tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14100987.post114831270881345246..comments2024-01-12T15:30:29.411-05:00Comments on After Atalanta: What's her name again?kenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09975351996302093224noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14100987.post-1148441947391772592006-05-23T23:39:00.000-04:002006-05-23T23:39:00.000-04:00I wasn't going for angry, just sarcastic. When ke...I wasn't going for angry, just sarcastic. When ken said he "couldn't fathom" an NBA promo like that I thought he had overstepped. We have seen some quite prominent promos like that featuring NBA players.<BR/><BR/>I recognize that female athletes are more likely to be called by their first names (or both names) than male athletes. I've been guilty of it myself. It seems to me that fans of women's sports are more likely to call the players that way also. I'm not sure whether that's a cause or an effect of the way the sports media deals with it.<BR/><BR/>Another factor may be that female athletes are more likely to change last names than male athletes, so calling them by first names could be less confusing. A casual fan may not realize that Mistie Bass is now Mistie Williams or be able to keep up with whether Wendy Palmer is using the -Daniel appendage this year or not.<BR/><BR/>There's also a racial element. All those male athletes who are commonly called by their first name are black. You won't be likely to hear Steve Nash be called just Steve, no matter how many MVPs he wins. That crosses into women's sports as well. Sue Bird is more likely to be called Bird than Swin Cash is to be called Cash.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, I'm sure the intent of the promo was positive. They were trying to get across that a typical sports fan watching ESPN should know these players well enough that only a first name is needed to identify them, much like you would with LeBron or Kobe.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14100987.post-1148398598712369732006-05-23T11:36:00.000-04:002006-05-23T11:36:00.000-04:00Errr...that respectively should read respectfully....Errr...that respectively should read respectfully. Sorry pilight.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14100987.post-1148398501016768332006-05-23T11:35:00.000-04:002006-05-23T11:35:00.000-04:00Pilight,You're right to point out that male athlet...Pilight,<BR/>You're right to point out that male athletes do achieve first name basis. (Although I'm not sure what brought on the angry sarcasm...the folks who read this blog are pretty open minded and willing to engage different points of view that are respectively and constructively conveyed). <BR/><BR/>But I think what ken's is doing is using this promo to bring to light the overall tendency of sports media to use first names for women and last names for men. Indeed one study shows that "Women are more likely to be referred to by their first names about four times as often as the men, who were referred to by their last names almost twice as often as women." <BR/><BR/>Source: Alina Bernstein, Is It Time for a Victory Lap? Changes in the Media Coverage of Women in Sport, 37 Int'l Review for the Sociology of Sport 415, 421 (2002).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14100987.post-1148337019464734002006-05-22T18:30:00.000-04:002006-05-22T18:30:00.000-04:00Yeah, I could never imagine a promo that calls Kob...Yeah, I could never imagine a promo that calls Kobe or LeBron by just their first name. We should go back to the good old days of "Like Mike".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14100987.post-1148324248338431452006-05-22T14:57:00.000-04:002006-05-22T14:57:00.000-04:00I agree that sports media overwhelmingly tends to ...I agree that sports media overwhelmingly tends to infantilize women athletes by asymmetrical practice of calling them by their first names (like you would a child) instead of their last (like you would an adult).<BR/><BR/>It is possible, however, that in the context of this promo, the intent was postive: to equate these athletes with other cultural icons who are of such high status that are recognizable by only their first names (like Elvis, Jesus, or Oprah). <BR/><BR/>But in any event, it's hard to separate this one instance from the overwhelming tendency to call women althetes but not men by their first names and view it in the positive light it may have been intended. <BR/><BR/>-EBuz (who is, on a related note, regularly vexed by students who presume they can call me by my first name when they would not be so presumptious with other professors)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com