ABSTRACT
In terms of media exposure of women’s professional sports, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) can be discussed as a rare example that receives significant coverage (Bernstein 2002, p.423). As a governing body, the WTA has comparable power to the men’s Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in securing televised match coverage, player earnings and generating a high profile for the women’s game more generally. Given the audience reach and following of women’s tennis, it would make sense that the power of athleticism, sport and training be emphasized when covering these players. However, unlike most of their male counterparts, female tennis players are often hyper-sexualized by outside advertising companies and sponsors. This hyper-sexualization via advertising, an extremely lucrative and influential industry, arguably accounts for female tennis players occupying eight of Forbes’ top ten highest earning female athletes in 2016. 1 While sexuality and gender are prominent in most forms of advertising, it is important to also look at micro-level occurrences and how these are central to female athleticism and its representation in the media (Sherry et al. 2016, p.303).
