Topics in the April 2017 issue of JCI range from self-representations of female athletes, to the role of class in U.S. advertising, to a review of a retrospective of the role digital media played in grassroots uprisings in the Middle East. Barbara Barnett begins the issue by asking whether new media mean new self-representations by female athletes. An examination of personal websites maintained by 45 of the world's most successful professional and Olympic female athletes in the 21st century showed that while the athletes described the rigors of training, their physical prowess, and the sacrifices they made to excel, they also depicted themselves as mothers, caretakers, and sex objects. Barnett concludes that this apologetic behavior emphasizing traditional roles for women is a carryover from old media coverage of sports to new in which the success women achieve in sports is viewed through the lens of gender stereotypes.
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