How does this relate to Visual Culture

How does this relate to Visual Culture-

The gender gap that is seen in the olympics relates to visual culture in many ways.



This semester we talked about many different types of advertisements, and how sex sells. The advertisements seen in the olympics sometimes show women wearing little clothing, while empowering men. Or ads showing women looking weak, and men strong and powerful.
 

All though some ads have been seen as sexualizing women, there has been progression, and there are also many ads where women are represented very well. 

In visual culture the use of media was discussed a lot. In the olympics, the use of media is used very actively. Not only to promote the games, but by the individuals that are taking a stance on the issue. The IOC uses articles, conferences, ads, and many more platforms to take action on gender equality.

The gender gap in the olympics relates to visual culture in many different ways including, politics, power relationships, post modernism, branding, and many more that I go into deeper detail in this blog.

Ideology

Ideology: 


The United Nations (UN) International Day of Sport for Development and Peace reminded us of the unifying power of sport and its role in sending a message of peace and equality for all. The field of play offers a powerful platform for social change – for dismantling barriers and building bridges, and for bringing people together regardless of race, nationality or gender. Yet discrimination against women persists in many areas, including in the athletic arena, even as attitudes around gender-based stereotypes continue to evolve.

Here is a link to a really great article about the groups, and people taking a political stance, and helping women participation in sports- https://www.olympic.org/news/ioc-women-and-sport-award-winners-where-are-they-now

Leaders in power, important people, and famous athletes will all have to take a stand when it comes to pressing gender equality in the Olympic Games. It will take the cooperation of sporting federations, officials, commissions and executives to say that we will all come together with our best efforts and events – because we’re going to build for the future with gender equality as a top priority.
In an article titled "Gender equality in sports" it states, "Sport is also an important enabler of sustainable development. We recognize the growing contribution of sport to the realization of development and peace in its promotion of tolerance and respect and the contributions it makes to the empowerment of women and of young people, individuals and communities as well as to health, education and social inclusion objectives." 

Racing for Gender Equality

Spectatorship

Spectatorship- 


All though we have started to see more female athletes in. the olympics, it took a very long time to see any change at all. 
Times we started to see change:

• The first woman to win an Olympic gold medal in an individual event was Charlotte Cooper of the United Kingdom, who won the tennis women's singles in 1900.

• Softball was featured as a women-only sport in Olympic Games from 1996 to 2008. The male equivalent was baseball, which was played from 1992 to 2008. Both sports were dropped from the Olympics, though are set to return in 2020.

• In the 2016 Rio Olympics there are two women-only events: Synchronized Swimming and Rhythmic Gymnastics.

• The 2016 Rio Olympic Games has both the highest ever number of women competitors and the highest percentage, with women making up about 45 percent of the total participants, according to the IOC. 
  
  
  
  A quote from the article titled "Women in sport. Where are we in gender equality today"-
  
  
  
  “CHANGE LIES IN ALL OF US.” THAT’S HOW EVELYN WATTA, VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPORTS PRESS ASSOCIATION, SUMMED UP THE CONVERSATION AT THE OLYMPISM IN ACTION FORUM “WOMEN IN SPORT” SESSION ON HOW SPORT CAN BE A CATALYST FOR EMPOWERING WOMEN AND GIRLS."

Branding and Control

Branding and Control:

Not only are women less represented in the olympics themselves, but also in the advertisements, and brand sponsorships leading up to, and during the games.

If you were to type in "Olympics Ads" into google, it is hard to find a single advertisement that includes women, or is about a female athlete.
These are the first few ads that will pop up:


In 2012 the brand "Procter & Gamble" did an ad that represented women very well, but not in the way you probably think. The campaign called “Thank You, Mom” that showed flashbacks of Olympic athletes from all over the world growing up and practicing their sport with support from their mothers. That same campaign is back again this year, featuring athletes and their mothers from this summer’s Games. This ad wasn't exactly for specifically the female athletes, but it still showcases women in some way, which is progress. 

"Thank you mom" advertisement- 
https://youtu.be/rdQrwBVRzEg

Postmodernism

Postmodernism: 

While female Olympics competitors are closing in on the gender parity gap, women are still lagging behind in the boardroom, where executive decisions are made.

In 2013 the first woman became a board member

In 2016, only 24 of 106 International Olympic Committee board members (22.6 percent) are women. Currently in 2019, 33 percent of members are women. The percentage keeps increasing.

The article titled "Promotion of gender equality" states, "Sport is one of the most powerful platforms for promoting gender equality and empowering women and girls. As the leader of the Olympic Movement, the IOC has an important responsibility to take action when it comes to gender equality – a basic human right of profound importance and a Fundamental Principle of the Olympic Charter.

Great progress has been made in promoting gender equality in terms of balancing the total number of athletes participating at the Games, offering leadership development, advocacy and awareness campaigns, and more recently appointing more women to leadership roles within the administration and governance."

Mediasphere

Mediasphere:

  Steps that have been taken to help this issue by using media, and other resources-

More than 100 years later, Reality Check finds that women's participation in the Summer Olympics has grown, but across the Olympic movement, the gender gap still exists.
By writing articles, posting, talking in interviews, using a voice, and even making ads, have all helped push the gender gap further and further from the olympics.

      Each year the the olympics are held, more and more women are participating, and are being included in various new sports-

    “The IOC continues to set an example for other sporting bodies by increasing the number of women in its own decision-making positions. Female representation on IOC commissions has now risen to 42.7 per cent, a historic high that equates to a 98 per cent increase since 2013. In 2018, women held 30 more positions across the IOC’s 26 commissions than they did in 2017, with female members present on each commission, while the IOC EB has seen an increase in female members from 21.4 per cent in 2017 to 30.8 per cent in 2018. As of 1 January 2019, 33 percent of IOC Members are women.”

    Including a recent steps-

• “33 percent of IOC Members are women.”
• In 2018, 13 women occupied the role of NOC President, while 33 were Secretary General.
• In 2015, twenty-three of the International Federations had more than 20 per cent women on their Executive Board. Thirteen did not have any women on their Executive Boards.

Power relationships

Power Relationships:


Relationships that help female representation-   The IOC,  National Olympic Committees (NOCs), and International Federations, and of course the women who participate in the olympics themselves

• National Olympic Committees- The IOC EB has seen an increase in female members from 21.4 per cent in 2017 to 30.8 per cent in 2018. There are currently four women on the IOC Executive Board out of fifteen Members. In 1990, the first woman ever was elected to the Board, Flor Isava Fonseca from Venezuela. In 1997, Anita DeFrantz became the first female IOC Vice-President. 

• The IOC- The gap widens further at Director level. However, progress was made between 2016 and 2017: the proportion of women on the IOC Board of Directors increased from 19 per cent to 25 per cent, and continued to increase to reach 29 per cent in 2018.

• International Federations- In 2018, four of the International Federations (summer, winter and recognised) had a female President, and 18 have female Secretary Generals.

Women in leadership positions- "The International Olympic Committee, in addition to improving its own internal balance, encourages NOCs and IFs to increase the number of women in decision-making positions" 

Nita Ambani- Founder and Chairperson of Football Sports Development Limited. Nita has shown extraordinary commitment to developing sports talent at the grassroots level across various sports, and member of the IOC. She is an important female leader in the olympics. 

Representation

Representation of women in the olympics: 

Female Athletes in the olympics-

• 22 women competed at the 1900 Games, 2.2% of all the competitors. But, in 2016 there were 4,700 women competitors of 10,444 total athletes — a 6.8 percent increase since 2000.

• Since 1991, any new sports seeking to be included on the Olympic program have been required to include women's events, but not all events include women even today.

• The number of women athletes at the Olympic Games is approaching 50 per cent.

• Not only are there many more men athletes, but also a huge percentage of male coaches compared to women coaches.

• The Gender Equality Review Project has highlighted the need to address the imbalance in coaching.

• To help get rid of this gender gap in the olympics, The International Olympic Committee encourages the IOC to include women in “decision- making positions”

• the IOC Gender Equality Review Project with its 25 recommendations launched in March 2018 is a tangible outcome of this commitment. With an emphasis on taking action, the aim of the Project is to provide a solutions-based approach to achieving gender equality on and off the field of play, sooner, rather than later.

Female coaches in the olympics:

Female IOC members in the olympics:

Women are now included in the olympics, but are the rules fair?

“In the 1972 Munich Olympics, US men won 71 medals while the women brought home only 23.” Not only have women struggled with taking metals home,  but also with fewer opportunities to speak on camera and have been characterized as having less athletic skill than male athletes.