Gender disparities in Iltalehti’s FIFA World Cup reporting : a comparative study of men's and women's tournaments

Abstract

The underrepresentation or unfair portrayal of women in sports has been an issue since women started participating in sports. From Ancient Greece, where concerns were raised about the aesthetics of women engaging in sports, to the European Championships of 2009, where women were ranked based on appearance, women have fought for appreciation, acknowledgment, and recognition for their athletic achievements. This thesis examines how the Finnish news site Iltalehti covered the Women’s 2023 World Cup compared to the Men’s 2022 World Cup reporting, identifying any gendered disparities, underlying ideologies, and patterns of inequality. To do this, articles will be analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methods to assess differences in their quantity and content. With the use of discourse analysis, this thesis will explore how these articles contribute to the perseverance of dominant hegemonic masculinity in the field of sports, as well as how they reinforce gendered stereotypes within football.

The findings recognize how Iltalehti provides space and recognition for women’s football while also taking a stance against gender inequality. Importantly, Iltalehti avoids resorting to the over-sexualization, infantilization, and trivialization of women athletes, which are common findings in related research. However, significant disparities between the coverage of the two tournaments were found, indicating that Iltalehti does place greater emphasis on men’s game, their athletic abilities, and the overall greatness of male football. Despite participating in the rightful discussion of gender inequality in football, Iltalehti lacks concrete actions to narrow the gap between genders by neglecting to treat the two tournaments equally. This perpetuates the issue of media’s underrepresentation and further reinforces the perception of women’s football as less interesting, therefore contributing to the larger societal issue of harmful gendered stereotypes.