletes are being judged based on their gender rather than their athletic ability.
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Discussion 2

carissa_damler
4d
Discussion 2
This article talked about women in combat sports and the way that they are transforming the industry and the way that women are viewed. Like 20 years ago women were still viewed as housekeepers and caregivers and now we are becoming independent and defying gender norms. It is interesting to see the different views that males and females take against women in combat when viewing them in different positions. I feel that in this day and age it is so common to see women naked and expressing themselves because of the many different love your body campaigns. This ties into this article because as a women, I no longer see women in sexualized positions because we are free to express ourselves any way that we want and shouldn't be diminshed or thought less of athletic wise based on physical appearance. Women should not think negatively upon attractive female athletes and female athletes should not be judged based upon how they look. Their athletic brand should be based upon their athletic capabilities and the way that they carry themselves while away from their sport.

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nicholas_geyer 4d
Carissa, couldn't agree more. The differentiation between body image, sexuality, and the like, from talent, capabilities, etc needs to be bigger in society. It was tough to read that research still basically clings onto that a beautiful woman can't be talented, and a talented woman can't be beautiful. Society needs to continue to adapt, and be open about the separation and prolific abilities of women, and stop focusing on the sexualization.
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Discussion 2

troy_bianchi
4d
Discussion 2
This article interests me in so many ways. This article looks at women making history and doing things for the first time that no one thought would happen. It looks at perceptions that happen when analyzing women promotions, in combat sports. It a coincidence because I was watching a NBA basketball game last night and said to myself 'wow there is another female referee.' Lately I've been seeing more and more female officials and I think it's good. I think sports teams can benefit from this because females may look at the sport differently and not have set feelings on a specific sport. I think the President Dana White saying "women will never fight for this company" gave women the courage and drive to make that statement false, and they did. Like the article said, women's MMA has grown considerably. After all the research done on this topics, its interesting to see the results. Some of the results were no significant but one that caught my attention was "Males reported a more positive attitude toward the ad for the sexualized and combat ads than for the neutral ad. On the other hand, females reported a more positive attitude toward the
ad for the neutral ad than for the combat and sexualized ads." For some they may agree that the males have a more positive attitude for the sexualized and combat ads but I believe there are females also who have a positive attitude towards that as well. I like that the article talked about gender roles in sports. There is always talk on what is appropriate for what sex but this article definitely shows women are looking right past those 'roles' and doing what they want. This article was really interesting and really made me look deeper into how gender can be perceived and analyzed as in the sports world.
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Michael Riazzi 2d
I agree with you whole heartedly. women fighting in MMA and UFC are ignoring gender norms and adding new elements to today's society. They are also pushing society forward. If this article was to be seen even 20 years ago would the reaction of everyone be even close to today. this article gave a different Point Of View than i have seen in past readings. I like the example of Dana White. She basically said women would not, in order to in courage women to do just to spite. i agree with your statement that women look at situations differently then men and this could be good for the sport.
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This article addresses how female MMA fighters are promoted (sexualized, neutral, or violent) and how it effects viewers perceptions and their attitudes toward the athletes. The results of the experiment shows that males had a more positive attitude toward the sexualized advertisements versus the neutral or combat ads, whereas female viewers preferred the neutral or combat images. I personally watch MMA regularly and have followed Ronda Rousey's journey through the UFC. Dana White and Joe Rogan made statements that females will never fight in the UFC. This statement not only undermines females athletic abilities and potential, but also goes to show how our society still adheres to traditional gender roles in sports. At the peak of Rousey's success, Rogan and White stated in a podcast that they had been mistaken about their judgement of female athletes and apologized. As a physical educator who strives to encourage young girls to participate in sports, I hope more people can change their views of female athletes and steer away from sexualization and traditional gender roles.

Meghan Poirier
4d
This article addresses how female MMA fighters are promoted (sexualized, neutral, or violent) and how it effects viewers perceptions and their attitudes toward the athletes. The results of the experiment shows that males had a more positive attitude toward the sexualized advertisements versus the neutral or combat ads, whereas female viewers preferred the neutral or combat images. I personally watch MMA regularly and have followed Ronda Rousey's journey through the UFC. Dana White and Joe Rogan made statements that females will never fight in the UFC. This statement not only undermines females athletic abilities and potential, but also goes to show how our society still adheres to traditional gender roles in sports. At the peak of Rousey's success, Rogan and White stated in a podcast that they had been mistaken about their judgement of female athletes and apologized. As a physical educator who strives to encourage young girls to participate in sports, I hope more people can change their views of female athletes and steer away from sexualization and traditional gender roles.
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MMA Women Perception

Matt DelVecchio
4d
MMA Women Perception
This article addresses the varying perceptions that occur when analyzing women promotions in the combat sport. It was very interesting to see the tactics promoters use in order to result in the consumer to have a certain reaction. This example of women in a combat sport like the UFC, I felt was very effective as its a sport that normally has not included women but have just as of recently. Male perception of women participating in a violent sport has a strong correlation to how women are perceived as human beings. The research used was a survey that asked peoples reaction to sexualized and neutral advertisement for a women UFC fight. Results showed that men reacted positively to the women being portrayed as sexual, whereas women favorited more of the neutral advertisement. I really found it interesting that in the Limitations section the mention how different these results would have been if the subject was male, and they used the same process of promoting him in a sexual and neutral way. I believe this would have given a very interesting result due to peoples perception.

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In this day and age, more and more women are defying gender norms by participating in combat sports such as mixed martial arts. This article goes in depth to investigate how different portrayals of female athletes in MMA affect consumers' attitudes toward the advertising, the event, and athlete brand. Overall, I thought the results were pretty much as I expected them to be. One section that I wish they would have gone more in depth about was the long term effects of these ads on the athletes themselves. The ads not only affect their position with consumers but also with event promoters, sponsors, and media. How they are perceived also determines their likelihood of future events as well. I think this is a side that nobody really thinks about that should be further researched.

Lauren Mitchell
4d
In this day and age, more and more women are defying gender norms by participating in combat sports such as mixed martial arts. This article  goes in depth to investigate how different portrayals of female athletes in MMA affect consumers' attitudes toward the advertising, the event, and athlete brand. Overall, I thought the results were pretty much as I expected them to be. One section that I wish they would have gone more in depth about was the long term effects of these ads on the athletes themselves. The ads not only affect their position with consumers but also with event promoters, sponsors, and media. How they are perceived also determines their likelihood of future events as well. I think this is a side that nobody really thinks about that should be further researched.
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Matt DelVecchio 4d
Interesting point. You believe that once the promotion has put an athlete into a specific "category", that is now stuck and stays with the athletes brand image their entire career? Makes me think a lot of an actor/actress who does one big role, and then from there on out they are only perceived as that one character. It keeps them in a box where one would hope you could change your public perception based off yours actions and not just looks.

jesse_e_duvall 4d
Lauren, I like what you said about them not going into depth with the long term effects. That is something that I did not think about. Obviously everything that is done is going to have short term effects and long term effects. Self promotion of professional athletes is how a lot of them make their money. With self promotion comes the endorsement deals and everything else. With the "sex sells" mindset I would be curious to see how female athletes, both buying into that and not, fare further on in their careers; both personally and professionally.

troy_bianchi 4d
Hey Lauren, I agree with you that the results were pretty much as I expected them to be. I think anyone involved in sports or follows sports can agree with us. These results are kind of just the ‘normal.’ Your point about looking further into the section that talks about long term effects of these ads on the athletes themselves is an interesting point. When you say ‘how athletes are perceived determines their likelihood of further events’ I couldn’t agree with more. These athletes are in the spot light 24/7 and there is always people watching. When they slip and make one little mistake it can ruin or even end their career. It’s definitely not easy, I think we can all agree on that. Maybe doing more research about this topic and showing the results will help future athletes and give other people a little perspective of how much pressure is put on these people.
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Women in Combat Sports

ghadley3
4d
Women in Combat Sports
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Women in Combat Sports

Anonymous
4d
Women in Combat Sports
In this day and age, more and more women are defying gender norms by participating in combat sports such as mixed mar
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Women In MMA

Luke Harris
4d
Women In MMA
This article talks about Females participating in MMA and how their events and advertisements are portrayed differently than males. The point of this study was to determine whether portraying the female fighters in a more sexualized way benefited the event or ad. The results were that for males the added sex appeal made the ads and events more popular and memorable but these same ads had negative effects on females. Females would rather have neutral ads that didn't overly promote sex appeal or violence. The marketing struggle for the MMA and how they are going to market themselves going forward will be very interesting to watch!
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Anonymous 4d
I definitely believe that women athletes are advertised differently than male athletes. When brands and leagues of men advertise the male sports, we tend to see them focus more on the athletic ability of the players. When we see women advertisements for sports, it seems to focus more on the body image and sexualizing them.

troy_bianchi 4d
Hey Luke, I definitely think women can be portrayed in some different ways when it comes to advertisements. Some people do look at it in more of a sexual way and others done. I truly believe that companies intentionally portray the women in a sexual way to gain more viewers and grab more peoples attention. I don’t think they are going to change it any time soon because I honestly think they will loose fans and that is the last thing they want to do. For instance, if we look at NFL games, people look forward to the half time show. This is just another way women can be portrayed in a sexual way. The cheerleaders don’t ‘have’ to be dressed the way they are but they are anyway. Who knows, maybe one day things will change, but I don’t see that happening any time soon.

Anonymous 4d
Tyler Nielsen was the first comment, not sure why it came out as anonymous

jamaal_cummings 4d
It will be very interesting to see how the MMA goes forward with their marketing efforts. They already know what they have to do in order to reach the male population, but that in turn turns off the female population. I think that they should focus on neutral and combative marketing. With this in my opinion the neutral marketing will attract the female population and by displaying the women's athletic ability they can help to gain the attention of the male population.
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Women in Combat Sports

William HollidayIII
4d
Women in Combat Sports
This article discusses the sexualization of women in combat sports. It implies that women are marketed for their looks. This marketing sometimes overshadows their skill in their particular sport. The article uses examples of Rhonda Rowsey in UFC and Danica Patrick in NASCAR. While both women are attractive, that has never swayed me personally to watch an event or purchase anything they are endorsing. I watched UFC long before women ever fought in it, and it did not change my views when women started fighting. I watched Rowsey because she was winning every fight. That was the entertainment value to me. Some may argue that the marketing of these women for their respective sports is wrong, but what do these athletes feel about it? Are they ok with using their attractiveness as a marketing tool?

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Lauren Mitchell 4d
You make a great point, William. I have also wondered the same thing. Do these athletes even get a choice about how they are marketed? I mean they could say no but then they would not get paid so I feel like they may be trapped in some ways. It is an interesting topic that I believe should be researched further.

carissa_damler 4d
I completely agree with you as I have also not judged a female athlete based upon their physical appearance. If I am going to watch a particular athlete it is because they are good at what they do and are athletically performing well. I think that this needs to be the reaction that most people go to instead of basing something off of appearance. While I know this won't be the case, we have to stop sexualizing women and expecting us to stay within the known gender roles. I also like how you questioned whether or not these athletes have any say on how they are marketed because I too wonder that.

jamaal_cummings 4d
I think you make a great point that I never thought of, which is how do the athletes feel about using their bodies for marketing? In terms of Rhonda Rowsey she is an attractive female, but she is very good at her craft. My friends and I didn't tune into matches for her looks but that she was knocking people out. Rowsey is able to capitalize on her looks for marketing campaigns, but she wouldn't be offered these jobs without her prior success in the octagon. I think that women athlete's should be displayed more often in ads for their athletic ability, but it would be interesting to hear their take on ads using them for the sole purpose of their body.

ross_huber_12 4d
Great write! It is unfortunate that all viewers do not see men and women as equal athletes. I know you mention about how you were not swayed on viewing Ronda Rowsey based off of sexualized marketing but her performance. Unfortunately, the ratings for female MMA fights have dropped since the absence of Rowsey who was the voice and the face of MMA for women. As a consumer I can remember the marketing and advertisement for Rowsey fights were everywhere and now other elite women fighters are not receiving the same love.
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Women in Sports

jesse_e_duvall
4d
Women in Sports
Sports have historically been classified as either masculine or feminine. For the most part, this has been a common and accepted practice. In recent years these gender stereotype sports have been challenged. This has occurred particularly with women competing in combat sports. Masculine sports have always been viewed as heavy contact, brute force sports. Feminine sports have always been viewed as graceful, non-aggressive sports. Many women that partake in more masculine sports typically do things that are seen as feminine; wearing bows in their hair, braiding hair, or wearing makeup. With more women participating in combat sports than ever before, promotors have had to find a way to market the sport to the public. Just like every other sports marketing plan, the goal is to make money. In years past, the best way to market women’s sports was to sexualize the athletes. It is the same with MMA and combat sports. It was shown in this study that portraying female combatants in a sexual way improved male viewer’s perceptions of women in the sport.

When it comes to professional sports, the goal will always be finding the best way to make money. To make money, sports need to find the best way to attract viewers because more viewers means more money. As demeaning as it is to female athletes that they are viewed as objects before athletes, that has consistently been the easier way to promote female sports. There is not a doubt in my mind that female athletes are just as athletic as male athletes in scale, but in reality, most female sports are played at a slower tempo than male sports. In regards to basketball, the men’s game is played above the rim which is part of what makes the game so exciting. There have only been a handful of women that have dunked in a professional basketball game. This comparison can be spread to most sports that are popular money makers on the men’s side and not so popular on the women’s side. As unfortunate as it is, sports promotors will continue to sexual female athletes to promote female sports until they find a way that will market the sport even more.
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ghadley3 4d
I agree with your statement that sports are historically classified as either masculine or feminine. No matter how many female football leagues are created, I will continuously look at football as a masculine sport. Correspondingly, you stated the goals in sports is to make money, therefore I believe if sex appeal is going to help increase the income it will forever be used as an advantage in marketing
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Women in Combat Sport

Anthony Coffee
4d
Women in Combat Sport
The article discusses the marketing of women in combat sports. The article also discusses how women are viewed in the profession. It is no surprise to me that women in combat sports are sexualized because everything in our society is sexualized these days. Its almost common sense to ensure sexuality when marketing anything. I also think it is pretty easy to market these athletes with a touch of sexuality because they are the most fit people on the planet. Put them in small amounts of clothing and people are going to be attracted to it. This applies to  men and women, but naturally more so men. Human natural applies here. Given the choices to watch attractive women fight versus unattractive women fight, men are always going to choose the attractive women regardless of their skill. I did find it interesting that women would be more turned off to a match if the fighters were more sexualized. I think that may tell you a little about who the UFC and other combat sport organizations are marketing to.
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Matt DelVecchio 4d
Its also so significant because of the type of sport MMA is. This example spoke depth, because the sport is so personal, with face to face interaction, but also very violent. I think the results they found had a lot to do with the fact that "violence" has always been seen as aggression and a trait normally associated with males

Kevin Berry 2d
To your point about who UFC markets to, I would actually be interested to see this study done where the people in the study are more than casual fans of MMA. I think you would find that those of us that actually train in MMA, alongside women, would rated ads differently that this study suggests. I don't know that it would change the high rating of the sexualized ads, but I think there would be much lower numbers as it relates to people not taking the fighters in those ads seriously because when you are close to this world, you see how hard they train and how much time and effort they put in regardless of what they look like.
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Women in Combat Sports

sierra_hughes1
4d
Women in Combat Sports
This article discussed how women and men view sexualized representations of women in combat sports. At no surprise to me, men were more likely to think that the women in the sexualized poster were more charming and they were more likely to like that depiction. Women, on the other hand, were more likely to find the neutral image more appealing than the sexualized image. It's unfortunate theat men are liked as athletes for their skill, strength, and ability to do the sport well and win. Women, on the other hand, are liked for their sexual appeal (by men at least). I think the concept of putting sexualized images with a violent sports can be harmful as it puts together the idea that sexuality and violence go hand in hand.

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Evan Petrovic 4d
I agree that it is disappointing that women athletes are not depicted as athletes. Women at high levels of their sport are elite athletes exactly the same as their male counterparts. Perhaps this can be changed. Women find that the neutral image more appealing and men found the combative image appealing. By using a mixture of these to advertisements they would be able to reach both males and female interests. What I found most intriguing in your post was the ending, when you said that you think that putting sexualized images together with violence can be harmful. I agree with this also.

William HollidayIII 4d
I do feel like women are getting more recognition for their ability over their looks. I know it still happens that an attractive woman is used to help market a particular sport, but toward the end of her UFC career, Rhonda Rowsey was watched by many because of her winning streak and not so much her attractiveness.
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Women in Combat Sports

Anonymous
4d
Women in Combat Sports
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Women in Combat Sports

Dalton Miller
4d
Women in Combat Sports

This article is all about showing how women are viewed and used in combat sports. The results and discussion of the article are not surprising in my opinion because there is an acceptance of this view in our current world. And whether there are people that disagree with the sexualized and violent presentation of women in contact sports I do not see much a change taking place in the near future. Part of why this has advanced in this direction, and why there are articles about it today, is because it is appealing to the eye. It is appealing to the eye of the league managers or athlete managers within the sport because they receive profit through this. And whether it started as a competitive sport or not it has moved, as all sports have, in a sexual social media direction which makes it more appealing to the leagues. Not only them, but it is appealing to the viewers who truly love the sport. Would the sport be as successful if there wasn’t a sexualized approach to the women in the sport? So the people, the fans, of this event are not just fans because of the sport but because of what they see. Then, as the article mentions, it is appealing to the brands. The brands want to sign attractive people so that the public eye will want that brand. Maybe because the brand is actually good, maybe because they saw an attractive fighter wearing that brand. I find it hard to believe that the fighters do not like the world they partake in, unless they are under a contract they can’t break, because if they hated how it made them feel would they not leave the sport? It is a very interesting topic that I believe will receive more research on because people want to discuss this, just as much as they want to watch the fights, the media, the ads, and everything that goes into the sport.

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Timothy Melton 6h
I have to agree with you. We as a society have allowed ourselves to become so consumed with what we see and outward appearance. If women did not like being sexualized or portrayed in that manner they would not partake in the photo shoots and commercials. Fans love what they see. If an athlete is talented and attractive, I feel as though that makes it that much more appealing. Only time will tell if women can really take center stage for their abilities rather than their appearance.
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Women in Combat Sports

tatebruckner
4d
Women in Combat Sports
The article The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport breaks down how females are are viewed in combat sports. This article really wasn't too surprising at all. In America it seems for decades the whole sex sells thing seems to work. I think being a promoter for female MMA fights would be difficult. The article says men are more intrigued when the fighter appears more sexualized but this is also turns away the female viewer. If the MMA is trying to increase their female viewer numbers they need to created a more neutral promotion for the fighters. The article also shows that people are becoming more open and accepting to female MMA fighters. I did find it interesting when they discussed marketing a persons brand. Some fighters may be able to make more money by marketing them more as an attractive fighter than as a neutral. They may make more money for themselves in advertisement outside of MMA due to this.
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Anthony Miele 4d
I completely agree with your post on surprising finds with the MMA and trying to get more viewers and the branding themselves if the fighter is more attractive then another one. There could be so much more marketing and money for MMA if they sold the experience of MMA and not specific individuals based on their looks. That could be for a lot of other sports that involve women.
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Women in Contact sports

Evan Petrovic
4d
Women in Contact sports
Women who compete in combat sports are often sexualized in in advertisements. This is done in order to gain fan interest in the fight. The article tested this. The results found, men are interested if the advertisement either shows the women athlete sexualized or in combat. Females were interested if the advertisement showed the female in a neutral position. All three of the different advertisements were effective in gaining the interests of either males or females. I believe the decision that needs to be made is, whether advertisements that sexualize women are the best practice? Yes, marketing can target males this way, but if a combative advertisement does the same thing. So what is the point? Additionally the women surveyed negatively reacted to the sexualized advertisements. Athletes can create their own brand. They can sell what they do and who they are. Examples of this are Tom Brady and Roger Federer. Women are forced to make a decision on what they want their image to be. IF they allow themselves to be sexualized they may make more money. But what effect does this do to their personal brand? Youths often look to athletes as role models. Great women athletes who are praised for their athletic ability, strength,  willpower, effort, and other positive qualities can be a role model for youth. While there is nothing wrong with if a fighter chooses to be sexualized, there should be a choice.
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Matt DelVecchio 4d
Its also had to say that its the fighters choice on how they get promoted to the public. A lot of the time, promoters will just use physical attributes to characterize a fighter. This you would think would be understandable since a combat sport such as MMA is almost entirely based off of physical attributes. There's a problem though when it comes to marginalizing looks to promote a specific attitude toward that person.

David Scorzelli 2d
Agreed. It becomes a problem when that is the only distinguishing factor promoted. If a sport or competition is being promoted and the only thing being pointed at in and or on television is their "beauty" and sexuality, then why would that be relevant. I also see a lot of back door sexual promoting in these ads and commercials. Although there isn't an obvious focus on a females sexuality and body type, different subtle angles and phrases are used to draw in the viewers and consumers.
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Women in Combat Sports

Anthony Miele
4d
Women in Combat Sports
The article definitely speaks to how women have been looked in combat sports like MMA, wrestling, and even sports that are not in combat sports. A lot of women like Ronda Rousey for example are looked at more for her physical appearance and looks, then what she can do in the octagon. For men in combat sports, they look at them as how awesome they are for what they can do in the ring, octagon, football field. Even though the sport is fake and a show, with the women you see on WWE, they are used for their physical appearance, and that is definitely true because of the outfits they have the women in that sport wear. This has been an issue with women sports for a long time, even though it's not a combat sport, for example the movie A League of Their Own, was about a women baseball league when the men went to war so the MLB was suspended until they came back. But, in the league, the owners of the league made the women wear skirts instead of baseball/softball pants that MLB players were allowed to wear. The owners wanted to sell the girls on their physical appearance, and it's sad to see it the same to this day in our compact sports.
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tatebruckner 4d
I agree with you as well. I think women in sports have always been viewed as sex symbols in our culture. Its extremely unfortunate because there are many talented female athletes that get viewed first for their looks instead of their talents. Being a Head College softball coach I would wish people would look at a athletes abilities first. Female athletes put a ton of work into their craft and should be recognized because of it, and not based off thier looks first.
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Women in Combat Sport

Jessica Taylor
4d
Women in Combat Sport
The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport article was no surprise to me. For years women in sports have been used for their physical attractiveness to help sell advertising and enhance the athlete brand. This article investigates the consumer attitudes toward female athletes that compete in combat sports such as mixed martial arts. I love to see more women competing in a sport like martial arts that in the past has been dominated by male athletes. Still male and female athletes are seen differently in the eye of the consumer. This study tried to understand how these consumers view view female athletes that compete in violent sports. I do believe that a person gender influences how different advertisements of wpmen are perceived. Women are suppose to involved in sports that are filled with grace, while the male athletes are suppose ti be competing in sports that have violence and aggression involved. This article is just another example how women are getting more recognition in the sports industry.
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Dalton Miller 4d
I think think there are people who look at women as not being allowed, or should not be allowed, to compete in combat sports. As you mention however, there are women who want more recognition in the sport industry, so how can they accomplish that? I think their physical attractiveness is something that has made more people aware. Though there are some incredible athletes, what sells the combat sports for women is how they look, and then how they are marketed. It is perceived by some that men should be in more aggressive sports women are accepted and want to compete in the aggressive sports today and I don't see a change in this in the near future.
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Women In Combat Sports

Dakota Norris
4d
Women In Combat Sports
The article The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport covers a lot of interesting topics. The article covers how women are marketed to the media and their fans to help sell their fight. there is no arguing that the women fighters are more sexualized in ads and promotions leading up to the fights but it also happens in men fights as well. The UFC and MMA are built on incredibly fit athletes. Leading up to a huge male fight it would be hard to find a poster that both of the men fighters don't have their shirts off and usually showing off how strong they are. This is the same when females are the lead fight. the big difference to me is how they try to make the women less violent then men. The media and marketers almost act like the two women are going into a pillow fight compared to men going to war. Obviously the media and marketers wouldn't do this if this wasn't the best way to sell fights but I would like to see how successful the women's fights would be if the marketed the same as the men's fights.
While I do believe both men and women are sexualized in their fights, the women ones going a bit further. The reason I think this is, is because more men watch the fight and whether men like to admit it or not, men are also interested in watching a more attractive fighter. One other point I would like to make is that once the fight begins between the two women I think everyone is more attracted to the fight then the looks.
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Anonymous 4d
Dakota I agree that both women and men fighters are advertised in a sexual way. The use of tight and reveling outfits for females and the absent of shirts on male advertisement both show the same image as far as pushing the sexual angel to the consumers. Attraveness does play a big role on whether a consumer will watch a specific fight. The more a women is attractive the more views and fans she could possible gain. I am also curious to know how promotions would change if promoters had to promote all neatral advertisement for both genders.

Anthony Coffee 4d
I think it very easy to market men in a sexual way, but I don't think I've ever noticed that before. I guess because I'm a straight male then I'm not looking for it, but I guess it is true if your looking at it from a presentation of strength.
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Week 2: Women in Combat Sports

victoria_panzica
5d
Week 2: Women in Combat Sports
This article is about the effects of sexualized and violent presentations of women in combat sport.  The study is designed to investigate how different presentations of female athletes competing in a combat sport defying traditional gender norms, affect consumers’ attitude towards the advertising, event, an athlete brand. The article talks specifically about female mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters, and ultimate fight club (UFC) fighters. When it comes to promoting combat sports females are marketed different compared to males. Female fighters tend to be advertised more sexaully compared to men. It has been found that sex and violence in advertising can improve memory for products. It can be problematic because it can undermine their accomplishments as athletes and degrade the female athlete just because they are female. It does not focus on all of their hard work and dedication to being an athlete. Males are not treated like such, their athletic ability and talent are advertised. The gender roles play a specific role in how female sports are portrayed compared to male sports. Women are viewed as more nurturance, kind, and submissive. Whereas males are considered more dominant, aggressive and assertive. Due to these stereotypes of gender roles it affects how males and females sports advertisements differ. The study in the article is designed to study how these portrayals influence consumers’ attitudes towards athletes themselves.  Specifically advertising female combat athletes in a sexual manner to get more attention and attraction to the sport. Rather than focusing on their sport and talent.
Reference:
Greenwell, T. & C., Simmons, J. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31, 533-545.
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Women in Combat Sports

dylan_skinner
5d
Women in Combat Sports
With the inclusion of female athletes in combat sport, questions of how to market female athletes have become a critical issue. Sex and violence in advertising can improve memory for products and enhance their appeal however, there are questions about using violent themes to promote women’s MMA because it challenges traditional gender roles. Physical attraction is an important contributor to consumer attitudes as evidenced by the role sexuality plays in marketing. This issue has been well documented, with research finding that physical attractiveness of athletes is one of the most important factors for a potential product endorser. Gender roles are shared beliefs about the attributes of men and women. Women possess (or are expected to possess) communal characteristics such as nurturance, kindness, submissiveness, expression/emotion, and compassion. Men, on the other hand, are expected to be more assertive, dominant, aggressive, instrumental, and independent. Sports are often labeled as “masculine” or “feminine” based on social constructions of gender roles and stereotypical expectations associated with those roles. The first objective of this study is to investigate the relative effectiveness of sexualized portrayals of female athletes versus violent portrayals on consumers’ attitudes toward the event they are promoting. The second objective of this study is to investigate how these portrayals influence consumers’ attitudes toward the athletes themselves. Sample was drawn through Amazon Mechanical Turk. To be considered for the study, subjects had to meet the following inclusion criteria: (a) self-identified sport fan, (b) reliable online respondent and (c) resident of the United States. A series of six advertisements was used to closely represent print advertising for actual MMA events. To manipulate for visual representation, the first condition featured a sexualized photo of a female fighter, the second condition featured a neutral photo (posed in fight gear, but neither sexualized nor engaged in combat) of the same female fighter, and the third condition featured the same female fighter engaged in combat. The data were subjected to a series of three-way analysis of covariance’s to identify differences in attitudes toward MMA advertisements between groups. Male and female athletes are still evaluated differently by consumers. This study illustrates how the consumer’s gender influences how different advertisements of women competing in combat sport are perceived. The advertisement conditions included in this study were limited to generic print ads meant to isolate the effects of different athlete portrayals.

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Presentation of female athletes in Combat Sports

Jacob Hyler
4d
Presentation of female athletes in Combat Sports
In the article The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport researchers investigate the presentation and perception of female athletes in advertisements for combat sports. This study focused on the attitude of a consumer towards the actual event, the advertisements and the brand of the athletes.
The research showed that a sexualized image of the female fighter brought a more positive attitude from men than women toward the ad and event. Out of the three images shown, sexualized, neutral and combative, women over men preferred neutral presentations. Both men and women thought the sexualized ad was more attractive but was also viewed as less talented and successful in regards to the neutral and combative advertisements.
Our society places a lot emphasis on gender roles, and it is no different than gender roles in sport. These stereotypical expectations for masculine and feminine roles in sport dictate how athletes are perceived, and what activities and attributes are socially acceptable in our society.
Hopefully the perception and role of women in contact and combat sports continue to move in the right direction, focusing on the athlete's talent and skill rather than sex appeal, moving away from stereotypical expectations and our societies grip on gender goals.

Reference:

Greenwell, T., Simmons, J, Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., Thorn, D. 2017. The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 2017, 31, 533-545.
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tatebruckner 4d
I do believe women in MMA are helping people get rid of some sterotypes. Unfortunately though a lot of the fight promotions are still sexual by nature. I understand the promoters job is to promote in the way they feel is most profitable, but I do believe there is still a large untapped group of female viewers that would love the MMA if they maybe changed some of the promotions to entice more females to watch.

William HollidayIII 4d
I agree the stereotypes in MMA are starting to fade. I think when women started fighting in UFC it brought in many more spectators that normally would not have watched. I think when women first started out, it was a marketing ploy, but I feel like the women in UFC have been very competitive and the fights are very enjoyable.
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Women in Combat Sports

Anonymous
5d
Women in Combat Sports
With the inclusion of female athletes in combat sport, questions of how to market female athletes have become a critical issue. Sex and violence in advertising can improve memory for products and enhance their appeal however, there are questions about using violent themes to promote women’s MMA because it challenges traditional gender roles. Physical attraction is an important contributor to consumer attitudes as evidenced by the role sexuality plays in marketing. This issue has been well documented, with research finding that physical attractiveness of athletes is one of the most important factors for a potential product endorser. Gender roles are shared beliefs about the attributes of men and women. Women possess (or are expected to possess) communal characteristics such as nurturance, kindness, submissiveness, expression/emotion, and compassion. Men, on the other hand, are expected to be more assertive, dominant, aggressive, instrumental, and independent. Sports are often labeled as “masculine” or “feminine” based on social constructions of gender roles and stereotypical expectations associated with those roles. The first objective of this study is to investigate the relative effectiveness of sexualized portrayals of female athletes versus violent portrayals on consumers’ attitudes toward the event they are promoting. The second objective of this study is to investigate how these portrayals influence consumers’ attitudes toward the athletes themselves. Sample was drawn through Amazon Mechanical Turk. To be considered for the study, subjects had to meet the following inclusion criteria: (a) self-identified sport fan, (b) reliable online respondent and (c) resident of the United States. A series of six advertisements was used to closely represent print advertising for actual MMA events. To manipulate for visual representation, the first condition featured a sexualized photo of a female fighter, the second condition featured a neutral photo (posed in fight gear, but neither sexualized nor engaged in combat) of the same female fighter, and the third condition featured the same female fighter engaged in combat. The data were subjected to a series of three-way analysis of covariance’s to identify differences in attitudes toward MMA advertisements between groups. Male and female athletes are still evaluated differently by consumers. This study illustrates how the consumer’s gender influences how different advertisements of women competing in combat sport are perceived. The advertisement conditions included in this study were limited to generic print ads meant to isolate the effects of different athlete portrayals.

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Evan Petrovic 4d
The challenging of gender roles by the UFC is interesting. Women are now part of the sport, which was previously male dominant. Looking back at hunter gatherers this is completely different. Males would go out and hunt, while the women would stay home and care for the youth. Now seeing women in the octagon that is flopped. The women are competing in the masculine sport, are like women going out and hunting in a hunter gatherer setting. This is great thing, but it is taking time to get used to. Additionally I believe advertising the female athletes in a sexual tone, is keeping females competing in mixed martial arts from becoming normalized.
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Women in Combat Sports

chase_davidson
5d
Women in Combat Sports
This particular article portrays how women are viewed in combat sports. The researchers in this article did a nice job of describing how women in what was traditionally a mans sport is portrayed and advertised to the general public during their viewership. Many feel this isn't an appropriate sport for women. This is partially because it challenges typical gender roles. This article also describes how sex appeal is one of the main marketing factors for women sports particularly combat fighting. The reason for this is because if one is defined as physically attractive they are assumed to have other desirable traits. One male fighter inappropriately stated that if he were to pay to watch females fight that they should at least be topless. Because of the gender stereotyping for sports, male sports are seen as using the body to overpower opponents or direct face to face competition while female sports are designed to portray ones beauty, grace, and nonaggression. While men show they tend to care more about the attractiveness of an athlete rather than her ability, women also have fueled this agenda. Ronda Rousey did a Sports Illustrated add with nothing but body paint while Lexi Thompson posed with just a towel covering her. While times have changed from women of the past, the name of the game is to make money. I think as long as sex appeal and combat fighting will sell they will continue to combine both as advertisement. I have always been a huge sports fan and being an athlete myself I have and always will care more about ones ability than their attractiveness. Winning means more to me than a pretty face.

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Dakota Norris 4d
I agree with everything you stated. The fans and viewers drive the ratings and the marketers will do what works. Sexualizing both men and women in these fights do that. There are also always going to be those people that don't believe that women belong in the ring and like you said that man stated that if they fight they should be topless. Obviously he hasn't watched many of these fights because a lot of the fights that the women are involved in are violent and fascinating to watch. Still one of my top three favorite fights that I watched was Holly Holm vs. Ronda Rousey. It was violent, exciting, and delivered a great fight.
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Women in Combat Sport

Ryan Salami
5d
Women in Combat Sport
This weeks article discusses the appearance of women in combat sports and how they are viewed by society. Throughout history, women have been seen as less than equal to males in every way. With MMA, many do not believe that women should be seen or viewed brawling within the octagon or at all. With the common view of women changing and evolving, the thought process has to change on how women are seen within society. We are no longer in the age that women are only stay at home moms and focused on cooking and cleaning the house and merely raising the kids. Women should not be seen as fragile individuals that need to be sheltered or protected. They should be seen as individuals that are equal in responsibility and aptitude. Women are so much stronger than they appear and have been for a long time and the time has come for the world to allow them to show their capabilities. On the one hand, consumers enjoy seeing a nice face when looking at advertisements but that shouldnt change the fact of that person being an athlete at the end of the day. Advertisement is used to sell and sex and violence both sell. This is one thing that will never change. The thing that can change is the way society views athletes and the athletes within the advertisements.

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Anonymous 4d
Your statements are very honest and true in my opinion. Promoters are not going to stop using sex and violence in advertisements. If it works I don’t see them changing the narrative. The only way that female combat sport athletes will receive the respect that they deserve is by society appreciating what they bring to the combat sports. The outlook of society on gender roles is steadily changing. I feel that we are moving in the right direction for all athletes to be noticed for their true talents and not their physical appearance.

dylan_skinner 4d
I agree. I think we are hopefully moving in the right direction but I don't think everybody is going to be happy regardless of what happens. I think women are much more than just sex toys and they should be treated as such. However, as long as it sells I am not sure that it will ever be completely abolished.

Mike Stringer Jr. 4d
I agree with you gentlemen. I do believe our society is continues to progress when it comes to women's equality and acceptance. What interests me is how does the athlete perceive themselves and their insight on this topic. Female athletes are not being forced to be portrayed in sexualized marketing, they are agreeing to it. Is there some validity to the idea of a women being an athlete and a traditional attractive women.
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Week 2: Women in Combat Sports

robert_tedlund
5d
Week 2: Women in Combat Sports
The article for this week I found to be mundane and typical. The four hypotheses in the article are practical theories that even my high school students would could come up with. These findings should not go unprecedented. The article's research found that men tend to view female combat fighters and their advertisements more favorably if they were sexualized in nature. The research also showed that sex sells in our society. Sometimes we tend to blame the men for viewing such things more favorably, but what about the women that are willing to pose sexually? Lexi Thompson was never forced to go nude with only a towel to cover her breasts on the cover of Golf Digest magazine; Ronda Rousey was never forced to bare all in the Sports Illustrated body issue; and female MMA fighters are never forced to take part in sexualized commercials. As long as men and women are full of hormones, sex will always sell folks. What the research article did find is that it is more likely for viewers to find sexualized female combat athletes less athletic and less talented than those that are in a neutral advertisements, this is also not surprising. The fine line that exists is this: As a female combat MMA fighter, does one profit off their sexuality and risk being credited as less talented? Or does a female MMA fighter let her talent speak for herself yet possibly lose endorsement deals and marketing opportunities to simply be seen as "wholesome?" We saw Ronda Rousey as a marketing skyscraper yet we do not see Holly Holm much. Holm beat Rousey, and beat her handily by the way....
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Jacob Hyler 4d
Very good question that you brought up about how women should perceive themselves in combat sports and what route they should take. It is difficult for women in sports in a society focused on looks and not so much on their talent. Regardless of the fighters attractiveness, the focus should be on their skill and abilities.
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Women in Combat Sports

dakota_saeler
5d
Women in Combat Sports
This article really deals with how female athletes are presented in combat sports. For most of history, female athletes have been marketed through a “sexualized sense” in most industries, and the case is the same for combat sports. In terms of promotion and endorsements, physical attractiveness is a major factor, according to this article. Physical attractiveness has been found to be a significant motivator of sport consumption and significantly influences public interest in sports such as soccer. Physical attraction may also play a bigger role when female athletes are featured. Based off Twitter conversations, when male fighters were mentioned, it was their talent that was mentioned. But whenever female fighters were mentioned, it was a combination of the fighter’s talent and attractiveness.  Research has also shown advertisements featuring female athletes as endorsers are more often than not sexually suggestive in nature. There are many different examples of this: golfer Lexi Thompson posed topless with only a golf towel stretched over her chest for the May 2015 cover of Golf Digest magazine, NASCAR driver Danica Patrick and tennis star Anna Kournikova are also known as much for their looks as they are for their success as athletes, due in large part to endorsement opportunities and media presentations featuring both in hypersexualized roles. There are countless examples of female athletes being endorsed because of their looks instead of their talent. More women are now competing in combat sport, and their competition in what was once considered a man’s sport is starting to gain acceptance. With that being said, male and female athletes are still evaluated differently by consumers. When you consider the weight consumers place on attractiveness of female athletes and the commonness of sex appeal and attractiveness in advertising, it becomes important to understand how consumers may view different representations of women competing in combat sport.
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robert_tedlund 5d
I agree with your thoughts about many women being marketed solely based on their looks and maybe not so much their talent; however, I would also argue that there are many male athletes in the same spectrum of marketing. David Beckham gets an unreasonable amount of marketing exposure and is not in the same galaxy as a soccer player as a Lionel Messi, Ronaldo and many others. Matt Kemp also gets a lot of marketing run even after his break with Rihanna and he has not been very productive lately but is seen by many women as one of the best looking athletes.

sierra_hughes1 4d
I think it's unfortunate that this is the representation that women get. I think it's great that people are looking into it more and starting to see that this is happening and trying to make changes. Women can be outstanding athletes and shouldn't be marketed as sexual objects in order to get viewers.
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Women in Combat Sports

dallas_long
5d
Women in Combat Sports
I found this article to be very interesting and a great look into specific advertisement methods used within woman sports. As the journal describes, women sports such as MMA rely on sexual advertisement imagery to promote woman fights. Such tactics ultimately takes away from the women's ability as professional athlete fighters, and instead puts focus on their physical attractiveness to the male audience. Such advertisement methods focus on building their brands and the the individual athletes through sex appeal rather than the competitive drive of the sport. I personally don't agree with these advertisement tactics and watch sports for the enjoyment of the final outcome and competition. The gender of the athlete or their physical appearance does not sway my personal opinions or preferences when watching a sporting event such as Mixed Martial Arts.
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Ryan Salami 5d
I completely agree with the comments stated. I watch sport to the final outcome to the sporting event. I appreciate the attractiveness of a female athlete but I am not swayed by the fact that she is attractive. I seperate the two when it comes to sport. I appreciate athletes based on their ability to compete, not by what they look like.

dylan_skinner 5d
I agree with both of you here. I agree that the outcome matters and that is definitely the reason I watch. However, to be completely honest no matter which sport it is I would honestly be more likely to watch an event featuring attractive females than non attractive females. This sounds terrible and everything but its just a fact. I'm not a huge fan of women fighting each other but as far as other sporting events go that's just a fact and I know I'm not the only one that feels that way.

ghadley3 4d
I agree with your opinion, about not liking the advertisement methods that focuses on building their brands through sex appeal. On the other hand, it’s a reason it such a widely held methodology as far as advertisement it simply works as well as get the audience attention.
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Women in Combat Sports

mallory_franks
5d
Women in Combat Sports
This article analyzes the impact women have in a mostly male dominated sport, and different ways they can be represented to the consumer.  Instead of basing a woman's worth on her talent, many consumers base an ad, like this one for MMA, on the sexuality on the woman who is objectified.  Though it is true, "physical attractiveness is one of the most important factors for a potential product endorser," the question of whether a woman can be taken seriously in any male dominated sport still presents itself.
Through hypotheses and analysis in this article, proof that women still have a long way to go to achieve equality in sports becomes evident.  Men had a positive reaction to the woman MMA fighter who was portrayed in a sexualized manner when comparing it to the neutral ad; whereas women had more of s positive reaction to the other two ads, rather than the one that objectified a sexual woman portrayed as an MMA fighter.  However, when asked about the woman portrayed in a sexy manner, men stated that the woman fighter appeared less competent.  This becomes somewhat of an oxymoron, as whether to be taken seriously or appeal to the consumer.
After the effort women have put into being viewed as equals to men, and the small strides we have made, this article proves once again that it will be a long time before a strong woman will be viewed as talented, in comparison to a male in a primarily male dominated sport. This article once again proves that we have so far to go to achieve equality in our society, whether it be sports related or not.

Greenwell, T., Simmons, J, Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., Thorn, D. 2017. The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 2017, 31, 533-545.

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Women in Combat Sports

Kevin Gudgel
5d
Women in Combat Sports
This week's article was very interesting in terms of how a woman can be portrayed three different ways in an ad for combat sports and get a negative or positive reaction based on that different portrayal, even though it is the same woman and same sport.  One of the objectives was to investigate brand image.  "Athletes can be considered brands as they have a name, distinctive appearance and personality." (Carlson & Donovan 2013; Thompson, 2006).  It is interesting how the ability of an athlete plays a role in the successful branding of that athlete, but in a lot of ways sexuality overrides this.  A classic example of this is Danica Patrick in NASCAR.  While Danica was a very talented driver, she only won a single race in her career.  However, she kept her sponsorships and endorsements long after many of her male counterparts  with similar on track results.  Her sponsors made sure to focus on her looks and sexuality in her ads more than her success as a driver. According to the study, the way an athlete is presented affects the way consumers view a brand.  "This effect is also important to the athlete herself as the advantage of having positive persona is the ability to carry the brand equity beyond the professional career and extend the brand beyond the isolated identity of just being an athlete." (Parmentier & Fischer, 2012)  Danica is still promoting products today even though she is retired from racing.  I wonder if that would be the case just based on her racing career.
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dylan_skinner 5d
That would absolutely not be the case based on her racing career. I agree with you 100%. People want to say its wrong to do this but the simple fact is that it sells. Whether it is wrong or right. this women would not still have a job if it wasn't for the fact of her employers focusing on her attractiveness. I'm sure she doesn't have a huge problem with it because she's getting paid. The only people that have a problem with it are the ones that aren't getting paid. If you look at ESPN The Magazine Body Issue both females and males are doing this type of thing because it sells. Now obviously females are used more because the sport audience is mostly men and they don't want to see men looking sexy but that is just how it is and I'm not sure if it will change any time soon.

Dakota Norris 4d
I agree with both of you, Danica did not have a great career as a racer but she did break down the women barrier so although she is attractive I believe her making history also has something to do with her advertisements. The other point you made is great about stating that she doesn't mind the advertisements using her sexuality to make money. While the world can argue about should women be sexualized in advertisements some women do not have an issue with it if they are getting paid a lot of money.
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Women In Combat Sports

Aubrey Champion
5d
Women In Combat Sports
This week's article was very interesting and dealt with something that is very relevant in our country today. I recently wrote a research paper on this topic. Women tend to not be seen as equals in the world of sports. Just because there is less attention drawn by womens' sports, it does not mean that they are any less athletic. This article talked about how many people see women as objects instead of actual athletes. One comment from the article made the crude comment that he would only watch a womens' MMA fight if they were topless. Unfortunately, this is something that is too common in our society. Women are paid less, respected less, and shown less in the media. This kind of negative image by the media may deter girls from pursuing athletic careers because they see how women are only looked at in the wrong ways. As someone who has coached both boys and girls, there is no difference in competition level or skill levels between the two. Some of the girls on the basketball teams that I coached were more focused on winning and being competitive that the boys on the team. The boys were more focused on having fun and making friends.

I think that it is awesome the womens' MMA is growing so much. I think that women should be able to compete in any sport that men can compete in.
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Women in Combat Sports

Tyler Nielsen
5d
Women in Combat Sports
The article that was assigned for reading this week was very interesting and I believe I have read one very similar to it during my classes for this masters degree. The article talks about how women are usually sexualized by men in sports. Women sports typically gather less attention by sports by men viewership but one way we see men increase the way they perceive womens' sports is when women's sports advertisements are sexualized. This is unfortunate that male viewers do not watch the womens' sports because they are entertained by the athleticism like we see in men's sports. I have seen this problem from my peers and do believe that it will continue because organizations are making money off of it as well as the female athletes.
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Ryan Salami 5d
I do not believe that it is correct for advertisement to put so much effort into the sexualization of women rather than the athleticism of women but when it comes to financial gain of the organization, sex sells. The sports industry has been focusing on the financial benefit of sports for a very long time. Sexualization of athletes will continue until the focus of the sports industry changes.
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Week 2: Women in Combat Sports

Arisha Matthews
5d
Week 2: Women in Combat Sports

This week’s article dealt with the issue of sexualization in women in sports. There is already an over representation of sex sells in women commercials and advertisement in general when it comes to food, clothing, beauty and other brand categories. This study specifically touched on how consumers view different advertisements whether presented sexually, neutral or combative. The study showed proved that the male audience had a more positive attitude towards the more sexy ads opposed to combative and neutral ads. However, females had a less positive attitude towards sexy ads. Both men and women had low attraction for combative ads. Also both males and females appreciated actual talented female athletes being represented. In my opinion the surveyors were not diverse enough (more men than women). I think the results were obvious with men liking sexualized ads over combative ads. As a woman I think it’s up to the brand to choose how they want to brand women athletes. For example: Serena Williams. The French Open banned Serena Williams from wearing a fully covered catsuit. Nike, who she is endorsed by decided to make an ad campaign with a picture of Serena in a catsuit quoting “You can take a superhero out of her costume, but you can never take away her superpowers. #Justdoit.” (Nike 2018) This ad streamed more viewers to watch and see what she would have on at her next match which was a tutu that actually showed more skin! Nike tastefully gave her something to wear that you would deem inappropriate because more skin was showing. This proves that advertisement can be sexy but tasteful and empowering at the same time. It just gets annoying when brand oversexualize and emphasize SEX!.
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mallory_franks 5d
I agree, women do not want to be objectified the way society does today. A talented woman deserves the recognition that a talented man does, without having repercussions of what she looks like. A successful man in sports is not objectified the way a woman is. No is he expected to stick to a “man sport.” Why is everything in our society sex related? Women must support other women and celebrate their successes. Without that support, our society will not continue to progress, and equality between sexes will never occur. Why can’t someone, man or woman, just be good at something, and not have to be objectified in the process?
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Women in Combat Sports

Pedro SolisJr
5d
Women in Combat Sports
The article for this week was about the effects of sexualized and violent presentations of women in combat sports. This study had a couple of designs to investigate how different presentations of female fighters are looked at, both male and females shared their opinions of what type of promotions are better for women in combat sports. The sexualized representation image of female fighters was popular among males. Studies showed that males have a more positive attitude towards that representation then females do. The other two surveys were with female fighters in a neutral image and in a combat image. Females had a more positive feedback about the neutral images and combat images. I feel that society is becoming more educated about judging athletes for their ability and not only their appearance. We are still not where we need to be. It’s only a matter of time before female fighters get the recognition they deserve. The WWE is having their first all-female Pay per View and headlining the event is Ronda Rousey which was the face of UFC. I'm proud to stay that I respect the ability of all female fighters and how they can continue to impact combat sports.

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Women in

David Rau
5d
Women in
In this weeks article researchers conducted a study that analyzed the presentation of female athletes who participate in combat sports such as Mixed Martial Arts. It focused on the role sexuality plays in the marketing sector of a business,  and how it effect consumers. They analyzed consumers attitudes towards these ads, naming them sexual, neutral, or combative. Researchers found that male consumers were attracted to the sexualized ads, rather than the neutral or combative. Recently, advertisements with women have been becoming more and more sexualized. I believe that it all comes down to a concept the article touched on, gender roles in society. The sexualization of women is definitely an issue, however, I believe it goes back to how society views the role of men and women. The article says, "Women possess (or are expected to possess) communal characteristics such as nurturance, kindness, submissiveness, expression/emotion, and compassion (Eagly, 1987). Men, on the other hand, are expected to be more agentic–assertive, dominant, aggressive, instrumental, and independent. Sports are often labeled as “masculine” or “feminine”' (Greenwell, 2017). The role of women in the sports industry is growing rapidly. The issue is, we are still seeing issues regarding sexuality, and competence, arise. One example I can think of is that of Cam Newton, who made a comment insinuating that a female reporter wasn't knowledgeable enough to know about route running in the NFL. There are many issues regarding women in the sports industry, and it goes back to how society views us as people.
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Women in Combat Sports

Josh Pagan
5d
Women in Combat Sports
This weeks article was a study over the attitudes and feelings of consumers toward women in combat sports like Mixed Martial Arts. The article discussed attitudes toward advertising, event an athletic brand. When the female athlete in the advertisement was presented in a sexual light, male consumers reported higher interest in the advertisement than female consumers. I completely can see why.  Everything these days on any kind of media such as advertisements, commercials, movies, social media, television shows, music and sports has something of a sexual nature involved.  Some reasons behind this according to (Ferguson, Cruz, Martinez, Rueda, & Ferguson, 2010), is that sex and violence in advertising can improve customer's memory of the product. The violence in the advertisement can cause conflict because this is not a typical female role in sports like MMA. The sexuality part of the advertisement can also take away from the females athletic accomplishments.  Hopefully the results of this study will give a better understanding of how to market and promote women in athletics.  I personally would like to see advertisements geared toward the actual product because raising three children in a world where sex is in every aspect of media is hard for a parent when society views that as the norm.
REFERENCES
Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31(6), 533-545. doi:10.1123/jsm.2016-0333
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dallas_long 5d
Like you, I also would like to see women's sport advertisement geared toward the product of the actual sporting event, rather than the sexual appeal of the female athletes. You're exactly right that we're currently living in a society where sex and physical appearances are surrounding our everyday lives among TV, movies, music, advertisements, apparel, and internet. I personally believe sports and it's advertisement should be based on the actual competitive level of the game or event and not on the sexual appeal of the event.
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Women in Combat Sports

Josh Roberson
5d
Women in Combat Sports
This weeks article dealt with the fairly new topic of women in combat sports like MMA. The article brought up the fact that when it comes to advertising athletes, especially female athletes, that sexuality is put on display and used as a selling point to consumers and fans. Male athletes are for the most part seen as talented indivduals and their brand is based off of their individual physical skill set. Women athletes on the other hand have to be talented at their sport as well as be physically attractive to be advertised. When sexuality is used to advertise women athletes, men consumers tend to watch or be more interested in the sport, while female consumers lose interest. Female athlete involved in combat sport also have an uphill battle to climb because of gender roles and societal norms that perceive combat sports and other masculine sports only for men. This perception is starting to change with some of the success of female athletes in MMA but there is still work to be done to change the societies perceptions.

I feel that women should not be seen as sexual objects and that it is sad that they have to be portrayed in that light just so people will watch them play sports. In my opinion and personal experience, women tend to be better at sports as whole than men. Females have the fundamentals that men tend to overlook because they feel they can overpower opponents. Women sports might not have the brute force that men sports posses but across the board I believe they play sports in a more fundamental way than men which overall makes them better in my eyes. Hopefully one day women will not have to be sexualized while playing sports, and can just play the sport while being a women and get credit for how good they are at their respective sport.
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Women Sports

douglas_steffens
5d
Women Sports
The study in this article was used to determine how females felt about its athletes being advertised more sexually then its male counterparts. With sports being dominated by males, female sports have needed to find ways to increase viewership and participation within their sports. By sexualizing these female athletes advertising companies are trying to increase the amount of people watching the sport. While these types of advertisements have helped to increase viewership and participation of sports, for example with women’s MMA, I feel women still will not get the respect it deserves if advertised in this way. The resulted tested saw that men showed more interest in the sexualized ads advertised for women, while women preferred a more neutral ads portraying the female athletes. As long as these results stay like this I don’t see the ads changing. Sports overall is a male dominated activity, from athletes, to coaches, to the people reporting on it, female are just not as involved whether its to blame the women for not wanting to be involved or the downfall of men not putting these women in a position to impact the sports world. Its very evident in coverage of sports that woman sports are talked about less as well. One sport I point to is NCAA college basketball. Men’s college basketball and the hype of March Madness is evident across the country with continuous coverage of games and story lines. Many would never know the women’s NCAA basketball tourney happens at exactly the same time as the men’s but with much less coverage. As long as we don’t give the same respect to these women sports it leaves them no choice but to sexualize their ads. Sex in many ways sells and while people may not agree with it women sports has no other choice. The way to change this really boils down to people giving the same respect, meaning the coverage, the hiring of females to coach or report on the game will ultimately begin to help fix the sexualizing of the female athletes and give people the ability to see them as athletes rather then just a pretty face.
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Women in Combat Sports and Ads

mdesin798
5d
Women in Combat Sports and Ads
This article presented research findings about the attitudes and perception of female athletes in combat sports. The marketing and promotional strategies in combat sports demonstrate a tendency to promote the physical attractiveness of female fighters rather than their actual skills and abilities. By advertising in this manner, the fighters are not viewed in the same context as their male counterparts. Male fighters are traditionally promoted based on their skills or athletic attributes rather than sex appeal. This effectively enables fans to not appreciate the skills and abilities of female fighters being promoted.

This has been historically common issue in athletics. Other examples with similar characteristics exist in other competitive arenas and similar beliefs and strategies are present. Promoters and marketers are using strategies that they know will be effective to their target audience. Males, the majority of viewers of MMA, tend to like advertisements that are sexualized and promote combative behavior.

I don't think promoters and marketers are necessarily at fault. They have a job to do and that is gain attraction for the fight. They will use whatever strategy they think will be most effective. I do think the UFC, or whatever governing body is overseeing the fight, needs to be more proactive in the image that is being promoted. They should have the ability to recognize overtly sexual advertisements and work to replace them with ads that more similarly duplicate those used for male fights.
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dallas_long 5d
I think it's a shame to women, their individual sports and organizations that advertisements are focused on the physical appearances of the women athletes. You brought up an interesting point that I did not take into consideration while reviewing this journal. You're right that the individuals in advertisement have a job to do and depend on viewership for their own success. It's disappointing advertisers must use a woman athletes physical appearances for their own personal gain, however they also depend on a paycheck and must find the best opportunities to keep a job. It would be great to see the advertisement world begin to steer away from woman athletes sexual images and instead focus on their abilities as athletes. There would need to be a field wide change of acceptance and views for woman sport advertisements.

Caitlin Carney 2d
I completely agree with you Dallas. As a female athlete, i was always scolded for fixing my looks during practice because it was not going to help my performance. I love that advertising companies are becoming more inclusive to include everyone from all walks of life. The field of acceptance is changing and I think it's for the good.
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Week 2: Women in Combat Sports and Ads

Tyler Clark
5d
Week 2: Women in Combat Sports and Ads
The article focuses on the role the women have in advertising and how they can be perceived from their role in the advertising and in the combat sport. The article broke the research into three main subjects, sexualized, neutral, and combative ads were used and a questionnaire was used. The questionnaire was used by 434 subjects and 67.3% were males and the average age was 30.3. This showed that the males did like the combative and sexualized ads while the females preferred the neutral ad. I believe that this show that for males that sex and violence sales for them and will lead the companies buying these ads to keep pushing this kind of ads in order to maximize their sales.This is not right and these women who are in the ads should be allowed to be known for their achievements and not for how they look in a supplement commercial.

Reference:
Greenwell, T., Simmons, J, Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., Thorn, D. 2017. The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 2017, 31, 533-545.
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Josh Pagan 5d
Everything these days on any kind of media such as advertisements, commercials, movies, social media, television shows, music and sports has something of a sexual nature involved. I would actually like to see advertisements that are actually geared toward the product, athlete, or sport rather that the sexual part of. From a parents view, it is difficult to raise children in a society that views sex as the norm.

Mitchell Hardy 5d
Hi Tyler, great post! You are true when you say that males like these ads because of the sexual presentation. I like what Josh commented about how he would like to see advertisements geared more towards the product. Too many companies get focused in on how to get the customer instead of just focusing on putting out a quality service, or product and trusting that it will gain the investment of the consumers. I take great pride that I was amongst one of the last generations that was raised with some sense of treating women with respect. This new generation makes it hard to raise a child to have respect towards women and appreciate them for their true beauty and not their looks.
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Week 2: Women in Combat Sports

benjamin_shivers
5d
Week 2: Women in Combat Sports
The article pertaining to this weeks assignment take a fair stab at the conundrum of marketing female combat sports like MMA. While the study's results section showed that consumers and society have gradually grown to accept women competing in nontraditional sports like MMA, there is still a difficult component to marketing the sport in order to generate more revenue and attract wider viewership and fans. Unfortunately, the masculinity of the sport appeals more towards males than females, and the hypotheses were only supported in the sense that in order to broaden the spectrum of viewership and garner more males interest in female fights, the women have to be sexually portrayed in some way during the advertisement and marketing process.

The difficulty in doing this is the backlash felt from females who don't want to be objectified to sell their sport. Women in general, let alone sports, constantly fight for equal rights and pay, and while I personally feel great strides have been made, it's difficult for women in sports to ever garner the same notoriety and viewership as men's sports. I personally don't watch much MMA or UFC at all, but when I do, I have zero interest in watching women fight and maybe its because of the lack of coverage, or possibly because I don't feel any desire to watch women get hurt in such a brutal sport. While I understand that my comments may be taken as sexist, its clearly not my intention, mainly because I'm not a fan of the brutality of the sport in general.

To summarize my position I feel like the battle to market female sports as a whole, not just combat sports, will always be a double edged sword. In comparison to men's sports, women's sports always seem to fall way behind in coverage, media attention, viewership and overall fans. While I believe it is important for women to play sports to be the role models so many need, I'm not sure that there will ever be an answer to the combat sports dilemma unless they were to completely remove combat sports for men.
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Kara Reber 5d
I agree with you. I am not a fan of brutality of a sport either and I'm not sure that any marketing of a sports like MMA would gain me as a fan. One question I'm curious of is when it comes to the women in combat sport, do they not want to be advertized in a sexual manner? I'd be curious to know how they feel about it and why there doesn't appear to be fighters taking a stand. I believe these women know that by showing more flesh, they will gain male viewers and in turn, they can draw a larger audience which will in turn fund them better. With combat sports and advertising, the goal needs to be to figure out who the ultimate viewership is and market accordingly. Currently, I believe they have done that. If they want to increase viewers in a certain demographic to gain more supporters, research will have to be done to decide how that particular group would like to view advertisements of female combat sport participants and plan their promotions accordingly while not forgetting who their current fan base is.
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Women in Combat Sports (Week 2)

Anonymous
5d
Women in Combat Sports (Week 2)
Every sport and organization spends an enormous amount of money on promotion and advertising. This article researches the effects of promotion of women in combat sports. Male sports have always been the most popular on TV and live events, women sports always seem to get the back burner. When women sports are being promoted such as MMA you see those athletes in the bare minimum clothing in order to help draw more attention to that event. There have been times especially in MMA where they focused more on the promotion and advertising of the event than they did the actual event. I think this has always been an issue but now I believe that people are slowing trying to make that change. Physical attraction and gender clearly play a role in any promotion of sports. More women are now making their way into the spotlights of many sports. Sports such as MMA or UFC used to be considered a male sport because of the violence, now women have made their way into both. As a society when we see women being shown in little clothing sexual attraction is what happens, not promoting the athlete. However the athlete is presented is how they are going to be viewed. The results clearly showed that male and females reacted differently when the advertisement for an event was being promoted. Males subjects had a more positive attitude towards the event when it was shown in a sexualized manner while female consumers were the opposite.
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clayton_lovekamp 5d
You are correct in eluding that gender roles are ultimately a natural thing it's proven by research and data. Advertisers take advantage of this when trying to promote a sport and athletes participating to attract consumers that would otherwise not be interested. It's not sure advertisers but also leagues and teams that partake in sexualizing the sports. Look at Sports Illustrated that does a yearly swimsuit issue for its consumers that are mostly male. Now some advertising is completely over the top like bikini football which I believe isn't sport at all.
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Week 2: Women in Sports

Cody Franklin
5d
Week 2: Women in Sports
This article talks about advertisements within female sports. More specifically, it talks about females in more male dominated sports. The article talks about how a lot of advertisements for these sports are overly sexualized to try and get more people interested in the sport. This article does research asking if people are more interested based off of ads that are sexualized, neutral or show combat. The results showed males were more positively interested when the ads were sexualized, while females were less interested when the ads were sexualized. What was more interesting was the males were also more interested when more combat was invovled, which shows there are more ways to grow interest with males than just sexualizing the ads. I think this was a great research article, that looked at several truths. I do believe a lot of ads are sexualized to try and draw interest, especially ads involving female athletes. This is a shame, as these athletes should be gaining attention for their athleticism and not for their looks.
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benjamin_shivers 5d
Cody- While I agree that women should be celebrated for their athletic accomplishments more so than their beauty, Don't you find it difficult in such a male dominated realm for women to succeed without using their sexuality to their own advantage? I personally can not see any other way for women in sports, especially combat sports to catch up to the amount of viewers or fan support, let alone notoriety, without trying to attract men via their looks. Since men are the larger base population for sports viewership and interest, you have to attempt to find a balance that allows for a woman's athletic talents to be the center of attention while her appeal and looks help attract more viewers and followers to her sport. I certainly don't have all the answers, but I honestly don't think its a bad idea if the end game is to have a level playing field with men's combat sports.
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Week 2: Women in Combat Sports

clayton_lovekamp
5d
Week 2: Women in Combat Sports
This article depicts how gender roles are used in sports. Gender roles are shared beliefs about the attributes of men and women. The sport industry has made positive strides in making sport equal among men and women. Sport Advertising has played the single biggest role in doing so because the expansion of media as a specific advertising tool. In that, we are now seeing unfair interpretations of sports because of a sports leagues gender or a athletes sexual orientation. We mostly see this in female sports as endorsers and advertisers use women's sexual attributes to promote the content. I also see this in male sports where teams use a players sexual attributes to attract audiences of the opposite sex. The article uses MMA as an example but it happens in all sports both male and female. My specific example is with the Kansas City Chiefs who use a likeable player like Travis Kelce to attract and draw a female audience. Kelce's physical attributes pair with his personality and athleticism attracts female consumers and advertisers and the Kansas City Chiefs take advantage of this.
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Kara Reber 5d
Clayton, I mentioned the very idea of advertisers using physical attraction for both males and females in promoting sport. While the females may have a lot less clothes on than males in their advertisment presentations, it is what sells to gain male viewers to the sport. Showing off a males ripped abs or good looks by advertisers is not uncommon to gain female viewers. I like your example of what the Kansas City Chiefs have done to gain female viewers and it happens all the time. I can honestly say that physical attraction has always been a reason that I have liked a specific professional athlete or team. Even when there is a sport on that I don't fully enjoy watching, if I can find anyone that is physically attractive to me, I would gain more interest. Just being honest. While good looks play a role, the promotion of the athlete's personality also is a factor. For example, many people think Tom Brady is physically attractice, however, his lack of personality steers me in the opposite direction of wanting to watch him play. Combat sports or not, I believe sex sells across the board and while women don't want women to be promoted in a sexual manner, where do they fully stand on males being promoted this way?
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Women in combat sports

Heather Durbin
5d
Women in combat sports
This article looks at the best advertising approach for females in sports that are typically male dominated.  The advertising brand for most male athletes in any type of sport is typically highlighting their sport ability, strength, power and dominance.  The advertising is not focused on their appearance or sexuality.  Advertising for female athletes, however, is typically the opposite.  The advertising brand usually focuses on stereotypical female characteristics  such as appearance, likability, beauty rather than their athletic ability.  The advertisement could have absolutely nothing to do with their athletic ability, but it is used to sell whatever is being marketed.  Females are typically put into sexualized positions to draw attention from the male consumers.  I feel as though most advertising is geared towards the male consumer, especially when it comes to sports; what do males typically enjoy looking at, a rough and ragged male or a beautiful female.  I like how this article also brought in the aspect of a female in the setting of their actual sport, like the MMA.  Female MMA athletes are not all beauty and grace, but rough and ragged like the stereotypical male athlete.  I was surprised in the fact that males responded positively for female athletes in combat ad more so than for a sexualized ad.  I would have thought that the sexualized ad would produce more positive interest for the males.

Reference:
Greenwall, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The effects of sexualized and violent presentations of women in combat sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31 (,  533-545.
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clayton_lovekamp 5d
I agree with what you are saying about advertising in male sports is consistently different than advertising in female sports. That's because in advertising there's a stereotypical saying that "sex sells". I believe this is untrue as it relates to sports. True sports fans are those that only take athletic ability into account. If the sports advertising is more often then not subject to gender roles then it should not be considered sports advertising. Sports advertising should only be based on the athletic ability at play.

victoria_panzica 5d
I agree, I thought for sure males would be more attracted to a more sexualized ad. I suppose this is a good thing, as it is important to get away from viewing females in a more sexual manner compared to males. It is also important to note that the media is not only at blame for the way females are preceived differently. It is important that females post pictures of themselves that are appropriate if they want the same thing in return from the media.

Heather Durbin 4d
That is a great point Victoria. I see it way too often that females post pictures of themselves that are definitely more sexual in nature or are posted for the intention of receiving attention for the sex appeal. But then we as females want to also be seen for who we are and not just what we look like. If society sees the female population displaying their bodies in that respect, then how can we expect the media to portray it any differently.

sierra_hughes1 4d
Sadly, I think in most sports, not just MMA women are marketing for their beauty as opposed to their skill. I think this falls on media and not necessarily the viewer, but the media needs tod o a better job of depicting the women as athletes as opposed to sexual objects.

William HollidayIII 4d
I do not believe at this point that UFC is marketing women for their beauty. When women first started fighting I do feel like they may have paraded Rhonda Rowsey out there to attract viewers, but now I believe that the true MMA fan is watching it for the fighting. When Rowsey was undefeated I think people watched to see if she would win, not because of her attractiveness. Then when she did lose and had a rematch, I dont believe that was marketed for her looks either.

jesse_e_duvall 4d
I agree with most of what you all are saying, but I also disagree with some. William, I do agree that "true" MMA fans are watching for the incredible athleticism. The fact is, just like every sport, there are people that watch that are not "true" fans. While the marketing may not be directly sexualizing female athletes, there will always be a hint of it. Unfortunately I do not believe that promoters, in any sport, have actively sought out a better way to promote female sports. Especially sports that are historically seen as masculine.

Anonymous 2d
I completely agree with your statement. Most advertisements are geared towards the male population. They use women to promote while being in sexual positions. Why? Because they know that this will attract men. I do believe that if some advertisements didn't use women , they couldn't get attract as many males as they could if they used a woman to be an advertisement. I believe that the MMA should focus on the woman's skill as a fighter than her appearance. They know that men would not watch the women's fights if they don't market them by their appearance.

andrewlatson95 2d
My response is the one above. I forgot to login in.
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2.1 D2 - Discussion 2 Women in Combat Sport

Mitchell Hardy
5d
2.1 D2 - Discussion 2 Women in Combat Sport
The purpose of this article was to see how sexualized, neutral, and combat images of females participating in combat sport affect the thoughts and opinions spectators have on the advertising efforts, event, and the brand of the individual athlete. As someone who has never really been a fan of MMA, and any other combat sport for that matter, I found this article relevant to many other aspects of life. I have always wondered why some companies use females to advertise their products. They utilize their appearance and use them as their poster girl. I know understand that their attractiveness encourages more male consumers to look into the product there are endorsing based off their sexual portrayal. I thought the article did a good job with offering up several hypotheses all relating to male’s positive consumption of advertisements and events. I personally thought the article and the results would be skewed because I have not met a male that wasn’t attracted to an ad or event if they had an attractive female endorsing their product. When reading through the results and finding that 67.3% of 434 usable subjects were male I was certain every hypothesis was going to be confirmed. It was found that males are more interested in sexualized and combat related ads while females often have negative feelings towards both of these areas. It was found that they when it is sexualized the female fighters are more attractive and charming but also it was surveyed that consumers thought those women were less successful and less tough than a fighter in a combat or neutral ad. In the end all of the hypothesis were confirmed. I would be interested to see if how a study like this would be if females were the majority of the surveyed subjects and if it was a presentation of sexualized and violent men. I think that the experiment would be very similar to this one just alternate the position views of the males and females.

References:

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31(6), 533–545
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Heather Durbin 4d
I would also like to see if the results were similar for a study on the views and attitudes of a male being at the center of the advertisement. I would think that the results would be similar in that a female would be more interested if the male was more sexualized in the advertisement.
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Women in Combat Sport

nathanie_heath
5d
Women in Combat Sport
This article discusses the attitudes of male and females when it comes to the marketing of female athletes in combat sports. The article also talks about how gender bias is at play when it comes to marketing not only combat sports, but other sports as well. The research done within this study supports what we all probably already suspected, and that is that female consumers and male consumers view female advertising of sport much differently. The research conducted supported the hypothesis that the attractiveness of the female in an advertisement had an impact on the opinions of men for both advertisement of a product and an event. Marketing executives understand this very well and use this to their advantage much to the chagrin of women. By using sex appeal in marketing that is geared towards male viewership and sponsorship marketers are cashing in on the ability to influence their brand recognition. I thought the study done on the twitter conversation of male and female MMA fighters was interesting. The study found that when men were talked about it was about their abilities rather than their looks and ability level like women were talked about in the same context. Unfortunately I do not see this trend going anywhere anytime soon. Body image plays a huge role in marketing campaigns for many industries not only sports. Athletes who are considered attractive by large audiences will continue to cash in on this information and grow their brand.

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Tyler Clark 5d
I agree with you that an athlete's body image does play a large part in if they are picked to represent certain brands and companies. I believe this to be extremely unfair to the athletes of the world. Just because they are not the best on camera does not mean that they would be the best for the ad. I would mush rather see an athlete that is great in their sport and uses the product to its fullest then an athlete that looks good in underwear and try to use the product in a way that does not fit the product.

mallory_franks 5d
It is sad that body image must play such a big role in society today and have any place in what someone can achieve. Our society today is so superficial, and I don’t see it changing anytime soon. However, I still do not understand how men want to see an ad of a sexually objectified woman in MMA, yet she is held to less of a standard that others in the same sport because of her looks. Why can we not just look at a person’s achievements and make a judgment on that? We place too much basis on what someone looks like, and use that to attract consumers.
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Effects of Sexualizing & Aggressively Presenting Women

cummingjames14
5d
Effects of Sexualizing & Aggressively Presenting Women
This article talks about the effects advertisements play in consumers feelings. This article focuses on the effects of sexualizing or violently portraying women in combat sports. The main goal of this paper was to investigate how the way female athletes are presented affects consumers attitudes. One of the main issues presented in this article is that advertisers do not know of the best way to present female athletes. When combat sports are promoting a men’s fight they promote in multiple ways. They present it as a nationality battle (i.e.: Irish vs. Russian) such as McGregor vs Khabib recently was. They may promote it as an age battle (i.e.: old veteran vs rookie). They also promote it as a championship struggle. However, it is different for women fighters. Advertisements including women are either promoted with the athletes in a sexualized way, a neutral position, or a completely aggressive nature. With all of the ways men are promoted, one would think women would be promoted the same. As mentioned earlier, a main issue is advertisers not knowing how to present female athletes. Many studies suggest that a female athlete depicted in a sexual position will different responses from males and females. Males find sexual advertisements more enticing and are more likely to show positive attitudes toward the ad and the event. Females find neutral advertisements more enticing and are more likely to show positive attitudes towards the event and the ad. To make matters more complicated, both males and females agreed that they view more attractive females as less skilled/talented. Since there are more women competing in combat sports, I believe that advertisers need to find some type of middle ground for their ads. There is no question that consumers view athletes differently based off their looks and genders. If we all think hard about it, I’m sure we have all done it at some point. I firmly believe that combat sports are not the only sports viewed this way. For example, tons of people love the NBA but do not care about the WNBA. Another example is how people look at girls trying to play football. Unfortunately for women, people still view today’s world as a “mans world.” There has been a shift in recent years, but it will still take some time for people to not show gender bias or judge off attractiveness.

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Heather Durbin 4d
If a study were done looking at the attitudes towards male athletes in advertisements, would females see the sexualized male as less skilled? I don't think it would show the same results as it does in this study in regard to that. I think it would gain more attention from female consumers, but I think their opinions in general regarding the event or the athlete would stay the same.
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Women in Combat Sports

Anonymous
5d
Women in Combat Sports

With the inclusion of female athletes in combat sport, questions of how to market female athletes have become a critical issue. Sex and violence in advertising can improve memory for products and enhance their appeal however, there are questions about using violent themes to promote women’s MMA because it challenges traditional gender roles. Physical attraction is an important contributor to consumer attitudes as evidenced by the role sexuality plays in marketing. This issue has been well documented, with research finding that physical attractiveness of athletes is one of the most important factors for a potential product endorser. Gender roles are shared beliefs about the attributes of men and women. Women possess (or are expected to possess) communal characteristics such as nurturance, kindness, submissiveness, expression/emotion, and compassion. Men, on the other hand, are expected to be more assertive, dominant, aggressive, instrumental, and independent. Sports are often labeled as “masculine” or “feminine” based on social constructions of gender roles and stereotypical expectations associated with those roles. The first objective of this study is to investigate the relative effectiveness of sexualized portrayals of female athletes versus violent portrayals on consumers’ attitudes toward the event they are promoting. The second objective of this study is to investigate how these portrayals influence consumers’ attitudes toward the athletes themselves. Sample was drawn through Amazon Mechanical Turk. To be considered for the study, subjects had to meet the following inclusion criteria: (a) self-identified sport fan, (b) reliable online respondent and (c) resident of the United States. A series of six advertisements was used to closely represent print advertising for actual MMA events. To manipulate for visual representation, the first condition featured a sexualized photo of a female fighter, the second condition featured a neutral photo (posed in fight gear, but neither sexualized nor engaged in combat) of the same female fighter, and the third condition featured the same female fighter engaged in combat. The data were subjected to a series of three-way analysis of covariance’s to identify differences in attitudes toward MMA advertisements between groups. Male and female athletes are still evaluated differently by consumers. This study illustrates how the consumer’s gender influences how different advertisements of women competing in combat sport are perceived. The advertisement conditions included in this study were limited to generic print ads meant to isolate the effects of different athlete portrayals.

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Meghan Poirier 4d
As far as the future study, I feel as though video and audio could impact the results of the study. There are a variety of factors that could come into play to impact a persons attitude toward the athlete such as appearance, body movement, athleticism and voice. In my opinion, the use of an image is not enough to measure a persons perceptions of a person. Much like when you first meet someone you don't know, you may have a first impression, but after a while, it changes. This is why branding is so important for athletes. They may advertise in a way that loses a group of viewers.
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Women In Combat Sports

Jenna Arkelian
5d
Women In Combat Sports
This article discusses how females are depicted in the realm of physical combat sports, and the implications of these depictions. While females are often presented in a sexual manner when it comes to combat sports, there are females who view this as demeaning to their true athletic ability. Often times, female athletic competition is not placed on a pedestal in comparison to male athletic competition. Due to this general viewpoint by society, marketers and agencies have found ways to raise interest in female athletic competition, more specifically combat sports as referred to in this article. Because males typically are the ones with interest in combat sport, agencies have found ways to peak their interest in female combat. By sexualizing these females, as reported in the article, male interest tends to skyrocket. By appealing to men in this way, more interest and money is generated that might otherwise not be if women were not depicted in this manner. This creates a brand that is much different than the brand created by male sports. The article discusses how male athletes are often judged by talent and athletic ability, while female athletes are often judged by their looks. There is a reason that organizations such as WWE promote their female wrestlers the way they do. It’s all about money in the sports industry. If an organization can drive billions more in revenue by utilizing marketing strategies such as sexualizing women, it will.

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Mitchell Hardy 5d
Hi Jenna. I think this is a really great post. I want to speak on behalf of the male population that judge women based off of their appearance other than their talent and I want to say I'm sorry. There are plenty of other ways that men can judge a female fighter. Men should view them in ways that are more appropriate such as if they are a true competitor and if they win their battles. Another thing could be if they are good ambassadors of their sport and if they help out in the community. These are all things that could help judge the opinion on them. As far as revenue goes, the sport industry can maximize their revenues by using highlights from their fights or their service in the community to encourage others to attend fights and also be good community leaders. Both of those are just two examples that do not sexualize women.
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Women in Combat Sports

justice_hansen
5d
Women in Combat Sports
This article demonstrated the differences in marketing and promoting female combat sports compared to men sports. When promoting and advertising men's sports it is most commonly about the skill set of the men competing. However, when it comes to women it is about their sex appeal. They do not promote women's MMA fights based on their skills alone, but also what they look like. It is proven that the more sex appeal women portray, the more likely men are to watch the event. It was also noted in the article that if promoters can get men to tune in to the first fight for the sex appeal alone, then they are more likely to watch the second fight based off more of skill set than sex appeal. The problem is it dehumanizes women and takes away much of their respect and integrity. Today sex appeal is even used in men''s athletics. Every year ESPN comes out with a magazine that is filled with pictures of nude athletes to portray what a "healthy body" looks like. In my opinion all this does is promote this corrupt world where everyone is made to feel like their value is based of outside things such as appearance rather than what is on the inside.
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Mitchell Hardy 5d
Hi Justice! This is a great post with outside information that applies well to the theme of the article. I think that you are 100% correct and the the dehumanization of women needs to stop if we want them to have respect in the future. I think that the ESPN magazines need to be addressed and not made as easily accessible as they are. I believe that issues like that should be something that consumers that want it should seek it out or special order it, not pick it up off the shelf at the store like they can today. Our world is corrupt and we made it that way and if we want change it is on us to do so.

benjamin_shivers 5d
Justice, Interesting perspective on the ESPN Body issue. I have never really thought to look at the issue as a way of dehumanizing anyone or objectifying women in general. I personally am fascinated by the human physique and how it can be built, molded and changed over time. So to see some of the worlds greatest athletes phsyique's isn't necessarily a bad thing if both men and women are posing in the nude. I think more so than anything else, Americans have a problem with nudity and that almost elevates the sexuality problem in sports and advertising. I like your take on the article but I can't say that I agree with your opinion on the magazine body issue. What I will agree with you on is the tactics used by promoters of placing a fight with two attractive fighters first in hopes of luring in more male viewers who will then stay tuned for the main events later on. That's a very intriguing tactic used, great job bringing that to attention!

Josh Roberson 5d
You're right when you say that mens athletics is sexualized too! The ESPN magazine that has all the athletes naked is a great example. I would say that even though all athletics are more sexualized today even men's athletics, women's athletics are the worst. I honestly can't remember one commercial or ad with a female athlete that isn't sexualized. I can think of many commercials and ads with professional male athletes that aren't sexualized.
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Women in Combat Sport

Ricky Nichols
5d
Women in Combat Sport
The purpose of this study was to seek to understand how sport consumers view female combat sport and how different presentations affect consumers' attitudes. Combat sports are sports that involve more contact than traditional sports. When sex and violence is involved in female sport, it tends to enhance the appeal and overall help promotion tremendously. Research shows that female MMA athletes are primarily judged upon their athletic talent and their physical attractiveness while males are solely judged on their athletic ability. We have seen numerous female athletes pose in very sexual and explicit nature in recent memory. Some of these athletes that helped endorse their sport with nude photos include: Danica Patrick for NASCAR, Rhonda Rousey for MMA, Lexi Thompsin for the LPGA, and tennis star Anna Kournikova.  In my opinion, I think that if a female wants to compete in a masculine viewed sport such as MMA then it should be no different than a male participating in a feminine viewed sport such as gymnastics or ballet. Today's society has created these gender roles that everybody believes in. It's sad to know that attractiveness in female sport plays such a large role in viewership for female sports.
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justice_hansen 5d
I agree with you. The fact that people are more likely to tune into a women's event based more on their sex appeal than their skill set is completely wrong.

alisha_rayborn 5d
If gender roles were taken out of the equation when comparing male athletes and female athletes, the sport industry and society would have a better appreciation of female athletes. I think there are strides that are being made to change the perception of how female athletes are being viewed.
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Women Portrayals in Combat Sports

brandon_hom
6d
Women Portrayals in Combat Sports
This study really just verified what i am sure a lot of people were already thinking and know about how most entities advertise women. The more sexual appeal a company uses to advertise women, the more males will tend to engage in that advertisement. With that being said it is the opposite for women, they did not tend to enjoy seeing other women be sexualized or put into a portrayal of being combat only in an MMA advertisement. This article does a good job of taking three different styles of realistic advertisements that would be used to promote a female MMA fight, but I would have liked to see more women answer the questionnaire. This article suggests that if the MMA advertisement can get men to watch the first fight because of a sexualized advertisement, they are more likely to watch a second fight that involved women but based on their skills as a fighter not as a sexualized women.
The biggest problem that we run into is that women are still seen as women in the sport instead of just being seen as fighters. Once our society stops forcing the gender roles on people then we will not have to sexualize advertisements based on the gender of the contestants. The main advertisements will be skill based or record based.
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hannah_kagen 6d
This is great take away from the article, I think you are correct on all the point you make. This article said what everyone else has been thinking about women in combat sports. Companies use women as advertisement for their male events. Now more than ever though women are making changes in the industry. Just like Rhonda Rousey is breaking barriers in the MMA and WWE industries right now. I think it's great that women are making changes and breaking barriers. Women are now being in the main events for their talents instead of how they look.

alisha_rayborn 5d
You are so right when it comes to female athletes still not getting recognized as athletes and just as women who happen to play sports. Once the physical attraction dies down from and athlete, how will promoters keep fans engaged? If women want to use their "sex appeal" it should be their choice but the talent is what keeps the viewers entertained.

kristian_borosvsk 2d
I enjoyed reading your comments. I agree the article did a great job of discussing the the different attitudes from sexualized, neutral, and combative and rather or not it had an affect on sports consumption whether is be from advertising or selling seats. What I do find interesting is that each sport for women have different agendas when it comes to marketing their players. Look at the WNBA, their uniforms are very similar to that of men's, now.... lingerie football??? the name speaks for itself. The bottom line is money! If society keeps paying for that product then they are not going to stop doing it. If the advertisement shows sex appeal and the fans show up and see "the ugly version" then they are less likely to come back. I do believe that this discredits women's sport as something to be taken seriously.
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Women in Combat Sport

bcharles87
5d
Women in Combat Sport
The purpose of this article is to determine which presentation promotes females the best. The options for promotion are sexualized, neutral and combat. In my opinion from reading the article I would say that combat is the best promotion. Sex appeal and aggression sells because spectators love to see nice bodies, less clothing and good athleticism. In the article it said that "sex and violence in advertising can improve memory for products and enhance their appeal". In today's world sex sells and that is why you see women in magazines with nice abs, toned bodies, and some women get surgery to enhance their appearance.
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brandon_hom 6d
You are right, in this society sex does sell. Women are constantly shown with as little clothing on as possible because marketing companies know that men and some women will be more likely to watch something that has some kind of sex appeal. Unfortunately for some of the women that are in these advertisements, they will not be taken as seriously as men doing similar jobs because they are not seen as being as talented. Our society needs to move towards a talent and skill based society opposed to selling sexual advertisements.

Ricky Nichols 5d
I totally agree with your post! I think that the main sell in all of this is still the combat portion. When I watch female MMA, I want to see the big hits, take downs, and knockouts. I honestly could careless what the athlete looks like. However, I do agree that if the athlete is more attractive it does sell the sport and athlete more so than if they weren't attractive. I like MMA because it does both. I think the lingerie football league is a joke because they sell too much of the attractiveness instead of the sport.

justice_hansen 5d
What these promoters and advertisers do not take into account is how this all affects society. It has gotten to the point where people feel that they have to look a certain way or act a certain way to fit in with societal norms.

Josh Pagan 5d
Everything these days on any kind of media such as advertisements, commercials, movies, social media, television shows, music and sports has something of a sexual nature involved. I would actually like to see advertisements that are actually geared toward the product, athlete, or sport rather that the sexual part of. From a parents view, it is difficult to raise children in a society that views sex as the norm.

Caitlin Carney 2d
I can absolutely agree with the statement that sex sells. In my opinion, I feel that women are put at a social disadvantage. I find myself comparing myself to the portrayals in the ad. Not in any sexual type of comparison, but I find myself body shaming and comparing why i don't look like the others in the ads. Justice made the comment that women feel the need to look a certain way to fit in with societal norms and I completely agree.
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Women in Combat Sport

alisha_rayborn
3d
Women in Combat Sport
The purpose of this article was to present the research findings about the consumers’ attitudes toward the “advertising, event, and athlete brand of female athletes in combat sports” (Green et. al., 2017). In combat sports, the marketing/promo strategies are geared to highlight the physical attractiveness of these fighters rather than it being about their athletic abilities. The more “sex appeal” the promoters generate, the more male consumers tune in to the event but I feel you are stripping the integrity away from these athletes. When fighters are just viewed as attractive, they are deemed “less talented, less successful, and less tough” (Green et. al., 2017). It is unfortunate that MMA advertisers/image consultants feel that the only way to bring in fans is to play up the physical attraction of these female fighters but according to the article, “sexappeal and aggression sells because spectators love to see nice bodies, less clothing, and good athleticism” (Green et. al., 2017). In order to change the sexist views of female athletes, the organizations need to come up with better marketing strategies and hire more women in the board rooms. If female athletic events receive more on-air coverage, then maybe viewers will take female athletes more seriously and be more likely to pay attention to the content rather than the athletes’ appearance. Our world is changing, and women no longer belong in the kitchen, they belong on the playing field.

Reference
Greenwell, T.C., Simmons, J.M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., and Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. The Journal of Sport Management, 31, 533-545. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2016-0333
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(WUFC

Alexander Graham
6d
(WUFC
Women's Ultimate Fighting Championship. Is there a market for this; and if so, how are the consumers of combat sports changing?
Similarly as the WNBA, LPGA, even NWSL do not exist in the same financial universe as the men's sports. Women competing in combat sports exist in an unnatural place for sport (especially combat sports like MMA) to operate in. The portrayal of female bodies has been sexualized, almost since sport had advertisers.
The article showed consumers, specifically male consumers can still be coerced into watching females breaking gender-stereotypes when they are displayed in a sexualized fashion. An article like this one would miss the biggest name, and biggest issue in women's MMA if it did not mention Ronda Rousey. Rousey's fight in 2013 vs Liz Carmouche was the UFC's first women's match. It also was the headline fight that night. In 2015 Rousey faced Holly Holm in the UFC's largest in-audience attendance fight. Perhaps 2012 gave her a taste of being a "sex-lebrity," when she appeared nude (a less revealing nude than others) in ESPN's Body issue. But after Ronda's back-to-back losses in the octagon she joined The WWE, where she didn't need to partake in the combat aspect of the sport, but merely the allure of her femininity.
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nathanie_heath 5d
Alexander, I think you are completely correct in the statement about females have been sexualized in sports since advertisements have began. I also like how you said that men seemed to have to be coerced into watching female athletics by bringing into the attractiveness of the athletes into play in a sport that has nothing to do with looks in any regard. I think what the article missed the chance of stating was that attractiveness of an athlete in any sport weather it be male or female should have no influence on the way that we view the credibility or skill level of that athlete.

Alexander Graham 5d
I agree, the article did miss making that point. But I also am forced to bring to my mind (and your's, along with other readers') there have been countless studies done that show a positive correlation to "success" in general (better job, likelihood of getting a job [especially a good job], a higher salary, etc.) and a person's attractiveness: more attractive people get more success easier/sooner. I think it is a "human condition" and will always be such that a person's attractiveness will correlate to their success, in all things, not just sport.
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Physical Attractiveness in Sports

Riley Trowbridge
6d
Physical Attractiveness in Sports
The purpose of this article is to look at how major sport organizations market female athletes for their sport. The issue with how these organizations are marketing their athletes is that they are doing it in a sexual manner in order to make money. I believe sports like mixed martial arts are changing how people view female fighters based on the violence of the sport. However, I don't believe it is just women who are being exposed when it comes to marketing athletes in a sexual manner. Male and female athletes are being modeled for sports illustrated for the "Body Issue" to see what elite level athletes body's look like. I believe organizations need to do a better job at marketing the athletes in a more respective manner that will alter the views of female athletes in sports today

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bcharles87 6d
I totally agree with you, the sports illustrated "Body issue" is a game changer. I believe other athletes look at those pictures and try to get their bodies like the athletes on the cover page. Years ago people thought women sports were soft but thanks to the recent UFC fights that view is now gone.

brandon_hom 6d
I do agree with you as well, because women and men are still being shown in a sexualized manner, the advertisements lose some of their affect because we don't see their talent, we only see their bodies. Our society needs to move away from a society based on aesthetics and move towards a society based on talent.

Ryan Salami 5d
I agree that the view of a athletes body should be viewed in a respectful manner. I believe that changing the thought of what an athlete and sexualized person looks like comes from the way they are portrayed. Looking at the female body, at one point in history plus size models were not viewed as sexy as a thin model but the way that the thought process was changed happened because of the way advertisements and marketing were made and displayed. Changing the way athletes are sexualized, especially female athletes, needs to come from the way they are advertised and displayed.
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Women in Combat Sports

Joshua Hopkins
6d
Women in Combat Sports
Women all across the world are advertised as sex symbols when it comes to sports. when looking at combat sports I went with the great Laila Ali, the audience knows her for her last name, pretty face and undefeated record. Although what viewers should notice is how the news and media depict her. They chose to pick out her deep voice, muscular body and jaw bone structure. When it comes to boxing women around the world are depicted as sex symbols. Long robes, flat stomachs, and sports bras to bring attention to the sport with sex appeal. This article set out to see what attitudes towards advertising, athletes branding and also events. In my eye this article was sexest in many statements that women should be topless. Although the fighters with more clothing on were seen as more talented and the ones with less clothing less talented. To me this can also tie into other sports for women such as football. More viewers watch because of the sex symbols they illustrate themselves as while on the field. Right now women in sports around the world are upset for equal pay and recognition. Although is subjecting women to wearing close to nothing acceptable for women to be recognized and their market to grow. I also think it is bad that women use promotional material to get their name out their as if the name makes the fighter.

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alisha_rayborn 5d
Great take on the subject! It is sad that "sex" is used more to try and promote female sports rather than it being about their athletic abilities. Just how you pointed out Laila Ali, we all see how the media and critics portray Serena Williams. She gets ripped to shreds about her physical appearance. Women can play and be great in sports and it is time society gets on board with that.

andrewlatson95 2d
I agree with you! I believe that women should be judge on their actual skill instead of their appearance. It is sad the world will not view women as athletes unless they are shown as a sex symbol. Women work as hard as the men to be successful in sports only to be judge by their appearance.
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Advertising of women in sport

Kara Reber
5d
Advertising of women in sport
This study was conducted to determine how different presentations of female athletes in the advertising of combat sports affect the consumer's attitudes.  I can say I was not surprised by the findings in this article and it confirmed previous studies that found when sexualizing a female athlete, males tend to have a more positive attitude toward the advertisement while females had a significantly less positive attitude towards the advertisement of the female in the photograph if they were presented in a sexual or combative manner.  One thing I found particularly interesting was that respondents in the article felt that a fighter who was portrayed in a sexualized manner was less talented, less successful and less tough in a neutral advertisement.  Ultimately, the article was a good study for those wanting to understand a consumer's attitude when deciding to promote an event or athlete brand.  While sexualizing or displaying females in a combative manner for sports such as MMA fighting could increase males to the sport, you may turn away your female viewers.  The companies must decide who they are trying to get to support their sport or event and market accordingly.  While it appears sex sells from the female side of sports to males, I believe the same is true for females who may gain interest in watching male sports.  Growing up, my favorite teams were always decided because I thought someone on the team was cute.  The looks of the player became the reason I liked that particular player or that team.  Skill and talent may be a reason today as I am older, but as sad as it is, attractiveness still has a lot to do with it.

Reference:
Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31(6), 533-545.

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Jacob Hyler 4d
The sex appeal of women in sports and our society definitely dictates the viewership. I thought it was interesting as well when the article showed that male and female participants thought the sexualized ad portrayed someone that was less talented and successful than the neutral or combat ads.
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Women in Combat Sports

ross_2020
6d
Women in Combat Sports
Women all across sports have suffered from the media advertising them in a way of showing off their bodies rather than their athleticism. Looking at specifically in combat sports like the article stated. Ronda Rousey is the first name that comes to mind where she had posed without any closes on even. It goes into other sports also with how during the last summer Olympics all the female soccer athletes were advertised in bikinis and other things like that.
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Kara Reber 5d
Although many would like to see women's sports promoted without having to advertise the women with little clothing on, it sells for the male viewership. If studies show that there is a lack of women supporting women in sports and you want to sell tickets to a women's event, then you would want to find ways to sell tickets to males. Sex sells for men, but I would also be interested in a study to see if sex sells for women as well when it comes to women watching males participate in sport. As a female, I will absolutely admit that the attractiveness of a male, whether it be his looks, wholesomeness or charm, is the reason I decide to like that player or team and watch them compete.

bcharles87 5d
I agree, every sport that involves women promotes the athlete body. Women tennis loves to show off serena willams body because she is very good and has the physique that all women athletes would want or something similar. Sex appeal attracts the eyes of viewers. These days people don't want to read about the athletes they want to see about the athletes.

Josh Pagan 5d
I agree, we live in a world today of kids that want to see an athlete and read about an athlete. I also read where there was a proven study out there that states sex and violence makes the audience's memory of the product last longer.
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Physical Attractiveness and Violence in Sport Consumption

Licio R. Dias
6d
Physical Attractiveness and Violence in Sport Consumption
The article addresses the use of attractiveness of female athletes in advertising or promoting brands. It goes to question if the  use of sex and violence as a mean of promoting products or athletes is really beneficial for advertising campaigns. We have a clearly attempt by UFC to emphasize the the promotion of female fighters by tapping into their physical attractiveness and/or sex appeal. With the inclusion of female athletes in combat sports like  MMA, how to market them became a critical issue. Even though physical attraction plays a important role in marketing, that, according to the article, could discredit or ignores the athletic ability and accomplishments of those female athletes
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leigha_woody 6d
Appealing to different types of fans can be tough. Men can be drawn in by the use of sex appeal whereas women can be repelled by the oversexualization of other women. I like that the UFC is trying to draw in more female athletes and fans. Advertisement for female athletes and the events featuring those female athletes can be difficult. What will draw in both men and women? Where does the research overlap in positive feedback for both? How can that be used for future endorsers and promoters of female athletes?

Alexander Graham 6d
I think the last thing the UFC is trying to accomplish is to take away from the athletes' (especially-if not solely females) gender. It would seem dumb, or at least fairly silly for the organization to want consumers to focus on the physical skill of an athlete, as opposed to their attractiveness. If money is all the UFC is seeking, and I can almost guarantee this to be the case, then they are only working to get 100% of the men, age 18-65 to watch women's UFC.

Shane Buchanan 1d
Licio, I enjoyed reading your post, great work. I'm old enough to remember Anna Kournikova when she couldn't win a tournament, but she remained on every telecast. I have watched Danica Patrick and Lexi Thompson participate in their respective sports. I agree with you on how female athletes have been an easy target that unfortunately leads to the advertisement of sex and violence. I believe today there are other areas that are looked at in advertising other than the appearance of female athletes. I believe it is still important, but expertise, talent, and your brand now are recognized by today's audiences. I applaud the UFC in adding women to their events when earlier in the past their president stated it would never happen. This is just another step in breaking the gender roles and noticing women athletes because of their talents instead of their looks.
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Presentations of Women in Combat Sports

leigha_woody
6d
Presentations of Women in Combat Sports
The purpose of this article is to present research surrounding sexualized and violent presentations or advertisements of women who participate in highly combative sports, specifically MMA.  Combat sports consist of sports that contain more contact than traditional sports.  The subject of gender roles in the US is prevalent in this study.  The authors of this article use Ronda Rousey as an example since she is a well-known female fighter.  They reference her talent as well as her sexualized image in Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue.  The research surrounding this offers perspectives from both men and women on different types of photographic portrayals of a lesser-known fighter. Results show that men have a more positive response to sexualized and combative advertisements of this female fighter while women have a more positive response to the neutral and combative advertisements of the same female fighter.  It is very obvious that other women do not think positively of sexualized images of other women.  There seems to be growing support, though, for women portrayed in a more combative manner. I think more research needs to be done with male athlete advertisements.  This research is very beneficial for promoters or endorsers of events and even the athletes.  Another major concern is the “athlete brand image” or brand that the athlete creates surrounding their appeal to society.  Athletes want to be noticed, but be noticed for the right reasons while still drawing in fans and support.  This can be tough when trying to appeal to different types of fans.
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Joshua Hopkins 5d
one major thing that stuck out to me was how you pin pointed brand. In sports your brand is what makes you money and prolongs your career even when you are not competitive. I feel that athletes go about popularity in all the wrong ways. It should be about how much work you put in not how good you look doing it. Gender roles were definitely addressed in this article and in my opinion isn't right for each side. I am a firm believer that women can preform in sports just as well as men if not better.
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Women in Combat Sports

Antwanet Wade
6d
Women in Combat Sports
The article researched the attitudes consumers had toward female combat athletes. There were different areas that the authors looked into. They wanted to know what aspects of a women in combat sports does consumers like and engage in the sport for. The three aspects that were researched were the attitudes toward advertising, event, and the athlete brand. Women that participate in combat sport are seen as sex symbols. In the article it states that a male said that if females are going to participate in combat sports then they should at least be topless. This statement shows that many males only see females in a sexual and attractive way when it comes to sports. The article dives into how things are advertised and if they change the advertisement does that change the attitudes of consumers. Females appreciated neutral presentation of female athletes compared to males being more engaged with the sexual advertisement. Regardless of the gender of the consumer they both agree that the sexual advertisement is more attractive. I believe that breaking gender roles is good for society because individuals are beginning to identify with many different characteristics. Every athlete should be    noticed for their talents in their respective sports and not their looks(attractiveness).
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Jenna Arkelian 5d
I completely agree. It seems as though females are sexualized in almost any sport they participate in. Not only are they sexualized, but their true talent is not recognized due to the overshadowing of judgement of their looks. This is extremely saddening and unfortunate due to the athletic ability these female athletes possess. With male sports, it is often never about physical attractiveness, but talent. Society needs to shift toward this mentality for female athletes as well.
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Woman in Combat Sports

Zack Williams
6d
Woman in Combat Sports
The focus of this article is woman in combat sports and how the can be perceived and marketed in the industry. Women in the sport industry has exploited women for their appearance, i.e. ESPN Swimsuit Edition Magazine. Combative sports have also used the woman appearance to help promote their fights. But the woman's physical ability is starting to shine through and be marketed into their fights. The gender stereotypes are being broken with the involvement of woman being shown for their physical abilities now and not only for their appearance. By treating woman as athletes now, just like males, the public view will start to views these females as more than "eye candy".
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Antwanet Wade 6d
Zack I agree that the more advertisements that show off the physical abilities of women will help society to begin to appreciate the talent over attractiveness. Women can successfully be promoted without making their brand all about their looks and their bodies. The trend of appreciating talent is moving in the right direction for gender defying sports.

Riley Trowbridge 6d
I agree with your comment on how female athletes are being advertised as athletes, rather than sexual beings. Once you can change the way you market the athletes, you will change the public view of the sport and athlete.

hannah_kagen 6d
I couldn't agree more with the comment that their physical ability is finally shinning through to help promote their fights instead of how they look. I personally believe that Rousey helped break these barriers because she is an athlete that don't care about image but cares about winning. Most females are more worried about how they look. I have loved seeing the change in not only MMA but in women sports completely. Rousey broke barriers in MMA and she is currently helping break barriers in WWE as well. In the WWE an all women's paper-view is this Sunday which has never happened before.

Ricky Nichols 5d
I'm not really sure that the females athletic ability is really starting to "shine" through. I do believe that female athletics has progressed in the right direction in the last 5 years. We are seeing more athletes in step out into new sports and be the first female in history to do so and so. Good examples of these are Danica Patrick in Nascar and Rhonda Rousey in MMA. I think that the consumers attitudes still are focused on sex appeal more so than physical ability.

Shane Buchanan 1d
Great post Zack. I can remember not long ago when physical attraction was the only thing that male audiences paid attention to when it came to women sports. I too thought of ESPN swimsuit edition and other examples of exploitation of women. The UFC now has included women in their fighting events and it was interesting to read the article explaining the difference between male and female fan preferences. I believe male audiences have changed, but no doubt physical attraction is still very important. I am glad to see expertise is now looked at and valued along with talent and ability. I too believe the gender stereotypes are being broken as sports is advertising women more on their physical abilities and less on their physical appearance. You are correct when you say, our world is now treating women as athletes, not as an object..

Kris McCullough 13h
This is another great example of how the world of sports tries to make the image of women "sexy" in order to get people to buy in to it. But they have to do this solely because the world doesn't view women as athletes, but as a "piece" if you will. It is sad but unfortunately, will never change.
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Women in Combative Sports

David Scorzelli
6d
Women in Combative Sports
This article does research in the area of marketing and viewership of female athletes. The focus is particularly centered on females who participate in combat sports. In recent history, advertisement for these competitions have been produced with the intent to sexualize women. This is done in the hopes that it will bring more viewers from the already concentrated demographic. The researchers found that male respondents showed a more positive attitude when a female fighter was shown in a “sexualized manner”.  The idea is that if the viewers are brought to the fight by either sexualized or combative perceptions, their perspective will be changed once they have viewed the fight. MMA and other combative organizations have recently stepped up their game in expanding and advertising for female fighters. This gives the female competitor another opportunity to break previously held “gender roles” as well as compete in an increasingly even market for competition.

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leigha_woody 6d
I like that you state the intent of sexualized women in sports advertisements is trying to draw in the "already concentrated demographic." This is so true. It appeals to men who already may be fans of MMA rather than draw in female fans who are not the major fan-base. It would be smart to advertise female fighters in a different manner that appeals to female viewers to increase fan-base and viewership which could also increase participation.
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Women in Combat Sports

Joshua Turnquist
6d
Women in Combat Sports
The article discussed women in combat sports, and how they are marketed and perceived by audiences. Combat sports as a whole have increasingly included women over the past few years. Along with including women in organizations like the UFC and other MMA organizations, they must find ways to promote these fights to the public. This article dives into the differences in advertising between genders, and how these advertisements effect the perception of women in sports. As it pertains to women in sports, they are often marketed for their looks and appearance instead of they athletic abilities. When marketed as such, they are viewed as such when competing as well. These different MMA organizations have done a much better job including women in their fight cards, and have come to realize along the way that women can fight just as hard as any male. Marketing departments need to begin treating women as athletes, and not models who happen to be athletes. Maybe then we can really make an imprint  on how the general public perceives female athletes and female sports.
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William Ross 4d
Great points! Women need to be treated as athletes in any setting weather it be combat or not. women in sports to often get overlooked of their athletic ability and most people want to focus on the sex appeal or attractiveness they can bring to the sporting event. In some cases this is not true but far to often it is.

Jacob Hyler 4d
Our society is very gender role heavy, and these societal norms control a large part of how athletes are perceived and even what they can compete in. I agree that women need to be treated as equals to men in every aspect of our society, sports included.
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Women in Combat Sports

Drew Schauss
3d
Women in Combat Sports
The article from this week discusses the viewpoints of women and men in relation to combat sports involving women. The article looks at how the UFC and other combat sports use attractive advertisements in order to promote the fight.
Sports many times are generalized and associated with different genders, with MMA and football being associated with males. When ads are used to promote these events if the women portrayed as less attractive are seen as better at the sport and more tough.
After watching the last UFC event I was able to see these women compete in a combat sport and learned to truly appreciate what they are doing. The strength and power these women have is unbelievable and also they highlighted the training these women went through which is not only equal, but sometimes more intense than their male counterparts.
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Joshua Hopkins 6d
I think you have touched on a valid point and that how they are portrayed. I think that it is sad that being beautiful and how you show your body gets you the recognition one longs for. I think that they should make all women fight the same way. The sports entertainment do not want to look the training an individual has put in. The strength and power they have worked for I dont think this is fair to the athlete at all.
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Women in Combat Sports

William Ross
4d
Women in Combat Sports
The article is discussing how people view women in sports today especially in the world of combat sports. MMA is more about selling the attractivness of the women fighters than the ability they have in the sport of what they are doing. The article talks about the studies that find more people talk about the looks of the fighters rather than their abilities in the rings. Violent sport is not geared towards women, yet we try and spice it up by creating ways to allow them to compete in full contact yet revealing outfits at the same time. As stated in one of the previous posts about the Legends Football League, women are created more here as a sex symbol than for their ability to play full contact football. The attractiveness and sexuality of women in advertising is a debated topic that will be debated for a long time as women are emphasized more for their looks at times than their overall ability in sports.
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Drew Schauss 6d
If you look at Ronda Rousey in her former UFC days they did exactly that to draw in viewers. She was made to look extremely attractive and promoted her sexuality rather than her talent. Unfortunately after losing a few fights the luster wore off from her movies and UFC's attempts to promote her looks rather than talent. I think now many UFC women's fighters know that draws in fans, but then also keep fans there and entertained by their talent.
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Women in Sports/combat sports

matthew_atwell
6d
Women in Sports/combat sports
This article is really a synopsis of how women are viewed in combat sports, and the unfortunate parallels to how women are viewed in sports in general and even more so in life in general. The article speaks about how a combative physical sport such as MMA was altered with promotions in regards to women, really selling the attractiveness of the fighter more so than the fighting competitiveness or fighting capabilities of the woman fighter. The article speaks about how studies show that the conversations about male MMA fighters tended to be about talent, and the conversations about women female fighters tended to be about attractiveness and talent combined. There is these preconceived constructs in sports that say women should act this way, and not this way. Women should do this, and not this. It is unfortunate actually that those same constructs in sports are held true in life, women tend to be deemed inferior or less than. Expected to do less than the men and not have the same capabilities or looked at in the same light as men. Article also discusses attractiveness and sexuality and its effects on advertising. A debated topic. Results showed that men had a better attitude towards sexuality in advertising and women has a less favorable attitude about sexuality in advertising. This emphasizes that women are tired of being looked at as "eye candy in sports", rather want to be acknowledged for their skills in their given sports.

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David Scorzelli 6d
Great perspective! the question then becomes, "is it worth it for MMA to reduce the sexualization of women to appease their want to be recognized for their skill?" clearly it is working from a monetary standpoint and, as stated in the article, once the viewers are their they can draw their own conclusions about the skill and ability. Regardless, the marketing area of MMA is alienating itself from a large female demographic due to the way the advertise the fights.
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Women Athletes

tyre_washingt
6d
Women Athletes
Upon reviewing this article it is clear that they are trying to show the way females are viewed in sports and society in general. This article talks about how women are sexualized in marketing and their abilities are viewed  primarily on their appearance. This reading also discusses brand marketing for so for women. If we look at  The Legends Football League (LFL) which is a women's 7-on-7 tackle American football league. This is the new name they came up with when they rebranded the league. Care to guess what the original name of the league was? The league was founded in 2009 as the Lingerie Football League. Lingerie and football don't really seem to go hand in hand unless you bring women into the mix. They couldn't just have them playing in regular football gear they had to sex it up a bit and that's how we come up with women playing the most masculine sport in history wearing bikinis. I think women should be viewed the same in sports but we are a long way from that. It will take men and women alike to see a change.
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William Ross 6d
I remember when the original Lingerie Football League came out and I honestly viewed it to see if there was real football being played or if it was a showcase of sexuality with a football description. Turns out it was both. The women in that league and the newly renamed league are playing hard and physical and looking to make an impact on the field for their team. I agree with you though, lets dress them like a professional football league and treat them professionals playing in a women's football league.

benjamin_shivers 5d
Let me play devils advocate here for a second: While I don't believe in sexually exploiting any athlete, I thought the concept of the lingerie football league was fascinating. The league has quite a bit of followers and plays real football to a degree. I would like to know what their average attendance ratings are compared to the lackluster arena football league. The question here is it bad for the women to potentially capitalize on their sex appeal in combination with their athleticism or likely never have an opportunity to play the game at all in order to stand for a greater societal cause? I think we all like to say the latter, unless put into that situation. Just some interesting food for thought.

Kris McCullough 13h
I agree that women should be viewed the same. The Lingerie Football League was a womens football league that unfortunately had to be spruced up by lingerie. Many people began to view this league just because of the very reason it was "sexy." It is a shame how the world today views women in society today. They act like women are just a snack rather than a human being.
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Women in Combat Sports

Kris McCullough
7d
Women in Combat Sports
This article is a reflection of the world today. The world does not take women sports seriously. Especially combat sports such as MMA. People see a sexualized poster and see a "hot" female that is about to fight and thinks that she can't fight. But if that same woman was in a neutralized poster, they think she can. We as a culture looks down upon women in combat sports. The outlook we have on sporty women needs to change. I've seen Rhonda Rousey in person and there's no way I'd ever fight her. Women should be seen as equal as men in sports.

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matthew_atwell 6d
agreed that the outlook on women in sports must be altered. Women ARE equals and must be treated as such. Women should not be revered in sports merely for their attractiveness and sexuality, but instead appreciated for the skills they bring to their sport. Sports should be a place where all, women and men alike, should be appreciated on the same level. Equality in sorts must begin to happen.

Jenna Arkelian 5d
I completely agree. Female sports are not viewed in the sense of how athletic the participants are, but by how "hot" they are. Males completely lose interest if the females participating are not attractive. Society has created this mold to make people believe that A) Females are not athletically inclined, and B) Female attractiveness is the most important aspect. Athletic competition is supposed to be a place of cohesiveness and participation. However, with this clear division of mentality it is difficult to create a cohesive environment in the sports industry.

Lauren Mitchell 4d
I agree with everyone that female athletes and sports are not viewed the same as male athletes and sports. It is evident by the results in this article. It would be interesting to do further research to see if differences would exist with sexualized advertisements using male MMA fighters. Would the researchers get the same results from females towards males as they did males toward females?
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The perception of women in sports is always an interesting topic. As far as combat the perception of what it should look like is in the eye of be holder. Many people mostly males want to see women in sports bras and panties fighting. As the article says the people who come with those types of uniforms in mind have a different motive for what they want to see. As a whole both males and females are wearing uniforms to portray their body figures as sex symbols. The theory of sex sales is very true. People will spend money to come and get entertained.

women are objectified in sports all over world. TV producers believe the only way to make women athletics interesting is by shortening their skirts and showing cleavage. Women can be just as great in athletics as men. Until women stop allowing this to happen it will continue.

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In recent years, the level of female participation in sports such as mixed martial arts (MMA) has increased rapidly. Because this participation defies “traditional” gender norms, it is important for the sport and the individual athletes to consider the ways that the athletes are portrayed in marketing. The “brand” of the athlete and of the sport has long term impacts on popularity and growth, which have obvious monetary impacts. The authors effectively emphasize the importance of studying how the various ways of depicting female athletes in combat sports affect the attitudes of potential consumers.
Sexuality and violence in ads for fighters were shown by the authors to have different effects on men and women, with men favoring sexualized and violent ads in their attitudes about fighters, but women strongly disfavoring sexualized depictions. I found it interesting that females had a positive attitude about the event when combative depictions were used, but not about the athlete. The recommendation of focus away from sexualized depictions was not surprising, but it was well-supported in that the positive responses to sexualized ads was offset by negative responses. The attributes of talent, toughness and success that the respondents assumed with the combat and neutral ads certainly seem more beneficial to focus on in the long run than the attractiveness and charm assumed from sexualized ads.

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Schreffer, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The effects of sexualized and violent presentations of women in combat sport. Journal of Sport Management, 10, 533-545.

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After reading the article and seeing how female combat athletes were being advertised and promoted it was no surprise to see this.  These women sports that are considered more masculine tend to have people who market the women in a way to make them seem more feminine.  Nicknames given to female athletes and the amount of times that a women is described by her physical attractiveness as well as her talent rather than just her talent is quite obvious to how the women in combat sports are marketed to the audience.  The issue with this is the largest part of the consumer base for these types of sports are male.  Males typically like for women to stick to traditional feminine gender roles.  When there are women competing in sport which is considered masculine and not conforming to these traditional roles it seems to “turn off” many of these men from that particular athlete or event.  So the research stated what most people probably already knew.  That advertisements that are more sexual in nature tend to be received more positively by men than by women.  Overall I thought the study confirmed what many had thought already about the way the female athletes are viewed and how physical attractiveness plays a role in their commercial success even though it has not effect on their success as an athlete.

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management,31(6), 533-545. doi:10.1123/jsm.2016-0333

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This particular article discusses how consumers respond to media involving female athletes in combat sports, focusing specifically on mixed martial arts (MMA). Consumers participating in the study were exposed to several types of advertisements including a sexualized version, neutral version, and combat version. Each advertisement featured the same female fighter. As the researchers hypothesized, male participants reported a more positive attitude to the sexualized ad and combat ad than the neutral ad while women reported a more positive attitude to the neutral ad and combat ad than the sexualized ad. Men’s perceptions of female athletes, particularly female fighters, are likely to chance once the men have seen them participate in their respective sport.

It seems that so few media outlets celebrate the talent, work ethic, or accomplishments of female athletes. However, the blame does not fall solely on the media. We still see so many popular female athletes who feed into the objectification of women by posing topless for a magazine, shooting a sexually charged commercial, or taking part in one of the countless methods in which the media sexualizes women. As long as there are female athletes who continue to partake in these “sex sells” types of marketing campaigns, there won’t be any progress toward eliminating this issue.

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management,31(6), 533-545. doi:10.1123/jsm.2016-0333

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Female athletes have had to play in much poor facilities and under more stringent dress codes than their male athlete counterparts. The public has overlooked the discriminated against female athletes in how they are portrayed in media. Most female athletes combat the masculine and homosexual and stigmas that come from participating in sports. These unfair slopes required the writing of Title IX of the Education Amendments as it is the law that has most impacted women’s sports. U.S. Representative Patsy Mink pinned and subsequently got the amendment passed by Congress in 1972. So it is of no shock that women athletes are portrayed differently in media and over sexualized. The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport covered so many aspects of how and why this exploitative practice happens. Contrasting to male athletes, female athletes do not have the privilege of being depicted as performance athletes, as coverage of their beauty dominates their on-field accomplishments. Most important to me was the connection of attractiveness and the perceived gender association of a particular sport. “Interestingly, Postow (1980) determined masculine sports reinforce male identity and serve to maintain men as separate from women. Sports such as baseball, boxing, combat sports, football, rugby, soccer, ice hockey, and wrestling have been identified as masculine sports (Koivula, 2001)” (Greenwell 2017) When I continued to read along I stumbled upon the comments about brad awareness and loyalty. The major brands are auctioning off the sexuality of female athletes to use the age old adage that sex sales. “Athletes can be considered brands as they have a name, distinctive appearance, and personality (Carlson & Donavan, 2013; Thomson, 2006). Just as nonhuman brands are comprised of associations consumers make with a product (Keller, 2008), athlete brands are the associations consumers make with an athlete (Parmentier & Fischer, 2012). Athlete brands are important as they contribute to important consumer behaviors. An athlete’s brand image predicts psychological commitment to an athlete’s brand (Arai, Ko, & Kaplanidou, 2013; Arai, Ko, & Ross, 2014).” (Greenwell 2017) The power for change is in the economic power of women and their ability to unplug from brands that practice this type of marketing.
References

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31(6), 533-545. doi:10.1123/jsm.2016-0333

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Discussion Week 2

I wasn’t surprised when I found out that women in sports were advertised in sa exual manner more than men. I think that MMA has been amplified by talented women fighters like Ronda Rousey and many others. It’s a shame that women have to be portrayed in a sexualized manner to gain recognition. Women are just as talented as their male counterparts because they train together. I think this is because women are n’t perceiveda to be athletic or strong. For example, the WNBA doesn't gain much attention because people view it as boring. Some even say the WNBA games are too fundamental. That is weird NBA players are critiqued for having the lack of fundamentals. This has a lot to do with bias and lack of respect for the female athlete. I’m sure this could change if we change the narrative. We should support women's sports like we do male-dominated sports. We have to start getting young girls signed up for sports and support them the entire way. We should also make programs to introduce them to other aspects of the sports industries. I believe this would shine a brighter light on women dominated sports and inspire young girls to follow in their footsteps.

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The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport discusses research related to how different depictions of women fighters affects consumers perceptions. In sport, sports that are more physical have typically been labeled as masculine and sports that emphasize grace and beauty have been labeled as feminine. Combat sports have been labeled as masculine and women fighters have at times been dismissed as less skilled. The authors of this article examined how male and female consumers react to sexualized, combative and neutral advertisements. Men were found to react more positively to sexualized and combative images, although the sexualized image caused men to view the fighter as having less skill. Women responded more positively to the neutral image. This creates a dilemma for advertisers of combat sport. In order to attract a male audience sexualized or combative images should be used, but to attract more females to viewing the sport, neutral images should be used. For long term success, it seems that showing the female athletes as competitors in their sport would create the biggest draw and grow the perception of women fighters as highly skilled athletes.

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management,31(6), 533-545. doi:10.1123/jsm.2016-0333

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Jeffery W. Brewington

Discussion Week 2

After reading this article on The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Which discuss the different ways women are advertise in sports and how they are looked upon. We as men in society look at women as sexual humans and they must be feminine. But as we have come to learn that women want to be seen equal and be able to participate in the same sports as men. For example, MMA and UFC was a masculine sport until women broke into the sport. But, they were not look at as sexual they were considered masculine so to help with this opinionated judgement. To be total honest with it was a shocker for me to see two beautiful females beat the 🤬 out of each other women are not fighters. They are supposed to be soft but, it has changed as time goes on. They started advertising women that were involved in the sport in a sexual way shooting photos with partial nudity. In which I feel help bring in more money for not only the women but, for the sport itself. The ways of research were three forms of advertisement with photos one was neutral the second was sexual, and the final one was combative promoting violence. As a result, the men look at the sexual, combative photos on higher level than others. My opinion is that most men who watch a women sport is not just for the sport itself but, they look at it in a sexual way man are attracted to women. As it has always been and will always be sex sells no matter what sport or business. Overall the article was a great way of letting us she how we all react to certain visual aspect of women in sports.

Reference

Greenwell, T., Simmons, J., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M. & Thorn, D.  (2017) The effects of sexualized and violent presentations of women in combat sport.   Journal of Sport Management.  31, 533-545.

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In this week’s article, The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport, the authors look at the way that men and women respond to the methods of advertising used when promoting women in sports. Specifically, the article keys in on how men and women react differently to the various ways that women are portrayed in advertising campaigns. The study chose to use an experimental design in which data was gathered using Amazon Mechanical Turk in order to compile a large sample size of participants for the study. In order to be considered, the participants had to self-identify as sports fans, be a resident of the United States, and have a favorable rating as an online respondent. These respondents were then exposed to six advertisements with varying representations of female MMA athletes. For the visual ads, one represented the female athlete in a sexualized manner, another showed the female athlete in a neutral photo, and the final showed the same female athlete in an action photo in which she was fighting another female athlete. The purpose of the study was to see if men and women might react differently to each ad. As many would expect, there was indeed a difference in perception of female athletes’ ability based on the way they were represented by both men and women. As expected, the photos in which the female athletes were sexualized were more appealing to men but made men feel as though the women were not highly skilled. Women also did not favor the ads where the women were sexualized, rather they were partial to the neutral photos even more so than the men did. Overall, I believe this study was a very interesting one and provides great insight to our society’s perception of gender roles and how both sexes react to women participating in sports that go against society’s beliefs about what the norms are for each gender.

References

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31(6), 533–545. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.library.astate.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspxdirect=true&db=s3h&AN=125676286&site=eds-live&scope=site

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This week’s article focuses on research done on how women are portrayed in combat sports and how it is then advertised. From years past women have been objectified and sexualized to draw attention to their event or when they will be fighting. Also if men see a women in a combat sport they may see them as more masculine and less feminine, especially in a combat sport. They basically did 3 different studies; one is where the athlete is sexualized the next is more focused on their talent and 3rd was a mash up of both to see which would gain more attention. This article does not surprise me at all. It is upsetting to know that women that are extremely talented in their sport have to do this to gain a larger view audience by the time of their event. Even if their audience is large are people more focused on the ad they put up or their actual talent?   From the way I see it men can be “turned off” by a women being more athletic to them. I think they see it as a threat. So when female fighters do advertisements that objectifies themselves it puts it more back to the gender rolls and males then see them as being less of a threat.

Reference
Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management,31(6), 533-545. doi:10.1123/jsm.2016-0333

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This article highlights how the sexual expression of female athletes may make them more appealing to male viewers. It has been concluded that female athletes who are not presented in a sexual way, have been found to be perceived as less attractive, more effective or talented athletically and less successful. However, the influx of athletes such as Rhonda Rousey into other mainstream media, this could be an issue of the past. One of the biggest examples of the time being different and changing is the WWE. In the 1990’s, World Wrestling Entertainment’s women’s division was more about how much skin they could show and how sexual the female athletes could be while minimizing their athletic opportunities. Very few had the opportunities to show how athletically talented they were. However, the new generation of female superstars are given more opportunities. They have been given premium time slots on the shows, better scripting, less sexual character-based stories and are premiering the very first all women Pay-Per-View. While sex still sells in the grand scheme of sports, it has slowly progressed from the more male chauvinistic times. As a dad with a daughter, I am so glad to see us progressing, but hope we can progress more for her and all of the future women in the world.

Greenwell, T., Simmons, J., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M. & Thorn, D.  (2017)  The effects of sexualized and violent presentations of women in combat sport.   Journal of Sport Management.  31, 533-545.

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Week two’s article dives into the subject of women in combat sports. Only in recent years have women been able to participate in the top mixed martial arts organization in the Ultimate Fighters Championship. On February 23, 2013, two women impacted the UFC incredibly in becoming the first female bout headline in the organization history. With this accomplishment, researchers began to analyze the impact of women in combat sports and how influential the marketing portrayals are in attracting consumers. In the article, the study focused on the effect of the promotions, be it sexualized and/or violent, had on the different consumers at home. The article states gender stereotypes and views has an impact on male and female consumers with “Women’s participation in combat sport, such as MMA, is contrary to traditional gender norms” (Greenwell et. al 2017). Because of this, the promoters would try to appeal to the fan base by putting out sexualized and violent advertisements to attract more attention. The studies showed the some of these tactics were successful and others not depending on the gender of the consumer. Women did not feel the need to have many sexual or violent promotions compared to neutral ones and men felt that neutral promotions would have been enough but seemed even more interested with some violent and sexualized promotions.

To me the article shows the evolvement of women in professional sports and even more so combat sports. I believe women should be viewed as the skilled, hard working, trained professional athletes just like men are and not subjected to using certain stereotypical ways to promote their brand and sport. It should be understood they could use any promotion but not feel obligated into doing certain marketing schemes in order to further the growth and notoriety of women in combat sports or any other sport.

Greenwell, T. Christopher, et al. “The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport.” Journal of Sport Management, vol. 31, no. 6, 2017, pp. 533–545.

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The article this week presented a dilemma that we face as a society and as future marketers of women in sports. I was not surprised by the findings of this study. Sexualized images of women are on display in all aspects of society, so it only makes sense that they have made their way into the sports world as well. We do not see hypersexualized images of male athletes. The main reason we see sexualized images of women is because that is what the men want to see. Advertisements are targeted toward the most profitable consumer sport which in the case of combative sports is unfortunately not women. As advertising techniques evolve and develop, we need to find a way to represent these strong and powerful women as more than just nice bodies on a TV screen. They are so much more than that. Their bodies provide them with super human abilities and talents that deserve to be recognized just like their male counterparts.

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I think MMA has an overwhelmingly male following. It is because of this predominately male following, marketing for these events is geared towards attracting the attention of the male population. No one forces these women to fight, in the UFC or at all, and no one is forcing them to do anything that causes them to feel uncomfortable by being sexualized. No one forces women to sign the contracts that they sign. I think if you are uncomfortable with something, it's pretty simple, don't do it. Women are extremely aware of what they are doing and its perception and effect on people, especially men, and to cast off all responsibility for their actions and choices is irresponsible to say the least. I think that if women put a better product in the ring, they would be better compensated for what they do. They typically do not draw as much revenue in for the corporation, so it doesn't make sense to pay them like they do strictly from a business perspective. When they do perform at a high level, it is proven that they are better compensated, just like in Rhonda Rousey's case. I think the constant finger pointing at men for the "struggles" that women in sports go through is wrong and that if women want change, then they should be proactive and have higher standards for themselves and stop playing victim and blaming others for the circumstances that they have willingly put themselves into.

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Unfortunately, I find myself to be unsurprised by the information that the article presented. The fact that men have a higher or increased responsiveness to sexualized marketing of female athletes in combat sports like mixed martial arts is not surprising to me. The current objectifying of women that is accepted in our society breed this type of mentality and the fact that it is acceptable speaks to the nature of the marketers and their push for increased consumer response. The marketers are going to cater to what sells and puts more money in their pockets, and currently that is sex, the sport itself does not sell enough, now they focus on the sport through the perception of sex. It is surprising to me that the attitude and responsiveness of women to this type of marketing is different than males, I personally would be under the assumption that women would feel that same way about the current state or marketing female athletes in combat sports. I agree with the researchers and their calling for similar research to be conducted on male athletes and how marketing of them can effect consumer perception.

Greenwell, T., Simmons, J., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M. & Thorn, D.  (2017)  The effects of sexualized and violent presentations of women in combat sport.   Journal of Sport Management.  31, 533-545.

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This article was very eye-opening. While I understand that "sex sells", there has to be another way to promote the sport   I am not surprised at the findings of the research presented. The entertainment industry has always been based on appearance and how the looks are portrayed. Women for sure have it harder than men in that regard. I feel like they are being exploited for their physical features more than men. The study focused on how women athletes are being graded for their appearance as opposed to their ability to play the sport. While the idea of "sex sells" has always been around, I'd be curious to see how the industry would look without it. I believe continued experiments would be able to dictate this. I don't understand why people wouldn't be interested in at least trying it out. It seems as if the general conclusion is that women get based on their appearance and men get based on their ability.

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This article uncovered some fascinating focuses about how ladies in professional sports are treated in promoting. The possibility that sex offers is definitely not another one, yet an exaggerated one. These competitors are the best on the planet at what they do and they ought not to need to depend on advertising that is sexualized with the end goal to advance their games. While this might be terrible, it isn't even the most noticeably bad. Groups, for example, the Lingerie Football League don't imagine as though they are not endeavoring to sexualize the game and for the most part utilize sex claim as their fundamental offering point. While it has been demonstrated that sex sells, that does not mean we should keep on sexualizing female competitors for financial gain. We should, rather, discover a way to feature exactly how skilled these competitors are with the end goal to get more individuals to tune in entirely to watch them contend.

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Discussion Board #2 Women in Combat Sports

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Discussion Board #2 Women in Combat Sports

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I was not surprised by the content or findings of the research presented in the article in regards to male testing subjects preferring or confirming the fighters level of sexiness was directly related to the level of violence the ad was or wasn’t portraying. While many ad agencies are stepping out of their comfort zone in regards to marketing athletes who may not fit the prototypical model of beauty we still have a long way to go in regards to telling these strong women and men’s stories without relying on their looks so prevalently. The reality is that sexualization of women in sport is always going to be there because the dialogue of women is still shaped around us being the submissive. While studies and culture in 2018 show this is not always the case anymore, ad’s and big business marketing are still far behind the change. In regards to lifestyle branding you see the likes of Kevin Durant and LeBron James having shoe deals however no deal has ever been made for Mia Hamm cleats, or Diana Tourasi Nike Basketball shoes. Based on this article and research I would say that there is endless opportunity for women who are fearless in wanting to pursue their own lifestyle brands, while she may not be an athlete Kylie Jenner is a perfect example to use. I hope to see in the future a Serena Williams tennis branded sneaker, racket, ect. to come from Nike or someone as she is one of the most decorated athletes of our generation.

Greenwell, T., Simmons, J., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M. & Thorn, D.  (2017)  The effects of sexualized and violent presentations of women in combat sport.   Journal of Sport Management.  31, 533-545.

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Week two’s article discusses the effects of women in combat sport. Not too long ago women were not participating in combat sport and until just recently they really got next to no coverage for their sport. Mixed martial arts is male dominant sport and for females to step in is great progress towards gender equalization. For example, the article talks about February 2013 as being a pivotal date for women’s mixed martial arts because it was the first time tat two women competed for the UFC and made headlines for the same organization. A huge issue for me in this article is that women are seen more sexualized than men and more than that, their main opportunities come from their physical attractiveness where males are seen more for their talent. I hope that as society today continues to normalize gender equality this physical appearance versus talent fades and athletes are seen as athletes not just on how they look. One thing that I found interesting was that the authors said “Women may find little value in watching sports in which women challenge traditional gender roles” (p. 536). At first I disagreed but then I thought about myself and how I do not like to watch MMA fights although I do not like to watch men or women. But I feel that if someone wants to compete and challenge themselves then who am I to judge them?

Greenwell, T., Simmons, J., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M. & Thorn, D.  (2017)  The effects of sexualized and violent presentations of women in combat sport.  Journal of Sport

Management.  31, 533-545.

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The presentation of women in sports is a fascinating topic. First, I find it most interesting where women who compete in combat sports are seen as less talented because they pose in a way that is perceived as sexualized whereas if a woman poses in a neutral or combat ad, they are seen as less attractive but a more skilled fighter. I feel as though this article highlights the principle that women are evaluated by attractiveness first and athleticism or talent secondly. The study conducted essentially varied by the way these women in these combat sports where portrayed as well as adding a nickname that in one way sexualized the athlete while also adding a nickname that emphasized the athlete's athletic ability.  The subjects rated teach of the fighters on their level of sexiness and all the level of violence the picture portrayed.  Essentially, these findings confirmed the idea that men found sexualized advertisement more positive and responded more positively toward the event.

Greenwell, T., Simmons, J., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M. & Thorn, D.  (2017)  The effects of sexualized and violent presentations of women in combat sport.   Journal of Sport Management.  31, 533-545.

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This article brought to light some interesting points about how women in sports are treated in advertising. The idea that sex sells is not a new one, but an overplayed one. These athletes are the best in the world at what they do and they should not have to rely on marketing that is sexualized in order to promote their sports. While this may be bad, it isn't even the worst. Leagues such as the Lingerie Football League do not even pretend as if they are not trying to sexualize the sport and usually use sex appeal as their main selling point. While it has been proven that sex does sell, that does not mean we

should continue to sexualize female athletes for economic gain. We should, instead, find a way

to highlight just h

ow talented these athletes are in order to get more people to tune in strictly to

watch them compete.

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This study utilizes an experimental design to investigate how different presentations (sexualized, neutral, and
combat) of female athletes competing in a combat sport such as mixed martial arts, a sport defying traditional
gender norms, affect consumers’ attitudes toward the advertising, event, and athlete brand.  The overall idea is that if they sexualize competitors, people will find them attractive and it will attract a larger crowd to the event. The sample was drawn through Amazon Mechanical Turk, an online service where requesters are able to
hire temporary workers to complete surveys.  A series of six advertisements (3 photo and 2 text) was
used to closely represent print advertising for actual
MMA events.  Study respondents were randomly assigned to one
of the six experimental groups.  A total of 457 subjects completed the questionnaire, and 434 subjects (95%) were usable.  The study found male and female consumers responded differently
to increasing levels of violence in advertising by illustrating how sexualized imagery can also have different effects for male and female consumers. Specifically, when the advertisement presented a female fighter in a sexualized manner, male subjects reported a more positive attitude toward the ad and more positive attitude toward the event than when they viewed the neutral
advertisement.

Greenwell T.C. et al. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport.

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The effecsts of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport:

The article is discussing the effect of gender roles and how it has hindered the overall progress of women in sport as the hope to find equality in sport, and more specifically MMA. The topic they used was how women in MMA have been sexualized in advertisements and how what the negative effects have been and how these ads overall have hurt women as they search for equality in MMA. The overall idea is if they sexualize the competitors, they will be found to more attractive and it will draw a larger crowd. But sport is meant to draw a large crowd due to the talent of the competitors not because they are attractive. I understand how this is a large problem for women in every sport and how they will continue to struggle to find equality. Women are told they shouldn't compete in a sport like MMA because girls in our society are told they are supposed to play less contact sports or not play sports at all. I think if we hope to progress and move forward there has to be a way to watch MMA for what it is and not to market it for something it is not. That is not fair to the participants.

Greenwell, C., & Simmons, J. N. (n.d.). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 533-545. Retrieved October 28, 2018.

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The presentation of women in athletics varies from sport to sport. The topic of this article was about how women are portrayed in mixed martial arts. Women in UFC or MMA are sexualized and it states that it helps with memory retention for males. Which is pretty degrading. Back in 2003 when the first headline for women's UFC was brought to life, it was a huge topic for people to discuss. There was many different outcomes on peoples opinions. Males had positive viewpoints on females joining the UFC while females had neutral/negative outlooks on this. In response to the ads they use for women, ones with a sexual pose were deemed to be more feminine and more likely to lose as opposed to a neutral stance who felt they were more combative. On the 🤬 side, the sexualized images and ads have the ability to turn away viewers. They say this discredits the athletes ability and turns users away. One of the key components to keeping viewers is the attractiveness of the sport, which is why they use women.

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The article in this week’s reading attempted to tackle an important issue in today’s political and sports landscape.  The historical imbalance between men and women’s sports goes far beyond the white lines of the playing surface.  Over the last, half century, it has spilled over into the way in which advertisers promote their athletes and their brands, particularly female athletes.  Lets be honest.  We have always heard that sex sales and advertisers have used that mindset to promote women in a way that has been different from the way that they promote male counterparts.  My viewpoint is that by using attraction (sex) as a marketing tool, it undermines the ability of the athlete to be taken seriously.  Women dressed scantily to promote themselves are using attraction to sell to the consumers rather than physical ability or talent.  However, it has been the participation in promotions by women that has continued to portray women in such ways. At some point, women must decide for themselves if they want to be thought of as a sex symbol or as a professional athlete.  Promoting women in a sexual manner is effective when it seeks to lure male viewers; however, the question remains if that strategy will continue to work as society keeps evolving.

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I found this article to be somewhat informative, however, I believe if we just stop and think for a moment we would realize that we have done this in society more than just towards women in sports. We try to sexualize everything now a days in our society because “sex sells”. Look at any advertisement for medicine, chips, cookies, drinks, etc. we see that women are used as a sexual means to make money. Ten years ago, I may not have been as open to the reality that this was going on but now that I have a daughter it is disturbing how much everything is sexualized. I loved watching the Ronda Rowsey fights because I felt like she was super talented in her sport. Now we look up and they have used her to sell magazines for sports illustrated. She is now looked at by some as a piece of meat because she is wrestling in the WWE. Less clothes, higher ratings and more money is going to be made. I know that it sells to the male audience, but how can it be harmful to the female audience. It objectifies women and young girls who look up to these athletes begin trying to imitate them. We, as a society, need to definitely look at the path we have traveled and see where we can do a better job of promoting women without having to portray them sexually.

Greenwell, T., Simmons, J., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal Of Sport Management, 31(6), 533-545. doi: 10.1123/jsm.2016-0333

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I thought that this article was very interesting and informative. Although this topic is a major issue in combat sports, I also think that the topic of sexualized adds of women’s is an issue outside of combat sports and needs to be addressed. In my sports sociology class during my undergrad I learned that through photoshop, these type of ads sway female athletes ideas of what a “typical” athletic women looks like and in many cases it has shown to be dangerous, and not to mention sexist. According to the article, “This study sought to understand how sport consumers view different presentations of women competing in violent sport and how those different presentations affect attitudes toward the advertising, the event, and the athletes’ brands…” the article found that the way they promote male combat athletes is different than how female athletes are promoted. For example, for women, the athlete that was advertised tended to be less talented but more attractive. It also found that sexualizing female athletes may be a promotional benefit for their male viewers, however it has a negative effect on female viewers. Females are being negatively affects by these ads and I think that it goes well beyond just combat sports. Overall, I think that advertising athletes should be equal for both male and females. Females should not be used just for their looks and should not be sexualized and portrayed in an attractive way just to promote the opposite sex.

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I found this week’s article very intriguing. “The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport” by Greenwell et al. discussed a study in which they surveyed participants after they were shown different types of advertising involving women athletes who participate in combat sports, such as mixed martial arts (MMA). There were three types of ads: combat, neutral and sexualized. Unsurprisingly, male respondents reported higher attitudes towards the sexualized ads and the event they were advertising than the female respondents. Females preferred the neutral ads. However, both females and males felt the athlete in the sexualized ad was less talented, less successful, less tough and less wholesome than the fighters in the other two types of ads.

I minored in Women’s Studies during my undergrad, so this article was right up my alley. I absolutely agree with the phrase, “sex sells,” when it comes to advertisements, though in my experience, the exploitative nature of women is what sells far more than the attractive nature of ads. Everyone’s experiences and opinions are different, but in mine, men’s sexualized ads are received in an “innocent,” way by female consumers. Females tend to appreciate an attractive face and physique; comments tend to be along the lines of, “he’s so hot,” “look at those abs,” etc. However, when it comes to women’s sexualized ads, male consumers are far more degrading and hostile over them. As a whole, males tend to look at female models as goods or products to be used or consumed, rather than as people. Comments along the lines of, “the things I would do to her,” is very problematic and suggests a lack of consent; “the things we would do together,” would be more appropriate. Despite the many large strides women have made towards equality, the idea of “sex sells” in advertising still holds on strongly.

Women in sports are definitely more accepted and welcomed than they were last century (think of the era that the movie A League of Their Own portrays), but we still do not have the same opportunities, attention and compensation as male athletes, despite having the same amount (or more) of talent. This article just proves that women still aren’t taken as seriously as they should be in sport. Some might say, “its their decision to participate in a sexualized ad, how is that anyone else’s fault?” As I said, women do not receive the same amount of compensation as men do in the same or equivalent sports. So, women sometimes have to participate in other ways of making money, like ads. It’s a way of getting the attention and money they deserve and need; sometimes, it can be the difference between putting food on the table and going hungry. It is so difficult to be a successful women athlete, that any opportunity to get their name and face out there is often taken. A quote from UFC fighter Mike Brown used in the article states that if he were to pay to see women fight, they should at least be topless (Greenwell et al. 2017). But, as this study shows, women who participate in sexualized ads are seen as less talented, less successful, less tough and less wholesome. It’s a vicious cycle.

Greenwell, T.C., Simmons, J.M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sports. Journal of Sport Management, 31(6), 533-545. doi:10.1123/jsm.2016-0333

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The article "The effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport" is an interesting look into the perception of women in sports that don't fit within typical gender norms. While the issue examines the the objectification of women and how girls participate in "guys sports" it also subtly examines these thing through the gender stereotypes of the male psyche. Stereotypes, while painting with broad strokes, highlight things that are mostly true even if not universally. For example, when discussing the advertisement of female events such as MMA or using examples such as Anna Kournikova or Danika Patrick, the assumption in the advertising is in order to attract the male viewer, the ad must objectify the women and highlight her beauty in order for the average male to have interest and engage. So, while the objectification is viewed as problematic in the way that it marginalizes women, it is also problematic that advertising and branding views men as only able to engage with visual sexual stimulation. So, in order to address the objectification of women, you must also address the assumptions of advertisers that men are only willing to engage in the objectification of women. A very interesting look into the evolution of some of these stereotypes is the case of Serena Williams (and by extension, Venus Williams). When the Williams sisters broke onto the scene, it wasn't their sexuality that was highlighted, but their anti-sexuality. They were described as "beasts, mannish, manly". Frankly, it seemed the sports world struggled to grapple with dominant female athletes that didn't fit within the typical anglo male definitions of beauty. Over the span of the career, people have been able to focus on the dominance of Serena while making her appearance a sidebar. In this case, her marketing became less about her looks and more about her ability as the wins and trophies racked up. However, the common denominator is that the wins were more impressive because she is a woman. 

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The article "The effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport" is an interesting look into the perception of women in sports that don't fit within typical gender norms. While the issue examines the the objectification of women and how girls participate in "guys sports" it also subtly examines these thing through the gender stereotypes of the male psyche. Stereotypes, while painting with broad strokes, highlight things that are mostly true even if not universally. For example, when discussing the advertisement of female events such as MMA or using examples such as Anna Kournikova or Danika Patrick, the assumption in the advertising is in order to attract the male viewer, the ad must objectify the women and highlight her beauty in order for the average male to have interest and engage. So, while the objectification is viewed as problematic in the way that it marginalizes women, it is also problematic that advertising and branding views men as only able to engage with visual sexual stimulation. So, in order to address the objectification of women, you must also address the assumptions of advertisers that men are only willing to engage in the objectification of women. A very interesting look into the evolution of some of these stereotypes is the case of Serena Williams (and by extension, Venus Williams). When the Williams sisters broke onto the scene, it wasn't their sexuality that was highlighted, but their anti-sexuality. They were described as "beasts, mannish, manly". Frankly, it seemed the sports world struggled to grapple with dominant female athletes that didn't fit within the typical anglo male definitions of beauty. Over the span of the career, people have been able to focus on the dominance of Serena while making her appearance a sidebar. In this case, her marketing became less about her looks and more about her ability as the wins and trophies racked up. However, the common denominator is that the wins were more impressive because she is a woman. 

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The basis of this article was taking an in-depth look into mixed martial arts and the phenomenon of the UFC which has always been a sport dominated by male participants. The article is titled as "The effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Woman in Combat Sport", the breaking of the norms and adding in female participants the mixed martial arts world has now grown considerably and once again proving that the promotion of female participants has helped the sport grow into one of the most thrilling and excitable sporting events. With the growing number of female participants the question is asked "how do you market and promote fighting of the female athlete?". The answer can be found in regards to how sports consumers view woman who are competing in violent sport and how differences in presentations affect consumers attitude. A few things that have big influences on the role of female participants in violent sports come by physical attraction, being how the role of sexuality plays in marketing. Physical attraction has also been found to be a big motivator in sports consumption which does not surprise me considering how popular the UFC already was adding female participants would only make it that much more enjoyable for fans of the sport.The next factor we take a look into gender roles in sport, when considering how violent and male dominated typically you would not consider woman to be involved because most of all woman's sports are low contact and no violence however that is not the case with UFC and thats why it is so appealing for consumers. Woman have been breaking the norms associated with gender stereotyping in the UFC to MMA and it has become a high dollar enterprise. Endorser effectiveness is also how participants a major contributor in in how consumers will portray the female athlete. Personally i think that having females participate in the UFC and MMA is great for the sports and it will only help create better gender quality in other sports for years to come. It is refreshing to see honestly and I'm excited to see how this growth and upturn will continue to have a positive effect on woman's participation in male dominated sports.

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management,31(6), 533-545. doi:10.1123/jsm.2016-0333

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The journal article entitled, “The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport,” is about peoples perceptions of female combat athletes after being used in three different advertisement strategies. One being a sexualized strategy, where the advertiser focused more on the female athlete being attractive. A second being a combat strategy where the advertiser focused more on the physicality of the female athlete and their strength and training techniques. And a third strategy being more of a neutral approach taking some of both strategies and meshing them together. The results were as traditional expected, for the sexualized strategy viewers felt that the female athlete was very attractive and didn’t feel as though they should be participating in a combat sport, which discredited the athletes ability in the octagon. They look at the athlete as more of a sex symbol, which in world we live in today It seems that sex sells so I see why the advertiser used this strategy, but in a advertisement for a combat event, I’m not quite sure if this would be the most effective strategy. For the combat advertisement, it made viewers feel less attracted to the athlete, and it showcased their brute nature, more of a dominating force. It would be what you would expect of a combat event, more like how they promote the mens events. The neutral approach had viewers feeling that the athlete was less wholesome of a person. Because it did not lean in either direction and did not give that fighter a personality. After looking at each strategy, it is hard to determine the best strategy to use in promoting these type of events for both women and men. Would you rather have people view the event for what the athletes are really working for, in being combat athletes who train daily. Or would you want to sale pay-per-views to people who are attracted to the athletes and leave the combat athletes discredited in their hard work and determination? I guess it just depends on the promoter of the fight and the opinions of the fighters themselves. Some will want to looked upon for their hard work and their skills in the octagon, while others may not care and are there just to make money.

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This was a very interesting article that went into detail on the subject of how female combat sports competitors were advertised. The article did a great job of exploring both how female fighters were viewed in sexualized manner as compared to a combat neutral manner. It is no surprise that males responded with higher attitudes the the sexualized photos than females did. As well as females responding higher to the neutral combat poses than the sexual ones. When it comes to combat spots it is important to acknowledge that the sport revolves around paper view buys i order to make money. So it is hard to fault MMA and the UFC for portraying females in this manner. I feel that it is important for a follow up article to dive into how females view men in a sexualized manner versus a neutral combat manner.

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In the 2000s we have seen a change in our societal views regarding women in violent sports such as MMA or boxing. In the 1950’s it would have been unheard of for a female to compete in mixed martial arts or a boxing match. Today, female athletes competing in these two sports are widely accepted by a majority of male and female television viewers.   This however does not change the stereotypical attitude of advertisers and a majority of television viewers in regards to their views about physical attractiveness in selling products and promoting their sport. This bias is focused at our female athletes. A male MMA fighter/male athlete regardless of physical attractiveness can and will be used in endorsements and advertisements for their sport.  For males when it comes to endorsements athletic ability is more important than physical attractiveness. In order for a female athlete to be considered a spokesman for a product or their sport they need to have more than just athletic ability they also need physical attractiveness.  Television viewers and spectators are biased towards the more physically attractive female athlete. Even with the advancement in women’s rights our country has seen over the last quarter century, most viewers still respond more favorable to looks and athletic ability rather than just athletic ability.

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The article was a study on how different types of advertisements for female MMA athletes were viewed by consumers. They looked at sexulaized, combat, and neutral presentations. When the advertisement was presented in a sexualized way, the female athletes were seen as less talented and skilled than the other presentations. It seems that female athletes are already typically viewed as less talented than males, especially at “masculine” sports. It is sad that female athletes often do not receive the respect they deserve for their athletic abilities, and that more often than not they are judged by their looks. Presenting female athletes in a sexualized way downplays their athletic ability and is not necessary since the study found these advertisements were not more effective than the combat presentations. Combat or neutral advertisements were viewed as the female athletes being more successful and talented. It seemed that combat advertisements would have the overall best response by males and females alike and that sexualized advertisements are most likely not effective long term. Female athletes deserve to be respected for their abilities, and advertisements should help that. If they represent female athletes well, then the media, promoters, and sponsors would probably be more likely to follow. Finding the most effective long-term approach to presenting female athletes in advertisements could bring more attention to female sports and athletes which could change how they are viewed.

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31(6), 533-545. doi:10.1123/jsm.2016-0333

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I completely agree with you about sex sells.  If you look at all the most popular athletes, they are attractive or good looking.  They dress nice, their teeth are perfect and they have the money to do this.  I can't think of one professional athlete that is not good looking.  Even the athletes that are at the collegiate level in the spotlight, are good looking.  If an athlete would not be as good looking, a magazine could make them look good anyways.  So most everything is based on appearance and I am not sure this will change.  As far as promoting women in a sexualized way, this is what majority of men want.  But if marketers started promoting women in a tough manner, would it really change the attitudes towards the athletes?  I don't believe it will.  We as society do like appearance, but we like ability too!

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The current study is centered around understanding how women are viewed in combat sport such as the MMA.  Critical issues have surfaced and this study helps with the explanation on how consumers view women competing in violent sport and how different exhibitions (sexualized, neutral, and combat) affect the consumers’ attitudes. This study also gives results that should help the marketing efforts of those promoting women participating in sports, which defy traditional gender roles. (Greenwell, Simmons, Hancock, Shreffler, & Thorn, 2017)

The study discussed a major contributor that affect the consumers viewership; physical attraction. Physical attractiveness plays a bigger role when female athletes are featured. Sex sales. More often than not, women advertisements are sexually suggestive in nature. From my perspective as a female but more importantly as a physical educator, I think the overall attractiveness of any athlete has a positive impact on their viewership. There is a desired look when it comes to sports. The physical attractiveness does not always have to be sexualized but it does become effective on the consumers attitude toward what they are promoting.

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of

Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31(6), 533-545. doi:10.1123/jsm.2016-0333

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The way advertisers try to portray anything is all about viewership. Their job is to make sure as many people view that ad and get interested. This article tries to explain how consumers might view women differently based off how they are portrayed by the ad. This article mainly took a look at combat sports, however these portrayals are very relevant in majority of women's sports. Our society has raised us to judge people by their appearances first. Even though men are more likely to subject women based off appearances does not mean that women do not do the same when seeing men in ads or playing sports. I thought this article was really good discussing contributing factors as to why consumers attitudes change based off how an ad portrays an athlete. A follow up article could be men portrayal in the opposite category like figure skating or ballet.

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The perception of women in sports is always an interesting topic. As far as combat

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The perception of women in sports is always an interesting topic. As far as combat

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This was an interesting article that made some interesting finds in the world of women's sports and the perception of women athletes. The researchers Greenwell, Simmons, Schreffler, and Thorn provide valuable insights in their journal article: "The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport." In their study, the authors examined consumer attitude and perception of brand when comparing the presentation of women athletes between a sexualized, neutral, or combat image. Both male and female respondents found the sexualized presentations appealing, although female subjects found the neutral presentation preferable, compared to the sexualized preference of male subjects. When it comes to success in the world of combat sport, the female fighters in neutral or combat poses were seen as tougher, more successful fighters due to the nature of combat sport.
I think this research is significant when it comes to female athletes and building a brand or image for an athlete. The attractiveness of an athlete may bring in the people initially, but a businesslike, successful image must be shown to portray seriousness and professionalism as a combat athlete.
I am curious if a similar study could be done for male athletes. Does physical attractiveness matter for male athletes, or does professional success determine the perception or attitude towards and athlete. Is there a connection with physical attractiveness of an athlete and athletic performance? Possibly. If an athlete is shown in a sexualized manner off the field and successful on the field, do people connect the two? Advertising and presentation are what can create a brand. It is important that we consider these questions when attempting to drive interest and create  appealing advertising for athletes.

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31(6), 533–545.

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Trying to get more viewers is the goal of most any sport.  Many studies have been done in an attempt to figure out what will draw more viewers into female sports.  It is even more difficult when your are dealing with that sport that challenges gender stereotypes such as MMA.  This article looked at the ways in which female MMA fighters should be staged in order to see what would draw more interest.  They were staged in sexy poses, neutral poses, and combat poses.  The male participants were more interested in the ads with the sexual and poses, over the combat and neutral poses, and indicated more interest in an event based off of the sexual and combat poses over the neutral poses.  The females were not as interested in the sexual poses as the neutral.  The main conclusion is that sexual poses may draw in more males, but not females.  This  seems to be a trend in many studies, but I found this quote to be very important.  "Once men watch women in combat sport, men may be likely to change their perceptions of womenfighters from objects to talented athletes (as cited in Greenwell, et. al, Hancock et al.,2014)  Other studies have found that when someone is a fan, they don't pay attention to the attractiveness as much.  They are more interested in the sport, however, how do you draw more interest in certain sports, get people to watch, to become a fan?  Is the use of these types of images the only way?  

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Trying to get more viewers is the goal of most any sport.  Many studies have been done in an attempt to figure out what will draw more viewers into female sports.  It is even more difficult when your are dealing with that sport that challenges gender stereotypes such as MMA.  This article looked at the ways in which female MMA fighters should be staged in order to see what would draw more interest.  They were staged in sexy poses, neutral poses, and combat poses.  The male participants were more interested in the ads with the sexual and poses, over the combat and neutral poses, and indicated more interest in an event based off of the sexual and combat poses over the neutral poses.  The females were not as interested in the sexual poses as the neutral.  The main conclusion is that sexual poses may draw in more males, but not females.  This  seems to be a trend in many studies, but I found this quote to be very important.  "Once men watch women in combat sport, men may be likely to change their perceptions of womenfighters from objects to talented athletes (as cited in Greenwell, et. al, Hancock et al.,2014)  Other studies have found that when someone is a fan, they don't pay attention to the attractiveness as much.  They are more interested in the sport, however, how do you draw more interest in certain sports, get people to watch, to become a fan?  Is the use of these types of images the only way?  

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Greenwell, T., Simmons, J., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M. & Thorn, D.  (2017)  The effects of sexualized and violent presentations of women in combat sport.  Journal of Sport

Management.  31, 533-545.  https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2016-0333

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This study focuses on the effect on fans and consumers of mixed martial arts and other related combat sports. The study that was presented in the article focused on three forms of advertisement: neutral, combat, and sexualized. This study did not focus on one gender when it came to fans and consumers; it focuses on both male and female consumers and fans. This study found that male consumers were more interested in advertisements that displayed sexualized and combat images. This finding does not surprise me due to the fact that as sport fans we tend to notice the physical appearance of female athletes before we notice the athletic ability or skill level. Physical attractiveness is a major factor in many aspects of life, so the evidence that pointed out the sexualized nature of advertisements did not come as a surprise to me. The neutral aspect of the advertisements tend to be favored more by female viewers than by male viewers; I believe this is due to many female viewers and female athletes want to be seen and viewed for their athletic abilities and their talents rather than by their appearance. Through out the history of sports, the role of female athletes have changed. In the beginning, female athletes were expected to participate in elegant sports such as figure skating, gymnastics, and even ballet, and now female athletes participate in basketball, rugby, and combat sports. With more studies such as this one, I believe that physical appearance will begin to fade in advertisements and more people will recognize female athletes for their talents and abilities.

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This study utilizes an experimental design to investigate how different presentations (sexualized, neutral, and combat) of female athletes competing in a combat sport such as mixed martial arts, a sport defying traditional gender norm, affect consumers’ attitudes toward the advertising, event, and athlete brand.  When the female athlete in the advertisement was in a sexualized presentation, male subjects reported higher attitudes toward the advertisement and the event than the female subjects.  Physical attraction may play a bigger role when female athletes are featured.  There is theoretical support for why physical attraction influences behaviors.  The physical attractiveness stereotype suggests people who are seen as attractive are assumed to possess other desirable traits, and attractiveness can positively influence judgments.  Physical attractiveness has also been found to be a significant motivator of sport consumption and significantly influences public interest in sports.  Gender roles are shared beliefs about the attributes of men and women.  For example, women possess (or are expected to possess) communal characteristics such as nurturance, kindness, submissiveness, expression/emotion, and compassion.  Men, on the other hand, are expected to be more agentic–assertive, dominant, aggressive, instrumental, and independent.  However, women participating in combat sport defy traditional gender stereotypes, men have been found to be more interested in sport when women conformed to more feminine stereotypes.  The benefit of understanding the impact of various portrayals of female athletes should be of concern to event promoters and the individual female athletes as both attempt to maximize their ability to gain a stronger market share through enhancing the athlete brand image.  When it comes to women in combat sports for me, I enjoy watching for both reasons of the good athletes as well as the attractive athletes.

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This article’s focus was to study the reactions of different genders, as well as their views on advertising ads featuring female fighters within the Mixed Martial Arts sport. The study provided three different examples of how the female fighter is represented in ads.  These included; sexualized, combative and neutral. It is not a surprise that the more inclusion our society has on female athletes in sports such as Mixed Martial Arts, the more creative ways we will see of how they market these athletes. One of the points of emphasis is how physical attraction continues to drive consumer attitudes toward a sport or athlete.  This physical attraction, as well as perceived sexuality of an individual (especially female athletes), is the one of the most important factors for them to be endorsed.

One example that the study  found was that males reported a more positive attitude when a female fighter is advertised in a sexual manner. However, they also reported a positive attitude when they viewed the neutral advertisement. The study also touched on the fact that women viewing these presentations would rather focus on the athlete herself, than the athlete’s sexuality.

In my opinion, advertising or promoting female athletes in a sexualized way will continue to be promoted not only in Mixed Martial Arts sports, but in all sports. The reality is that this type of promotion will continually draw in male viewers who may not watch a certain sport otherwise. Moving advertisements to a more neutral or non-sexualized contexts may show to be more positive with females, but it is crucial to consider who most of the viewers are comprised of. It is my understanding that the viewership of males is something that the promoters cannot ignore as it is a desperate need for the sport to continue to be successful. Unless women stop taking certain endorsements or decline shooting advertisements in a sexual manner, this way of promotion will continue as an accepted practice.

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The authors of this article focused on the advertisement effect on consumers/fans of mixed martial arts and other combat sports. The study that is described in the article focused on 3 forms of advertisement, sexualized, neutral, and combat. The results of the study showed that men showed more interest in the event where the advertisement of the event was sexualized or combat. The results for men do not surprise me as it refers to women in athletics because often times we when watching female athletes compete, we notice the physical appearance of the athlete first before we gain notice of her athletic ability. As far as the combat attribute, most men who are sport fans gravitate towards violence in sports. I am not surprise by the women results as well. The women of the study had a high score for the advertisements that were neutral. The reason why I am not surprise is because female athletes want to be recognized for their athletic ability and talents while also being respected still as a woman.  That balance between fulfilling their roles as an athlete and as a woman. Those roles are changing from what they use to be in the past. The role of females in sports was for them to participate in elegant and fluent sports such as gymnastics, figure skating, ballet.  The role has change because there are for combat sports for women to participate in and some of the coaches of these sports are men.

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The article titled, The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport, by Greenwell et al., is a research study that intends to determine the impact of various types of advertisements on male and female sport fans. The study purpose is not only to determine how best to appeal to consumers of sport, but also to infer on the impact of portrayal on female fighter marketability. I was not surprised that women preferred the neutral ads, I was however surprised that the gap between the male and female preference was slim in relation to ads that showed the fighters in combat form. As the authors pointed out, this shows that the acceptability of females in combat sports is becoming more prevalent. I was surprised and disappointed that the ads used were only in print form. In today’s society, very few ads are of the print variety. The study failed in include video ads, which would most likely have a far greater impact on fan interest and marketability. I wonder if the results would have been completely different if video ads been used in the study. I would also be interested to see how video ad reaction would have compared to print ad reaction. The study also used groups of people that qualified based on identifying themselves as sports fans. It is important to understand what non-sports fans think, to gain insight on increasing fans of the sport.

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This article from Greenwell, The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport, takes on some very interesting ideas revolving around how women in sports are portrayed under certain contexts. The article examined how different portrayals of women in sexualized and non-sexualized manners could affect consumer’s mindsets regarding female MMA fighters. Greenwell writes that the study seeks to “understand how sport consumers view women competing in violent sport and how different presentations affect consumers’ attitudes”, (534). Using different advertisement techniques distributed in the form of a questionnaire the data showed several different responses in consumers. One interesting response was that when women were presented in a more sexualized manner males were more likely to view the event and the fighter in a positive light comparted to a fighter who was not portrayed in a sexualized manner. The data also showed that for men violent and sexualized ads were more effective than neutral ads. This is interesting considering women were on the other side of the spectrum, with the data suggesting that women responded more positively to neutral ads, thus suggesting that a more effective marketing strategy for women would be to not focus as much on the sexuality. (541)

This to me does not strike me as a particularly novel concept, as much of it follows a fairly rational track of thought. Many of the posts are right in assessing that for men especially, sex sells, which has been true and will remain true in my opinion. The article has one interesting point in the conclusion which states that “presenting female athletes in a sexual manner may be effective for drawing males, the core MMA demographic, but can be less effective in enticing female consumers,” (541). To me this clearly indicates that since the core of MMA is already predominantly male, it makes more sense to move away from predominantly sexualized ads to as attract more of the female population to reach a wider range of individuals rather than advertising to those who are already firmly invested in combat sports viewership.

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31(6), 533-54
5. Doi:10.1123/jsm.2016-0333

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The article titled, The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport, by Greenwell et al., is a research study that intends to determine the impact of various types of advertisements on male and female sport fans. The study purpose is not only to determine how best to appeal to consumers of sport, but also to infer on the impact of portrayal on female fighter marketability. I was not surprised that women preferred the neutral ads, I was however surprised that the gap between the male and female preference was slim in relation to ads that showed the fighters in combat form. As the authors pointed out, this shows that the acceptability of females in combat sports is becoming more prevalent. I was surprised and disappointed that the ads used were only in print form. In today’s society, very few ads are of the print variety. The study failed in include video ads, which would most likely have a far greater impact on fan interest and marketability. I wonder if the results would have been completely different if video ads been used in the study. I would also be interested to see how video ad reaction would have compared to print ad reaction. The study also used groups of people that qualified based on identifying themselves as sports fans. It is important to understand what non-sports fans think, to gain insight on increasing fans of the sport.

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In the assigned article this week, the authors attempted to analyze the effects of the way female athletes who participate in combat sport are portrayed in advertising and the impact that may have on their brand. Women in combat sport are already at a disadvantage in that they are perceived to be less talented or skilled simply because they are women.

They first examined the differences in consumer attitudes toward athlete images and portrayals when promoting an event, in this case, mixed martial arts. Second, they attempted to assess the potential impact of the images on the athlete’s brand.

As hypothesized, male consumers viewed the sexualized portrayals favorably invoking a more positive attitude toward the event being promoted. However, they found that there was little difference in male attitudes when the focus of the ads was combat related suggesting that either method would attract male viewership. Women on the other hand preferred the non-sexual approach to promotion. They also found that women tend to have negative attitudes toward the ads that have escalated levels of violence and had positive attitudes toward the ads showing women in combat.

As far as brand is concerned, the findings were consistent with previous research which suggested that the more attractive the athlete or endorser, the more positive qualities he/she is perceived to have. However, the athlete that was more attractive was also thought to be less skilled.

In my opinion, this seems to be a stigma in other women’s sports, particularly those that are stereotypically played by men. I believe that we see glimpses of this in basketball, tennis, golf, as well as others. The female athlete often is more appreciated as a figure than for her ability. So much of the presentation appears to be geared toward a feminizing of the athletes. Although the level of play may not be the same, the talent is certainly there. Likewise, in MMA, the strength and power may be on a different level, but the technique and athleticism can certainly be appreciated as well.

Greenwall, T.C., Simmons, J.M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D., (2017). The effects of sexualized and violent presentations of women in combat sport. Journal of Sport Management 31: 533-545. doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2016-0333

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In the article The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sports the researchers discuss different ways of marketing females in combat sports in mixed martial arts.  The researcher discuss if physical attractiveness has any impact on consumer’s attitudes towards women.  Many of the consumers feel that they would rather see a physically attractive female with talent in an advertisement opposed to neutral woman. The responses of females were the complete opposite. This article highlights a conversation I have had with my women’s tennis team.  Once one of my players asked why is that when they advertise women in tennis, they have women to show more of their body.  One of the other players response was “duh that is because sex sells.”  I then told her that for years when marketing women advertisements they like to advise women in provocative ways.  Physical attraction influences consumers because often time they are persuaded based off attraction.

When it comes to professional fighting in my opinion women want to be viewed just like men in their perspective profession.  They want to be seen as a fighter and not a sex symbol. Often times male consumers do not support women who engage in the so called “masculine” sports unless they are displayed sexually in some aspect. The times have changed in the sports world where woman are not just limited to certain sports. They should be viewed in the same way as male athletes are, and shouldn’t have to be physically attractive to be recognized. Their talent should be enough and we as future sports leaders should emphasis the importance of this.

Reference:

Greenwell, T., Simmons, J., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M. and Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport
Management, 31(6), pp.533-545.

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Women's sports have grown tremendously over the past decade. Female athletes are beginning to become more recognized for their achievements. This article is a great representation of how women in sports in general are viewed. The research that is conducted in this article involving women involved in MMA and the effects of the different presentations of women in the sport bring to light some of the issues that women deal with in sports compared to males. I believe the results of this study show exactly what the majority of males like. Two things that males typically navigate to are sex and action/violence. The results show that males tend to lean towards the sexualized ads or the combat ads. Females tend to be more in favor of the ads that are neutral. These results confirm  the stereotype that involves males enjoying sex and action or violence. Sexualized ads may draw more male consumers but it also may drive female consumers away. The issue that these sexualized ads creates is that it perceives female fighters are less skilled and less successful. Future studies could research how male and females perceive ads for other sports other than combat sports to compare the findings. Hopefully the future of women's sports in general will continue to grow just as they have in MMA as both males and females become more involved in female athletics.

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This article sheds a good light on the misrepresentation of female athletes in sport as "sex symbols."  The article focused on women in combat sports such as MMA.  Because of the violent nature of MMA, female fighters are often portrayed in more feminine poses in advertising.  This technique is used to draw in more viewers.  While effective for male viewers, female viewers negatively reacted to sexualized promotions.  The article also discusses how most female athletes are referred to in feminine terms and based on their attractiveness, as opposed to their male counterparts who are reported on based on their talent.  The study concluded that it is better to leave the sexual imagery and sexualization of female athletes out of advertising of combat sports due to the image it projects that that women are more feminine and less talented.

Resources:
Greenwell, T.C.,  Simmons, J.M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., Thorn, D.  2017.  The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport.  Journal of Sport Management 31 (6), 533 - 545. Accessed from https://ezproxy.library.astate.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=125676286&site=eds-live&scope=site

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Women's sports has come a long way to say the least, and I think that it will improve as we continue to see women defy the odds of gender roles. Women's basketball and softball have flourished especially in the collegiate scene, and people are wanting to watch women sports more than they are men's sports. This research discusses women in violent sports such as MMA and UFC and how they should be marketed. The reason behind the research on combat sports is because the sport defies the gender stereotype and shows that behind all the make-up and hairstyle women can be tough and rigid just like men.

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This article studied the effects of different advertising techniques regarding sexualizing female athletes.  Specifically, this study was analyzing female athletes in MMA, a sport that defies gender stereotypes. From this one topic the researchers studied six different hypotheses. The one that I found lead to the most interesting results was Hypothesis 3 which read, “Consumers will have more positive performance-related brand perceptions toward combative representations of female fighters than toward neutral or sexualized representations” (Greenwell, Simmons, Hancock, Shreffler & Thorn, 2017). It was determined in the study that this hypothesis was only partially confirmed as viewers had more similar, positive reactions while the athlete was in a neutral or combative representation, than the sexualized representation. Specifically, those reactions were that the athlete appeared to be more talented, successful, and tougher (Greenwell et al., 2017). These results showed a great improvement in the nature of society. The fact that we have somewhat normalized female participation in stereotypically male sports is huge progress for gender equalization. Likewise, not only did the results show it was normalized but also that the women were viewed in a positive light! While the results of the other hypotheses show that there is still a market for sexualizing women in advertisements, this hypothesis proved that a company can have success marketing women for being successful and strong in their sport, even if it is considered a masculine sport.

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31(6), 533–545. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.library.astate.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=125676286&site=eds-live&scope=site

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This article brings to light conversation that has gone on around my circle of friends forever.  The perception of female athletes dependent upon how they are portrayed.  The research in this article tests the perception based female athletes portrayed in a sexual, neutral or combative manner and the affects each of those have on attitude, brand and consumption.  The effectiveness of advertising varies based off of who is viewing that advertisement. Males tend to have a greater reaction when females are represented through their sexuality. Where women tend to have a more positive reaction to female athletes that are portrayed as neutral or combative.
Female athletes portrayed in a sexual manner may not be seen for their full athletic potential. In the same respect, those being portrayed in a neutral or combative manner may not have all of their attributes recognized either.
While this article focused on females athletes in MMA, it is my opinion that some of the same characteristics and findings would exist in a multitude of sports.
I would like to see further research done going beyond the scope of just looking at female athletes in MMA to  comparing the views when looking at both male and female athletes in various sport arenas.

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I used Greenwell’s article as a source for my term paper in another class. My topic was challenges in advertising and this was a big one in my opinion. The article shows that when women were shown in a more sexualized manor in advertisements, they were viewed as more personable as opposed to being presented in a more combat-oriented manor. This presents a problem. On one hand, sexualized fighters may create higher attitudes and interests. On the other hand they could be viewed as a lesser fighter.  Advertisers have to make the judgement call. It may seem easy to say that the advertiser should always do what’s right and promote the fighters as the athletes that they are. But they also have to balance that with their job of drumming up interest and viewership however they can.

Often times, the female fights are only undercard fights for pay-per-view fights. Rarely are they headlining the fight. The current driving force behind people watching the female fights is the fights that follow them. It is not fair, but it is the reality with many female sports. I think the movement by Nike to try to include a variety of athletes has been a step in the right direction. I hope more companies will follow their lead.

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M. Buchanan_Week 2 Discussion  10.27.2018

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For those who are not familiar with UFC, may want to watch the fight coming up Nov 3rd.  In the UFC organization women are always on the ballot to fight but they are the pre entertainment for the men. On February 23, 2013 Ronda Rousey and Liz Carnouche made UFC history by headlining UFC 157. Women are known to be soft and feminine but these ladies showed they could compete with the men. Ronda was the crowds fan favorite because her brand makes her more relatable. Ronda doesn’t present herself manly or masculine. Companies think the only way to present and sell tickets for females is sex appeal. A fighter’s skills should be the determine factor in the public.  I feel like more marketing towards female audience is needed in order to help grow the female viewers. Males are drawn to sex and the research proved such. I was not surprised at the results. Sex is everywhere in advertisement; these companies sell these athletes for their attributes versus their skills.

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31(6), 533–545. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.library.astate.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=125676286&site=eds-live&scope=site

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This article focuses on how consumers see female athletes when they are portrayed in one of three ways sexual, violent, or neutral. A lot of ads have female athletes portrayed in a sexual way which men think of in a positive way but most women are on the opposing side. Although the ad may be appealing and attract some consumers it has nothing to do with their ability. It seems as if they are trying to down play their talent. I think this happens only because it’s still not fully acceptable for women to play “Masculine” sports. I like that the author brings up brand. A lot of people don’t understand that each athlete/ individual has their own and image or brand they are building.

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This article focuses on the emergence of female fighters in the world of Mixed Martial Arts and the reactions of different genders in regard to the way the fighter is represented in Ads. In the studies provided, female fighters are shown in 3 separate lights including sexualized, combative and neutral. Men found that the sexualized version is more appealing but is less credible as a fighter. Women share the same doubt of the female fighters ability when in the sexualized stance.

The results of this article are surprising to myself personally because I am not a fan of watching MMA. I do not find the sexualized version of a fighter to be more appealing, I feel that a fighters skills should be the deciding factor in their public image. The fact that men were so swayed by the presentation of the athletes shows the power that media and sports marketing have on the average viewer. It is shameful in my opinion that women cannot hold the attention of men by merit alone.

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The article focuses specifically on the way men and women react to seeing different versions of advertisements for women in MMA. The different advertisements presented were sexualized, combative and neutral. As expected, men preferred the sexualized version and also had positive reactions to the combative advertisements. Women preferred the neutral advertisements and didn’t react positively to the sexualized or combative versions.

I thought it was interesting that, while men reacted positively to the sexualized version, they thought that version was the poorest fighter of the three versions. Men reacted positively to the combative version and thought that version was the most competent. I think it would serve MMA well to advertise in this way. By advertising your athletes as “eye candy,” diminishes their athletic prowess and cheapens their sport. Also, the article suggests this may only be an effective form of advertising for a short term as men may lose interest. By marketing their fighters as combative athletes, they receive the positive reactions from male spectators without marginalizing the fighters and their sport.

I think it is also important to mention the article states the majority of spectators of MMA (male fighters or female fighters) are male, which is why the focus is on the male audience. More research is needed in the area of MMA marketing toward a female audience. Specifically, the sexualization of male fighters. This may help MMA to bring in a higher female viewership.

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This article focuses on a huge dilemma not just in MMA, but also in all of sports dealing with female athletes. Most companies believe that the only way to sell tickets for female athletes is for their advertisements to be sexualized. The problem with this is that this has nothing to do with their sport or athletic ability. There was a sample of athletes taken during this article and most female respondents preferred the same type of presentations that males get over the male respondents. This would be an obvious choice considering how much men love to idolize women’s bodies more than admiring their abilities. I believe this to be the case because females just aren’t respected as much when it comes to sports. They may be good, but they will never be considered better than men. Which means that they will never be considered one of the best. When you mention the best basketball players, women are never mentioned. This is the same case when it comes to MMA sports or any other sport where men are considered dominant. This is why I believe women advertisements are sexualized because this could be one of the only advantages they are considered to have.

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In my undergrad studies I focused on Greek history. It was interesting how women were treated during the development of sports and the first Olympics. The reason why participants competed in the nude was to keep women from entering into the competitions. Therefore sexuality in sports is really nothing new. Women in those days created their own footraces and competitions. Unfortunately with media and advertising dollars as stakeholders in combat sports, perceptions become slanted more toward sexuality and less capability.  as stated by others in the class, this has been a constant issue for quite some time in all of women's sports. Just recently in sports Serena Williams became a controversial subject due to a McEnroe moment. John McEnroe has exhibited aggressive behavior in his playing days but it was never related to his gender identity as to why he was having a meltdown.
Nike has challenged this standard by featuring transgender athletes. The marketing and advertising directors of the sports world must evolve to be more sensitive to the changing times in women"s sports.

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This article deals with how our society portrays women in masculine sports.  UFC is one of the nations leading combat sports and it wasn’t until 2013 when women made their debut in the industry.  The industry was full of men pounding away at each other until one either gave up, got knocked out or a submission was performed.  This was labeled as one of the toughest sports in the sports industry and labeled as a masculine sport.  When females came into the industry it was out of the normality and they were looked at as masculine instead of feminine.  That was until promoters and marketers found a way to for males to become attracted to the sexualized imagery of the female fighter.  The imagery is what brought attention to the female fighters, men were not worried about their skill it was the physical attraction that got their attention.  This is sad to say for our society these days that we are that low to only rout for a female going off of their looks rather than their physical ability.  Female wrestlers are not portrayed this way, in college we had a female wrestling team and it was more about the skill and production of wins rather than how they looked.  Do females bring money in and brand an image for UFC?  Sure, they do, and the promoters have done a good job at promoting them using sexualized imagery and text.  I remember when Rhonda Rousey was fighting against Holly Holm there were so many ads about Rhonda and her beastly combat attractiveness but then you have Holly Holm who was portrayed as the beauty queen of UFC.  In the study they used the person with less skill as the sexualized image and this was a prime example of that done by UFC promoters.  At the end of the day UFC is a business and they will do whatever they can to gain the attention of their consumers.  It’s very sad to see that they are using women in a sexualized way to promote their industry.  I wonder if they didn’t and just used combat imagery how would the ratings be right now?  It seems that UFC became more popular when women fights were present on the fight card as well.  I’m confused why men think its so attractive watching two women beating the 🤬 out of each other.  It reminds me of being at a bar when they have mud wrestling contests for women or jelly fights.  Some people watch it for the skill, but I can almost guarantee that 80% of the men that watched that fight were more attracted to the women rather than watching their skill.

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I found the results of this study to be not surprising at all but also, as a fan, and someone who trains in MMA found the research done to be quite interesting. The authors looked at how the style of imaging (sexualized, neutral, combat) affected consumer’s feelings towards a fighter or a specific fighting event. Not surprisingly the male fans were more drawn to the sexualized advertisements while the female fans preferred the more neutral ones.  There were other findings in the study but this was the most prominent result. The study also looked at the effects the imaging would have on the athletes branding and how the results could change how athletes brand and market themselves.

As I mentioned previously, none of the findings of the study were all that surprising. The differences in gender reactions to the various styles of ads, were exactly what I would have guessed just using common sense and gender stereotypes. I think a bigger sample size would have been more useful and I would like to see a similar type study done that focuses on people who identify as ‘super fans’ of the MMA world and see how their scores differ from the casual fans. I would think that those in the MMA community would have different reactions, especially to the branding of athletes, based on the different styles of advertisements because there is going to be an inherent level of respect for the fighters regardless of ad style when you are someone who is heavily involved in MMA either as a fan or participant.

I also think the limitations of the study were a key point. These were all print advertisements so there was no research done on how video ads, specifically on the internet or social media would affect viewers choices and feelings towards fighters and events.

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As stated in the title this article focuses predominantly on women in combat sports. More specifically on observations made on consumers attitudes towards these female athletes. attitudes of these consumers, whether positive or negative, are shaping the way that advertisers for these female athletes are showing off their products to the public. being that the women are portrayed as either skilled athletes, sexual/physical attraction, and in a neutral light when advertising to promote these MMA events.
physical attraction is a very effective advertising tool for these events as the audience viewing these events are predominately male. Males tend to respond more positively, in terms of viewing numbers, to sexualized advertising of female combat athletes. the research found that this stereotype was in fact correct with males responding more positively to the sexualized ads. while at the same time finding that women found these sexualized ads less favorable. With the current state of combat sports and the growth and support women are getting in these combat sports. advertisers will have to adjust their advertising styles for the women of these combat sports. focusing not only on their physical attractiveness, but their skill in MMA combat sports as well.

Advertising and promotion has been, and will always be, about making as much money from that particular event as possible. unfortunate as it is to say sexuality tends to sell very well in this day and age. not everyone has this particular view, sexualizing women for profit, when it comes to women in combat sports, but it is very prominent. it will continue to be that way until we as a society change our views about women in general.

I believe that their will be change in the way that women are portrayed in the media, but it will have to come after our views as a society change. for this is the reason why the change in MMA and other sports females participate in tend to use sexualized and physical attractive advertising techniques. Once society as a whole shifts is views and portrayals of women and what is considered "attractive" then we will see a paralleled shift in the world of sports as well.
Greenwell, T.C., Simmons, J.M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). the Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentation of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31(6), 533-545.

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Discussion Post 2: Women in Combat Sports 

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Discussion Post 2: Women in Combat Sports 

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This article studies the way female combat athletes are portrayed in the media and more so in advertising. Typically when male athletes are competing there tends to an emphasis in violence and physicality to promote the fight. Compared to female athletes, they are advertised more on their physical attraction or sex appeal rather than their actual talent. In a sport where it’s mostly dominated and viewed by men this tends to be the trend. Not only are women sexualized but they aren’t taken serious. Many great female combat athletes like Ronda Rousey have helped improve the growth of women in the UFC and have changed people’s perception of women in combat sports. However, advertisers know that “physical attraction is an important contributor to consumer attitudes evidenced by the role sexuality plays in marketing” (Greenwell, Simmons, Shreffler, Thorn). Even though it is wrong to advertise women for their looks rather than ability, advertisers know it’s going to sell. Advertisers aren’t going to try and sell something to a market that isn’t going to work. They want to hype up the event as much as they can and get people (males) more intrigued to buy the fights.

Results showed that female fighters preferred a more neutral advertisement than males did. The results also showed that when advertisements were in the sexual nature they were more favorable towards the male audience but also degraded female combat fighter’s physical ability.

I believe that there needs to be a change in the way women are portrayed in the media and it all starts with going against the norm and trying to change the way people perceive women’s sports. Women’s sports needed to be on the same level as men as far as pay and marketing opportunities. Once these changes are made it will create a trend to elevate women’s sports.

Greenwell, T. C., Simmons, J. M., Hancock, M., Shreffler, M., & Thorn, D. (2017). The Effects of Sexualized and Violent Presentations of Women in Combat Sport. Journal of Sport Management, 31(6), 533–545. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.library.astate.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=125676286&site=eds-live&scope=site

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This Article was about how people look at women who compete in combat sports such as UFC or MMA.  Researchers compared how sexuality/physical attraction compared to portraying women as skilled athletes or combative and also in a neutral light in advertising and promoting these events.

Physical attraction plays a large role in how the events are viewed because most of the audience of combative sports are men.  Men traditionally respond to the sexual aspect of advertising in a more favorable manner than do women.  The researcher found just that; women found the sexuality in the promotional ads less favorable overall.  With the growth women in combative sports, advertisers are now using ads that promote both aspects of women in the sport.  Promoters still push the sexuality of the athletes but also their skill and ability (Knock out vs. Bone Crusher).

Promotion and advertising for as long as I can remember has used sexuality to sell just about everything.  Promoting and advertising an event is about making as much money as possible, so if selling sex makes money that’s what they will sell.  Obviously not all of society view women as sexual objects that can be told what to do and how to do things but until more of society decides these views are unacceptable it will continue.

I have two girls of my own and have coached girls’ sports, I see more and more of the skill, hard work, dedication, and determination that these athletes put into their trade.  I have a great appreciation for what and how they perform at such high levels and that this younger generation of athletes have someone to look up to and it has nothing to do with how you look.

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This article studies the way female athletes in combat sports are advertised and how consumers interest in the sports changes based on the advertising methods. The study found that females preferred a more neutral presentation significantly more than males. Both male and females felt that the fighter in the sexualized advertisements was more attractive and charming than the fighter in the neutral or combat ads and more personable than the fighter in the combat ads. However, people also thought that the females in the sexualized ads were less talented than the ones in the neutral ads.
When it comes to promoting combat sports featuring more contact and violence than traditional sports marketers have a variety of options. One UFC event used the nationality of two male fighters. Also for two male fighters the ads focused on the physicality and violence. The promotion of female fighters used physical attraction and/or sex appeal.
It doesn’t surprise me that when promoting female athletes that some advertisers want to sexualize their advertisements. Sex is, unfortunately, everywhere in advertisements. For example, I am a huge baseball fan as well as my entire family. However, we can’t watch a baseball game without having to see commercials about ED or a Hardees commercial with a half-naked model on the screen. It makes it very difficult to watch sporting events with my nephews who are all eight years old and under. So when it comes to combat sports, while they are gaining a lot of followers, adding female fighters needs to gain attention so it will become popular. So the advertisers working for combat sports do what every other sports advertisements do, they appeal to the sexuality and attractiveness to females to try and gain the attention of more fans.

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This article observed consumers attitudes toward women in combat sports. These attitudes both negative and positive have helped shaped the way in which advertisers are appealing their products to the consumer. When creating advertisements that are sexual in nature the results have been more favorable to the male audience but undermine the female's physical ability.
Female athletes are also taking on endorsement deals from companies like Carl's Jr., Golf Digest and Sports Illustrated that are portraying women in a hypersexualized role. This portrayal helps us understand traditional societal norms that are slowly changing but still remain in the industry. In order to change these norms advertisers must portray female athletes for their ability instead of their attractiveness.