Why storytellers need to elevate female athletes in the right way

The way women’s sports is represented in the media is – let’s not sugarcoat it – abysmal. 

It’s 2021 and yet articles are still being published and campaigns launched ‘celebrating’ women in sport for their beauty and how well they conform to old-fashioned stereotypical ideals.

Even arguably ‘progessive’ modern brands are getting it wrong, focusing on female fitness solely as a means of self-improvement (this infamous 2019 Peloton advert being a case in point). Then there are the overtly sexist adverts that, while not specifically sports-related, are displayed during sporting events, propagating a discourse of women as ‘lesser than’. 

As creatives working within a storytelling industry, it is our responsibility to help change these outdated and, frankly infuriating, narratives.

How are so many getting it so wrong when it comes to representing sporting heroes?

Anyone who has chosen to work within this industry will, most likely, pride themselves on having a finger on the pulse of society. They’ll consider themselves able to tap into what will resonate with an audience. They’ll have a desire or, better yet, a need to inspire, motivate and activate. 

Which begs the question: how are so many getting it so wrong when it comes to representing sporting heroes? How can creatives believe that perpetuating outdated ideals and alienating, undermining and dismissing 50% of the world’s population is a responsible or smart thing to do?

Nike is a forerunner (pun intended) when it comes to addressing entrenched sexism and gender expectation within fitness. 

Its 2020 Dream Crazier campaign brilliantly highlights the double standards and higher benchmarks female athletes have to overcome in order to be taken seriously. And, in 2019, the brand was fully supportive when HarrimanSteel took on its Nike Flyknit Women’s World Cup campaign for Intersport and insisted on using a female director to showcase authentic person-led stories. 

[Nike's] Dream Crazier brilliantly highlights the double standards and higher benchmarks female athletes have to overcome in order to be taken seriously.

We wanted to elevate heroes who have had to navigate extraordinary barriers because ‘footballer’ automatically means ‘man’ to most. We were also very aware of not perpetuating the ‘as seen through the male gaze’ discourse so prevalent in our industry – an inevitable consequence of the continued gender disparity in creative leadership roles. Also, a female lead simply made smart business sense. 

This year’s Closing the Visibility Gap study – the most comprehensive study ever into the commercial drivers of women’s sport – found that the UK has the potential to generate £1bn in annual revenue by 2030 if it ups its game when it comes to increased visibility of women’s sport while also ensuring it’s the right kind of visibility.

Above: The photo of Tayla Harris that sparked a torrent of misogynistic comments.

When a brilliant photograph of AFLA star Tayla Harris was published on Seven Network’s social media channels, the misogynistic comments it garnered prompted the network to take the remarkable decision of removing the photo. Further removing women from the conversation is never the answer. The focus must be on tackling the deep-rooted cultural prejudices at play. Institutions need to be educated on how to progress the issue meaningfully, not hide from it. 

The photo was the right kind of visibility, removing it the worst kind. A fear of upsetting the status quo, myopia or plain sexism all go some way to explaining why fewer than 30% of the most prominent images on many UK governing bodies’ social media accounts feature female athletes – a discrepancy even more marked for professional football, cricket and rugby clubs.

The photo was the right kind of visibility, removing it the worst kind.

According to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), this year’s Olympic Games is going to be the first ‘gender equal’ Olympics ever, with female participation at 49%. This offers a fantastic opportunity for female sporting role models to shine – as long as they are given an equal share of airtime and appropriate commentary (which is probably wishful thinking). 

It’s also hard to forget that this ‘Gender Equality Statement’ from the IOC, and many of its new female-led policies are, in large part, a direct response to the firestorm over Tokyo 2020 President Yoshiro Mori’s comments that women cause meetings to overrun by talking too much.