“Battling” Gendered Language: An Analysis of the Language Used by Sports Commentators in a Televised Coed Tennis Competition

Abstract

In this study, we examine how sports commentators minimized women’s athletic participation, abilities, and achievements in the 1992 televised “Battle of the Champions” tennis competition between Martina Navratilova and Jimmy Connors. Using content analysis, we found clear differences in naming practices, adjective and adverb use, amount and type of praise and criticism, and character flaws attributed to the players. In the unique case of male versus female athletic competition it also becomes apparent that commentators “gender” the athletic event. Although women have made great strides in sport, their achievements will continue to be meaningless as long as sports broadcasters undermine, trivialize, and minimize women’s performances through biased commentaries.

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