Sociology of Sport loumal, 1994, 11, 298-308 O 1994 Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc.

"Battling" Gendered Language: An Analysis of the Language Used by Sports Commentators in a Televised

Coed Tennis Competition

Christy Halbert University of Kentucky

Melissa Latimer West Virginia University

In this study, we examine how sports commentators minimized women's athleticparticipa- tion, abilities, and achievements in the I992 televised "Battle of the Champions" tennis competition between Martina Navratilova and Jimmy Connors. Using content analysis, we found clear differences in naming practices, adjective and adverb use, amount and type of praise and criticism, and character flaws attributed to the players. In the unique case of male versus female athletic competition it also becomes apparent that commentators "gender" the athletic event. Although women have made great strides in sport, their achievements will continue to be meaningless as long as sports broadcasters undermine, trivialize, and minimize women's performances through biased commentaries.

Duns cette etude, nous examinons la fagon dont les commentateurs sportifs ont minimisk la participation sportive, les habiletks et les accomplissements des femmes lors de la "Bataille des Champions," une compktition de tennis tklkviske opposant Martina Navrati- lova cf Jimmy Connors. Par le biais d'une analyse de contenu, nous avons trouvk des diffkrences marqukes entre les deux joueurs pour ce qui est de la f a ~ o n dont on les a appele', les objectifs et adverbes utilisks pour les derire, la quantitk et le type d'kloges et de critiques qu'on leur a faites, ainsi que les dkfauts de caract2re dont on les a affublks. Duns ce cas unique de compktition sportive entre homme et femme, il est apparent que les commentateurs "sexualisent" l'kvenement. Quoique les femmes aient fait de grands pas en avant en sport, leurs accomplissements seront vus comme insignifiants tant que les personnalitks de la tklkvision continueront cf amoindrir et minimiser les performances des femmes par leurs commentaires biaisks.

Although women's participation in athletics has grown in recent years, the male sports arena continues to marginalize and trivialize women's athletic accomplishments. Even with the advent in the United States of Title IX1, women are still fighting for equal opportunities in organized sports, and their status as athletes continues to be challenged.

It was against this backdrop that in 1973, Billie Jean King challenged Bobby Riggs to a tennis match that would be seen as one of the biggest victories

Christy Halbert is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0027. Melissa Latimer is with the Department of Sociol- ogy and Anthropology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506-6326.

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for women both on and off the tennis court.2 A television audience of over 50 million watched the "Battle of the Sexes" as Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in three straight sets. Twenty years later, Martina Navratilova and Jimmy Connors played against each other in the "Battle of the Champions." The match was televised on pay-per-view cable television, and 14,000 people attended the match.

In this paper we examine how sports commentators minimize women's athletic participation, abilities, and achievements in televised sports competitions. Using content analysis, we analyze and compare the language used by sports commentators to describe Martina Navratilova and Jimmy Connors in the 1992 televised "Battle of the Champions" coed tennis competition.

The Navratilova/Connors match provides a unique opportunity for ex- panding our understanding of the linguistic construction and reconstruction of gender differences because ''direct comparisons of the images of male and female athletes in the same or similar sports are lacking" (Hilliard, 1984, p. 251). There are no analyses of images presented by sports commentators in competitions where women and men are directly competing against each other.

Review of Significant Literature

In her book Man Made Language Dale Spender (1980) argued that language shapes (and consequently limits) our view of the world and our perception of reality, but it is also a tool we use for constructing and reconstructing that reality. If our language contains gender biases, stereotypes, and inequities, continued use of that language (a) reflects, reinforces, and recreates inequality and (b) limits our possibilities for self-definition (Richardson, 1993). The literature on language, gender differentiation, and inequality is extensive (Eitzen & Zinn, 1993; Henley & Freeman, 1989; Messner, Duncan, & Jensen, 1993; Nelson, 1991; Richardson, 1993; Spender, 1980; Thorne, Kramarae, & Henley, 1985) and it documents how language "reflects and helps maintain the secondary status of women" in our society (Eitzen & Zinn, 1993, p. 398).

One institution that has played a large role in perpetuating this male domi- nance is the sports media. These media have helped to perpetuate male dominance by (a) excluding women completely from coverage, (b) having very little coverage of female athletes (which distorts the public's image of the percentage of women interested and participating in sports), (c) covering only those events such as figure skating and tennis that reinforce stereotypical feminine images of female athletes (Hilliard, 1984), and (d) minimizing women's athletic achievements through sports commentaries (Theberge & Cronk, 1986). This study focuses only on the final aspect, the language of sports commentators.

It is important to analyze the language of television sport commentators because of the relationship between sports and masculinity. Several researchers have argued that sport is one of the few remaining strongholds of masculinity in U.S. society (Duncan, 1990; Eitzen & Zinn, 1993; Hilliard, 1984; Messner, 1988; Messner et al., 1993; Theberge & Cronk, 1986). Duncan (1990) argued that "sport is one sphere that has been consistently identified with men and masculinity, a place where, until quite recently, men have been able to demonstrate their superiority over women" (p. 40). Consequently, "women's movement into

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sport represents a genuine quest by women for equality, control over their own bodies, and self-definition, and as such it represents a challenge to the ideological basis of male domination" (Messner, 1988, p. 198).

In addition, the language of sports commentators is important because of the power sport commentators have in shaping and mediating the image of an event for television viewers. Sport commentators and other production staff who organize the information for the viewer's consumption "frame" the event for the viewer (Gitlin, 1980; Goffman, 1974; Messner et al., 1993). This media framing profoundly affects the viewer's social construction of the program's meaning, and sports commentators' use of gender-biased language reinforces and contributes to the maintenance of social inequalities (Messner et al., 1993). Messner, Duncan, and Jensen's extensive research on gendered language in televised sport provides the basis for our study, and the remainder of this section draws on their work unless otherwise noted.

One way in which women's athletic participation can be minimized is through asymmetrical gender marking. By consistently defining women's athletic events as "women's" athletic events while men's athletic events are defined as athletic events, women are marked as "other" (Duncan, 1990; Hall, 1988; Mes- sner et al., 1993; Nelson, 1991) and men as the norm, the standard, the universal. Gender marking women's athletic events designates them as "the other, derivative (and by implication, inferior) to the men's" (p. 224).

Another way of trivializing women's athletic performances is through a gendered hierarchy of naming. Two ways of constructing a hierarchical naming system based on gender are to (a) refer to female athletes as girls, ladies, and women while male athletes are consistently called men, and (b) call female athletes by their first names and men by their last names. The term girl implies immaturity and incompetence (Richardson, 1993) while the term lady implies helplessness, elegance, and lack of athletic abilities. In contrast, man connotes competence, maturity, and completeness (Richardson, 1993). By "referring more 'formally' to dominants, and more 'informally' (or 'endearingly') to subordinates linguistically grants the former adult status, while marking the latter in an infanti- lizing way" (p. 225). When television commentators call female athletes by their first names or call them ladieslgirls, their language "reinforces any already- existing negative attitudes or ambivalences about women's sports and women athletes" (p. 226).

F'roviding male athletes with more praise and less criticism than women athletes also undermines women's athletic abilities and performances, and the type of praise used can differentiate athletes. For example, studies on language and race differentiation have found that white athletes are more likely to be praised for their hard work and intelligence while black athletes are more likely to be praised for their natural athleticism. In terms of gender, researchers have found that commentators tend to focus more on (and praise more for) women's physical appearance (i.e., how they look) rather than how they perform (Duncan, 1990; Duncan & Hasbrook, 1988; Halpert, 1988; Nelson, 1991). By giving women athletes more praise for how they look than how they perform, sports commentators reinforce stereotypical feminine sex role expectations and thus significantly undermine women's involvement in sports as well as their athletic achievements.

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Researchers have also found that sports commentators undermine or neutral- ize women athletes' strength, abilities, participation, and performances by using ambivalent descriptive language (Duncan & Hasbrook, 1988; Halpert, 1988; Hilliard, 1984; Messner et al., 1993; Nelson, 1991). For example, commentators frequently have used the term conjidence (as opposed to strength) to describe female athletes' strength, but this is not the case for male athletes. Sports commen- tators also send mixed messages about women athletes by grouping contradictory words to describe women's strength (i.e., "she's a strong girl"). Positive com- mentaries followed by negative commentaries or vice versa (e.g., "Steffi Graff has one of the best forehands in women's tennis, but she's definitely having trouble with it today") produce mixed messages about women's athletic achievements.

Character portraits or the way sports commentators talk about success and failure differently for women and men also produces contradictory messages. Researchers found that men "appeared to succeed through a combination of talent, instinct, intelligence, size, quickness, hard work, and risk-taking" (p. 227). In addition, "men were far less often framed as failures-men appeared to miss shots and [lose] matches not so much because of their own individual shortcom- ings (nervousness, losing control, etc.), but because of the power, strength, and intelligence of their (male) opponents" (p. 227). Hilliard (1984) also found that the flaws or character traits associated with male athletes are attributed to exaggerated masculinity: "They are too determined, too aggressive, too indepen- dent, obsessed with perfection, too stoic, too concerned with maintaining their privacy and their individuality" (p. 260). Sports commentators attributed wom- en's success to hard work, talent, and intelligence but "commonly cited along with these attributes were emotion, luck, togetherness, and family" (Messner et al., 1993, p. 227). When women lost, they were "more likely to be framed as failures due to some combination of nervousness, lack of confidence, lack of being 'comfortable', lack of aggression, and lack of stamina" (p. 227). One character traittflaw associated with female athletes is an "inability to fully develop their immense physical talent" (Hilliard, 1984, p. 254). Female athletes are depicted as flawed heroines or "persons seriously limited in some respects who thus fail to become fully developed" (Hilliard, 1984, p. 252). Other character traits associated with female athletes are "a tendency toward excessive depen- dence toward others [and] emotional difficulties that include anxiety and depres- sion" (Hilliard, 1984, p. 254). The flaws associated with female athletes tend to suggest that the roles of woman and athlete are incompatible in American society (Hilliard, 1992).

Methods

The "Battle of the Champions" (a new name with old implications3) was played in September 1992. Both players agreed to a rule modification whereby Navratilova gained 18 inches of each doubles alley, and Connors was limited to one serve. Connors won the match in two sets (7-5 and 6-2). The broadcast was announced by three commentators-Bany Thompkins (play-by-play) and Betsy Nagelson and Bobby Riggs4 (color commentary). The match was the finale of a celebrity tennis tournament in Las Vegas, and a roving reporter, Jim Hill, inter- viewed celebrity members of the audience.

302 Halbert and Latimer

The match was videotaped, and a transcript of the commentary was pre- pared. In order to increase reliability, we reviewed the transcript separately and later compared our findings. One researcher used an inductive approach by analyzing the transcription prior to a review of the literature. The other researcher used a deductive approach by using the literature as a general framework for coding the transcript. Despite our different approaches, our coding schemes and frequencies were nearly identical.

The following content analysis of the "Battle of the Champions" focuses on the language used by the three primary commentators. However, due to the extensive amount of attention paid to the opinions of audience members, we also include their comments.

Results

The analysis is divided into six major areas identified in the literature review: asymmetrical gender marking, gendered hierarchy of naming, ratio of praise to criticism, type of praise, character portraits, and gendering of the athletic event.

Asymmetrical Gender Marking

Asymmetrical gender marking occurred less frequently than we expected (Messner et al., 1993). Sports commentators gender marked Navratilova 11 times while Connors was gender marked only twice. More significant than the frequency of gender marking were the ways in which Navratilova's femaleness was empha- sized. For example, commentators affirmed the unquestioned universality of men's tennis by stating

Jimmy Connors' return of serve was considered to be the best in the game.

That's the thing that set her apart in women's tennis for so many years. (italics ours)

In addition, one commentator noted that Connors, in his entire tennis career, had never played against a woman. Later, another commentator stated that Navratilova brought in a young left-handed male tennis player to practice with. Connors, on the other hand,

wasn't too concerned about who he's practicing with. The first day he got here, Vitas wasn't here so he got someone from the . . . to come over and practice with him.

Focusing on Navratilova's femaleness and the extra effort to prepare for this match constructed her as the other while Connors remained the standard.

Gendered Hierarchy of Naming

When making general reference to the athletes, the commentators named Navratilova (N = 271) almost 50 times more than Connors (N = 225). In addition,

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commentators used Connors's last name (N = 24) 5 times more than Navratilova's (N = 5). However, commentators used Martina's first name only about 2 times more than Jimmy's (207 vs. 109). Jimmy Connors's full name was used almost twice as often as Martina Navratilova's (92 vs. 59).

These frequencies are more significant when examined within the sentence structure. Within the same sentence, Jimmy Connors's full name was used in conjunction with Martina's first name 19 t imee the reverse did not occur. Along the same lines, Connors's last name was used with Martina's first name a total of 8 times-the reverse only occurred once. This is not explained by controlling for the gender of the commentator. Although the female commentator was more likely to refer to both players by their first names, she still referred more often to the last name of the male participant.'

Two of the most obviously demeaning descriptors used to describe Navrati- lova were the word girl (used 4 times) and lady (used 3 times) throughout the course of the broadcast. In fact, Jimmy Connors set the tone for the match when he won the coin toss but said, "You know what, I'll let the lady choo~e."~ Connors was referred to once as a gentleman and twice as a guy, but he was never called a boy.

Ratio of Praise to Criticism

Difference in the amount of praise and criticism given to the players is another obvious way the commentators created gender inequalities. The commen- tators praised Martina Navratilova a total of 29 times, but this number is insignifi- cant when compared to the 70 praises that Jimmy Connors received. Similarly, Navratilova received 41 criticisms compared to the 16 received by Connors.

Part of these differences can be explained by the fact that Connors won the match. However, these praise/criticism ratios were consistent during times when the outcome of the match was unclear. At 3-3 in the first set, one commenta- tor stated explicitly that the match was even; however, the score for praise given at this point was 30 to Connors and 7 to Navratilova. In contrast, Martina had 12 criticisms while Jimmy had only 5. The ratio of praise given to Connors compared to Navratilova was 4.29:l when the match was tied. Ironically, the ratio decreased to 2.41:l when it was clear Connors had won the match.

Type of Praise

The sports commentators praised Navratilova equally for her hard work and natural athleticism. For example, one commentator stated,

Martina's just one of the greatest athletes that's ever played the game. She's in unbelievably good physical shape. She's quick. She works out very hard. She keeps herself in fantastic shape. And she really works hard at being quick.

The same commentator immediately followed her earlier praise with this:

And I think, Craig, and Martina is very interested in the whole mental aspect of the game right now. That's the thing that in the last couple of years, she's improved immensely.

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The quote provided could easily refer to strategy and relaxation; however, her mental toughness was questioned throughout the broadcast. In fact, her emotional vulnerabilities were referenced 17 times, and a lengthy discussion toward the end of the match addressed Navratilova's history of mental vulnerability. Thus, within this context, following comments about Navratilova's hard work and athleticism with statements that question her "mental" toughness, this commenta- tor significantly diminished the-initial praise.

In addition, there were differences in the verbs commentators used to describe Navratilova's and Connors's play. Jimmy Connors was said to "punish [the ball]" "work the room," "[play] smart," and "pounce [on the ball]." Furthermore, Connors played "brilliant points" and had "perfect balance" and "excellent footwork." Navratilova was still more often described as being "hesi- tant," "lucky," and "at the point of desperation," and to have "lost her confi- dence.'' (In contrast, it was assumed that Connors's level of confidence remained high throughout the match because his confidence level was never mentioned.)

Although commentators have undermined women's sports participation by focusing on female athletes' physical appearance, Navratilova's physical appearance/attractiveness was not once mentioned by the commentators. One possible explanation for this absence can be found in Hilliard's (1984) analysis of magazine articles on leading male and female professional tennis players. 'Hilliard (1984) found that references to physical beauty "are made to new figures and lower-ranking players rather than tour leaders such as Navratilova, Evert Lloyd, or Austin" (p. 253). It is also possible that Navratilova's sexuality and societal myths about lesbianism made it more difficult for the commentators to rely on traditional ways of describing her.

Ambivalent praises and criticisms are also worth noting (these are the phrases containing both positive and negative remarks). Navratilova not only received less praise, she was also more likely to receive praise that was ambivalent (referenced 14 times). For example, a commentator said,

So Navratilova continues to hold her own serve-might not be pretty but it's getting the job done, so far. She got a little bit lucky, the ball hit the net, the ball sat up for her a little bit, and she was able to get some pretty good angle on that.

Character Portraits

One of the most popular ways commentators label female athletes is by emphasizing the female athlete's emotional/vulnerable side. In sports, emotions and vulnerabilities are devalued, and reference to a female athlete's supposed "female" attributes trivializes her abilities as a "real" athlete (i.e., one who is stoic and independent). While only a few references were made about Connors's emotions, the commentators pointed out Navratilova's feelings and emotional vulnerabilities 17 times throughout the match. Overall, Navratilova was presented as being more "readable" than Connors. For example, one commentator re- marked,

Martina wears every emotion right there on the sleeve, you know what she's thinking-it's in her face. You can just tell with her body language.

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Furthermore, Navratilova's relationships with her coach and with her mentor/ friend Billie Jean King were also emphasized. In fact, Navratilova's reliance on others for emotional support and strategy was referenced 5 times. Connors was never referenced in this way, which implies total athletic independence. In refer- ence to Navratilova's coach, commentators said,

And I do think a real important element, mentally, has been the fact that Martina's been able to have Craig--Craig down there sitting with her. Craig has been coaching Martina for the last four years, and he's far more than a coach to Martina, he's like a brother. . . . they have a wonderful relationship.

I think having someone on the court with her is an immense help, just someone to talk to. I mean, that helps an awful lot.

In contrast, the commentators portrayed Connors's demeanor very differently. Seven times they referred to the way Connors "worked the crowd/room," refer- ring to his showmanship:

And again, remember Jimmy Connors's a guy, when he feels he's got the match won, that's when he starts to work the crowd.

Gendering the Athletic Event

Other statements and language used throughout the broadcast were subtle signals of the commentators' biases. For example, the commentators reminded the audience of the handicap situation 39 times.' This is ironic given that the purpose of a handicap is that neither player has an advantage; the goal is not to handicap one player to the advantage of the other.

Even before the first ball was played, discussion of Navratilova's "chances of winning" and the strategy necessary for her to win were topics for the commentators. Some key phrases in discussions of Navratilova's strategy and chances of winning follow:

What does Martina have to do to win this match. . . . She just can't afford that.

I give Martina a lot of credit; she's playing Jimmy right to the standstill, boy.

She really had a chance to win this thing, and she's the one that just didn't execute.

And almost to reemphasize the fact that Navratilova's gender was the main reason she did not have much of a chance of winning, one commentator said after Connors made an outstanding shot: "No girl would ever have [got] that."9 The same commentator made the following remark earlier in the match:

306 Halbert and Latimer

Amazing part to me . . . is that Martina's been able to stay with him, and play with him. And at 40-love game, got back to deuce again. And Jimmy did finally win it, but boy, he hasn't had any easy time with this at all. This is not the way I saw this match.

In an interview before the match, Billie Jean King seemed pessimistic when she said, "So what's really vital if Martina's going to have an opportunity to beat Jimmy is to really get a lot of first serves in."

One commentator challenged Martina Navratilova's competitiveness (an attribute of a serious athlete) by saying, "I think the point is Martina has shown that she can be competitive," even though Navratilova is a 20-year veteran of professional tennis. And one member of the audience remarked, "I'd like to see Martina win just so they'll have a rematch," a hint that he suspected Connors's pride would demand a rematch, while Navratilova would be a content loser.

In fact, male-pride was one of the main themes throughout the broadcast.

Well, this is the mark of a great champion like Jimmy. Martina's a great champion, too. But from the man's point of view, he has not played a great match, but he's still in a commanding position, right now.

Well, you know, it's really hard, when you play with men your whole life you don't want to slam the ball at the girl. You've got to be a little gentlemanly. But he has to remember when he's on the court it's not his friend; it's an enemy, until the match is over. What does she have to lose? Women aren't expected to beat men, and she has everything to win. She has nothing to lose.

One commentator closed the broadcast with this remark:

Boy oh boy, I was surprised that Navratilova could play Jimmy this close. It was an exciting match, it was close. . . . but it does prove that women can play with men if they get a reasonable handicap, a fair handicap, and boy she proved that tonight. She played great, and gave Jimmy a great match.

Athletic events are perceived to be gender neutral because it is a male domain. Thus, masculinity is the standard and is genderless. By focusing on the "feminine" aspects of the game (i.e., the "handicap," her chances of winning, strategies for preventing a loss, and her competitiveness), the commentators brought gender into a "nongendered" arena. As gender enters, so does a need to focus on "masculine" aspects of the game (i.e., male pride).

Discussion

In the case of a male versus female athletic contest, it is worth speculating if the commentators' language would have changed significantly if the female participant had won. However, as noted previously, commentators' biases seem to preclude outcomes or performances in the case of such athletic competitions. Like previous researchers, we have shown that sports commentators construct/

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reconstruct traditional gender boundaries through asymmetrical gender marking, hierarchical naming, ratio of praise to criticism, type of praise, and character portraits.

In the unique case of a tennis competition where a woman and a man play directly against each other, traditional gender boundaries become less clear. Our research demonstrates that sports commentators responded to this ambiguity by overemphasizing Navratilova's femaleness. The feminization of the female athlete results in a similar gendering of the game itself.

Commentators tell us what to watch out for, help us interpret situations, and explain things that our novice eyes might have missed. For this reason, the language used by commentators to describe women athletes is particularly significant. This language reflects present attitudes about women's participation in sport, but it also reinforces and educates viewers on what is "reality."

Since television plays a significant role in an audience's interpretation of specific events, it is imperative that we pay attention to the signals that are presented to us through commentary. Although women have made great strides in sport, their achievements are meaningless as long as those achievements are trivialized or only put in the context of feminine sport, rather than the context of a genderless sports realm.

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Notes

'Title IX of the Educational Amendment of 1972 prohibits sex discrimination in school athletic programs.

IRiggs had defeated Margaret Court of Australia in the first "Battle of the Sexes." 3Although this was supposed to be a contest between two great champions of tennis,

there were nine references to fighting-references used as synonyms to the word battle, as in "battle of the sexes."

4Though his excessive use of gender-biased language suggests otherwise, Riggs feels that his attitude toward women athletes has improved over time. In reference to his match with Billie Jean King, Riggs said, "I was a male chauvinist pig at the time."

'The court-side announcer introduced Connors as "Mr. Jimmy Connors" and Navratilova as "Martina Navratilova."

6Martina Navratilova returned the "favor" by electing to receive. Because the advantage in tennis is in serving, it is clear that Navratilova was acknowledging and refusing Connors's pretense of chivalry.

'There was very little difference in man/woman terminology. In fact, woman was used only three times in indirect reference to Navratilova.

SAt one point, a visual tally of "extra court advantage" revealed that Navratilova won 7 points out of the 12 times she used the extra alley.

9Navratilova's gender is further emphasized through references to Connors "taking power off his shot," "giving her points," "not playing his regular game," and "playing it safe" (total references = 21).

Acknowledgment

The authors wish to thank the anonymous reviewers, as well as Melanie Otis, Yvonne Simerman, Gerald Slatin, and Ann Tickamyer, for their helpful comments on this manuscript.

Note: Both authors contributed equally to the manuscript.