Communication Commons^™

Self-Presentation Of Male And Female Athletes On Instagram: A Continuation Of Gender Roles Found In Advertisements?, Kelsey Gainor

Honors Projects in Communication

Social media has brought with it a closing of the relational distance between players and fans; athletes have an important decision to make about the way they want to be viewed, not only as athletes, but also in the many other facets of their lives, such as being a parent, friend or role model. By applying the differing gender expectations for males versus females to an athletic context, this research study aims to gain a better understanding of how these gender expectations for male versus female professional athletes are exhibited through self-presentation on social media, specifically Instagram. The athletes’ own …