Only the Balls Should Bounce” - The Sexualisation of Women’s Tennis in Contemporary Advertising

The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the signifiers of sexualisation used within the promotion of women’s sport generally and women’s tennis specifically. This imagery and its impact on sport and the athlete will be discussed in relation to the intended meaning for the audience. It will then focus on the impact that this has had on women’s tennis from a financial, participant and audience point of view.

Recently there has been a shift in the public’s general perception of women’s sport. The increased success of female athletes has seen to play a significant role in the questioning of “masculinity as the gender of physical prowess.” Although there has been an increase in the amount of women participating in sport, their contribution has and still is being marginalised by the media. Even when it is publicised, it is subject to sexualisation that the male equivalent sport is not.