Prof studies "nightclubification" of female sportscasters

Female sportscasters are still increasingly pressured into wearing revealing clothing on air, according to a new study by Guy Harrison, assistant professor of Telecommunication Studies.
 

The article titled “We Want to See You Sex It Up and Be Slutty: Post-Feminism and Sports Media's Appearance Double Standard,” appears in Critical Studies in Media Communication. Harrison interviewed 10 women sportscasters, from radio anchors in their early 20s to Hall of Fame broadcasters in their 60s, and found that the gendered double standard for looks is still very much alive in sportscasting. “Women in the industry are increasingly pressured into wearing revealing clothing - a trend I refer to as the ‘nightclubification’ of woman sportscaster dress,” said Harrison, who earned a PhD in Journalism and Mass Communication from Arizona State University.
 

The study stems from Harrison’s larger project examining several longstanding assumptions and notions the general public holds about women sportscasters, including the assumption that good looks are a larger priority for being hired as a woman in the industry than it is for a man.