This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Ohio U chapter.
With feminism—yes, the “f” word—on the rise within many young college students, it’s no surprise that the media is joining in and portraying women in a positive way now more than ever. With the Winter Olympics in Sochi, there really is no better time than to look at women’s accomplishments athletically and how the media is *pause for effect* portraying women in positive light. Since the very first Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix, France in 1924, men have outnumbered women in terms of competitors. Even since then, ski jumping was an event only reserved to men—until this year’s 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia where women are competing.
Women were expected to respond to excuses such as, “It’ll ruin your ovaries!” or “You’ll break your knees!” for reasoning to the exclusion of women’s ski jump. Although women are almost twice as likely to have a ligament injury, said Dr. Sabrina Strickland in a CBS article, ruining reproductive organs seemed a bit obtuse to women competitors and their coaches. Women’s ski jump in the Olympics is basically the OK to women having the right to their own bodies—a win for the feminists. But what else have the women Olympians been up to in Sochi?
In the slope style competition, U.S. boarder Jamie Anderson (above) is taking the spotlight with a CBS News article calling her “the greatest slopestyle snowboarder of her generation.” Not only a positive image for women athletes, CBS is portraying a woman who reached her goal in a highly respectful way for all women to take note of.
Julia Lipnitskaia (above), a 15-year-old from Russia, is becoming the most talked about athlete at the Olympics after the women’s team free skate figure skating event. The men competing in the team free skate have since fallen behind her media spotlight. Way to go, girl. This is not an all-inclusive list, of course, for the women competitors are setting records and making headlines. Jenny Jones is Britain’s first ever Winter Olympian bronze medal winner. Julia Mancuso (below) now has four career Olympic medals in Alpine events—the most medals for any American woman.
Why can’t women always be portrayed in this manner? It shouldn’t have to take a sporting event to showcase women the way they ought to be showcased—positive, strong, and capable of doing exactly what they set out to do. What do you think?