Sports do not build character. They reveal it: the influence of athletes and endorsements on race and gender

Athletes and sports seem impervious to criticism. Sports is one of the most popular forms of entertainment within popular culture. Since popular culture is one of the dominant forms of education, it is important to analyze and recognize the ideologies present. How do the images and portrayals of professional athletes in still images and video endorsements reflect and perpetuate hegemonic ideologies of race and gender? How do these portrayals intersect with issues of justice and representation? By using a cultural studies framework with emphasis on representation of race and gender in popular culture, an analysis of the representation of seven athletes in advertising for endorsements was conducted. The seven athletes were chosen based on name-recognition, popularity, success in their sport, and a need for a diversity of races and gender. Using semiotics, the advertisements were coded and themes were presented. Several themes presented in the advertisements: Including (1) white female athletes are presented as sexualized objects, (2) black female athletes are represented using masculine traits, (3) white male athletes are normalized, and (4) black male athletes are presented as successful because of their bodies. These representations are harmful because they do little to nothing to change dominant ideologies. The representation of athletes in advertising reinforce hetero-patriarchal ideologies of race and gender.