Interrogating the Presentation of Gender in Sports Advertising

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN_5myhJmlM

     This commercial aired on Tuesday, October 21st, during Game 1 of the 2014 World Series. It is unique compared to the majority of sports commercials as it focuses entirely on a female athlete, however underlying gendered messages become apparent when it is analyzed critically. The first two images of Mo'ne do not identify her as a female as she is shown from far away and behind, however her gender is identified as soon as she begins talking. This was most likely done to surprise viewers and ultimately make a greater impact in the fight for gender equality in sports as the majority of people were expecting the commercial to be about young male baseball players, but instead are told the inspirational story of a 13-year-old girl. In a 20 second span of this minute long commercial, she mentions being a girl in some regard four times because that evidently is the focus of this commercial, which is reinforced at the end when this message appears on screen, "Chevrolet celebrates Mo'ne Davis and those who remind us that anything is possible."
     Although this commercial seeks to inspire viewers both young and old, which are also words that come out of Mo'ne's mouth, gendered messages are exposed when the material, presentation and commentary are analyzed. Commercials with men tend to focus on physical aggression as seen in the numerous ones showing men hard at work and sweating, while women's tend to focus more on the beauty of any game (Kristiansen, 2014, pg. 17). This trend is definitely apparent in this commercial as Mo'ne only discusses how hard she works at multiple different sports, while she is only shown actually doing athletic activity in brief actions - half court shot, hitting a ball of a tee, and throwing a fast ball. The reliance on her commentary to express her physical prowess is an indication of the idea that women cannot exhibit athletic competence solely based on performance. In commercials focused on male athletes, quite the opposite is observed as they do not have to discuss their athletic competence because in most cases it is already known and then it is reinforced when shown scoring a touchdown, hitting a home run, etc.
     Another gendered message displayed in this commercial is the idea of hyper-femininity. She by no means is stylized to the same extreme as other female athletes several years her senior, however she is still presented in a way meant to be perceived as more attractive. Currently, the power and presence of female athletes are reframed in the media in a way that will be found heterosexually appealing because the male audience is the most important in sport (Kristiansen, 2014, pg. 19). In Mo'ne's case, she is made out to be more "appealing" with the addition of eye makeup and straighten hair that is left down the entirety of the commercial. This contradicts her actual on-field presentation where she was seen during the 2014 Little League World Series with her hair pulled back and in braids. Unfortunately, this feminized stylization of Mo'ne undermines the ad's intent for gender equality because research has found that coverage highlighting or enhancing a female athlete's attractiveness, actually generates the perception that she is less talented, athletic and heroic than athlete's whose athleticism receives more attention (Daniels, 2011). Thankfully she was not extremely hyper-feminized, which allows the public to potentially receive her as a heroic female athlete.
     For young people watching this commercial, Mo'ne will most likely be seen as a role model due to her influence and success in the male dominated Little League baseball organization. However, due to the reliance on her commentary to portray her athletic competence, instead of showing her in action, may cause young athletes to focus on the end result and stardom as opposed to the hard work it takes to become an elite athlete.

Reference List

Daniels, E., & Wartena, H. (2011). Athlete or Sex Symbol: What Boys Think of Media       Representations of Female Athletes. Sex Roles, 65(7/8), 566-579. doi:10.1007/s11199-011-9959-7

Kristiansen, E., Broch, T. B., & Pedersen, P. M. (2014). Negotiating Gender in Professional Soccer: An Analysis of Female Footballers in the United States. Choregia, 10(1), 5-27.