Gender, Media, and Sports

This class examines the role of media in our collective understanding of gender and sports, and the place of representation (social media, televised games, television, documentary films, etc.) in shaping gendered perceptions of athletes, sports, coaches, and fans. Over the course of the semester, we will examine media coverage of sports, with a particular attention to how media both represents and reproduces gendered inequalities in sport. While paying close attention to figures including Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, Billie Jean King, Serena Williams, Imane Khelif, and Caster Semenya, we will study topics including Title IX, the growth of the WNBA, debates over pay equity in professional sports, NIL, and debates over trans athletes.