Media Activism #6

In chapter four of Media Ethics: Cases and Moral Reasoning (Pearson Education, Inc, 2005) the issue of sexism in women's sports is discussed. The case study is about the Women's World Cup soccer game in 1999 when U.S. team member, Brandi Chastain, threw off her shirt in celebration after scoring the winning goal. The newspapers went crazy with the coverage of the player in a black sports bra swinging her shirt above her head. The question is: was the media sexist in their coverage of this story, considering the real news was that the U.S. team had just beaten their biggest competitor in the highest-attended women's sporting event ever?

The case study gives two contrasting opinions by Skip Bayless, Chicago Tribune sports columnist and Bonnie Erbe, host of the PBS program, To The Contrary. Surprisingly, Skip Bayless takes the position that men should respect these women as athletes and spend more time "cheering than leering", while Bonnie Erbe argues that women shouldn't be upset about the emphasis on sex appeal, "because it may be one of the key factors in finding advertising and financial support for a professional women's soccer league."

I only know Bonnie Erbe from watching To The Contrary on television and I think it's a fantastic program. She moderates a roundtable discussion of women from different political backgrounds and covers all kinds of current events. She is a great host who keeps the conversation on track, gives her panelists equal time to speak, and remains very calm and professional. She invites women who can clearly articulate their viewpoints in an intelligent way, successfully representing different sides of an issue.

I was really disappointed to read her comments on the Women's World Cup. First of all, in her introduction she states, "I don't pretend to speak for feminists, never having embraced that or any other mantel myself (labels make me nervous)." I am always wary of women who feel the need to place the "I'm not really a feminist" disclaimer before offering their viewpoint. What is it about the belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes that they don't you agree with? It drives me crazy hearing women who are afraid of embracing this "label," but I will save that for a future posting. She argues that it may take sex appeal to lure men to the women's sporting events, but once there, they "cannot help but be impressed by the prowess of these same women as world class athletes." The problem I see with this argument is that when the recruitment and selection of women athletes becomes a beauty pageant, where they are not just highlighted by their sex appeal, but judged more heavily on their physical appearance and marketability than their skill, will their prowess be as impressive? I can see the headline now, "All Star Women's Soccer Champ Doesn't Make Team USA After FHM Magazine Claims She Doesn't Make the Cut." Once you blur the lines between the added benefit of corporate sponsorship based on sex appeal and the financial dependability on sponsorship based on sex appeal, there is no limit to how strongly physical appearance will play a role in the sport.

It would be a shame to have the prettiest team in the world never make it to the finals because they lost to the Chinese world class athletes in the first round.

I did some research on Bonnie Erbe and found some other points of hers with which I disagree. In her To The Contrary blog, she writes, "I'm all for breast-feeding. But breast-feeding in public? Call me a luddite. It makes me queasy. Please, go for it. But in the privacy of your home, a public bathroom, or perhaps even your van." Now, I don't have children, but from what I understand, breastfeeding babies eat eight to 12 times a day (or more) for up to 15 to 20 minutes a session. (source: FamilyDoctor.org). Telling a breastfeeding mother to stand in a public bathroom or hide in a van for this length of time because the sight of a baby attached to a nipple makes you queasy, seems like a pretty selfish and ignorant thing to say. As my mom would put it, "sounds like a personal problem to me." The facts supporting breastfeeding outweigh these unnatural, sexist, and distorted views people have of the act. So the next time you see a woman breastfeeding, Ms. Erbe, how about you go hide out in the public bathroom until she is done providing sustenance to her baby. I'm sure it's very comfortable in there; otherwise you wouldn't have suggested it, right?