We created this project for our Sports, Media, and Society course to explore how female athletes are objectified in sports media. Our goal was to analyze how media coverage emphasizes women’s appearance over their athletic ability, how audiences respond to that, and how it reflects broader societal gender norms. We used two case studies, one focused on Danica Patrick’s historic IndyCar win and the other on the 2021 Olympic gymnasts, to dig into how these issues play out in both individual and global contexts.
Our group took on research, writing, and editing together. We all met multiple times to discuss ideas and ensure the arguments felt strong and connected to the course themes. As a team, we would contribute to ensure that our case studies were strong and cohesive to our greater project.
One of the most eye-opening things we learned was how consistent the objectification is across different platforms and decades. For example, even newer outlets like Instagram continue the same patterns seen in televised sports decades ago. We also didn’t realize how much audience behavior (like comments and engagement) reinforces the media’s focus on appearance. It created a feedback loop that harms how women are seen and valued in sports.
This project helped us sharpen our research, writing, and critical thinking skills. More importantly, it helped us better understand the relationship between media, gender, and power, and how sports reflect bigger cultural values.
CU SPORTS MEDIA PROJECT 