Sidelining Women and Their Achievements: Representing Women Sports in Bangladeshi Newspapers
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Abstract
In academia, longstanding debates highlight how women are subordinated within male-dominated social hierarchies. It is further argued that women are dehumanized, marginalized, and undermined both within society and across social institutions such as mass media. Examining two mainstream Bangladeshi newspapers--Prothom Alo and Kaler Kantho--this study contends that such dynamics are evident in Bangladeshi mass media. Specifically, the newspapers discursively set agendas that sideline the achievements of female footballers in the context of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Women’s Championship 2022. The findings suggest that these outlets maintained silence and omitted coverage of the accomplishments of Bangladeshi female footballers, thereby undermining and dehumanizing them. The study also reveals that neither committee members nor ruling elites anticipated that the championship trophy would be won by female footballers, contributing to their underrepresentation. Moreover, the coverage was conditional; for instance, unless the team secured the championship cup, media attention remained minimal.
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