Source: A Gender Analysis of NBC’s Coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics (17-page PDF)Some findings: "... for female athletes to garner media coverage, they must be involved in socially acceptable individual sports and/or sports that highlight body type. Women who take part in sports that involve either power or hard body contact are particularly unlikely to receive media coverage.When women engage in stereotypically feminine events, or look pretty or graceful, they will receive coverage, but risk being shunned if they venture from that space...
More recently, beach volleyball has come to prominence, beginning in 2004. While there is no doubt of the athletic prowess of the gold medal-winning American women’s team, it is curious that while men’s volleyball coverage was split nearly equally between beach and court volleyball, women’s court volleyball received no coverage, despite the fact that those athletes won a silver medal...
more noteworthy than the amount of coverage is what is covered. Even today, it seems that women are accepted as athletes only if they continue to look and act as women are expected to look and act..."
More recently, beach volleyball has come to prominence, beginning in 2004. While there is no doubt of the athletic prowess of the gold medal-winning American women’s team, it is curious that while men’s volleyball coverage was split nearly equally between beach and court volleyball, women’s court volleyball received no coverage, despite the fact that those athletes won a silver medal...
more noteworthy than the amount of coverage is what is covered. Even today, it seems that women are accepted as athletes only if they continue to look and act as women are expected to look and act..."
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