Freedom for Expression or a Space of Oppression? Social Media and the Female @thlete

Authors: Osborne, J., Kavanagh, E. and Litchfield, C.

Pages: 157-172

ISBN: 9781800431973

DOI: 10.1108/978-1-80043-196-620211010

Abstract:

Social media provides a space for female athletes to create their own media (and advertising) in order to share their lives through stories presented online - a phenomenon, that to date has been ignored in traditional media spaces. Research suggests that athletes more broadly can take a more active role in their public presentation across a wide variety of platforms (Lebel and Danylchuk, 2012) and share more aspects of their identity than typically portrayed in mainstream media coverage (Sanderson, 2013, 2014). More specifically, virtual worlds have created platforms through which female athletes can share content and present themselves to fans or followers of sport in their own way and with relative freedom (Litchfield and Kavanagh, 2018). While it is acknowledged that social media can empower the female user, simultaneously, these spaces have proven to be hostile and can serve to oppress or marginalise individuals and groups (Kavanagh et al., 2016; Litchfield et al., 2018). An intersectional, third-wave feminist lens will be adopted in this chapter in order to examine such a dichotomy (Bruce, 2016). This approach will analyse the disjunction between the rise of the female '@thlete’ and their adoption of contemporary digital sporting spaces and the presence of a darker narrative permeating digital environments through highlighting the presence of online vitriol and intersectional abuse (racist, sexist, homophobic, etc.) that athletes may face while navigating lives online.

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/37993/

Source: Scopus

Freedom for expression or a space of oppression? Social media and the female @thlete

Authors: Osborne, J., Kavanagh, E. and Litchfield, C.

Editors: Bowes, A. and Culvin, A.

Pages: 157-174

Publisher: Emerald

Place of Publication: United Kingdom

ISBN: 978-1-80043-197-3

Abstract:

Social media provides a space for female athletes to create their own media (and advertising) in order to share their lives through stories presented online – a phenomenon, that to date has been ignored in traditional media spaces. Research suggests that athletes more broadly can take a more active role in their public presentation across a wide variety of platforms (Lebel & Danylchuk, 2012) and share more aspects of their identity than typically portrayed in mainstream media coverage (Sanderson, 2013; Sanderson, 2014). More specifically, virtual worlds have created platforms through which female athletes can share content and present themselves to fans or followers of sport in their own way and with relative freedom (Litchfield & Kavanagh, 2018). While it is acknowledged that social media can empower the female user, simultaneously, these spaces have proven to be hostile and can serve to oppress or marginalise individuals and groups (Kavanagh, Jones & Sheppard-Marks, 2016; Litchfield, Kavanagh, Osborne & Jones, 2018). An intersectional, third wave feminist lens will be adopted in this chapter in order to examine such a dichotomy (Bruce, 2016). This approach will analyse the disjunction between the rise of the female ‘@thlete’ and their adoption of contemporary digital sporting spaces and the presence of a darker narrative permeating digital environments through highlighting the presence of online vitriol and intersectional abuse (racist, sexist, homophobic, etc.) that athletes may face while navigating lives online.

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/37993/

Source: Manual

CD EDITING - Freedom for Expression or a Space of Oppression? Social Media and the Female @thlete

Authors: Osborne, J., Kavanagh, E. and Litchfield, C.

Editors: Bowes, A. and Culvin, A.

Pages: 157-172

Publisher: Emerald

Place of Publication: United Kingdom

ISBN: 9781800431973

Abstract:

Social media provides a space for female athletes to create their own media (and advertising) in order to share their lives through stories presented online - a phenomenon, that to date has been ignored in traditional media spaces. Research suggests that athletes more broadly can take a more active role in their public presentation across a wide variety of platforms (Lebel and Danylchuk, 2012) and share more aspects of their identity than typically portrayed in mainstream media coverage (Sanderson, 2013, 2014). More specifically, virtual worlds have created platforms through which female athletes can share content and present themselves to fans or followers of sport in their own way and with relative freedom (Litchfield and Kavanagh, 2018). While it is acknowledged that social media can empower the female user, simultaneously, these spaces have proven to be hostile and can serve to oppress or marginalise individuals and groups (Kavanagh et al., 2016; Litchfield et al., 2018). An intersectional, third-wave feminist lens will be adopted in this chapter in order to examine such a dichotomy (Bruce, 2016). This approach will analyse the disjunction between the rise of the female '@thlete’ and their adoption of contemporary digital sporting spaces and the presence of a darker narrative permeating digital environments through highlighting the presence of online vitriol and intersectional abuse (racist, sexist, homophobic, etc.) that athletes may face while navigating lives online.

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/37993/

Source: BURO EPrints