Brooklyn - Final Project

Twitter link: https://twitter.com/StrongGirlsRock

For my media activist project I chose to focus on how women are depicted in
the media. To narrow that large concept down, I specifically wanted to highlight the
talk around female women and body image within sports. Men, be it football players
or basketball players or boxers, are always praised for their ability and their
accomplishments and what they look like is an after thought. Most times the latter
isn’t even a thought. However, women athletes are judged by the shape of their body
rather than what they have won. This does not help young women who look up to
them and it certainly does not help the stereotypical stigma between genders.
For these reasons, I chose to create a twitter account to combat these
stereotypes. An article from the BBC stated, “Apps like Instagram, twitter and
tumblr influence the way youth see their bodies and describe them. It’s the main
means of communicating with each other” (Roxby, BBC). Twitter is such modern day
tool within the attention dichotomy of our society. Therefore, my messages can be
shared over multiple sites through multiple people My goal is to use the hashtag
#EveryStrengthIsSexy on photographs of prominent female athletes to relay the
message that being strong doesn’t make you masculine, brolic or manly.
Furthermore, I made it a point to include a diverse group of athletes in what sports
and what race they identify as. A study found that “non-white athletes are more
accepting of the way their body looks through the eyes of the media compared to
white athletes” (Bissel, 2). However, African-American athletes are criticized in a
stereotypical way compared to their white counterparts. They are “angry” “hyper
masculine” and “ape-like” to name a few. By including women that all look different
will convey the message that every strength is sexy, every body beautiful no matter
the color, gender, or shape.

Athletes pictured
Serena Williams- Tennis
Ronda Rousey- UFC
Misty Copeland- Ballet
Christmas Abbot- CrossFit
Skylar Diggins- Basketball
Billie Jean King- Tennis

Works Cited
Bissell, K. L., & Zhou, P. (2004). Must‐See TV or ESPN: Entertainment and Sports
Media Exposure and Body‐Image Distortion in College Women. Journal of
Communication, 54(1), 5-21.
Roxby, P. (October 2014). Does Social Media Impact on Body Image. BBC News