Framing Gender and Disability: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Photographs From the 2008 Paralympic Games

Transcription

1 International Journal of Sport Communication, 2010, 3, Human Kinetics, Inc. Framing Gender and Disability: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Photographs From the 2008 Paralympic Games Jo Ann M. Buysse and Bria Borcherding University of Minnesota, USA DePauw s (1997) theoretical construct of sport and how we view the body focuses on three socially constructed ideals of physicality, masculinity, and sexuality. Those who do not fit into these ideals are marginalized when it comes to sport participation and media coverage. In this study the authors examined photographs from 12 print newspapers in five countries during the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing to determine how Paralympic athletes were treated. They examined the number of photographs and the content of each to determine whether athletes with disabilities are portrayed as tokens who are marginalized or treated as elite athletes. The findings support DePauw s construct and point to gender and disability differences and hierarchy in print-media photographs. Keywords: sport, media, social constructs Introduction and Review of Literature The power of the media to construct ideas about sport, gender, race, and ability has been well documented over the past 25 years. The media s construction of knowledge about sport informs us of their perception as to who and what is valued. In North America, heterosexual males in traditionally male-appropriate power and performance sports such as football and ice hockey have garnered the most attention. Sport media scholars have consistently reported that female athletes receive not only less coverage but also different coverage than male athletes (Buysse & Embser-Herbert, 2004; Daddario & Wigley, 2007; Duncan, 1990; Hardin, Chance, Dodd, & Hardin, 2002; Kane, 1988; Kinnick, 1998; Lumpkin & Williams, 1991). Although the media may represent dominant ideas and norms in society, they can also challenge and change discourse related to those who are marginalized, disempowered, and oppressed in sport. As Rowe (2004) explains, Power is not necessarily a negative concept: It ranges in character from the exercise of the grossest and subtlest forms of oppression to the capacity to effect dramatic or cumulatively progressive change (p. 34). When photographs are constructed and printed they are framed in ideological ways. Who is shown, who is not, and how they are shown The authors are with the School of Kinesiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. 308

2 Framing Gender and Disability in Sport 309 present an important message to the consumer. In sport photographs, the action photograph is, as Rowe states, the premium sports image (p. 145). The association between sport and media is a two-way relationship. In North America, 25% of major newspapers are devoted to sport, the sport pages are read more than any other section, and at least one third of all circulation is related to sport coverage (Coakley, 2009). Sport depends on the media to provide consumers with information: The media report scores and statistics, inform consumers about events, summarize performances, and provide photographs of outstanding plays and athlete actions and emotions. Photographs are visual narratives or texts used to draw consumers to the media source. As Pedersen, Miloch, and Laucella (2007) point out, Without their pictures, most sport sections would lose their appeal to subscribers (p. 158). Even though newspaper circulation has decreased, the sport pages continue to draw consumers because of sport s power and importance in society (Knoppers & Elling, 2004). Newspapers continue to play a significant role in the transmission of ideas and images. In sport media, male athletes receive significantly more coverage than female athletes (Eastman & Billings, 1999; Fink & Kensicki, 2002; Pedersen, 2002), and when they are represented in the media they are presented in ways that emphasize their athleticism (Burroughs, Ashburn, & Seebohm, 1995; Buysse & Embser- Herbert, 2004, Daddario, 1994; Daddario & Wigley, 2007; Kane & Lenskyj, 1998). This unequal practice not only advantages males but also promotes the idea that males are valued more than females and that real sport is done by males. As Messner (1988) points out, this is a powerful way to subvert any counterhegemonic potential posed by women in sport. Sport has been aligned with the male sporting body, and the ideal sport body is also viewed as a strong able body, not a body with a disability or impairment (DePauw, 1997; Hardin et al., 2002). The images and ideas surrounding the athletic body and its attributes are of strength, skill, endurance, and speed (Hargreaves, 1987). Hargreaves (2000) stated that people with disabilities are looked upon, identified, judged and represented primarily through their bodies, which are perceived in popular consciousness to be imperfect, incomplete and inadequate (p. 185). Anyone who does not fit the ideal sport-body description is marginalized or treated as other in sport. Schantz and Gilbert (2001) suggest that female athletes with disabilities are subjected to threefold discrimination, as in general they do not fit the social constructs of able-bodied athletes, including those of masculinity and sexual attractiveness (p. 71). DePauw (1997) frames the meaning of athlete around three socially constructed ideals (which she describes as overlapping concentric circles): physicality, masculinity, and sexuality. Physicality is represented by able body physical ability, masculinity is identified by traits such as aggression, independence, strength and courage, and sexuality is defined as the socially expected and accepted view of sexual behavior (p. 421). When these ideals overlap, the true athlete is identified. All others who do not fit within the three concentric circles are marginalized and treated differently in sport. Female athletes and athletes with disabilities have been left on the outside, marginalized by these constructs in which they do not fit. Although women and people with disabilities have fought for inclusion and challenged the male-hegemonic sport model through increased participation, the social reality is that the media s treatment of them remains inequitable. Coverage of women in sport and disability sport has

3 310 Buysse and Borcherding improved in the past decade, but both female athletes and athletes with disabilities continue to be treated differently than male able-bodied athletes. This study focuses on cultural narratives (photographs) from 12 newspapers in five countries during the 2008 Paralympic Games to determine the seriousness of athlete representation as reflected in both the amount and type of photographic representation. The overall conceptual question guiding this research is, How are Paralympic athletes represented in print-media photographs? The first Paralympic Games (elite sport events for persons with disabilities) were held in Rome in 1960 with 400 wheelchair athletes competing. These games were originally the brainchild of Sir Ludwig Guttman, a physician at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in England who began using sport as rehabilitation for people with spinal-cord injuries after World War II. In 1948, coinciding with the timing of the Olympic Games, the Stoke Mandeville Games for the Paralyzed held its first wheelchair sport competition. Later, in 1960, Guttman s dream came true and the Paralympic Games were held in the same city as the Olympic Games, and in 1988 they began using the same venues, finally becoming true parallel games. In 2008, 4,011 athletes from 156 countries competed in 468 events in 20 sports in the Paralympic Games in Beijing, China. Although the numbers of athletes, sports, events, and participating countries have increased significantly since 1960, there has not been a corresponding increase in media coverage of these elite athletes with disabilities. Although there has been some increased coverage and a shift of disability-sport coverage from the social section of the newspaper to the sport pages (Schantz & Marty, 1995), research continues to reveal a lack of quantity and quality in both written text and photographs in print media (Schantz & Gilbert, 2001). Research also shows gender bias, privilege of media coverage to wheelchair athletes, and a focus on nationalism (Schantz & Gilbert, 2001). Previous research on print media has shown that Paralympic athletes are not given much coverage, and when they are covered they are constructed differently and not treated the same way as athletes without disabilities. A study by Schantz and Gilbert (2001) of the Paralympic Games in Atlanta in 1996 looked at eight newspapers in France and Germany during a 6-week period and included a total of 104 articles and 25 photographs. Coverage focused predominantly on males, medal winners, wheelchair athletes, and nationalism. German newspapers published 68 articles, compared with 36 articles in the French press. Of the 25 photographs in the study, 23 were in the German papers. Photographic analysis revealed that men were photographed three times as much as women, and wheelchair athletes were portrayed 52% of the time. They also found that 44% of the photos were framed on the upper body or face, and in 32% of the photographs the disability of the athlete was hidden. An increase in the quantity of photographic representations was found in a study of British newspapers during the Paralympic Games in Sydney in the year 2000 (Thomas & Smith, 2003). In that study of four newspapers over a shorter 2-week time period there were 47 photographs, and although more were of males (25), females were presented 17 times and five photos included both genders. Similar gender and disability differentiation has been found in television coverage of Paralympic athletes. Although the Paralympic Games have received scant television coverage, the clips that have been televised featured more men than women,

4 Framing Gender and Disability in Sport 311 and wheelchair athletes were shown more often than athletes with other disabilities (Hardin & Hardin, 2003; Schell & Duncan, 1999; Sherrill, 1997). A more recent study (Chang & Crossman, 2009) analyzed coverage of both the 2004 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games by the South Korean national newspaper. When comparing the amount and size of coverage in articles and photographs, they found a significant difference between the Olympics and Paralympics. In terms of photographs, there were only 17 of the Paralympic Games compared with 220 for the Olympic Games. Although the Paralympic Games were underrepresented in terms of coverage, an analysis of the photographs revealed that female Paralympians received more equitable coverage than Olympic female athletes, competitive shots were more prominent in both games, and there were more whole-body shots of Paralympians than of Olympians. They also found that the newspaper favored South Korean athletes. Finally, a recent report by the Women s Sports Foundation (2009) on women in the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games showed that American newspaper and television coverage of the 2008 Paralympics were dismal, and when there was coverage it was focused on two South African athletes, Oscar Pistorius and Natalie du Toit. Although there have been numerous studies of media representation of athletes without disabilities during the past 25 years, there has been much less research on athletes with disabilities and even less cross-cultural research examining media narratives (photographs) of athletes with disabilities. The purpose of this study was to examine cultural narratives of the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing. In all, 12 newspapers from China, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States were analyzed for photographic content. We examined the frequency with which Paralympians were photographed and the content of the photographs to determine how they were presented. Finally, we looked into whether there was a difference across countries in terms of photographic representation. Method Photographs from 12 newspapers (China Daily, Shanghai Daily, Corriere della Sera, Il Giornale, New Zealand Herald, The Press, Die Burger, The Citizen, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune) were selected based on readership, language, and full-text availability through the library database Press Display. Press Display is an online portal that provides an exact replica of printed newspapers worldwide. Two newspapers each were selected from China, South Africa, New Zealand, and Italy, and four newspapers were selected from the United States, one from each of three geographic areas of the country (East, Midwest, and West) and one nationally distributed newspaper. The selection of these newspapers and countries was made based on another international study conducted on the Olympic Games (study in progress by Buysse, J., & Leberman, S.). Data were collected for 15 days during the competition of the 2008 Paralympic Games held in Beijing. The first day of competition was September 4 and the final day was September 17. Two student researchers copied the full page on which photographs appeared and the individual photographs using the software program SnagIt. In total, 152 photographs were collected. After the data collection, two

5 312 Buysse and Borcherding independent coders coded 20% of the photographs on 21 variables. The authors also coded the same photographs independently of each other. An interrater reliability coefficient of 85% was initially found, which is considered acceptable for studies involving content analyses. On discussion, the coders reached consensus on 100% of the data. Data were subjected to statistical cross-tabulation analyses via SPSS Results The first issue under consideration was the amount of coverage given to the Paralympic athletes. This was examined by analyzing participation rates by gender, country, and medal counts. Athletes from 146 nations competed in 21 sports during the 2008 Paralympic Games. Of the 4,011 athletes, 66% (2,628) were male and 34% (1,383) were female. Photograph Frequency There were 152 photographs of Paralympic competition. The frequency of photographs from each newspaper is outlined in Table 1. The South African papers published the most photographs (38%). Of those, Die Burger published 44 (29%) and The Citizen accounted for 27. The country with the most newspapers analyzed was the United States (The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune), which also published the least number of photographs (6%). It is interesting that in the U.S. papers only three of the nine photographs were of U.S. athletes. Table 1 Photographs by Newspaper Newspaper Photographs The Washington Post 1 (0.7%) Los Angeles Times 2 (1.3%) Star Tribune 1 (0.7%) USA Today 5 (3.3%) New Zealand Herald 10 (6.6%) The Press 12 (8.0%) China Daily 27 (17.8%) Shanghai Daily 15 (10.0%) Corriere della Sera 8 (5.3%) Die Burger 41 (27.0%) The Citizen 28 (18.4%) Total 152 (100%)

6 Framing Gender and Disability in Sport 313 Forty of the 152 photographs (26%) from the Paralympic Games were of two athletes, swimmer Natalie du Toit and track star Oscar Pistorius, both of whom are South African amputees. Natalie du Toit was featured individually 20 times, as well as once with other team members during opening ceremonies and once with Pistorius. Twenty of the 22 photographs were published in the South African newspapers (10 from Die Burger and 10 from The Citizen). Oscar Pistorius was the subject of 18 individual photographs and one with du Toit. Eleven of those photos were published in the South African newspapers (eight in Die Burger and three in The Citizen). Participation and Medal Count by Country Of the countries included in this study, China, the host country, had the highest number of athletes competing at the 2008 Paralympic Games, with a total of 334 athletes (199 male, 135 female). They also achieved the most medals, with 220. The United States was third in participation, with 209 athletes (120 males, 89 females), and finished with 99 medals. Of the remaining countries under investigation, Italy was 14th, with 84 competitors (56 male, 28 female); South Africa was 21st with 61 (40 males, 21 females); and New Zealand was 36th with a total of 30 athletes (20 males, 10 females). Of the 152 photographs, 88 (58%) were of male athletes, 62 (41%) were of female athletes and two (1%) were mixed gender (See Table 2). New Zealand newspapers portrayed twice as many women as men. Although the United States had the fewest photographs, males and females were portrayed equally in the U.S. newspapers. Table 2 Gender by Newspaper Newspaper Women Men Mixed The Washington Post 0 (0%) 1 (0.7%) 0 (0%) Los Angeles Times 2 (1.3%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) Star Tribune 0 (0%) 1 (0.7%) 0 (0%) USA Today 3 (2.0%) 2 (1.3%) 0 (0%) New Zealand Herald 6 (4.0%) 4 (2.6%) 0 (0%) The Press 9 (6.0%) 3 (2.0%) 0 (0%) China Daily 9 (6.0%) 18 (11.8%) 0 (0%) Shanghai Daily 6 (4.0%) 9 (6.0%) 0 (0%) Corriere della Sera 1 (0.7%) 7 (4.6%) 0 (0%) Die Burger 12 (7.9%) 30 (19.7%) 2 (1.3%) The Citizen 14 (9.2%) 13 (8.5%) 0 (0%) Total 62 (41.0%) 88 (58.0%) 2 (1.3%)

7 314 Buysse and Borcherding Type of Coverage The second research question is related to the content or type of coverage the athletes received. Specifically, we wanted to know how often female and male athletes were portrayed in uniform, on the court, and in action shots. We were also interested in the predominant theme of the photograph. Were the athletes portrayed in ways that highlighted their athleticism or that invoked sympathy? Finally, we coded each photograph for whether it was a headshot and where it was positioned in the newspaper (e.g., front page, sport pages, above the fold). Overall, female and male athletes were overwhelming portrayed in uniform. Female athletes were in uniforms 92% of the time, compared with 97% for male athletes. In terms of court location, athletes were positioned on the court or competition area 68% of the time in the photographs. Males were shown on the court 77% of the time, compared with 60% for female athletes. Finally, in terms of whether the athletes were featured in action shots, the percentage dropped to 46% for all athletes. Females were in action 40% of the time, compared with 53% for male athletes. When isolating only the action photographs, males were much more likely to be portrayed in action exposing their competence as athletes (68%). The South African newspapers (Die Burger and The Citizen) had the highest number of action photographs for males and females (36); 27 of those featured male athletes. Table 3 illustrates these findings. Photograph Theme Another category of analysis in determining the type of coverage involved identifying the overall theme of the photograph. During the content analysis, themes of athleticism (same as action above), disability, sympathy, triumph, and other were categorized for thematic content. Most of the photos were related to athleticism (68) and triumph (58), and most of those involved male athletes. As stated previously, South African newspapers published the most photographs (71), and of those 60 were representative of the themes of athleticism and triumph. Only 6 of the 152 photographs had a sympathy theme. Photograph Placement We also tested to see whether photograph placement was mediated by gender. Male athletes photographs were positioned on the sport pages 68% of the time (62/91), compared with 31% (28/91) for female athletes. Although men were on the sport pages more often, women were featured on the front page 20 times, compared with 12 times for men; however, 12 of those 20 front-page photographs were identified as headers or footers. Overall, female and male athletes were featured above the fold or in the center of the page 67% of the time (107/152). When comparing the difference between genders, males received 59% of top- or center-of-page photographs. Sport Type When we were able to identify which sport was being played, the most prevalent sport featured was athletics (track and field). Fifty-eight of the 152 (38%) photos featured athletes in track and field, and 79% of those were of male athletes. The most

8 Table 3 Uniform, Court Location, and Pose by Newspaper In Uniform On Court Active Pose Newspaper Women Men Women Men Women Men The Washington Post 0 (0%) 1 (0.7%) 0 (0%) 1 (0.7%) 0 (0%) 1 (0.7%) Los Angeles Times 2 (1.3%) 0 (0%) 2 (1.3%) 0 (0%) 2 (1.3%) 0 (0%) Star Tribune 0 (0%) 1 (0.7%) 0 (0%) 1 (0.7%) 0 (0%) 1 (0.7%) USA Today 3 (2.0%) 2 (1.3%) 2 (1.3%) 1 (0.7%) 2 (1.3%) 0 (0%) United States total 5 (3.3%) 4 (2.6%) 4 (2.6%) 3 (2.0%) 4 (2.6%) 2 (1.3%) New Zealand Herald 6 (4.0%) 4 (2.6%) 4 (2.6%) 3 (2.0%) 0 (0%) 2 (1.3%) The Press 7 (4.6%) 3 (2.0%) 4 (2.6%) 3 (2.0%) 2 (1.3%) 3 (2.0%) New Zealand total 13 (8.5%) 7 (4.6%) 8 (5.3%) 6 (4.0%) 2 (1.3%) 5 (3.3%) China Daily 8 (5.3%) 16 (10.5%) 5 (3.3%) 12 (8.0%) 3 (2.0%) 6 (4.0%) Shanghai Daily 6 (4.0%) 8 (5.3%) 5 (3.3%) 6 (4.0%) 5 (3.3%) 2 (1.3%) China total 14 (9.2%) 24 (15.8%) 10 (6.6%) 18 (11.8%) 8 (5.3%) 8 (5.3%) Corriere della Sera 1 (0.7%) 7 (4.6%) 1 (0.7%) 5 (3.3%) 1 (0.7%) 5 (3.3%) Italy total 1 (0.7%) 7 (4.6%) 1 (0.7%) 5 (3.3%) 1 (0.7%) 5 (3.3%) Die Burger 11 (7.2%) 30 (19.7%) 6 (4.0%) 25 (16.4%) 5 (3.3%) 17 (11.2%) The Citizen 13 (8.6%) 13 (8.6%) 7 (4.6%) 10 (6.6%) 4 (2.6%) 10 (6.6%) South Africa total 24 (15.8%) 43 (28.3%) 13 (8.5%) 35 (23.0%) 9 (6.0%) 27 (17.8%) Total 57 (37.5%) 85 (56.0%) 36 (23.7%) 67 (44.0%) 24 (15.8%) 47 (31.0%) 315

9 316 Buysse and Borcherding photographed athlete was Oscar Pistorius, a sprinter from South Africa who won three gold medals. Of the male track and field photographs, Pistorius was featured in 19 photos (32%), three of which were repeated photographs. For example, one photo of him kissing his gold medal was printed in four newspapers. Two other male track and field athletes from South Africa were also featured more than once in the photographs. The same photograph of Hilton Langenhaven (South Africa) throwing the shot put appeared three times, and the same photo of Ilse Hayes (long jump) was repeated in three newspapers. In total, South African newspapers published 30 of the 58 athletics photographs and China posted 20. The second-most photographed sport was swimming, in which females appeared more prominently than males. Of the 32 swimming photos, females were featured 26 times (81%). Twenty-two of the 26 (85%) were of Natalie du Toit (South Africa), who won five gold medals. She was featured often, but several of the photos were repeated in other newspapers. Four of those photos were also repeated for a total of nine times. South Africa had 16 photos of swimming and China had 11. Cycling was third in number of photographs, with 11 of 152 (7%). Nine of the 11 were of male athletes. Once again South African papers published the majority of athletes in cycling. Visibility of Disability We also coded the photographs to determine whether the disabilities of the athletes were visible and found that disabilities were not in view 61% of the time. When they were visible, athletes in wheelchair sports were featured most often (46%), and 19 of the 27 athletes in wheelchairs were males. Amputations were the secondmost visible disability (28%), and most of those photographs were also of male athletes. China posted the most photographs of athletes in wheelchairs, and South Africa published the most photos of amputees. Discussion This study examined photographic coverage of the 2008 Paralympic Games in China, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States. The results show not only the overall dismal coverage given to Paralympic athletes but also gender and disability disparities. During 15 days of Paralympic competition, only 152 photographs appeared in 12 newspapers from five countries, an indication that Paralympic sport is not perceived by the media as legitimate sport. An examination of those photographs further revealed that Paralympians were not represented as competent athletes. Amount and Type of Coverage Our findings point to a virtual absence of Paralympians in the Chinese, Italian, New Zealand, South African, and U.S. newspapers during the 2008 Paralympic Games. We also found that males were featured as competent athletes more than females, and male athletes in wheelchair sports were given more coverage than other disability classifications.

10 Framing Gender and Disability in Sport 317 Amount of Coverage. Over 4,000 athletes (2,628 male, 1,383 female) competed in the 2008 Paralympic Games, marking record-high overall participation and the greatest number of female athletes to date. In total, there were only 152 photographs in the papers we covered. (In a parallel study on the Olympic Games using the same newspapers and countries there were over 4,000 photographs.) Eighty-eight of the photographs featured male athletes, 62 featured female athletes, and in two photographs both genders were represented. Forty of the photographs featured two athletes Oscar Pistorius and Natalie du Toit and the remaining 112 photographs were of other Paralympians. Pistorius and du Toit, both from South Africa, were amputees and competed in athletics (track and field) and swimming, respectively. This explains the high number of photographs in the sports of athletics and swimming and the overwhelming number of males featured in athletics (47/59) and females featured in swimming (26/32). Research by the Women s Sports Foundation on American media coverage of the 2008 Paralympic Games also showed a focus on these two athletes. Both Pistorius and du Toit have competed against people without disabilities, which might explain part of their notoriety. It is possible that because they have the ability to compete against athletes without disabilities they are viewed as legitimate athletes, and there may also be a higher level of respect for them. This type of comparison serves to reinforce the able-bodied ideal athlete construct represented in DePauw s (1997) framework. Although Pistorius and du Toit are highly successful athletes who combined for eight of South Africa s 30 medals, they, too, were marginalized by repeat and nonaction photographs. Furthermore, the number of repeated photographs printed in the newspapers suggests that the Paralympic Games were not important enough to cover with the papers own individual media staff. Type of Representation. It is expected that the media will responsibly convey the reality of the sport experience to its viewers, and typically an emphasis on athletic competition and competence is critical to that coverage. Our results revealed that female and male athletes were shown in action only 46% of the time. This means that most of the photographs portrayed them in ways that did not highlight their athletic abilities or performances as athletes. Of the coverage of Oscar Pistorius and Natalie du Toit, 12 of the 40 photographs were action shots, and du Toit was featured in an action shot only four times. This type of marginalization distracts from the athletic competence of the athlete. Although females were represented proportionately in terms of participation, they were disproportionately portrayed in nonaction or passive poses. Of all the action photos, females accounted for 32% (24) and males 68% (51). Although our research shows a slight improvement from previous research on the 2000 Paralympic Games by Thomas and Smith (2003), it is inconsistent with Chang and Crossman s (2009) research on the 2004 Paralympic Games, where it was found that most of the athletes (78%) were depicted in competitive or action shots. However, the research by Chang and Crossman had a very small sample and focused on one country. Our research suggests that there continue to be gender disparities in Paralympic photograph coverage, and athletes with disabilities, especially females, are not being treated as serious athletes. This is further evidenced by the fact that only 47% of the photographs of female athletes appeared in the sports section, compared with 70% for male athletes.

11 318 Buysse and Borcherding From a cross-cultural perspective, the United States, with its dismal coverage, had five of its eight photographs of athletes in action. South Africa, who led with the most photographic coverage, portrayed athletes in action 50% of the time, and 78% of those portrayals featured males. We found it interesting that female athletes were not portrayed in ways that highlighted their physical attractiveness in heterosexual ways. Although this may be viewed as good news, it is contrary to research on female athletes without disabilities (Duncan, 1990; Knight & Guiliano, 2001). Why didn t the media frame female Paralympians in ways that highlighted their physical attractiveness? Schell and Duncan (1999) and Schantz and Gilbert (2001) have suggested that females with disabilities are viewed as aesthetically unpleasing and asexual, which further marginalizes their identities. In a recent study on female wheelchair racers, Wickman (2008) asserted that social pressure on them to live up to these criteria of femininity might not be the same as for able-bodied women (p. 56). In addition to that explanation, we suggest that female athletes with disabilities do not threaten male hegemony in sport. By virtue of the sports they participate in, combined with a body that is disabled, they do not challenge the gender order in ways that female athletes without disabilities do when they receive more coverage and especially when they compete in sports that emphasize power and aggression (e.g., football, boxing). It would be interesting to see what would happen if more females participated in wheelchair rugby, which would provide a greater challenge to ideas about gender, physicality, and muscularity. The lack of media coverage contributes to the invisibility of athletes and multiple forms of discrimination for female athletes with disabilities related to gender, ability, and sexuality. Another aspect of the visibility argument is whether an athlete s disability or impairment is visible in a photograph. In this study an athlete s disability was invisible 61% of the time; when it was visible, wheelchair athletes were featured most prominently (46%). This corresponds with previous research by other media scholars (Schantz & Gilbert, 2001; Schell & Duncan, 1999; Thomas &Smith, 2003). Thomas and Smith suggest that a focus on wheelchair athletes and hiding impairments appeared to deny the featured athlete s identity and possibly reinforced rather narrow stereotypical perceptions of disability and people with disabilities (p. 176). Social identity theory suggests that we all have multiple social identities that define who we are (Hogg & Vaughan, 2002). Disability is part of a Paralympic athlete s social identity, and ignoring the disability ignores part of who they are. As Lorber (2006) writes in Gendered Bodies, Feminist Perspectives, bodies not seen reinforce the idea that only certain bodies matter. The low number of media photographs found in this study and the high proportion that hide disability send a message that athletes with disabilities are not important to sport media. We argue that athleticism, not disability, should be the main focus of photograph content; however, when focusing on live athletic performance, it is likely that the disability or impairment would be visible. When an athlete s disability was recognizable, wheelchair athletes were the most photographed. This is also congruent with findings by Thomas and Smith (2003), who explained that by focusing on wheelchair athletes and constructing photos that appeared to hide an athlete s impairment, it could be suggested that much of this coverage appeared to deny the featured athlete s identity as a person with a disability and possibly reinforced rather narrow stereotypical perceptions of disability and people with disabilities. (p. 176)

12 Framing Gender and Disability in Sport 319 This preference to feature wheelchair athletes more than other athletes and males more than females has been discussed in terms of the hierarchy of disability sport (Haller, 2000; Hardin & Hardin, 2003). Hardin and Hardin offer this explanation: The closest to the ideal competitor among athletes with disabilities have been males who use wheelchairs (p. 248). Just as female athletes are contained when constantly judged in terms of their ability to measure up to male athletes, athletes with a disability are also contained when measured in terms of the able-bodied ideal. The male able-bodied ideal athlete is reproduced, and the value of others is measured in comparison. Conclusion and Implications for Future Research This study shows that while the Paralympic Games continue to grow in athlete participation and events, newspaper coverage and, more specifically, photographic coverage have not and continue to ignore and symbolically hide athletes with disabilities. This lack of coverage serves to reinforce the notion that athletes with disabilities are not valued for their athletic competence and that disability sport is not legitimate sport. Results of this study also show that female athletes are marginalized even further by the use of passive poses in sports that are deemed feminine-appropriate. This reproduction of gender and disability stereotypes serves to reinforce male and able-bodied hegemony in sport while marginalizing millions of others. The media may create and reinforce existing stereotypes, but they also have the power to effect change. Nelson (1994) articulates this point well: The mass media have an opportunity to build a greater understanding between society and this emerging minority group that is clamoring for its rights. If they are aware of that tremendous power and responsibility they bear, the media can make a difference not only in portrayals and perceptions but eventually in the quality of life for these millions of Americans. Ultimately, considering the power impact of the American media abroad, that impact may have positive reverberations worldwide. (p. 16) This is the first study to explore the cross-continental connections of newspapers photographic representation of the Paralympic Games. Longitudinal research on this topic will enable tracking the changes over time in hopes that media coverage will improve in both quantity and quality. Comparing these findings with findings in research on the Olympic Games would help cohesively show the differences in athletic representation in the media between able-bodied athletes and athletes with disabilities. It is equally important that scholars conduct more extensive research on decision making in sports media that extends beyond the market-value argument. Finally, additional research involving new media, specifically sport Web sites and online newspapers, will also offer insight into how disability and gender are constructed. References Burroughs, A., Ashburn, A., & Seebohm, L. (1995). Add sex and stir: Homophobic coverage of women s cricket in Australia. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 19(3),

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