Many theories were studied while looking at how the media frames female athletes compared to male athletes. Throughout this study, I went into depth about how three main theories intertwine to when looking at framing in the media. I looked into how each theory is developed, how each theory is applied, the significance, and what is all means.
Theories:
- Social Dominance Theory
- Framing Theory
- Agenda Setting Theory
Social Dominance Theory
- Relies on what viewers are more drawn to watch.
- Relies on three basic tenants: “age-based, gender-based, arbitrary set-systems.”
- Suggests “human group-based hierarchies are dynamic.”
Framing Theory
- Affects which elements of a news story is presented and how it is presented which impacts how the audience retains information.
- Attitude, attention, and enjoyment are all directly related to framing theory.
- Suggested that audiences would evaluate an athlete in their mind subconsciously based off information unrelated to athletic performance.
Agenda Setting Theory
- Shows how the media puts stories in a specific order to change the audiences’ perception of importance on a story.
- Framing Theory and Agenda Setting Theory are a spinoff of one another, making it a more refined version.
- Judgements and attitudes of both the audience and athletes can be directly related to memory which sets from belief, affect, and behavioral information.
Game Changers 