Different kinds of media have varying effects on sports. For example, you will find less gender bias remarks over the radio than you would through broadcast or live television. As seen in the video above, live media affected Shannon Eastin since they followed her around the moment she stepped foot on the field. Broadcasters and commentaries occasionally abuse their privileges to the media and in turn affect their audience. Listeners may then be influenced to think that female officials are inferior to male officials. For example, a broadcaster commented that Violet Palmer should get back in the kitchen, which may encourage listeners to view Palmer as an unfit official.
Not all gender bias comes from news reporters or commentaries. Something as simple as a blog comment can still effect the sexist problems existing today. This blog for example shows that sexism may also come from the women themselves, not necessarily men. If you go to a YouTube video about female officials and simply read the comments below, you will see some more of these examples. Seeing that men are not the only ones making the sexist comments, this leads us to more questions. Why is it that women are having such a hard time breaking this barrier? Simply because they don't have anyone helping them do it.
It is rare to see an official being interviewed, but even more rare for a male official to be interviewed. We as viewers think that it is normal to see a male official, however, when we see a female out there, all heads turn. Think about all the sports games you have watched on TV, listened to, or maybe even attended. Have you ever heard about any of the officials? If you ask an official what their job is, most of them will reply the same in that they are there to monitor the game, stop it when it needs to be stopped, and stay unnoticed. If you officiate the same team twice and none of the coaches, players, or fans recognize you, you know you have done a good job (Howard).
During the last super bowl, nearly half of the watchers were women (espn.com). Women are just as avid fans and watchers of sports as men, therefore proving that you do not necessarily have to play the sport in order to have knowledge in it. This goes the same for officials. For many officials, in any sport, it is not uncommon that they did not actually play the sport prior too. It is easy for people to use the officials as an excuse to lose a game, or for a mistake a team makes. In fact, officials have been used as the scapegoat for years, basically since athletics started.