She’s a Lady; He’s an Athlete; They Have Overcome: Portrayals of Gender and Disability in the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games

This qualitative content analysis of the National Broadcasting Company’s (NBC’s) coverage of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Paralympic Games sought to examine how the broadcasters framed athletes’ gender and disability. The researchers employed feminist approaches, intersectionality, and hegemonic masculinity to examine the frames used in alpine skiing coverage from the Paralympic Games. Results showed that women athletes received less airtime than the men, that women athletes were placed into traditional gender-role frames, and that women were portrayed in a sexualized manner. The researchers also found that athletes’ disabilities were framed by sports media in a medicalized way, as something they should “overcome,” and that Paralympic athletes with disabilities were portrayed as “less than” able-bodied athletes. The researchers discovered that coverage of the Paralympic Games has not changed in the past decade, continuing to oppress women athletes with disabilities by stereotyping and marginalizing them and stigmatizing both male and female athletes with disabilities by framing them as aspiring to be able-bodied.