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

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dc.contributor.advisor Dodge, Alexa
dc.creator Flett, Nadia Orla
dc.date.accessioned 2024-05-14T12:19:49Z
dc.date.available 2024-05-14T12:19:49Z
dc.date.issued 2024-04-21
dc.identifier.uri http://library2.smu.ca/xmlui/handle/01/31930
dc.description 1 online resource (51 pages)
dc.description Includes abstract.
dc.description Includes bibliographical references (pages 40-51).
dc.description.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. en_CA
dc.description.provenance Submitted by Greg Hilliard (greg.hilliard@smu.ca) on 2024-05-14T12:19:49Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Flett_Nadia_Honours_2024.pdf: 545092 bytes, checksum: e3ca3d40789d019aeab092776068d413 (MD5) en
dc.description.provenance Made available in DSpace on 2024-05-14T12:19:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Flett_Nadia_Honours_2024.pdf: 545092 bytes, checksum: e3ca3d40789d019aeab092776068d413 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2024-04-21 en
dc.language.iso en en_CA
dc.publisher Halifax, N.S. : Saint Mary's University
dc.title Permitted but problematic : unveiling layers in Reddit forum r/HottestFemaleAthletes en_CA
dc.title.alternative Permitted but problematic
dc.type Text en_CA
thesis.degree.name Bachelor of Arts (Honours Criminology)
thesis.degree.level Undergraduate
thesis.degree.discipline Criminology
thesis.degree.grantor Saint Mary's University
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