Our first readings Coming on Strong, Darwin Athletes, and more talk frankly about the history of race, class and sex stereotypes about men and women in sports. But even today, old attitudes can be found in news articles presenting athletes in a certain light: bad
boy, princess, thug, monster, animal, beauty queen. Journalists have the power to reinforce our ideas about gender, race and class in sports. How far have we come since the public biases described in your readings? In your first paper, you get to respond to
bias in sports coverage today. Find one or more sources that you think show bias in language, headline, or content. These should be news items that are not already in our assigned class reading. Do not
select a personal blog, a YouTube video, or Wikipedia. Go to published sports journalism, newspapers and magazines; and online versions are of course fine.
You have plenty of choices! Newspapers and magazines are bursting with articles on sports celebrities, scandals, training, school teams, weight loss workouts, competitive youth, injuries, and recent Olympic heroes. But please make sure your sources are current
nothing before 2017. Beware of finding material that is merely a fans post and not actual published work. Most columns in, say, ESPN.com or Sports Illustrated.com are
acceptable, as are pieces in daily newspapers so use sources where an author is identified. And, very important: do not select an article that is about bias. You are the critic here. Follow the instructions of this assignment.
Once you have a sample (or two) and are ready to write, look for the assumptions about gender, race and sports performance. Who is the intended audience? Are there mixed messages or contradictions? What do these sources imply about athletes or sports? Does
the author or art editor mean to provoke? In your paper, please explain why, in your opinion, the source you have selected shows bias or stereotypes about men or women in
sports. What ongoing assumptions about sex or race, masculinity or
ethnicity did you find? Were you surprised? What satisfies our cultural ideals about men and women as heroic or beautiful, tough or ugly? (Relax: you dont have to address ALL those points.)
For this assignment, I am looking for strong writing and smart insights. And Id like to see you reference Darwin and/or Coming on Strong in your critique; cite any page numbers you quote or refer to. Keep your tone professional, not too informal/conversational, and proofread your words carefully for spelling, punctuation and
grammar. The most commonly misspelled words in this course are woman (do you mean one woman, or more than two women?) and lose (not loose, please.) I can help you, and so can the writing center
