The Media Is Saying And Doing A Bunch Of Sexist Stuff During The Olympics

[LynneSin]

I watched that race where the Hungarian Swimmer shattered the world record and honestly, NBC made it sound like it was her husband that did all the work! I know her husband is her coach but geez the only one responsible for the win is the woman in the pool!

The Media Is Saying And Doing A Bunch Of Sexist Stuff During The Olympics

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rio-2016-sexism-media_us_57a840dbe4b056bad215f03c?section=&

Some of the media covering the 2016 Rio Games is proving that sexism is, lamentably, still a thing.

The Olympics only began on Friday, but there’s already been a series of incidents involving NBC and the Chicago Tribune.

NBC sportscaster Dan Hicks was the first to spark outrage when he appeared to credit Hungarian swimmer Katinka Hosszu’s husband, Shane Tusup, for her world record-breaking win in the 400-meter individual medley on Saturday. As the cameras panned over to Tusup, who was also Hosszu’s coach, the commentator said, “And there’s the man responsible.”

<<<snip>>>

The Chicago Tribune also came under fire for an article and tweet about Corey Cogdell-Unrein’s bronze medal-winning performance in the women’s trap shooting event. The tweet focused more on the career of her NFL player husband Mitch Unrein than her own achievement.

Wife of a Bears’ lineman wins a bronze medal today in Rio Olympics https://t.co/kwZoGY0xAX pic.twitter.com/VZrjOvr80h
— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) August 7, 2016

[anoNY42]

1. I can see where a statement like that would be suspect

but in this case just remember that this swimmer found great success after marrying the guy and having him as her coach. She was a good swimmer before, and became a great swimmer afterward. That is not to say he is totally responsible for the change, but I think it could be noted without being sexist.

For what it's worth, the same things are said of male athletes who change coaches and then experience a change in their game (whether good or bad).

As for the article about the trap shooter, that is really dumb. The husband's NFL career had nothing to do with her success.

[Stubborn]

2. Agree. I think the first story you mention is overblown. nt

[Exilednight]

3. I don't see in the Tribune article where they credited the husband.

They sent into detail about how he supports her, but even he admits that's it harder than it looks.

My cousin went thru the same thing when her husband was playing a playoff game. People were upset that they even mentioned her husband, but she just ignored it. They're both accomplished athletes, she has 3 golds and he has MLB career. It's hard to ignore any spouse when they're in careers with media attention.

[anoNY42]

4. I guess he is in the story due to his playing in Chicago, as a way to get locals

to read the story. That's not such a big deal to me.

As to the tweet, I think they could have made it more about her and less about him, though.

[LynneSin]

6. It was the headline that was wack

Her name was never mentioned but just that a wife of a football player won the medal. The paper could have worded it better to say something like Cory Cordell-Urein, wife of <name of NFL Player, wins Olympic medal.

[The2ndWheel]

5. The Chicago Tribune twitter

Crazy that they would try to mention the Bears in a tweet. They're just trying to get more potential eyeballs to the actual story. She's not from Chicago, so people that read Tribune articles more often than others may not care as much if it doesn't have some local tie.

They just want people reading what they put up on their website.

[LynneSin]

7. I realize that is why she got a headline article however...

to not even mention her name belittles the accomplishment that SHE (a 3-time Olympian btw) should have received.

Mention her name and add the fact that her connection to Chicago is a husband who plays football for the bears. To not mention her name trivialized her in such a way that if she wasn't the wife of an NFL football player that she wasn't worthy of anything.

[The2ndWheel]

8. Her name makes up the first two words in the title and article

Her story may not be worth much without the Bears connection to people reading the Chicago Tribune.

http://www.teamusa.org/News/2016/August/07/Corey-Cogdell-Unrein-Repeats-2008-Accomplishment-Wins-Olympic-Trap-Shooting-Bronze

There's an article that doesn't mention the Bears at all, and a passing mention of a husband at the end. It's about Team USA though, so, why would they go local to try and get hits?

[Igel]

9. Such stories happen.

I've seen stories where the wife of an Olympian was covered "in depth" in stories because she had to support the family and take care of it while he trained.

Or parents who took a significant financial hit by having one parent quit work to make sure that their kid got to practice by 5 am and then back to practice after school, with tutoring (etc.) and on top of losing income incurring expenses by taking the kid to competitions all over the US or even internationally.

You know all that "it takes a village," "we built that," and "entrepreneurs didn't get where they are on their own but owe their success to many others"?

Now you know how business owners or somebody who's innovated a new product feels when told, "We're the job creators and you'd be nothing without us."

Ultimately her hard work is her own and she deserves credit. However, she owes a huge amount of thanks and gratitude to others because what she did she couldn't have done without them. I assume her husband, like that wife's husband or those kids parents, are the second biggest factor in the medalist's success. In some ways, this is as sexist as "behind every great man there's a great woman."