european media guidelines advising against 'sexualized' shots of female athletes mocked online
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serbia's ivana spanovic competes to win the women's long jump event during the diamond league athletics meeting "weltklasse" on sept. 1, 2016 at the letziground stadium in zurich.
fabrice coffrini
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afp/getty images
the european broadcasting union caused a stir online after it released new guidelines discouraging photographers and videographers from capturing photos and videos of female track athletes that appear to be “sexualized.”
while the guidelines, titled “raising the bar: guidelines for respectful media coverage in women’s athletics,” were released last month, thousands on social media responded to the new editorial guidelines after news of it was shared by gaming website dexerto on x tuesday.
“the sexualization of women athletes through selective camera angles and editing choices continues to be a significant concern across many sports broadcasts,” ebu sport executive director glen killane said in the document.
“lingering shots on bodies, low-angle cameras that capture revealing views, and excessive slow-motion replays that serve no technical or storytelling purpose are among the issues observed in the media coverage of women’s athletics competitions today,” he said.
“these choices carry profound implications. they shape audience perception by diverting attention from the remarkable achievements and technical skills of women athletes, and risk perpetuating harmful stereotypes,” he added.
the guidelines were developed in collaboration with european athletics and in consultation with olympians and track and field athletes holly bradshaw, ivana spanovic and blanka vlasic.
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some close-up shots deemed ‘compromising’
the 23-page document included illustrations showing female athletes in various sports, including high jump and pole vault, depicting which angles were considered “positive” and which were considered “negative” for each sport.
most of the “negative angles” were tight shots that showed a female athlete’s crotch or buttocks, which the document deemed “compromising.”
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four of the illustrations were shared on x in a post by dexerto, which had many on social media mocking the guidelines.
“the best part is that the women *chose* those racy uniforms. “a content creator showed the olympic uniform guidelines for women’s attire. they could wear far more clothing, but chose not to,” wrote one person in response to the post.
another added, “i’m assuming everyone knows that women choose their competition uniforms.”
one commenter noted that the tight uniforms of male track and field athletes also leave nothing to the imagination, writing, “some of the men’s spandex is just as revealing!?!”
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