Passing It On: The Reinforcement of Male Hegemony in Sports Journalism Textbooks

Abstract

In the past decade, participation in athletics and consumption of sports media in U.S. culture have grown by almost every conceivable measure. As sports media have grown, so have collegiate programs and classes to train sports journalists. Sports media have traditionally marginalized women and women's sports; whether college courses and textbooks have reinforced male hegemony has not been explored. A key component of the college classroom is the textbook; textbooks play a role in the culture through their power to confer legitimacy to certain groups and reinforce marginal status for others. This study examines the status of women in 8 sports journalism textbooks. Overall, the books do not encourage aspiring journalists to address gender inequities in sports journalism.