Background/Purpose: Male and female athletes are represented and covered differently on television, in newspapers and magazines, and within online media (Billings, 2007; Lumpkin, 2009). The Internet has limitless media space yet minimal research has focused on gender representation within online media (Jung Yun, et al., 2007). Also, few research studies have utilized a cross-cultural sample or examined coverage of male and female athletes in traditionally feminine sports like gymnastics. The purpose of this study was to examine gender differences in online coverage of gymnastics cross culturally.
Method: A cross cultural sample using gymnastics federation websites from the top 10 men's and women's teams from the 2008 Olympics were analyzed. A content analysis of photographic images (N = 176) and textual content (N = 223) was conducted and data was analyzed using chi square.
Analysis/Results: Females appeared 1.5 times more frequently in photographic images than males and 1.2 times more often in text. Females were also more likely than males to be shown in action, in graceful positions, in the competition arena and in competition attire. No males were discussed in non-sports topics or represented in graceful positions. Australia was the only country that represented more females than males in photographic images and text.
Conclusions: These results highlight that stereotypes in media coverage still exist. Our findings are consistent with research that has suggested females receive more coverage than males when competing in a gender-appropriate sport like gymnastics compared to a gender-inappropriate sport (Jones et al., 1999; Vincent et al., 2003).
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