The rocker and the heroine: gendered media representations of equestrian sports at the 2012 Olympics

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyse mediated gender relations in equestrian sports in two Swedish morning papers during the 2012 Olympic Games. The fact that men and women compete against each other in the same competitions regulated by the same rules evoked questions in this article regarding whether media reports on equestrian sports are freed from gender constructions and whether gender constructions are less visible in media reports on equestrian sports than in media reports on other sports or even dissolved altogether. The study demonstrates that the media narratives of both the female and male riders are complex and sometimes contradictory. Some narratives can be seen as (gender)norm-breaking, whereas others confirm gender stereotypes. This conclusion points to the possibility of media narratives of equestrian sports as including inclusive masculinity and femininity.

Notes

^1. When we refer to equestrian sport(s), we mean the three disciplines that are on the Olympic programme: dressage, jumping and eventing. Equestrian sports also include disciplines that are more marginalized, such as vaulting and gymkhana, but in this article we focus on the Olympic disciplines. Horse racing and harness racing are not usually referred to as equestrian sports even though the horse and the human sport together.

^2. All excerpts from the Swedish newspapers have been translated by the authors.

^3. ‘To settle for’ is a translation of the Swedish expression ‘att nöja sig med’.