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Samuel Natt
Rhetoric & Composition 2 - Auto Ethnography
Professor Gina Lawrence
February 16, 2015
The aspect of my life that utilizes gendered languages or stereotypes is the world
of sports. I would like to reflect on my observations and what I see in the treatment of
women who play sports and men who play sports. The language that is used towards
female athletes is quite different from the language that is used towards male athletes.
They do not receive the equal support and are stereotyped in different ways.
Stereotypically, women are not expected or perceived to be as strong as men are
Athletically. As I am reflecting on my life as an athlete, I have experienced stereotypes
about female and male athletes.
In the day to day lives of female athletes, they work hard at their sports, but do
not receive as much recognition as the male athletes do. The media; which includes
television, radio, billboards and magazines do not give female athletes the kind of credit
they actually deserve. Television shows male athletes for longer periods of time and
portrays them as the stronger gender. They use terms like runs faster, jumps higher, kicks
the ball farther, stronger, but different terms are used to portray female athletes such as
feminine, weaker gender, dont run as fast, shoot or kick the ball as fast. It is quite
noticeable how the bleachers are full of spectators when a male athletic game is playing,
compared to a female game being played. The television commentators say more positive

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things about the male athletes than they say about the female athletes. They show more
of the male games than they do the female games. The male athletic uniforms are
stronger and better designed than the female uniforms. The television sports broadcasters
spend more time praising the male athletes during a game than they do the female
athletes. They even bet on the male athletic games than they do the female athletic
games. Television portrays male athletes in stronger roles like football, boxing, soccer
and basketball. Females are allowed to play soccer instead of football. Stereotypically,
females are perceived to not be strong enough to play football.
There are more male sports commentators than there are female commentators.
There are more male referees than there are female referees. Stereotypically, men are
perceived to make better commentators than women. The media portrays more bias and
stereotypes than any group does. There are more male radio broadcasters than there are
female broadcasters.
The impact that specific gendered experiences have had on my life is that, as I
reflect on my athletic career, I realized that I had better opportunities as a male athlete.
As I self reflect , I realize my personal experiences as an athlete are more rigorous than
that of female athletes. I feel that female athletes should be as rigorously trained as male
athletes. Some female athletes train with male athletes to get better. I assist some of my
female athletic friends with basketball training. I feel like their coaches should be
training them ,more rigorously to make them feel like practicing with male athletes is not
the only way to get stronger. Culturally, politically and socially, female athletes are
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viewed as weaker athletes.

Experiences such as separate athletic practices for the same sport such as basketball is
important to me but didnt notice the way things were gendered prior to my experience.
People see gendered biases on a daily basis but dont notice that it is a problem. It is
overlooked , but I observed it, so I invite my female basketball player friends to practice
with me in the basketball gym. I noticed that it is a big problem. I have been impacted by
the gender bias of female basketball athletes and they are the artifacts that I have
established to assist in making stronger. They are strong and have impacted me with their
strength on the court as I have also impacted them. These female athletes have impacted
me significantly with their patience and grace. These female athletes have shaped my
cultural understanding by giving me a positive perspective of how female athletes can
play as well as male athletes when given the same opportunities as male athletes.
Culturally, they are not expected to compete as well as male athletes, but I dont believe
that.
These female athletic artifacts have changed my idea of race through the fact that
all races have athletic potential to play well if trained properly. Any class of people are
also capable of being athletically competitive. In terms of gender, female athletes can be
just as competitive as male athletes when given the proper training and support.
Julia Wood (2012) argues that communication plays a primary role in shaping our
gendered identities (p.188). Wood suggests that one important area for learning gender
is education.

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Citings/Bibliography
Wood, J.T. (2013), Gendered Lives , Communication, Gender & Culture, 10th Edition,
Wadsworth, United States
The Status of Women in the U.S. Media 2013 report (3.94 MB)
(http:women media center.com/ page/ -/ WMC-Status-USWomen-Media-2013 PDF)

RHETORIC COMPOSITION

AUTO-ETHNOGRAPHY
PROFESSOR GINA LAWRENCE

Samuel Natt
February 16, 2015