“Plays like a Guy”: A Rhetorical Analysis of Brittney Griner in Sports Media

In the spring of 2012, Sports Illustrated and espn celebrated the 40th anniversary of Title IX with coverage celebrating the accomplishments of female athletes. Despite athletic opportunities and advancements, female athletes are often characterized in the media using conventional notions of femininity and a narrow construction of athletic ability. Six-foot, eight-inch Brittney Griner, Baylor University women’s basketball star, was rhetorically constructed based on her size, athletic ability, and physical appearance in a way that did not conform to stereotypical depictions of women, during the 2011–12 championship season. By using Kenneth Burke’s (1966) concept of terministic screens, this essay conducts a rhetorical analysis of media coverage of Brittney Griner. By applying scholarly research on female athletes to the coverage of Griner, this essay examines how the rhetorical constructions of Brittney Griner change the conversation for successful female athletes.

Brittney Griner was one of the most dynamic and successful players in women’s college basketball. At the end of her senior year, Griner had more blocks than any male or female player in the history of college basketball and was second in points scored in the history of the women’s game (Longman, 2013). In 2012 her Baylor team won the ncaa Women’s National Championship and had an undefeated season (Associated Press, April 5, 2012). While Griner’s talents as an athlete are celebrated in sports media, her success is often undercut by the terms used to praise her. Griner is 6 feet, 8 inches; and her height, athletic abilities, and physical appearance are often used to separate her from other women (Trebay, 2010).

Scholars have examined how female athletes who fall outside the norms of conventional femininity are negatively constructed in media representations (Miller, 2010; Roth & Basow, 2004; Wellard, 2007). The terms used to describe Brittney Griner in sports media provide an excellent case study for Burke’s (1966) concept of terministic screens because she is a highly visible media figure whose femininity and athleticism are often discussed. In this essay, I argue that the rhetorical construction of Griner’s differences create a reality that diminishes the accomplishments of other female athletes. Analyzing the terminology used by Sports Illustrated and espn helps illuminate issues of gender, femininity, and sports. In this essay, I will discuss the background of Brittney Griner, outline relevant sports and communication scholarship, analyze videos and media texts from her 2011–12 championship season, and draw some implications for future research.

Brittney Griner and Women in College Athletics

Brittney Griner was one of the most recognized collegiate athletes. After her junior year of college, in 2012, she won the Female Athlete of the Year and Female College Athlete of the Year awards at the espy Awards, an annual celebration of collegiate and professional sports (“LeBron James big,” 2012, July 12). Griner is a Texas native who was born and raised in Houston (“Brittney Griner Bio,” 2012). She committed to Baylor University before her junior year of high school (“Brittney Griner Bio,” 2012). BaylorBears.com proclaims Griner as “arguably Baylor’s most decorated recruit in any sport ever” (“Brittney Griner Bio,” 2012). The national success of Baylor athletics is a relatively new phenomenon. Waco, Texas, the home of Baylor University, was better known nationally for two high profile crimes: the botched 1993 Branch Davidian raid where nearly 80 men, women, and children died during the rescue mission (“Waco: The Inside Story,” 1995) and the murder of Baylor men’s basketball player Carlton Dotson by teammate Patrick Dennehy in 2003 (Moore, 2005). Baylor is a Christian university that prides itself on having a higher moral character (“Baylor’s Convictions,” n. d.), so these incidents were framed in contrast to the mission of the university.

The 2011–12 athletic season at Baylor produced many accomplishments, including football player Robert Griffin III winning the school its first Heisman trophy (Hays, 2011) and the women’s basketball team achieving an undefeated season, culminating in an ncaa Championship (“Griner powers Baylor,” 2012). The timing of their victory coincided with the 2012 celebration of the 40th anniversary of Title...