Monday, 29 October 2007

10 keywords

1) Attitudes, beliefs and values- Media term to describe an audiences attitudes, beliefs and values towards a certain media product. Relevant to my study as different audiences viewing womens football will have different attitudes, beliefs and values on it.

2)denotation- A simple meaning a text conveys. Relevant as womens football denotes different things to different people. E.G. to some women it may denote a breakthrough in representation.

3) Feminism- Movement to advance status of women, challenging social views e.t.c. that they believe challenge them. Relevant as feminists strongly support womens football

4)gendered consumption- The way gender affects our consumption of media texts. Relevant as men are more likely to consume football then women

5) Ideological state apparatus- Term by Louis Althusser, to describe established institutions controlled by government and can reinforce and reproduce dominant ideology. This is relevant as ideological state apparatus could be a key factor that influences the popularity of womens football

6)New Man- Term to describe new masculinity, which sympathsies with women and femininity.This is relevant to my study as a group which strongly supports women playing sports the feminists, would greatly be in support of the new man.

7)Patriarchy- Male domination within society. This is relevant to my study as many argue womens sports is not progressing as well as mens as sports is an area within the media dominated by males.

8)Radical Feminism- A more radical approach on feminism, which views men as an enemy supressing women with their viewpoints.Relevant to my study as they would strongly argue for womens sports to progress.

9)Sexism- Discimination on the basis of sex. Relevant as this would link to patriarchy, which will be mentioned in my study.

10)Target Audience- Intended audience for a media product. Relevant as womens football target audiences will have to be mentioned in my study

Wednesday, 17 October 2007

Self Evaluation

.Attainment- C- So far i have been doing reasonably well, but i still don't understand certain things.

.Effort- 2- I think i have put in quite a lot of effort this term and it has payed of in my work so far.

.Punctuality- 2- Usually on time to lessons

.Submission and quality of homework- 2- My homeworks usually completed on time and is of a good standard.

.Ability to work independently-2- Normally concentrate during lessons and work well independedently

.Quality of Writing-3- My writing is quite well written, but occasionally is rushed and not as good as it can be

.Organisation Of Media folder-4 - My folders quite badly organised and not in order.

.Oral Contribution in lessons-3- I contribute in lessons quite a lot, but i need to be adding more things in during class discussions.

.Standard of Module 5 Blog-2- I think my module 6 blog has useful research and analysis posted up and i have completed all tasks set on time and at a good standard.

.Standard of Module 6 Blog-4- My module 6 blog isn't so good , i need to be posting more things up

Three achievements :

. I think i have completed homework to quite a good standard
. I have concentrated well so far during lessons
. I have been doing a considerable amount of research for my study and posted up regularly on my module 5 blog

Three Targets:

. I need to start concentrating on my Module 6 blog and start posting more things up
. I need to get my media folder much more organised
. Start looking more into books then internet research now, for my module 5 coursework.

Thursday, 11 October 2007

Soccer Am interviewing FHM Magazine Girls- Textual Analysis



The video is taken from football chat show called Soccer A.M., which discusses football news and events, but primarily aims to entertain due to its heavy emphasis on comedy.

The costumes in the extract, in particular make the women being interviewed appear glamourised and arguably in a dominant role. However the institution that they are representing, F.H.M is highly emphasised on and made apparent, particularly in the background. This connotes that these women are not in fact in a superior role, however are all women that have posed for F.H.M., which is a magazine often making women appear as sex objects and their purpose is to provide male pleasure. This further links to the institution of the programme which is SkySports, it suggests that Skysports is a highly male dominated channel, and this is the case as the majority of people that watch the channels are men.

Furthermore to this the confused and shocked faces the women make whilst being asked questions about football, makes them appear unintelligent and for many makes them adhere to the "dumb blonde" stereotype. This links to a patriarchal ideology clearly being apparent, as the man who is interviewing the women is mocking their intelligence, in order to purposely make it appear that women have no knowledge regarding sports and creates the impression that in this programme, that womens main purpose is to provide visual pleasure for men.

Moreover, a high angled shot is being taken looking down on the women being interviewed. This is in order to emphasis on their inferiority over the man that is interviewing them. Arguably some would say that this links to female representation within media. As despite the women being filmed in the interview appearing to be the centre of the attention, the male interviewing the celebrities posing for FHM, is in a much more dominant role. This suggests that in Soccer A.M, women are always represented in a much more inferior manner to men.

In addition, towards the end of the clip, there is a non- diagetic sound of a large group of men laughing at Keely Heeley the last woman to be interviewed about football. However Keely Heeley reinforces the stereotype that women do not know anything about football, by saying that she should not be expected to known about the sport as she is a "girl". The genre of the text is Sports , however a sub genre would be comedy. The way that women are portrayed within soccer a.m, creates the impression that football in general is highly male dominated and that it is a topic that women do not know about, or are not expected to know about.

Furthermore the cinematography used such as close ups and zooms into the bodies of the women being interviewed, reinforces the view that in Soccer A.M., womens main purpose is to provide males with visual pleasure. This hence links to audience, and clearly indicates that the target audience for this programme ,is males aged between 16-40, as the humour used within the show would appeal to men that are within this age gap.

Saturday, 6 October 2007

10-Links from del.icio.us

1.This is a link of a timeline showing how womens sports progressed particularly focusing on the olympics. This will be of key importance as it focuses on the Historical aspect of SHEP.

2.This is a link showing the best looking women who plays sports. This would be of key importance as i could link this to show a patriarchal ideology, as despite these women playing sports they are looked at in a sexual manner , not for their sporting talents.

3. This is a link for the womens sports foundation. This is of key importance and could be included in my study as it is an organisation aiming to improve oppurtunites for women and girls in sports in the UK.

4.This is a link showing how women have started to take a greater interest in watching sports. This is of significance and could be mentioned in my essay as the more women that gradually begin to watch sports, the more of a interest will be taken in womens football,therefore possibly resulting in even more women playing it.

5.This is the website of the T.V. channel Eurosport. This is of key significance as most womens sports events aired on this channel. This could be mentioned in my essay as eurosport is a highly well known institution, and is providing a lot of coverage for womens sports.

6.This is a link showing christian's views on sports. It shows that despite in the past women playing sports were frowned, upon christians today encourage their girls to play sports. This again would be linked to SHEP in my essay as it shows the changing social views towards women playing sports.

7.This site is a website urging women to play sports and push themselves to do well, and also provides them with information on how to progress. This could be linked to ideology and included in my essay as it has a very strong feminist ideology to it.

8.This is a video of the egyptian womens footballers. This is of great significance as despite countries where the Islamic religion is dominant and their beliefs, women are able to play football and enact their sporting talents. This could be linked to SHEP and included in the social aspect of my essay.

9. This website is specifically designed to give womens opinions on sports. This could be included in my essay as it shows that sports is not as unpopular amongst women as many may argue.

10.Link showing the freedom of women in sports which exemplifies the removing of the ban "on women in the soccer stadiums that came in with the 1979 Islamic revolution".This again links to SHEP as it shows islams and asians changing attitudes to allow women to play sports.

10 Key Definitions Significant for My study

1. Advertising- Means of encouraging an audience to consume or view a media text. This is a highly significant aspect of promoting womens football as it enables the audience to be persuaded into watching a womens football game. Without advertising there would be a lack of awareness by the audiences that may view matches.

2.Brand- A well known association , which enables a product to be of greater importance if it is associated with a popular brand. This is significant as womens football is strongly dependant upon being associated with leading sports brands to increase popularity. Such brands include Nike, Puma, Addidas e.t.c.

3. Dominant Ideology- A belief in which is dominant amongst the majority of people in a society and is generally accepted. This is significant as dominant ideologies strongly exist within womens football. e.g. many believe that a patriarchal ideology prevents it from progressing as quick as mens football.

4.Family Values- These are traditional views e.g. nuclear families , housewives, often primarily assoiciated with traditional conservatives. This is of importance as it exemplifies how traditional politicians and older members of society view women playing fotball.

5. Hegemony- Cultural, economic and political dominance by the ruling elite in society, this is often argued to be men. This is of significance as many argue that this dominance of men within society is preventing women from progressing in sports.

6. Liberal Feminism- Feminist view that is concerned with promoting equal opportunities, and see's gender inequalities as the cause for a patriarchal society. Significant as this group would greatly support the progression of womens football.

7. Mainstream- Uncontreversial generally accepted views of the majority of society. Import as the mainstream view is that mens football is of greater skill level then womens football and is generally better played.

8.Patriarchy- The ideology that society is dominated by men. This is significant as the main limelight in football always goes to men not women. Hence some argues this exemplifies a patriarchal ideology dominates within womens football.

9. Radical Feminism- This group views men as enemies preventing women from gaining their rights and progressing. This is off importance as this group would greatly fight for and would higly glorify women playing football.

10. Sexism- This is discrimination on the basis of gender. Many argue that this is usually targeted towards women. This is of great importance as many argue that womens football is viewed at with a sexist view ( It is not as good because men arent playing it).

Monday, 1 October 2007

Top female football friendly institutions

1 adidas- Germany
2 Puma- Germany
3 NIKE- USA
4 Nationwide- the UK
5 Qantas Airlines- Australia

Top Media Coverage for womens football

T O P M E D I A

1 Foot Feminin- France
2 100% Fotball- Norway
3 SoccerMagazin.de- Germany
4 Damfotboll- Sweden
5 FF News- Germany

Top Money earners

T O P M O N E Y E A R N E R S (E S T)

1 Hanna Ljungberg, Sweden- $65,000 (includes Puma sponsorship)
2 Marta, Brazil- $55,000 (includes Puma sponsorship)
3 Brigit Prinz, Germany- $50,000 (includes adidas sponsorship)
4 Silke Rottenberg, Germany- $50,000 (includes adidas sponsorship)
5 Sandra Minnert, Germany- $50,000 (includes adidas sponsorship)

Top 20 Players

1 Renate Lingor, Germany- Midfield
2 Birgit Prinz, Germany- Forward
3 Marta, Brazil- Forward
4 Kristin Stegeman, Germany- Defense
5 Abby Wambach, USA- Forward
6 Hope Solo, USA- Goalkeeper
7 Kelly Smith, England- Forward
8 Kerstin Garefrekes, Germany- Midfield
9 Ingvild Stensland, Norway- Midfield
10 Caroline Seger, Sweden- Midfield
11 Lori Chalupny, USA- Midfield
12 Shannon Boxx, USA- Midfield
13 Kyong Hwa Kim, DPR Korea- Midfield
14 Formiga, Brazil- Midfield
15 Un Suk Ri, DPR Korea- Midfield
16 Aline, Brazil- Defense
17 Solveig Gulbrandsen, Norway- Midfield
18 Cristiane, Brazil- Forward
19 Elaine, Brazil- Defense
20 Christine Sinclair, Canada- Forward

T O P 2 0 C L U B T E A M S

1 Arsenal, England- www.arsenal.com
2 FFC Frankfurt, Germany- www.ffc-frankfurt.de
3 Washington Freedom, USA - www.washingtonfreedom.com
4 Ajax California, USA- www.wpsl.info/ajax
5 FC Indiana, USA- www.fcindiana.com
6 Umea IK, Sweden- www.uik.se
7 Ottawa Fury, Canada- www.ottawafury.com
8 Rossiyanka, Russia- www.fc-rossiyanka.com
9 Duisburg, Germany- www.fcr2001-duisburg.de
10 Kolbotn, Norway- www.n3sport.no/organisation.asp?OrgElementID=54517
11 Trondheims Orn, Norway- www.trondheims-orn.no
12 Malmo, Sweden- www.mff.se/dam
13 Djurgarden/Alvsjo, Sweden- www.difdam.nu
14 Brondby, Denmark- www.brondbyif-amator.dk
15 FC Nippon Beleza, Japan- na
16 Bad Neuenahr, Germany- www.1ahr.de/kunden/sc07//
17 New England Mutiny, USA- www.mutinysoccer.com
18 Fortuna Hjorring, Denmark- www.fortuna-dbk.dk
19 Jersey Sky Blue, USA- www.skybluesoccer.com
20 Montpellier, France- olweb.fr/fr/equipes/feminines.htm

Womens World Rankings- International teams

T O P 2 0 N A T I O N A L T E A M S (www.womensfootball.com)

1 Germany- World Champions
2 Brazil- Very strong
3 USA- Poor WWC
4 Norway- A streak of good results
5 DPR Korea- Young and getting better
6 Australia- Most improved
7 England- Good
8 Sweden- Being left behind
9 Canada- Improving
10 France- Young talent arriving
11 Japan- Better and better
12 Nigeria- Better team play
13 China- Improving
14 Italy- Right direction
15 Russia- Positive trend
16 Denmark- OK
17 Holland- Young and fast improving
18 Mexico- Improving
19 Ghana- In need of youth
20 New Zealand- Improving

Record Number of TV Viewers Watch Women's World Cup


In Germany, viewership for the opening game in Shanghai (Sep. 10, Germany 11-0 over Argentina) equaled what would be expected for a major European Champions League men's match (about 20 percent market share, or 2.2 million viewers). Japan (20 percent) and Sweden (57 percent) also posted very high market share numbers.


(Pictured- Australia's women's soccer team coach Tom Sermanni, left and defender Kate McShea during a press conference, 11 Sep 2007)

China world cup 2007


Players of Germany celebrate the victory during the awarding ceremony after the final of the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup in Shanghai, east China, on Sept. 30, 2007. Germany won the championship after beating Brazil 2-0. Germany win the world cup twice consecutively.