Construction of the masculinity and femininity of athletes in the Spanish sports press from an approach of Critical Discourse Analysis

Abstract

This paper studies how the news about women's and men's Olympic sports are constructed in the Spanish sports press to reveal whether linguistic strategies are used to build the female and male athletic identity in a differentiated way. The methodology used is the Critical Discourse Analysis with a feminist perspective (ACDF) with the study of N=17661 units of analysis from a total of 39 news items published in the digital edition of the Spanish sports newspapers with the greatest coverage (Marca, As, Mundo Deportivo and Sport). The results reveal differences in the lexical choices for each sex, with double the verbal citation in masculine news, especially neutral compared to the greater presence of expressive verbs for women, who are shown with a more passive expression of transitivity compared to more male active. The identification and representation of the protagonists reveals almost twice as many formal lexical choices for men and three times as many informal ones for women, greater masculine nominalization, functionalization, and overlexication, as well as more than twice as many rhetorical resources and honorific uses used to magnify their figure and achievements. In short, a lesser relevance of the female voice is perpetuated, which is shown as more emotional, passive, close and informal compared to a more active and neutral male voice, with more exaltation of their achievements and figure. A greater and better balance in the lexical choices made by these media can contribute to a transformation of the normalized ideas in relation to sport.