Male Athlete Representations in Men’s Magazines: A Study in Mediated Sport Stacking

Abstract

This study examined 681 male athlete features in Details, Esquire, GQ, and Playboy across the first two decades of the 21st century. While White athletes accounted for 283 features and Black athletes 329, the former were featured in 35 of 43 sports observed, compared to just 14 for the latter. In fact, more than 80% of all features on Black athletes focused on basketball, football, and boxing. Latino athletes accounted for 52 of the 681 total features and represented 15 sports, one more than African Americans. Recognizing existing research, the study applies the term mediated sport stacking to the practice of limiting the Black athletic experience primarily to team sports, especially basketball. The article considers the implications of statistical patterns observed and also includes limitations and recommendations for future research.

Media Representations as a Form of Stacking: Male and Female Athletes Featured on Men’s Magazine Covers, 1980–2019

“…Lumpkin and Williams (1991) examined more than three decades of feature articles in Sports Illustrated (1954–1987) and found that articles written about Black athletes focused on just five sports, with most athletes “stacked” as basketball players and track-and-field competitors. More recently, Denham (2019) studied male athlete representations in four men’s magazines, finding that more than 80% of 329 Black athletes competed in three sports: basketball, football, and boxing. Of 43 total sports observed, Black athletes competed in 14, compared to 35 among White athletes and 15 among Latinos.…”

“…This study examines the race and gender of, as well as the sports represented by, 264 athletes featured on the covers of nine men’s magazines across a 40-year period, 1980–2019. While Denham (2019) focused on mediated sport stacking, this study analyzes the extent to which magazines stacked athletes by both sport and position (in baseball and football). The study focuses on covers, as opposed to magazine texts.…”

The Paradox of Integration: Racial Composition of NFL Positions from 1960 to 2020

“…Essentialist understandings of physical and intellectual ability are particularly salient in shaping cultural schemas regarding athletes (Billings and Eastman 2002; Denham 2020). Racialized schemas regarding White intellectual prowess and Black physical endurance shape attitudes and participation in football starting in childhood and continuing through the professional career (Beamon 2010).…”

Giants in the Frame: A 1964 Photo Analysis of How Malcolm X and Dr. Harry Edwards Connected Race, Religion, and Sport

“…In contrast, Black athletes are portrayed as biologically talented, emotionally immature, physically aggressive, hypersexual, and intellectually inferior (Hawkins 2010;Hughey and Goss 2015;Sailes 1991;Tucker 2003). A recent content analysis of Black and White athletes featured in Details, Esquire, GQ, and Playboy revealed that while Black athletes were observed on more magazine features, White athletes were represented in 2.5 times as many sports (Denham 2020). Although basketball stars such as LeBron James and Kobe Bryant were celebrated, the magazines restricted the Black athlete experience by showcasing more than 80% of Black athletes in team sports than individual, i.e., basketball, football, and boxing.…”