Simone Biles. Aly Raisman. Simone Manuel. Katie Ledecky. Bringing home the gold, making their country proud, inspiring thousands of little girls to work hard and follow their dreams.
And these names, while incredibly brilliant, are really the only female ones we know. We haven’t heard so much about Tori Bowie (Track and Field silver medalist), Ibtihaj Mahammad (Fencing broze medalist), or the entire US Women’s Rowing team, who brought home the gold in eights on Saturday. Nope, in between inadequate coverage of live matches and a ridiculous amount of commercials, we’re getting a version of the Olympics that’s watered down at best, and sexist at worst.
It’s no secret that NBC’s coverage of the Olympics has been criticized as sexist. From giving credit to the husbands of female athletes, to comparing the incredible US Women’s gymnastics team to a bunch of girls who “might as well be standing in the middle of the mall,” we’ve seen how sexism is still definitely a part of sports commentary. However, there’s also something wrong with the way that the Olympics are being broadcast.
Chief marketing officer for NBC, John Miller, caught some heat for making these comments right before the games, saying, “The people who watch the Olympics are not particularly sports fans. More women watch the Games than men, and for the women, they’re less interested in the result and more interested in the journey. It’s sort of like the ultimate reality show and mini-series wrapped into one.” Why such controversy? These are more than just words; they’re reflected in the way that the Games are being covered. We don’t get live coverage of each actual event; instead, we get disproportionate coverage of swimming, gymnastics, and American success stories. In other words, we only have the option of viewing where we’re doing well, where networks can rely on the same tired narratives about men who are gritty competitors and women who manage to fill some traditionally feminine role in addition to being athletes. The Olympics are being broadcast like a soap opera, NBC’s attempt to "cater" to its female viewership.
This is maybe the worst marketing strategy that NBC could have gone with. Not only is it insulting to viewers’ intelligence, but it downplays the talent of so many athletes, male and female alike.
What NBC fails to realize is that the Olympics are quite possibly the most empowering series of sporting events in existence. There is literally no other event in the world where we can see so many athletes, all gathered in the same place, all competing for the highest honor imaginable, where the level of prestige earned for women is the same for that of men. More women watch the Olympics not because of the “journey,” but because it’s one of the few places in the sporting world where we’re taken just as seriously as our male counterparts. We’re not tuning in for drama; we’re tuning in to see incredible athletes kick ass and take names.
There are so many great matches that we’re not seeing, all because the Olympics are being marketed to us like some sort of “ultimate reality show,” where we only care when we’re insanely successful, where we only care when there’s a narrative behind the success. No. Give me amazing men’s gymnastics in prime time. Give me female runners, no matter what the country, who can prove to me that anything is possible. Give me live coverage. Stop assuming that because I’m a woman, I’ll only care about sports if there’s an additional entertainment aspect to them. The entertainment is in the competition. Treat the games for what they are—sport.
