When marketing athletes, image is everything. Their individuality, unique qualities and personal brands all come into play when determining if an athlete is a good fit to represent a company. Of course, extraordinary talent is needed for any athlete to come onto a company's radar, but it’s the overall “picture” that takes precedence.
When you think about athlete endorsements, the biggest names in sports come to mind: Tiger Woods, Lebron James, Derek Jeter...the list goes on. In the United States, the sports industry sees a large share of endorsements come from the 4 big sports: football, basketball, baseball and NASCAR. The one similarity? They are all men. When marketing female athletes, companies tend to pigeonhole them. The highest-paid female athletes (in order) are: Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, and Danica Patrick. Each one of these powerful women dominate their sport and are handsomely compensated for endorsements, but each are marketed in a way that focuses heavily on their appearance. The stereotypes that female athletes tend to fall into have been outlined in a study conducted by Stockholm psychologist Nathalie Koivula, which clearly confirms that media coverage does treat men and women differently – even with a seemingly meaningless detail as referring to female athletes by their first name instead of their last. It brings to mind the Candace Parker cover of ESPN The Magazine in March 2009 and the subsequent feature article. If you do not recall the article, here’s the lead: "Candace Parker is beautiful. Breathtaking, really, with flawless skin, endless legs and a C cup she is proud of but never flaunts. She is also the best at what she does, a record-setter, a rule-breaker, a redefiner. She is a woman who plays like a man, one of the boys, if the boys had C cups and flawless skin. She's nice, too. Sweet, even. Kind to animals and children, she is the sort of woman who worries about others more than about herself, a saint in high-tops.”
While the article is flattering, it begs the question of why female athletes are so frequently described in ways that focus so heavily on beauty and sexuality, even when their athletic accomplishments rival those of men. Consider how inappropriate the article would sound if "Candace Parker" was swapped out with "Reggie Bush."
Not only do female athletes have to be extremely talented, they must satisfy a sexuality quotient as well.
It’s not that companies or media outlets should overlook these qualities, but they could provide a refreshing spin on female athletes as a whole, if the sexuality factor played a supporting role rather than taking center stage. After being bombarded with cookie-cutter images of women in sports, audiences would pay attention to something different, refreshing and unique. Now's the perfect time to take advantage.
~Mia
How hungover you are after a long night with your friends.
Your favorite line from a rap song without quoting the source.
Pictures that feature intimate and/or personal material of anyone
Profanity of any sort
How mad you are at anyone in particular
Well wishes and "Thank You's" to specific followers
Insight on your personal day and events in your life
Pictures of you being yourself, especially those of you smiling and laughing
Personal shout-outs to fans that follow you
AFTER you've thought about your response in its entirety
