"THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A GAY HERO": Sexual Identity and Media Framing of HIV-Positive Athletes

In: Journal of sport and social issues: the official journal of Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society, Volume 21, Issue 4, p. 327-347

Abstract

In comparing print media coverage of the Greg Louganis and Magic Johnson HIV-positive / AIDS announcements, there is strikingly different treatment of the two men. Specifically, the authors determined whether the athlete is framed as a hero, victim, or carrier with regard to his HIV-positive status. Johnson is unequivocally framed as a hero in the vast majority of articles. By contrast, Louganis almost never is framed solely as a hero and often is framed as being a carrier. The authors use the model of the confessional as developed by Foucault, combined with sin and redemption models presented by Payne and Mercuri and by Messner and Solomon, to analyze how media framings differ specifically by the sexual identities of the athletes. They argue that the dominant and accepted norms of sexuality are enforced and (re)produced by the media in this way.