Media proposal

Independent study title- A study into how far women are represented in football and the media.

Hypothesis- I Predict that from this study I will evidently discover that there are two very key arguments to be discovered in great depth. One argument would be that females are under represented and some would argue misrepresented in sports and the media. Women are even if playing the same sports as men portrayed to be less heroic to an extent and less glorified. However a counter argument for this I predict I will find, will be that this is due to a more niche audience, watching females playing the same sports as men and also due to people feeling women fundamentally are not as good as men in the same sports.

Key concepts- Linking the key concepts to my study, I think the key point to go into depth into will be the mise en scene. This is primarily to link this point to the representation of both genders. For example in a standard premiership match for women, the stadium capacity would be clearly low compared to a male premiership match. This links to sport and the media containing a high patriarchal ideology, as many would argue. The main institutions to study will be Itv sport, BBC sport, Euro sport and Sky sports, institutions from various films relevant to the same topic and from other media texts such as newspapers in general, as from this I can evidently find out how big a distinction of representation there is for both genders in sports and the media.

Wider context- For wider context I will be able to link the study of representation for men and women in the sports and media to society in general. I will also be able to link back to historical information where I’m sure once going into deeper research I will find that women were not covered in sports at all, and in some cases did not take part at all. I will also be able to study how economical factors influence the representation of both men and women in the same sports, for example how much is invested in female football and in male football. Politically I will also try to study how different views are placed on the representation of males and females in sport and the media. E.g. the traditional conservatives would argue, that women should as a key role take care of their family and for their occupation be housewives.

Theories and Theorists- I hope to include many theories by theorists who talk of what they believe to be both men and women’s gender roles as this is a highly key factor that influences the representation of men and women in the same sports. E.G. a highly key stereotype is that women are simply just not as good as men at sports in general.
Research- For my research for this independent study I will predominantly be focusing on key sports in the UK, to see how much television coverage both genders receive. I will also be looking over the Internet to find relevant information for this topic. To add I will look at books by theorists who talk of the same topic for examples many books are likely to be published by feminists and traditional conservatives regarding the topic in general. Also sports programmes such as soccer AM, football focus and many others will play key role in research for the study. Also films such as Bend it like Beckham will also be a key focus for research and have key relevance to my study.