“With all due respect for what the ladies are doing…” : A quantitative comparison on the media coverage of men’s and women’s national teams from a gender perspective

By comparing how four separate Swedish national handball and football teams are depicted within their national media outlets, this study describes notable differences within the coverage based on gender. To examine the women’s and men’s national team in football, as well as handball, based on each team’s respective last championship, the study used a quantitative analysis. In a total of 305 printed news articles in four national and regional newspapers, 15 variables were examined to determine the differences in how the subjects had been constructed and described in said articles. The comparison was based on gender-based depictions in both text and accompanying images. The results showed differences when comparing the separate sports, each separate national team, and based on the gender category in which each team competed. The subjects in articles connected to the women’s national teams were constructed as emotional and were depicted in images in a way that focused on beauty aspects more frequently than the men’s national teams. However, many of the variables showed larger discrepancies in comparison between each separate team, regardless of gender category. Furthermore, the majority of the articles were written about the women’s national teams, meaning that the representation did not favor the men - as suggested by previous research. The study suggested that gender stereotypes were not uncommon, but also proved that these were not always necessarily based on gender, but also on the sport which was reported on.