Sexuality, Sports, and Body Image: Perception of Female Athletes

Abstract

Throughout history, both women and homosexuals have been marginalized and subjected to ideals of appearance and gender roles of the patriarchal society of Western culture. Because some people may believe lesbians should exude a masculine appearance, and female athletes challenge traditional gender roles by their participation in sports, the two groups intersect in the world of athletics. The media often emphasize the sexuality of female athletes by focusing on their sexual orientation or femininity. This thesis sought to understand how sexual orientation or appearance of female athletes may influence perceptions about the athletes. The thesis used two photos of female athletes to examine perceptions about the sexuality and appearance of female athletes. A total of 344 participants, including college students at a Midwest university and participants on social media websites, responded to an online survey that used fictitious magazine features with pictures of hypothetical female athletes (hyper-feminine, neutral) in which the feature focused on the heterosexuality or homosexuality of the athlete, or did not focus on the athlete's sexual orientation at all. In answering six research questions posed about participant attitudes toward women, female athletes, sexual orientation beliefs, and perceptions about the athletes pictured, independent t-tests and analysis of variance tests were conducted to analyze participant responses. Consistent with examined literature, participants perceived the sexualized athlete to be more feminine and more likely to be straight, and the neutral athlete as more masculine and more likely to be a lesbian. Interestingly, participants believed that both athletes were equally skilled, regardless of their appearance or sexual orientation. These findings suggest that although the media may focus on a female athlete's appearance or sexual orientation, people are more likely to focus on the athlete's skill and athleticism.