Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2006 Masculine Hegemony in March Madness?: A Textual Analysis of the Gendered Language Used by Newspaper and Online Sportswriters Covering NCAA Women's and Men's Basketball Tournaments Edward M. Kian Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION MASCULINE HEGEMONY IN MARCH MADNESS? A TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF THE GENDERED LANGUAGE USED BY NEWSPAPER AND ONLINE SPORTSWRITERS COVERING NCAA WOMEN’S AND MEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS By EDWARD (TED) M. KIAN A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sport Management, Recreation Management and Physical Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy Degree Awarded Summer Semester, 2006 Copyright @ 2006 Edward (Ted) M. Kian All Rights Reserved The members of the committee approved the dissertation of Edward (Ted) Kian defender on July 10, 2006. _________________ Michael Mondello Professor Directing Dissertation _________________ Arthur Raney Outside Committee Member _________________ Aubrey Kent Committee Member _________________ John Vincent Committee Member Approved: Charles Imwold, Chairperson, Department of Sport Management, Recreation Management and Physical Education. The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Foremost, I would first like to thank my chair, Dr. Michael Mondello. He provided the perfect complement of analytical reasoning, encouragement, constructive criticism, and expediency throughout this process. There could not have been a better chair for my dissertation. I would also like to express my gratitude to Dr. Aubrey Kent, my other committee member from the Florida State sport management program. Dr. Kent provided keen insight throughout this project. An eternal optimist, he also provided encouragement and sound advice throughout my three years at FSU. He has shown tremendous leadership skills in directing the FSU sport management program. The field of sport management will no doubt benefit from his recently being elected to serve as president of the North American Society for Sport Management. My outside committee members were instrumental to the completion of this dissertation. Dr. John Vincent of the University of Alabama served as the methodological expert of my committee and helped immensely throughout the difficult stages of finalizing a prospectus. Dr. Arthur Raney of the Department of Communications at FSU provided input on a multitude of areas, and also came up with the idea of examining both newspapers and online articles. I have spent my entire life around college professors, but I do not know if I have ever met one who combines vast knowledge, gifted oratory skills, and the ability to do high-level research as well as Dr. Raney. Although neither served on my committee, I also wish to thank FSU sport management faculty members Dr. Jeffrey James and Dr. Andy Rudd, both of whom helped me greatly over the last two years. Finally, I would like to thank my loving parents, Mo and Martie, my brother David, sister-in-law Christy, and nieces, Jessica and Emily. I doubt this would have been possible without the support of my family throughout the years. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ............................................................................................................................. vi Abstract..................................................................................................................................... vii I. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................1 Background of the Problem ......................................................................1 Purpose Statement.....................................................................................4 Conceptual Framework.............................................................................5 Research Questions...................................................................................6 Significance and Implications of the Study ..............................................6 Assumptions of the Study .........................................................................8 Definitions of Terms.................................................................................9 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE................................................................................10 Introduction.............................................................................................10 Hegemony Theory ..................................................................................10 Hegemonic Masculinity..........................................................................11 Hegemonic Masculinity in Sport ............................................................12 Hegemonic Masculinity and Sport Media ..............................................14 Gender of Sportswriters: Female Representation ...................................16 Gender of Sportswriters: Attitudes and Experiences..............................18 Roles of the Sport Media ........................................................................22 Newspaper Coverage of Female Athletes...............................................25 Magazine Coverage of Female Athletes.................................................28 Print Media Photographs of Female Athletes .........................................29 Internet Coverage of Female Athletes ....................................................30 Media Coverage of Women and Men’s Basketball ................................31 Chapter Summary ...................................................................................34 III. METHODOLOGY................................................................................................35 Introduction............................................................................................35 Research Questions................................................................................35 Textual Analyses....................................................................................36 Sampling Selection ................................................................................38 Units of Analysis....................................................................................42 Gendered Language Commentary .........................................................44 Coding Procedures.................................................................................45 Intercoder Reliability .............................................................................47 Data Analysis.........................................................................................50 Limitations of the Study.........................................................................51 iv Delimitations of the Study .....................................................................51 IV. ANALYSIS OF RESULTS AND DOMINANT THEMES..................................53 Introduction............................................................................................53 General and Sport-Specific Coding Results ..........................................54 Research Question 1 ...................................................................55 Research Question 2 ...................................................................69 Coding Results Based on Gender of Sportswriters................................73 Research Question 3 ..................................................................76 Dominant Themes from Qualitative Data Analysis...............................80 He was Always on my Mind.......................................................80 She Must Have Been a Tomboy .................................................83 Women Still Don’t Have Next....................................................84 The Real Hegemonic Order in Media Coverage of College Sports: Football, Men’s Basketball, and Everything Else ..........87 Parents are Newsworthy, Especially Athletic Fathers ................90 Chapter Summary .......................................................................92 V. CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS, AND RECOMMEDNATIONS ..................94 Introduction...........................................................................................94 A Priori Coding Summary and Discussion...........................................94 Qualitative Data Analysis Summary and Discussion .........................100 Significance and Implications of this Study .......................................107 Recommendations for Future Research..............................................110 Concluding Remarks...........................................................................113 APPENDICES ......................................................................................................................114 A: Blank Coding Sheet ......................................................................................114 B: Coding Examples from Men’s Basketball Articles........................................115 C: Coding Examples from Women’s Basketball Articles ..................................116 D: Newspaper Sources Used...............................................................................117 E: Online Sources Used ......................................................................................137