Eurocentric facial features and body types have dominated sports reporting for decades, leading to many women not being hired due to not fitting these colonized standards.
“According to the most recent APSE report released by ESPN, only 44 women were reported to be top sports columnists and reporters across the largest sports publications and websites. Only four were Black,” wrote D’Shonda Brown for Coveteur Magazine.
Personal Experience
When watching both Sportnet and TSN from a young age, I constantly desired to one day be on one of those two networks. I could envision myself sitting at the desk reporting on either the MLB or NHL.
That was until a family member told me that I wasn’t pretty enough to be a female sports reporter.
My initial reaction was that it doesn’t matter what I look like; anyone can be a sports broadcaster, right? Look at all the bald, overweight white men reporting. No one cares what they look like, as long as they are a good reporter.
After rewatching all the channels I loved so much, I began to see them in a different light. I started to notice the petite, blonde, white, and supermodel features of all the female broadcasters on those networks.
I remember looking down at my not so petite body and thinking my entire dream of becoming a sports broadcaster had just become extinct. I even began questioning whether I should starve myself to fit into these ideal standards, but later I thought about how toxic that is.
What Needs To Be Done
Women should not have to alter their bodies to become sports journalists, nor should they think they are at risk of getting fired if they do gain weight.
Furthermore, both women of colour and LGBTQ2S+ members shouldn’t have to feel as if they cannot be sports journalists due to the racist eurocentric beauty standards.
Sports media corporations need to become more inclusive and diverse with the women they choose to broadcast so that all little girls watching can see a reflection of themselves on screen.
