The Off-Court Persona of Brittney Griner By: Justin Fisher

                When Brittney Griner’s name gets brought up by the media it is usually to talk about her amazing talent and accolades on the basketball court. Media coverage of her as an athlete is usually positive, as she is a dominant women’s basketball player in the WNBA. As far as coverage of her off the court goes, people seem to be supportive of Griner all around. Griner is not the kind of athlete to draw any sort of negative attention of any sort but as an openly gay women’s basketball player, you never know hoe people will react.

                Griner has recently gotten engaged to a fellow WNBA player, Glory Johnson. She explains to media that this is the final step to her complete life and that she is overjoyed with everything that is going on in her life at this point in time. As far as media coverage of the engagement goes, there has been nothing but support for Brittney.  People, including the media, love Brittney not only as an athlete but as a person, and that resonates in the articles about Brittney. Some reporters have even said things about Brittney Griner being their favorite of all openly gay athletes which just shows that the media not only respects and supports Brittney, but also supports homosexuality as a whole which is nothing but a positive thing.

                Although the media supports her and her actions off the basketball court it is still apparent that they also care a whole lot about what she does on it as well. Brittney Griner and her teammates were recently attacked by a man in China following on of there practices. In an article covering the close call with her assailant, Griner discusses her minor injury from the attack and what it was like in the moment of danger. Even though the attack had nothing to do with Griner on the basketball court, the media made sure they mentioned Griner’s height and talked extensively about her career as a WNBA star.

                Overall the media coverage of Brittney Griner off the basketball is very poritive and supported by man aroung the United States. That being said the media goes out of their way on multiple occasions to talk about her as an athlete even when the topic of discussion is unrelated to that.

Sources:

1.       Fagan, Kate. “Brittney Griner cut in knife attack.” November 5, 2014. http://espn.go.com/wnba/story/_/id/11821972/brittney-griner-cut-ok-knife-attack-china-agent-says

2.       Gleeson, Scott. “Newly engaged Brittney Griner takes control of her life.” August 25, 2014. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/wnba/playoffs/2014/08/25/brittney-griner-glory-johnson-proposal-engaged-phoenix-mercury-dunk/14577727/

3.       McDonald Nadia, Soraya. “A real story of love and basketball: WNBA stars Brittney Griner and Glory Johnson are engaged.” August 18, 2014. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/08/18/a-real-story-of-love-and-basketball-wnba-stars-brittney-griner-and-glory-johnson-are-engaged/

4.       Thompson, Avery. “Brittney Griner: WNBA Star Engaged to Fellow Player Glory Johnson.” August 16, 2014. http://hollywoodlife.com/2014/08/16/brittney-griner-glory-johnson-engaged-wnba/

Brittney Griner's Media Persona Surrounding Dress Attire By: Brian Nedved

        Brittney Griner is not like most other females when it comes to her dress attire. Brittney prefers to wear clothing that is typically made for men, she feels especially more comfortable in a bow tie. She has never felt comfortable in clothing that is made for women. The last time that Brittney can actually remember dressing is women's clothing was for her high school graduation, and that was because her mother requested that she do so. She is not overly concerned with how she is viewed when she wears clothing that is obviously not made for women. Griner has actually signed a contract with a company that makes menswear to model their clothing. This is the first time that this company has signed a female to model their clothing, it has been strictly men that were the models. During her rookie year in the WNBA she decided to skip the orientation that taught women how to apply makeup onto themselves, even going as far as to say “I don’t need that shit.”

        The way that she dresses and the way that she conducts herself has caused many people to ridicule her about being a man that plays in the WNBA. She says that people that talk about her and even post their thoughts on social media in such a way only drives her to be even more prominent about how she dresses and how she acts as a female. Brittney struggled with how she looked when she was in Junior High and High School because of her low voice and the type of build that she had for a female. She would have kids her age pick on her and make fun of how she did not develop like most girls did as they grew into adolescence Griner states that while in high school she found that basketball gave her a sense of security that she was looking for especially after the ridicule that she received from her peers while growing up.

        What has been a large change in the WNBA as of late has been the idea that sex does not always sell, it can actually undercut the actual ability of the athlete. This has come in handy for Griner because she is not the typical female athlete when it comes to selling sex, she is marketed more for her abilities. This works out not only for the WNBA but also for Brittney because she can actually be and sell who she really is, she can sell herself.

Sources:

1.      Abraham, Laurie. “She’s All That.” November 4, 2013. http://www.elle.com/life-love/society-career/brittney-griner-on-her-sexuality
2.  http://www.dallasvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Brittney.Griner.png

Brittney Griner, Gender, Sexuality, and Media Representation By: Brett Schneider

Media coverage revolving around Brittney Griner as a homosexual female basketball player placed a lot of emphasis on her gender characteristics, with much of the focus covering her as a woman who is clearly above every other female athlete in terms of ability and size. In one article on The Grio, her physical characteristics, including wing-span and hand size, are compared to those of LeBron James and Chris Bosh, hinting at the fact that her body closely resembles some of the most masculine qualities of male bodies. The article then argues that even though Griner obtains these characteristics, her status as a female will leave her empty handed in terms of earning similar opportunities that are available to male athletes, such as trying out for the NBA.

        On the other side of the spectrum, some articles disagree with the notion that Griner should be able to compete with men, with the focus consistently emphasizing differences in gender. Jason Witlock, former Fox Sports writer suggested that the rumors of Griner being able to compete in the NBA as “silly.” Additionally, Witlock argues that a woman playing in a men’s professional league would not only ruin Griner as a player and a brand, but would also diminish the women’s game as a whole, citing the differences in physicality for post players as the main reason for probable failure.

        While questions of whether or not Griner could compete in a men’s league given her status as a woman continued to be debated, a general consensus has been created by mainstream outlets in regards to supporting Griner as a gay woman. Tracee Hamilton of the Washington Post gave outspoken support in her 2012 article that focuses on the harsh realities surrounding Griner, including backlash and criticism from those that for some reason with her physical characteristics. Hamilton focuses on questions that revolve around Griner and her gender, including those who watch her play basketball or hear her speak and believe that she couldn’t possibly be a woman.  The Huffington Post has even gone as far as calling Griner their “favorite openly lesbian athletes.”

        Overall, the media representation surrounding Griner, her gender, and her sexuality seems to be in a place where the media is increasingly accepting of openly gay athletes, but is not willing to allow female athletes of any kind to enter the spectrum of the men’s game. Much of the emphasi
s settled on the suggestions that even though Griner carried similar physical traits of male basketball players, the differences in strength and power between gender is still ideologically too far apart.

Sources:

1.       Hamilton, Tracee. “Brittney Griner’s gender? Shame on those who even ask the question.” April 4, 2012. http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/brittney-griners-gender-shame-on-those-who-even-even-ask-the-question/2012/04/04/gIQAjOnIvS_story.html

2.       Healey, Carrie. “Does Brittney Griner deserve a shot at the NBA?” April 4, 2013. http://thegrio.com/2013/04/04/does-brittney-griner-deserve-a-shot-at-the-nba/

3.       Nichols, James. “Brittney Griner Proposes To Girlfriend Glory Johnson.” August 15, 2014. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/15/brittney-griner-proposal_n_5682792.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices   

4.       Witlock, Jason. “NBA tryout gimmick a win for no one.” June 2, 2014. http://www.foxsports.com/collegebasketball/story/brittney-griner-nba-tryout-does-nothing-for-womens-game-movement-040413

Brittney Griner, Race, and Media Coverage By: Tony Hamilton

When it comes to articles regarding Brittney Griner and how she is presented by the media and its consumers, race was a factor in how they presented her.  As David J. Leonard says in his “Eye Candy and Sex Objects” article, much like the Williams sisters, Brittney Griner and other African American female athletes are framed by the media in a way that construes their athletic bodies as masculine.  The consumers and customers of this media as well then play into this narrative, as the article goes on to describe how these consumers of this media perpetuate the notion of African American female athletes as masculine.  They look at YouTube comments from clips of Brittney Griner’s basketball career; the first is of her dunking, where comments like “that’s a big b*tch” and “when did the NCAA start letting dudes play on the girls teams” as well as other comments referencing her as masculine are written by the viewing audience.  
            They also look into YouTube comments made under a clip in which Brittney Griner punches an opponent, with quotes such as “and apparently fights like one (a man) too; that cold-cock on the Texas Tech gal was strictly a punk move”.  The article goes on to discuss how this, too, is a way of reaffirming dominant narratives in online media of African American female athletes being described with a “thug demeanor”.

            In another article on Gradient Lair, the author comments on a New York Times article on why Brittney Griner coming out did not get a lot of media attention.  In the New York Times article by Sam Borden, he discusses how the main reason Brittney Griner coming out was not a big deal in regards to media coverage was because she was a female, and if it was male it would have been a much bigger deal.  However, the Gradient Lair article references how the media constructs African American female athletes as masculine; it explains how the media and public in general took these negative stereotypes of African American female athletes and just assumed that she was probably a lesbian, causing the lack of media coverage as “everyone already knew” she was gay.

            While race was part of the narrative constructed by the media for Brittney Griner, it seemed based on the articles researched for this project that her gender roles and sexuality were the main components used to frame Griner’s “media persona”.

Sources:

1. Borden, Sam.  “Female Sports Star Comes Out As Gay and Sports World Shrugs”.  April 18, 2013.http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/19/sports/ncaabasketball/brittney-griner-comes-out-and-sports-world-shrugs.html?_r=1&

2. “Brittney Griner and Race, Gender, Sexuality and Sports”.  April 22^nd, 2013. http://www.gradientlair.com/post/48635271572/brittney-griner-rules-bow-down

3. Leonard, David J. “Eye Candy and Sex Objects”. p. 111-121.

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