Athletes, Print Media, and Editorial Processes: Investigating Gendered Representations of Sport from The Globe and Mail Photography Collection

This thesis investigates the photographic representations of men’s and women’s sports in The Globe and Mail photography collection held at the National Gallery of Canada, with a distinct focus on editorial and picture-editing processes. This study comprises four primary chapters which each explore and compare the gendered dimensions of sport from a historical Canadian context by concentrating on how these press photographs were treated in preparation for print and publication.

By utilizing 1,782 sports-related photographs from this collection, picture-editing manuals, and newspaper reproductions, this study employs quantitative and qualitative methods of content analysis to discern how editorial processes contributed to an imbalance of representation between men and women athletes during the post-World War II era. While there are disparities in the number of photographs, types of sports, and quality of pictorial coverage representing men and women athletes, picture-editing techniques and practices were observed to be carried out in similar fashion and in response to technical limitations of the medium.