http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/09/AR2010030903708.html
What are your reactions to this article? A head football coach is a job that is male dominated. When most people think of a football coach, a male comes to mind. On the other hand, the female is viewed as a cheerleader. When it comes to a woman, the media portrays them as the person who stays at home, cooks, cleans, watches the kids, take care of the house etc...Women and football do not go in the same sentence; you would not expect the average woman to have more football knowledge than the average man, Also, it seems as if men simply love the game more than women.
In Mcquails article he says "it seems indisputable that many aspects of women's lives and experiences are not properly reflected by the media"(48). The media stereotype women and this is something that has been going on for a long time. The mentality of society is basically saying that women cannot have a "man's" job- such as a football coach. He is not just speaking about this job in particular but other male dominated job's as well.
In the media it never shows a women as a football coach because that is something that is rare. This is shown in the article I posted. The only movie that I can remember where a woman is the head coach of the football team is "The Wildcats" starring Goldie Hawn, which came out in 1986. (which was a great movie by the way, if you've never seen it before, you should check it out). Football is a masculine sport which we all know, "Masculinity is hegemonic when power is defined in terms of physical force and control" (Trujillo, 291). A women is not the first person who comes to mind when you think of those characteristics.
To be honest, I never thought it would come a time when a woman would be a football coach. I was sure proved wrong. What is the first thought that came to your mind when you first read the article? Do you think this is good for football? Will more women become football coaches in the near future? How would u feel if your football coach was a women? How long will it be before women football coaches are shown in movies and on television?
As soon as I saw this post, my mind immediately thought of the show “Glee.” This season the show introduced a new head football coach, who is a woman. However, if you know who I am talking about, you know that she is EXTREMELY masculine.
ReplyDeleteThis brings up a new point to Evann’s blog. Evann said that there is rarely any women football coaches shown in the media, because football is generally viewed as a male-dominated sport. It seems, however, that if there is a female football coach, there are no feminine qualities to her. In essence, she is still a man. Why is that? It’s as if the media has gotten brave enough to put their feet in the cold water, but not brave enough to make the plunge---and have a feminine female football coach.
It seems as if the mold of the manly football coach cannot be broken, even when portrayed by a woman. In Trujillo’s article, he quotes Connell in the definition of hegemonic masculinity, “the culturally idealized form of masculine character, which emphasizes the connecting of masculinity to toughness and competitiveness…” (1). It’s nothing new that masculinity is connected to toughness and competitiveness, which makes sense then that a head football coach would be masculine. The media is still following hegemonic masculinity. What would it be like if the head football coach on “Glee” was feminine? Would she still be as tough and competitive, or would she be portrayed as ditzy and clueless about the sport, afraid to get dirty and to break a nail?
My initial reaction to the article that Evann posted was whether or not Randolph was feminine or masculine. I think that it is great that there is a female football coach but the fact that it took 25 years for there to be another one in the town is astonishing. I guess I never sat down to realize that there really aren’t any female football coaches. It doesn’t make any sense, because I know plenty of women who are huge fans of football and who play football. It is sad that there is still gender discrimination today, and that there is back talk about Randolph taking the position at this high school. She should be judged on her ability as a coach, not on her gender.
Could the media be the one to blame for the continuing discrimination against women, for instance in this case of female football coaches? In the McQuail readings, it says that “the idea of reality that media pass on more or less truthfully and successfully fails at several points: media production is not simply a matter of reflection but entails a complex process of negotiation, processing and reconstruction; media audiences do not simply take in or reject media messages but use and interpret them according to the logic of their own social, cultural and individual circumstances…” (57). In other words, people will take what they see in the media and interpret it in their own way. So if the media does not portray women football coaches, or does as masculine characters, what will audiences interpret that as?
All in all, it is evident that there is extreme gender bias when it comes to sports, such as football that is generally seen a s a male sport. It is also evident that when the media does portray a woman in power in sports, such as a coach, she is not feminine in the stereotypical way.
This article which Evann posted is very interesting. As he said in his league blog, it puts women connected to football which is against the norm in our society. As Evann said, women are typically stereotyped with being cheerleaders while men are the ones who are only capable of going out and playing the game. In the McQuail reading it talks about how there needs to be more realistic views of women in the media. It would be great if this story was made national and was seen on shows like SportsCenter so people could see that women are not only capable of coaching football but also playing which Natalie Randolph used to do. I personally didn’t even know there was a women’s professional football league until I read this article. I think this is great for football in general because it shows they are allowing women to do things which men are typically known to do.
ReplyDeleteIt is really unfair to women that our society does not think they are capable of playing sports as well as men. Women have come extremely far with leagues such as the WNBA forming but still not enough media coverage is done on women’s sports for them to be taken as serious as men’s sports. Like Evann said in his blog, it is believed that men are the players, and women are the cheerleaders which is not true at all.
According to the article by Nick Trujillo, it says, “The corporation of sports has also provided far more opportunities for male participants than female participants and has placed far more emphasis on marginalizing women as cheerleaders, spectators, and advertising images” (Trujillo 292). This statement is a very strong statement on the media and how they portray women. Until more coverage is done on women’s sports, women will always be seen as sexual objects such as advertising images like we see in many beer commercials as well as cheerleaders.
When I read Evann’s post I thought the same thing as Robin, the football coach on Glee. This also reminded me of thing I learned in other classes on gender roles, and how they are presented in the media. There is a distinct difference in male and female roles represented in the media, and everyone falls victim to it. Its starts from the time you are born as you are not only confronted with typical gender roles in the media consistently, but parents also support this. They will buy Barbie’s for girls and GI-Joes for boys. This consistent reinforcement of gender roles in children, and the challenges the media faces daily is discussed on page 47 of McQuail’s Reader. Because of the hegemony surrounding gender roles, as discussed on page 290 and 291 of the Trujillo article, the media has a hard time battling stereotypical gender roles that maybe do not have much truth today, such as men are the breadwinners, and keeping their ratings. We may see this being combated in some shows, but a lot of the time this ends up in situations like Glee. The football coach might be a female, but she takes on more of a typical male role. I would very much like to see a female football coach that actually takes on stereotypical female roles and does an amazing job. I think if we saw this more in the media we would start to lose some of the hegemony and stereotypes and represent the world in a more realistic way.
ReplyDeleteEvann’s article definitely poses many questions of women in sports. Stereotypes in life say suggest that women can’t play sports like men can. It suggests that men are stronger, and more controlling which are good characteristics to have when playing sports. “Female characters are less in evidence than males and, in many ways, are portrayed as the weaker sex. They are less likely to be mature adults, are less well educated, and hold lower status jobs. Their activities tend to represent the private realm of home, personal relations, and sexuality, while men represent the public realm of work, social relations, and sexuality” (Steeves 394).
ReplyDelete“First, masculinity is hegemonic when power is defined in terms of physical force and control. According to Connell (1983),…In this way, the male body comes to represent power, and power itself is masculinized as physical strength, force, speed, control, toughness, and domination” (Trujillo 291). The controlling characteristic of a man is definitely one that would help a man as a coach or a team leader. Which makes many question, will the female football coach be able to have this controlling nature that everyone thinks a man possesses?
Personally, I don’t think it shouldn’t matter if a coach is male or female. In the past, the football coach position has been dominated by men, and it was unheard of to have a female coach. As you’re qualified to coach the team and you do your job well, is all that matters. There will be disputes with those that are stuck in their ways and there will be those who are stubborn and stuck in their ways and will not support women who have the desire and passion to coach a football team.
Being a big football/sports fan I think that it is definitely out of the norm for female coaches to emerge. This is a perfect example about how the media looks into gender roles and what the typical lifestyle is for each of those genders. I don't think you could ever imagine watching a football game and seeing a woman on the sideline, except for being a cheerleader.
ReplyDeleteIn the McQuail reader on page 47 he writes, “In research on stereotypes it is thought that children and adults learn their appropriate gender roles by a process of symbolic reinforcement and correction." This idea shows that when people think football, they immediately think manly, gruesome, and tough. Never would someone think of football to be in any relation to women other than, "wow those cheerleaders are hot."
In fact, “The corporation of sports has also provided far more opportunities for male participants than female participants and has placed far more emphasis on marginalizing women as cheerleaders, spectators, and advertising images” (Trujillo 292). I think this is a very real statement although some people may not agree. I think there is such a lack in the way woman’s sports are advertised and displayed, that they basically don't get any respect, which is unfortunate. In reality though, people want to see high flying, hard hitting contact sports. I do however believe that a woman football coach could be a good thing.
Never in my years would I believe that there could be a woman football coach because of locker room situations, and control situations. It isn't because I feel a woman might not be qualified. In fact I’m sure a woman coach knows the game equally to a male coach. I do think that this is only a small step in the right direction, and there is still a long way to go before you see more coaches, and you see them portrayed on TV and movies. I think this is a good step though and shows that anyone can fulfill their dream.
At first when I saw Evan's post that brought up the idea of a woman as a head football coach, I was very intrigued because I never heard of that before. As you keep reading on in the article and learning more about the coach, the effect seems to be that it doesn't seem unbelievable. As Mike said above, I didn't even know there was a professional woman's football league either. And as a professional athlete, an assistant coach for sometime at the school, I would say that she is a lot more qualified than many males for the job. If a male came out of the NFL and wanted a high-school coaching job, wouldn't they more than likely give it to him almost instantly? So I think the fact that the woman has a lot of experience in the field, not only as a coach but as a professional player gives her the proper credentials to secure the job.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, it does steer away from the norms of our society about football coaches in general (usually dominated by the males), and football as a whole as well (Evann stated the girls are usually viewed as the cheerleaders in the light of football). I read the article and learn about the coach and what she has done in the game of football and think hey, if her other coaches/ players believe she can do then good for her, she deserves the job; it makes for a good story. I also can't help to think what I would feel like if I had a woman head coach for soccer in high school, and to be completely honest I would have some skepticism. I don't think the hesitations would come from an idea of since she is a woman she is incompetent, but more of the fact that you don't see it happen often. My high school coach was a guy who worked as a plumber and coached our team on the side, so all the players and I would always have some good laughs on the fact that we have this random plumber as a head coach looking like a genious because we won a lot of games (due to the fact that we had a lot of quality players and not so much the coaching). So if a professional woman's soccer player took over the job, I would say she is 100% more qualified and better for the job, it would just be different.
In the Trujillo article, the author talks about the importance of the masculinity in sports and the relationship between business corporations and the sports industry. They write, "as long as the social relations of contemporary capitalism generate a need for violent outlets and a vicarious experience of mastery in American men, the corporations will be glad to finance the sports industry and mold it to their own image (Trujillo, 292). I thought this was interesting because it kind of sounds like a threat saying as long as the men dominate the games then the businesses will fund the industry. But what happens if we keep hearing stories about women taking over head- coaching positions, especially in the professional levels? Will the funding from corporations disappear?
On the other hand, in the McQuail reader, the author took a different approach and suggests that the reality of women in the working fields aren't properly distributed to the public. Linda-Lazier Smith talked about the advertising industires and how they are not keeping up with the changes of society, she said "we seem to be suffering from a cultural lag- our cultures' beliefs and attitudes and opinions of woman are lagging behind the reality of woman" (McQuail, 48).
The title of this article alone caught my eye right away. I have been playing football since 3rd grade and have never even heard of a woman coach. I have a feeling not many people, women included, have even thought of considering a woman a head coach in football. Like Evann said “the female is viewed as a cheerleader. When it comes to a woman, the media portrays them as the person who stays at home, cooks, cleans, watches the kids, take care of the house etc…” “The corporation of sports has also provided far more opportunities for male participants than female participants and has placed far more emphasis on marginalizing women as cheerleaders, spectators, and advertising images” (Trujillo 292).
ReplyDeleteBecause I have never heard of a woman being a football coach I found this article very interesting. But then I started to think about it. I have seen one of the woman’s professional football games and it is very intense. The women in the league clearly know what they are doing and are serious about it as well. This woman has to have some good football knowledge to even be considered for a coaching job let alone the head football coach. I think that if I came in as a freshman into high school and my football coach was a woman and everyone accepted it then I might be ok with it. This all depends on how she treats the team and how serious she is about making us all better football players.
The McQuail reading states that “Feminist research assumes a rather straightforward ‘sender-message-receiver’ sequence in which media are conceived as transmitting particular messages about gender (stereotypes, pornography, ideology) to the wider public.” I guess in this case the media thought it would be a good idea to let people know that women are taking new strides to become more respected in professional fields that were almost never thought of.
As a big sports fan myself I have to agree with Evan and admit that I had never really previously thought of the possibility of a woman coaching a male football team. But after I read the article and really gave it some thought, it makes no sense for why a qualified woman shouldn’t coach a football team on any level. Many women around the country grow up watching and loving the game of football just as young boys do. One possible argument would be that a person cannot coach a team of the opposite sex because that coach wouldn’t be able to properly understand/communicate with their players. I would say that head coaches such as UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma has had a fair amount of success and there are plenty of other male coaches who have had no problem getting through with their female players. So why couldn’t the opposite be true?
ReplyDeleteIn Trujillo’s article he talks about hegemonic masculinity and how it is defined. He identifies the second ‘distinguishing feature’ as being “the social definition of tasks as either ‘men’s work’ or ‘women’s work,’ and the definition of some kinds of work as more masculine than others” (Trujillo 291). I think this pretty clearly sums up the feelings that Evan and I first had when we read this story and is demonstrated by the fact that last year out of 15,675 high school football coaches around the nation: 0 were female. In our society the position of a head football coach is not thought of to be a position for a woman. Fair or not that is the widespread notion/belief.
In the McQuail text Van Zoonen writes that “the problem lies mainly in the observation that media distort the ‘true’ nature of gender” (57). I do happen to feel that there is a clear correlation between how the genders are portrayed in TV and the movies and the real life statistics. As others have mentioned, you hardly ever (with the exception of ‘Glee’ I guess) see a female coaching a football team, or any male team for that matter. People would argue that the media is just trying to reflect what the majority of the real world is like. I would say that the two have a lot more to do with one another than most would imagine.
I think that it is 2010 and if a women has a great passion for something, like football, then she should be able to pursue a career in that field. There are men out there who have more "feminine" jobs, yet they are hardly criticized (if at all) about their line of work. If they are made fun of it is usually because they're work is "feminine" which is seen as weaker, which I think is sad. Women are very strong people and have a come a long way from 100 years ago. "We seem to be suffering from a cultural lag- our cultures' beliefs and attitudes and opinions of woman are lagging behind the reality of woman" (McQuail, 48), which I think is completely true. There are some men out there that do not know anything about football, but that female coach does, meaning she is more qualified for the job title then some men out there. I say, good for her! I hope that the male team members respect her authority and take her seriously as a coach. It would be a concern of mine that they do not because she is a female and because of society (as well as stereotypes) she does not fit the "role" she is working as. “Female characters are less in evidence than males and, in many ways, are portrayed as the weaker sex. They are less likely to be mature adults, are less well educated, and hold lower status jobs" (Steeves 394). It is time to change this stereotype. I do believe that there are interests as males and female that we are naturally attracted to, however, if our interests vary and are out of what society tells us they should be, we should not be looked down upon because of it.
ReplyDeleteThis blog is very interesting because gender role is reality that all of us are use to since we are children. The media does portray women as the delicate gender that stays at home and does the typical household work. When young children are growing up the idea of gender roles are instill in them. Most of the toys that are made for young girls relate to some kind of household work. For example, the easy bake oven, and other toys that are typically designed for little girls. This has lead to the unrealistic portrayal of women in the media. The McQuail reading for the week discuss how the media down plays the fact that there are more women in the work force than what the media makes it seem. McQuail state, “it is indisputable that many aspects of women’s lives and experiences are not properly reflected in the media” (McQuail 48). The readings for the week also highlight how women are not giving importance in the professional sports arena. The Trujillo reading for the highlights how sports have become a symbol of masculinity in America. The male dominated sports industry has reinforced what masculinity means in America. Masculinity can also be associated with aggression (Trujillo 292). This is partially why women aren’t associated with sports such as football. I personally can’t personally recall any instance where women held a position of power on any football team in the media. Every time one thinks of such a rough sport like football, we never think a woman can be the coach of an NFL team. When it comes to football, the one thing we think about is that women can only be part of the team as cheerleaders. The Program Glee does have a female coach for the football team and that is a step forward in gender role. However, there is much more that needs to be done in order for women to achieve equality in the work force and leave behind stereotypical idea that role of women in society is in the home.
ReplyDeleteI have never even considered the idea of a male sports team having a female coach. However, now that I think about it, I find this whole idea kind of odd. There may not be any female coaches to a male team (minus the one in the article) but there are definitely plenty of female teams that have male coaches. Great examples of this can be found with swim teams, field hockey teams, and girls lacrosse teams. This sort of occurrence was especially seen in high school sports where no one really ever saw any issues with it. However, I know that if there were to be a woman coaching our football team, I know for a fact there would be a lot of angry parents, most likely men AND women both.
ReplyDeleteSomething that this topic also made me think about (media wise) was the new takeover of women sideline reporters. I know that in the past when I watch these women (always cute) it makes me wonder - do these women really know anything about football, or are they just cute? I'm sure they must know about football in order to get the job (probably know more than I do) but for some reason, this thought crosses my mind every time. I think that this image definitly has something to do with the media, and the way that they portray women and sports. In the McQuail reader, it states that the "problem lies mainly in the observation that media distort the ‘true’ nature of gender” (57). If the media hadn't always depicted women as having nothing to do with sports, would we still have these sort of thoughts?
You said that, “To be honest, I never thought it would come a time when a woman would be a football coach.” I think that’s funny because coaching is something women do everyday. We coach children through school as teachers, we coach husbands, and we coach aging parents. And yes it’s the same because you’re using your knowledge of something and communications skills to achieve a specific result.
ReplyDeleteI’m glad you were proven wrong. It’s really discouraging how women get boxed into certain paths, professions, etc. It males sense that someone would say, “Sport needs to be analyzed along with rape, pornography, and domestic violence as one of the means through which men monopolize physical force” (Trujillo 303). It seems like women are not supposed to be aggressive or forceful because it takes away from what men are capable of.
Even when women do enter these male dominated fields, they are seen as pawns (women in a man’s world). Dirrty just happens to be one of my favorite songs (I had it on loop in grade school). I saw it as a song of empowerment, a person owning their sexuality. Aguliera isn’t just an empowered person in her video though, she’s also a sex object (Robinson 49). I’m sure Natalie Randolph faced the same issues when she was on an all female team. Funny enough if you flip the coin and point out that football is just a bunch of sculpted men running around in tight clothes, people (men especially) will think you’re trying to be funny. I’m glad that Ms. Randolph is finally in a position where her sexiness won’t come into play and she be able to stand out as an athlete/coach rather than as a female athlete or coach.
Back to your questions…This great for football. More women better become football coaches in the future. I’d have been ecstatic if one of my football coaches was a woman. It will take another 25 years before female coaches make it to the big screen.