The Construction Of Media Image Of Chinese Female Athletes

As a developing country,New China has experienced a very unique course of industrialization since 1949.The construction of industrialized society,the independence of national sovereignty and the establishment of socialist system interweave with each other,forming a very complex historical context.The unique industrialization development path of New China has affected how the official sports media shape the image of Chinese female athletes,making the connotation of the concept of "gender equality" in Chinese sports media discourse different from that of developed countries,and changed with the adjustment of the country’s political and economic policies.In order to establish a more self-reliant,confident,and strong female image that meets the characteristics of the new era,promote mutual understanding and tolerance between different cultures,using sports as a carrier to promote a more equitable global society,this article takes the female athletes on the cover of the new magazine "New Sports"(1950.7-2018.12)sponsored by the All-China Sports Federation as the research object.Based on the political and economic policies of the past 70 years in New China,this paper systematically analyzes the relationship between the image of female athletes and the industrialization of New China? How do they represent the concept of gender equality in New China with the analysis of gender theory? With the transformation and development of Chinese industry,what direction will the media image of female athletes develop?According to the process of industrialization in New China,this article divides the image formation of female athletes in New Sports into three stages.The first stage is the industrialization construction stage from 1949 to 1977 during the planned economy period.The female cover figures of "New Sports" are mainly composed of "female pilots","female paragliders" representing the construction of national defense,"female textile workers" representing the working class and "professional athletes" focusing on track and field events,forming the image of productive female athletes led by national discourse.The second stage is the formation stage of the socialist market economy since the reform and opening up from 1978 to 2001.In this period,the cover story mainly focuses on champion athletes,especially women volleyball athletes,which has created a heroic female athlete’s image for the country.The third stage is the new industrialization development path from 2002 to the present.During this period,diversified sports practitioners are mainly used as the reporting objects,shaping the image of star-shaped female athletes.In the development of New China,the image of female athletes portrayed by the media has been changing.From the initial "female weavers","female pilots" and "female motorcyclists" to champion athletes to sports stars,you can see the changes of female athletes in the industrialization process,but through research,we can find that since the new century,the image of female athletes has been more affected by commercialization and entertainment,and women have been materialized to some extent.This research will help to understand the rich meaning of modern gender equality in different social and cultural contexts,promote mutual understanding and tolerance between different cultures,and use sports as a carrier to promote the construction of a more equitable global society.