Serving, informing, and inspiring today’s female athlete and fan postfeminist, neoliberal discourse: a critical media analysis of espnW

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. October 2012. Major: Communication studies. Advisor: Mary Vavrus, Ph.D. 1 computer file (PDF); v, 283 pages, appendices A-N.ESPN, Inc. uses espnW to shape discourse about female athletes as postfeminist and neoliberal subjects in the context of further normalizing sport as a masculine institution. Language in espnW articles is a principle activity by which this ideology is circulated and reproduced. Ideology fuels hegemonic conceptions of sport that benefit dominant groups such as corporations, sports media organizations, and sports leagues affiliated with ESPN, Inc. Discourse influences how individuals in our culture think about, behave towards, and support/do not support women's sports, so discourse contributes to female athletes and female fans as marginalized