Hegemonic Gaze: Tyranny, Media Chauvinism and the Image of Women - Based on Chinese Mainstream Media’s News Coverage of Ailing Gu's Winter Olympics Victory

During the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, Chinese freeskier Ailing Gu received much media attention. Past literature and journalistic practice on the media and sport suggest that sport has been an area of absolute male hegemony since ancient times and that the media is constructed around hegemonic male values that help to reinforce ‘historical gender norms. This paper examines the construction of Ailing Gu’s image of the ‘other’ in the media frameworks and discourses based on news stories about her in the official and commercial media. The study finds that the deconstruction of Ailing Gu’s image as an athlete in the news coverage, which appears to reinforce the discourse of female athletes, still serves the ultimate goal of male domination and remains, in essence, a chauvinistic and hegemonic gaze.