Women Athletes in the Media
Both female athletes and reporters have
yet to achieve parity with men in the media. In terms
of coverage, women athletes are almost invisible. In 1993,
only 5% of televised sports news covered women's sports
- virtually the same percentage as in 1989.30 In print
media, a study of four major newspapers found that fewer
than 5% of all sports stories were devoted to women only.
Women in sports reporting and broadcasting
also face discrimination in the predominantly male sports
media world. Often, the issue revolves around locker room
access. An incident involving the New England Patriots
football team serves as an example. In September of 1990,
Boston Herald sports reporter Lisa Olson shook up her
profession by describing the harassment she faced in the
New England Patriots' locker room. She reported that team
member Zeke Mowatt exposed himself to her and made lewd
remarks while other team members watched and cheered.32
Sexual harassment of women sportswriters
is far from unique. Kristin Huckshom, a sportswriter with
the San Jose Mercury News, reported other incidents: a
football player running a razor up a writer's leg; a writer
receiving a rat in a pink box, sent by a player; writers
being hit with jockstraps and having obscenities yelled
at them.
What was unique is that Olson spoke out
about her experiences. "Female reporters routinely laugh
off comments that should be reported," says Huckshorn.
"They accept treatment that should be fined. They keep
quiet, figuring silence is the price of admission for
doing the job." Huckshom says she is afraid that Olson's
speaking out was rocking the boat" and "destroying the
fragile status quo." But she goes on to comment: "[Olson]
makes me wonder; if I had spoken up all along, would this
still be happening to me?"
Veteran sportswriter Mary Garber thinks
the issue of women in the locker room is a front for larger
issues. "As I see it, athletic people are using women
in the dressing room as an excuse to do something they
have wanted to do. This is to control our access, to put
limitations on what we can do.... I don't think anyone
really cares about the dressing room.T34
(Empowering Women in Sports, The
Empowering Women Series, No. 4; A Publication of the Feminist
Majority Foundation, 1995)
