The European Broadcasting Union has developed new rules to avoid “sexualizing” female athletes by restricting how they can be shown on TV via certain camera angles and slow-motion replays.
The new guidelines warn against “lingering” shots of female bodies, and moves to outlaw “revealing” camera angles, as well as banning slow-motion replays that offer no technical or storytelling value, according to a report.
“The sexualization of women athletes through selective camera angles and editing choices continues to be a significant concern across many sports broadcasts,” Glen Killane, Executive Director of EBU Sports, said in a press release.
“Lingering shots on bodies, low-angle cameras that capture revealing views, and excessive slow-motion replays that serve no technical or storytelling purpose are among the issues observed in the media coverage of women’s athletics competitions today,” Killane added.
The Raising the Bar guidelines contain graphics depicting the situations and camera angles that they mean to ban and ask sports broadcasters to avoid close-up shots of women from behind, to eschew focus on their bosoms, and to end slow-motion replays.
“How do you film a sportswoman so the footage honors her power and skill rather than undermining it?” the guidelines ask in the introduction. “Raising the Bar sets out practical guidelines for respectful camera work in women’s athletics, drawing on real broadcast examples and the first-hand experiences of Olympic competitors Holly Bradshaw, Ivana Španović, and Blanka Vlašić. It shows how the angles that best capture technique and emotion are often the very same ones that treat athletes with dignity.”
Bradshaw, a top-scoring British Olympic pole vaulter, says that the cameras are often intrusive and distract female athletes from their sport.
“Many athletes, myself included, have been in competitive scenarios where they are more focused on the cameras instead of their own performance,” Bradshaw exclaimed.
She also says that she has been on the receiving end of harassing social media videos containing salacious videos of her in competition, often compiled from slow-motion sports coverage.
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