Representation of female athletes in sport magazines: The example of Socrates magazine

This thesis aims to examine the representation of female athletes in Socrates magazine. Sport has historically been perceived as a male-dominated domain, and women's participation in this field remained limited for many years. Female athletes have had to struggle for a long time to gain visibility in sports, both as participants and as spectators. The increasing significance of sport in society has strengthened the link between sport and the media. However, the male-dominated structure of the media has often resulted in gendered portrayals, limitations, and practices of exclusion in the representation of female athletes. The focus of this study is on how female athletes are represented in Socrates magazine, which entered the publishing field with the motto of being a "thinking sports magazine." In this context, 94 covers and 100 news articles featuring female athletes published during the magazine's circulation period were analyzed through content analysis. The findings indicate that success- and performance-oriented narratives are prominent in the representation of female athletes. Nevertheless, portrayals based on physical appearance, beauty, and motherhood roles were also observed. Moreover, it was identified that in some issues and covers, female athletes were either completely absent or represented only to a limited extent. In conclusion, the thesis reveals both continuities and divergences in the representation of female athletes by comparing the general tendencies of sports media with the discourses employed in Socrates magazine.