Permitted but problematic : unveiling layers in Reddit forum r/HottestFemaleAthletes

Abstract

The gendered and sexualized coverage of female athletes commonly depicted in mass media reinforces negative stereotypes about female athletes and contributes to a broader culture of objectification and sexualization of women. Using virtual ethnographic content analysis, this study investigated one week's worth of discourse found on the Reddit forum r/HottestFemaleAthletes. The objective of this study was to determine conversational trends and if they played a role in objectifying women, a phenomenon indirectly linked to sexual violence through rape myth acceptance in previous research. Analysis of the data determined three coding categories of comments: attractiveness, the use of pet names, and body-focused remarks. The forum lacked overtly sexual or hostile discourse, due to the rules of the forum and the numerous content moderators. Additionally, most of the sexualized and objectifying visual content shared consisted of athletes' personal pictures and videos uploaded to social media. Highlighting how selfcommodification online is incentivized for building a successful athlete brand, an important factor in generating capital for female athletes. Themes of sexualization, objectification, and commodification of female athletes' bodies were recurrent throughout the comments, through perpetuating traditional gender roles that depict women as passive objects of desire. The study determined that r/HottestFemaleAthletes contributes to the objectification of women and primarily propagates traditional gender roles, viewing women as passive objects of desire which has been linked to rape myth acceptance.