Not Buff Enough In the Buff: Objectifying Female Athletes

1
Not Buff Enough (In the Buff) Objectifying
Female Athletes
Carly Chrouser Regan A. R. Gurung University of
Wisconsin, Green Bay
ABSTRACT
METHOD
The current study investigates the effects of
appearance on perceptions of personality and
competency. Subjects responded to a number of
questionnaires including measures of
objectification, sexism, and sports knowledge,
and rated images of female Olympians on a number
of attributes. Participants in the control
condition viewed three athletes in sports wear,
while participants in the experimental condition
viewed the same athletes appearing provocatively.
The condition emphasizing appearance and
downplaying athletic ability resulted in the same
women being rated significantly lower in ability
than when seen in more athletic images.
Participants seeing more of the womens bodies
rated them as less capable, strong, intelligent,
determined, and American. The results have many
implications of how athletic women are portrayed
in the media.
Participants Predominantly White
undergraduate students at the University of
Wisconsin Green Bay (N112) participated in the
study (27 male, 73 female). Respondents were
recruited largely from introductory psychology
classes, and were mainly first or second year
students ranging in age from 18-20
years. Measures Provocative photographs
were obtained from For Him Magazine (FHM), and
athletic images were taken from the Internet.
Participants used a scale from 1 (not at all) to
9 (extremely), and assessed each athlete on 15
items, measuring various aspects of each targets
personality, appearance, and sexuality. -
Self-Objectification Scale (Noll Fredrickson)
was modified to measure projected objectification
onto others. Subjects rank ordered 10 body
attributes, decreasing in importance when
formulating evaluations of the opposite sex.
Items included aspects of both appearance and
physical fitness/health. - The Ambivalent Sexism
Inventory (Glick Fiske, 1996) was used to
measure subjects gender values. A scale from 1
(strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree) was
used to assess 22 gender beliefs, such as Women
seek to gain power by getting control over men
and A good woman should be set on a pedestal by
her man. - Several questions measured subjects
awareness of the target athletes and 2004
Olympics. Procedure Participants were
tested individually on personal computers in
separate rooms of a research laboratory. We used
Medialab software to present all stimuli and
questionnaires. Subjects were randomly assigned
to conditions and instructed to follow the
instructions on the computer screen.
INTRODUCTION
RESULTS DISCUSSION
Does being a famous female athlete safeguard
you from objectification? People utilize both
verbal and nonverbal cues when creating
impressions, and frequently rely heavily on
physical appearance when formulating immediate
judgments. Unfortunately, this trend can lead to
objectification. Objectification is defined as
the tendency for a persons body to be observed
and evaluated as if it is representative of his
or her identity (Fredrickson Roberts, 1997).
Objectification exploits female targets most
prominently, as males are objectified less often.
Fredrickson, Noll, Roberts, and Twenge (1998)
suggest that judgments derived from physical
assets alone objectify the target by allowing
appearance to define personality and competency.
Objectification is strongly related to
attractiveness and sexism. This study uses the
example of media portrayals of athletes to test
the associations between these variables.
Traditional, albeit sexist, gender roles have
established women as subordinate, sexualized, and
decorative beings. While women are expected to be
passive and accommodating to males, men are
believed to be strong, courageous, and protective
of females. Connotations of the term athlete
(competitive, determined, and capable) translate
into male-dominant traits, bringing irony to the
phrase female athlete. In combat with this
psychological conflict, the sports media
heterosexualizes female athletes, emphasizing
appearance, attractiveness, and sexuality (Knight
Giuliano, 2003). Confirming athletes
heterosexuality boosts their image due to
reinforced gender roles. On the other hand,
sexualizing strategies are sexist because they
objectify women by reinforcing an ultimate intent
to please men. When athletes admirable abilities
are diminished through sex appeal, their
capabilities and competency are undermined as
attractiveness becomes their principal trait.
Societys perceptions of athletes are strongly
influenced by media coverage and gender of the
athlete. This occurrence is due to gendered
social schemas, which naturally objectify women
and emphasize the primary importance of
appearance. Schemas for female athletes are
weaker than males, because women have only
recently begun to be recognized in competitive
sports therefore, perceptions of female athletes
are easily influenced and swayed by the type of
media exposure. We were interested in
examining the effects of appearance on
perceptions of popular female athletes. Athletes
were chosen as experimental stimuli because they
are largely perceived as able-bodied, talented
women, and are thus strong prototypes of
determination and character. Correspondingly,
female athletes should be less susceptible to
objectification by the media, but we found few
empirical tests of this assumption. We were
interested in examining the effects of downplayed
athletic competency and overemphasized feminine
appearance on social perceptions of athletic
females. Although studies have been
performed regarding perceptions of sexist and
objectified portrayals of athletes (e.g. Harrison
Lynch, 2005), they have not explored subjects
direct evaluations of athletes competency based
solely on their appearance. While female athletes
in the 2004 Olympics became role models
possessing talent, determination, and courage
several chose to also be portrayed as sexual
objects in print media. The purpose of this study
was to examine how these sexual portrayals
influenced social perceptions. We measured the
severity of objectification in subjects
impressions of images of athletes, and
investigated the effects of provocative exposure
on athletes reputations as strong, independent
women. We hypothesized that participation in
objectifying exposure might cause positive
perceptions of the athletes admirable qualities
to become subordinate to their adverse images as
sexual icons. We presumed that existing athletic
attributes would be undermined in portrayals
emphasizing sexuality.
We conducted a multivariate analysis of
covariance (MANCOVA) with condition (provocative,
athletic) as the between subjects variable, and
controlling for sex. There was a significant
multivariate test, Hotellings Trace , F (13,97)
16.36, p
the validity of the design the images in the
provocative condition were rated as less
appropriate, F (1,109) 142.07, p
more revealing, F (1,109) 235.62, p
Consistent with our hypotheses, there were
significant differences between all 13 variables
between two conditions (see figure). Participant
knowledge about sports, as measured by hours of
sports watched and sports magazines subscribed
to, was not a significant covariate. We found no
effects of objectification and sexism on
perceptions of the athletes. As predicted, sexism
and objectification scores were positively
correlated, r .25, p
Objectification Items pertaining to
evaluations and perceptions of appearance were
used to determine the level of objectification
(e.g. femininity, self-objectification,
desirability, sexual experience, attractiveness).
As predicted, participants viewing provocative
images rated each of these items higher than
participants viewing the athletic images. Females
in the provocative condition were rated as more
attractive, desirable, and feminine than in the
athletic condition. They were also perceived to
be more self-objectifying and sexually
experienced. Given our operationalization of
objectification, the results confirmed the
hypothesis that sexualized women are
instinctively objectified when competency is
ignored. Competency We hypothesized that
women depicted primarily as athletes would be
objectified less and receive higher ratings of
competency and appropriateness. Because all of
the measured personality attributes are
positively regarded in society, we expected that
ratings of all eight traits would be
significantly higher in the athletic condition
due to the absence of objectification. Results
supported this hypothesis. Olympians possess
admirable characteristics due to their superior
talent and achievements, and our results support
that depictions of them in athletic contexts
emphasize ability. However, being portrayed as a
sex object objectifies a female, and causes her
body to be evaluated before and above her
personality. When female athletes are
objectified, their talent and unique abilities
are undermined by emphasized appearance, as
reinforced gender roles reestablish them as
passive, decorative beings and easily surpass the
magnitude of their capabilities. It is
interesting to note that background knowledge
about each athlete (i.e., participants knew who
they were) did not significantly decrease the
level of objectification of target stimuli
exhibited by subjects in the provocative
condition. Although it was implied that these
women are successful athletes, they still
received attenuated ratings of competency and
personality when being objectified.
Presented at the 2005 American Psychological
Societys Annual Conference. Los Angeles, CA.
Email gurungr_at_uwgb.edu