Chronicling the ongoing intersectional struggle to liberate women — inclusively defined as the legacy kind and the transgenders — from The Patriarchy™, one microaggression at a time.
Feminist killjoys intent on nuking the ‘male gaze’ take aim at women’s sports broadcasts
In an apparent attempt to diminish female sports’ economic viability while denying men and lesbians the joy of watching fit women in their prime exhibit their athletic prowess in form-fitting attire, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has issued new guidance banning tantalizing camera angles that “misrepresent” women’s sport and “objectify” the female figure.
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Via European Athletics (emphasis added):
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has today published new guidelines for respectful media coverage of women’s athletics, designed to tackle the sexualization of women athletes in sports broadcasting.
Developed in collaboration with European Athletics and backed by Olympians including British pole vaulter Holly Bradshaw, Serbian long jumper Ivana Španović and Croatian high jumper Blanka Vlašić, the guidelines are a direct response to ongoing concerns around the misrepresentation and objectification of women’s athletic performances on screen.
With a focus on raising editorial standards, the publication features clear, visual examples of camera work and broadcast direction that demonstrate how to prioritize technical skill while upholding the professionalism and dignity of women in sport.
Glen Killane, Executive Director, EBU Sport said: “Women’s sport deserves to be seen, covered, and valued on equal terms and we’re committed to making that a reality across our rights portfolio with our Members and partners.
“These guidelines mark an important step forward and set a clear expectation that coverage of women’s athletics needs to reflect technical ability and compelling storytelling.
The gist of the European Broadcasting Union guidance, available here, which goes into incredible detail regarding what imagery does and does not qualify as lewd, basically amounts to a fatwa against depictions of women’s backsides, particularly in tight shots.
Via Dexerto (emphasis added):
The guidelines warn against lingering shots of athletes’ bodies, low camera angles that capture revealing views, and slow-motion replays that offer little technical or storytelling value.
“The sexualization of women athletes through selective camera angles and editing choices continues to be a significant concern across many sports broadcasts,” said Glen Killane, Executive Director of EBU Sports.
“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.”
New broadcasting guidelines for women's athletics have been released to crack down on camera angles and slow-motion replays that ‘sexualize’ athletes
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) July 14, 2026
The guidelines highlight shots broadcasters are urged to avoid pic.twitter.com/QGxAiMlvfE
Each of the major sports gets its own respective guidelines with impressive specificity; whoever put this manifesto together really put a lot of thought into the censorship regime.
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For instance, the EBU examines in its elaborate guidance what’s kosher when broadcasting live-action and replays of the high-jump. Forbidden are low camera angles looking up at the athlete as well as tight shots, which produce “comprising images” and “diminish technical insight” (apparently jumping over a bar is a technical procedure):
A low camera angle underneath the athlete has a high chance of generating compromising images. Maintaining a close view and providing slow-motion replays of the athlete clearing the bar diminishes technical insight and may produce compromising images…
By zooming in, you not only risk compromising the images, but the angle does not provide any insightful view for either the audience or the commentator…
Various excellent camera angles provide the audience and commentators with a technical and competitive view... However, these angles can sometimes compromise the view of the athletes. Capturing athletes from below the pelvis is more likely to result in unflattering images.
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Camera operators are also required to cut away before the high-jumper “touches down” on the other side of the bar, as that may generate an image of the female athlete bent over.
The same prohibition against bent-over shots applies to the pole vault:
At times, it’s difficult to anticipate when an athlete will bend over in front of a camera, and sometimes it’s impossible to avoid; in this instance the athlete is lifting the pole, and a closer shot of her face beforehand or the camera operator moving to the side of her might have helped avoid this image.
