30;powerful tackles…impressive slam dunk…’ (The Age, 24/2/2001) which are viewed as predominately male skills, and an attribute women cannot compete with.Notions of femininity influence views about how girls should be. This can create conflict for girls who participate in sports that require ‘unfeminine behaviour’ and produce ‘unfeminine bodyshapes’. Women are depicted in the media in ways that reinforce the prevailing community attitudes and stereotypes about them. They are not viewed as strong, heroic figures to be idolised on the basis of their talent and sporting achievements. Rather in many cases, women’s coverage is on the basis of ‘sporting fashion’. A classic example of this being the extensive coverage of women’s fashion in the Australian Open tennis tournament recently held in Melbourne; Anna Kournicova becoming a symbol for women’s tennis due to her glamour, and not necessarily her sporting achievements.We are re-socialised throughout our lives by society, with an emphasis placed on the gender roles of men and women and their place within society. Within the sporting world we are socialised to view women as being subordinate to men. Women’s sport does not create the enthusiasm and have the extensive public support that men do, which is evident by the minimal coverage of women’s sport in the print media in comparison to the extensive coverage of the male dominated sporting scene. ...
