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Not only are black female athletes misrepresented, they are also underrepresented through out media and pop culture in every form. In order to combat this inequality that these black women are receiving we the people and major media corporations need to take a stand.

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What's Next? Brief Overview/recommendation on how this issue should/needs to be addressed in the future

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What's Next? Brief Overview/recommendation on how this issue should/needs to be addressed in the future

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Your First Look at Media Coverage and Female Athletes

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If You Let Me Play Sports - Nike 1995.mp4

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(A) Local network affiliates (KCBS, KNBC, and KABC) main coverage, by gender. (B) Local network affiliates and ESPN SportsCenter 2014 main coverage, by gender.

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Over the last 25 years there has been a dramatic increase in the number of girls and women participating in sports. However, the media coverage of professional women's sports does not embody that.
- 40% of all athletes are women, but 2-4 % receive media coverage
- The main objective of the sport and media industry is to make money.

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The argument that is being made as to why women's sports to not receive nearly as much media coverage as men's sports is because they believe these sports won't grasp the audiences attention, gain a following, and ultimately be able to produce a profit. The statement that all women sports wouldn't make a profit is both unfair and unrealistic. Of course they won't make any money if they aren't provided with the opportunity to grab a larger audience. The lack of women's sports coverage has huge impact on today's society. It affects the sports participation for young girls as well as women. There is a need for female athletes to be visible in order to create role models and people for these young girls and women to look up to. Unfortunately they are hard to come by.

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You throw like a girl! Telling stories about women in sport: Jos Dirkx at TEDxCapeTownWomen

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Misrepresentation of Black Female Atheltes

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Misrepresentation of Black Female Atheltes

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We live in a society where technology is at our fingertips. As a result the media industry plays a huge role in some of the different tasks that we complete on an everyday basis. We can instantly pull up news at in any moment from our phones and tablets. We use them to get our every day fix on news and staying up to date on everything that is happening throughout the world. We have gone beyond just newspapers and magazines, watching TV, or listening to the radio. Although we are utilizing different forms of technology those original media sources are not yet obsolete and are still used to inform, educate, and entertain people. Media has the greatest influence on people, which makes it an essential resource.

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The greatest tool that we can utilize to continue to address and shed light on this issue is to educate people on the subject matter. Often times issues like this go on and on over looked and never seen because they don't realize what is really happening. This topic has been an issue for decades and I think people and companies are just now realizing that it's a problem and it's their responsibility to make a difference. In the last 2 years I have finally started to see that the imagery that black female athletes is starting to move away from the ideals of being either hyper-sexualized or hyper-masculine and move towards the idea these women can be both strong and beautiful. They shouldn't have to choose to depicted one way or the other.

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It comes as no surprise that black women are constantly misrepresented within the media industry. We see it everywhere from the news, to TV& Film, and Sports. The way we see it in sports has more to do with some of the different ad campaigns that black female athletes are participating in. This seems like another act of modern day racism because it continues to reinforce society's idea of what black women are suppose to do and look like as well not letting them escape the confined walls of their oppression.

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'Undefeated,' by Rayana Jay, is an anthem for black female athletes | Undefeated | ESPN

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The television special Unapologetic: The Black Female Athlete, the centerpiece of ESPN’s month-long commemoration of Black History Month, debuts Sunday, Feb. 24, at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2. The thought-provoking program highlights the imagery and characterizations of black female athletes over time and their challenges and achievements.

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1. Is the misrepresentation of black female athletes a form of modern day racism?
2. Looking at the way they are being portrayed what does that mean for the future of our society (today's youth)?
3. Why is this problematic?

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When we look at the portrayal of black female athletes we see them being shown as one of two things. Either a sex symbol or anti-feminine. This reinforces the ideas black inferiority and distracts everyone from these incredible athletes accomplishments.

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Seeing ad campaigns and commercials where these women are depicted as being hyper-sexualized like the "Jezebel" or portraying more masculine qualities then feminine does more then just distracts the audience from their success, but strips them from their confidence and their will to serve their community as role models.

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As I had mentioned previously the lack of media coverage of women's sports and black female athletes poses the problem of who are the athletic role models for you women of color. We find comfort in being able to relate with some one on TV or within the media who looks like us, advocates for people like us, as well as shows us that we can play any sport we want to. Especially today role models play a huge role in what young girls hope and dream for in the future.

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Hosted by professional softball player and Golden Glove recipient A.J. Andrews, accomplished athletes share candid conversations on the challenges and joy of being black female athletes at the top of their game.

The program features Laila Ali, Michelle Carter, Misty Copeland, Allyson Felix, Simone Manuel, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Nneka Ogwumike and A'ja Wilson and focuses on marketing of the black female athlete, body image and hair, pay equality and representation in sports.

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Hosted by professional softball player and Golden Glove recipient A.J. Andrews, accomplished athletes share candid conversations on the challenges and joy of being black female athletes at the top of their game.

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Literature shows that there is an obvious lack of media representation for female athletes. When these athletes do receive media coverage it tends to focus more on their femininity than their athleticism. However, there are other factors other than gender that may influence media representation. The race and gender of the target audience may influence the media representation that female athletes receive. There is definitely a correlation between the race of the female athletes and the gender of the target audience in the way they are depicted in media.

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I have seen the biggest differences in media representation of black female athletes through different forms of media than you would think. There are two examples within the TV & Film part of the media industry that I see trying to break down the barriers and the constraints that have been place black female athletes. These are Fox's Pitch and Disney, Marvel's Black Panther.  In Pitch we see the first women to play in the MLB and the challenges that she has to overcome being not only the only woman in the league, but black as well. The show follows her journey into how she handles the stereotypes and assumptions that are made about her playing in all male predominately white league. Black Panther was revolutionary in the way all women warriors were shown. I think part of that had to do with the that Ruth E. Carter made use of her costumes. She made sure that they were not sexy costumes and that they were both masculine and feminine all at the same time. She challenged the idea that femininity and masculinity are binary and that you can not embody both at the same time.