Be more human. Is Reebok breaking women’s boundaries in sports?

1 Be more human. Is Reebok breaking women’s boundaries in sports? J. PIEDRA ET AL. Joaquín Piedra a Trinidad Núñez-Domínguez b Yolanda Troyano-Rodríguez b a. Department of Physical Education and Sports, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain; b. Department of Social Psychology, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2020.1772233. CONTACT [email protected] ABSTRACT Modern sports have increasingly acquired more social relevance, amplified as it is by the media and, especially, advertising, thereby making sports closer than ever to the average citizen. In 2015 the sports brand Reebok initiated a campaign to promote fitness by highlighting and valuing the human side of sports. The objective of this study is to analyze this campaign, assessing the existence of sexist prejudices, if any. Content analysis has been chosen as the method of study. A total of 439 images uploaded by Instagram users between January 2015 and May 2016 that were employed in Reebok’s campaign have been evaluated. The results indicate that photos of single, thin, and white women predominate. We can conclude that although the photos in Reebok’s campaign portray women in attitudes contrary to what sexist prejudices dictate – e.g. sweaty, tired – there is a clear adjustment to the canons of beauty that have traditionally been projected onto women. Keywords: Selfie; social media; advertising; branding; femininity; sports FUNDING The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Social relevance and spectacle are two important characteristics linked to modern sports. Given this reality, sports brands have been positioning themselves to obtain a strong social presence that not only favors sales but also the promotion of beliefs and ways of understanding life (Manassero, García-Buades, and Ferrer-Pérez 1998). Advertising plays a very important role for these brands in this positioning. This advertising projects its contemporaneity from two perspectives. On the one hand, although it still develops promotional campaigns through traditional media, it also uses social networks as a projection tool. On the other hand, it is no stranger to the sexist criticism that it receives and, as an industry, it knows that women constitute an important target; authentic allies of consumption (Montero Díaz 2011). Advertising, sports and social networks, from a gender perspective, become the core point of the theoretical-con‐ ceptual framework that is exposed and covers this paper, which focuses on the advertising campaign that the Reebok launches in 2015 requesting selfies to women who do exercise, analyzing these photographs and their implications. Advertising and sexist prejudices: some reflexions In recent years, advertising strategies have changed. The goal of advertising campaigns is not to convince consumers of the quality of their products, but rather to sell an ‘attitude’ (Fernández-Gómez 2005). Brands now link their products to evocative and emotional arguments. These campaigns have evolved from the idea of convincing consumers to that of moving people affectively. This approach to forming an intimate relationship with a target audience is demonstrated best when sports brands opt to show anonymous people with mostly common features in their advertisements. This iconography creates an illusion of belonging and inclusion. Despite these strategic changes, advertising is still constrained, as is society itself, by barriers, limitations, and sexist prejudices (Bruce 2015; Kane, LaVoi, and Fink 2013; Sheehan 2014). When applying this observation to sports, one can see that the expected roles and traits of women and men are different. Men are linked to activity, strength, and aggressiveness, thereby enhancing their achievements. Women, on the other hand, are expected to be passive and their achievements are typically undervalued. Some of the consequences are tangible: sweating and being muscular are masculine characteristics that are not acceptable within the hegemonic feminine model where sweetness, and even weakness, must prevail. Women who break these molds and enter into the realm traditionally considered for men are usually seen as masculine or lesbian (Cahn 2015), mixing, perversely, physical appearance and sexual orientation. The media in general, and advertising in particular, have enhanced these beliefs. The women athletes that we see in the media, in most cases, are represented in a graceful, beautiful, and glamorous way (Fink 2015). Despite the fact that advertising is a realm in constant technical and aesthetic renewal, gender bias has remained. The most substantive aspect related to the presence of women in advertising has to do with their bodies. In fact, the image of women continues to be projected as an aesthetic or sexual value. Women do not perform any real function but instead become an authentic ‘object’ of advertising. The female body has been used abusively to promote products or services, limiting women and girls by presenting them as objects and not as subjects of action, their breasts and/or buttocks used to attract buyers. At the same time, beauty, youth, and thinness have become ideals to which all women should aspire (McKinley 2017; Núñez-Domínguez 2019). Feminism has placed the meaning of the body at the center of its debate. It was De Beauvoir (2010) who pointed out that the social construction of the body configures personal identity. Noting that the female body is degraded by requiring it to become a body for ‘the other’ since it is the object of desire. This desire is not of herself but of the desire of the other. That insight is updated by Morcillo Gómez (2015, 11) who writes, ‘The bodies of women are both “real” physical organisms and receptacles of the cultural conventions that historically have marked them under the label of femininity’. For Maria Luz Esteban (2010), no culture leaves the idea of the body to her free will. In a capitalist culture, to put it bluntly, control of the body, as well as the demand for it, are extreme. Bourdieu’s (2002) reflections on this matter are eloquent. We summarize it with four postulates: 1. The body is a social construction that results in difference. 2. It is the natural instance of the division into sexes – female body/male body – with this naturalized division becoming a justification of the established social difference that leads to the male body being considered hegemonic. 3. The body is joined to the social space, to a place in the world, and to power. 4. Women are condemned to constantly experience a distance between their real body, to which they are chained, and the ideal body, which they are constantly trying to approach, thus creating insecurity and dependence. Advertising, sports and women’s (body) representation Does any of this permeate the advertising that sports brands do? From the outset, it can be said that women in sports ads have been underrepresented, assuming restricted roles (Lynn, Hardin, and Walsdorf 2004; Ross, Ridinger, and Cuneen 2009). The presence of women has been sexualized strongly by reifying their bodies to attract male audiences (Bernstein and Kian 2015). While this practice continues to be maintained today (Konjer, Mutz, and Meier 2019), some sports brands have begun to present different strategies (Lucas 2000) where women show power and pleasure, becoming active subjects. The increasingly clear presence of women in sports, though not so much in competitive sports, means that brands are rethinking their strategies to target the significant niche market of women’s sports. Recent studies indicate that the sexualization of women in the context of sports advertising is not as effective as might be expected (Parker, Mudrick, and Fink 2018; Kane and Maxwell 2011). To highlight the sporting excellence of women for the promotion of sports (Fink 2008; Knight and Giuliano 2001) is more useful in this case. Pushed by previous evidence or motivated by changes in consumer trends, it is increasingly common for women to be part of the advertising campaigns of sports brands. In this situation, an analysis of how women have used the social network campaign – Break your selfie – initiated by the Reebok sports brand is highly advised. The selfie has become a ubiquitous form of photography, driven by the development of new technologies, smaller cameras, and built-in mobile devices. Since its invention in the 19th century, photography has evolved not only in quality but also in its uses. While initially photographs were used to document aspects of life and keep memories of people, at present photographs are used in many cases to create personal narratives (Farci and Orefice 2015). Social identity and social networks Within this social and photographic evolution, a variety of social networks have emerged with great force, especially among the young. These social networks are windows into the world of the personality and identity of the users. They reflect their opinions, visions, and motivations. They have so much influence that they condition the behaviors and patterns of interaction between individuals. Bonavitta, De Garay, and Camacho Becerra (2015, 33) explicitly state that social networks imploded and modified forever the ways of communicating, thereby establishing new roles, new links, and new ways of ‘entanglement’ with others. Crossley (2015) even points out that social networks are allowing women and feminist movements to take advantage of this new space to strengthen themselves as organizations. Research on the selfie in social networks has been a topic of interest for the scientific community. These studies have cast a wide net on social networks and the selfie, with academics targeting a large number of protagonists of the same: politicians (Farci and Orefice 2015), celebrities (Jerslev and Mortensen 2016), and also women athletes (Shreffler, Hancock, and Schmidt 2016; Toffoletti and Thorpe 2018). The Shreffler, Hancock, and Schmidt’s study (2016) of images from Twitter showed that selfies were the second most common type of image used by athletes, only surpassed by the images in which they were performing in their respective sports. The work of Toffoletti and Thorpe (2018) on Facebook and Instagram notes that the selfie is a recurring type of portrait among athletes and that it could be useful as a strategy towards a successful ‘authentic’ social media brand, based around themes of self-love, selfdisclosure, and self-empowerment (28). The interest in analyzing concrete hashtags regarding selfies is not new. Studies like the one by Iqani and Schroeder (2016) with the hashtag #selfie, the work of Weiser (2015) with the hashtag #Me, or Hampton’s analysis (2015) of the hashtag #nomakeupselfies are examples of studies similar to the one presented here. All of them are characterized by the analysis, from different perspectives, of the self-images tagged on social networks. The objective of this present work is to analyze, from a gender perspective, the images that Instagram users have uploaded for the advertising campaign promoting fitness initiated by Reebok for social networks and labeled with the hashtag #breakyourselfie. Methodology The methodological design of this research is descriptive, using content analysis as a technique (Neuendorf 2017) to decode the manifest and latent messages captured in the analyzed images. The procedure has four phases: preanalysis, the formation of the category system, codification, and analysis and interpretation of the data. In the first phase of preanalysis, the research was organized and presented based on an initial review of the literature. The objectives were set, and the sample was selected. For this study, we analyze the audiovisual campaign that the sportswear company Reebok created in early 2015 called Be More Human. This campaign was designed to promote fitness by creating a new vision around it, highlighting and putting value on the human side of sports. For this campaign, the company created a hashtag called #breakyourselfie for the social networks Instagram and Twitter. The campaign seeks to inspire sports practitioners to transgress the prevailing beauty canons, posting photos showing the rawness and naturalness of fitness. Thus, 1,076 photographs tagged on Instagram have been analyzed with the hashtag #breakyourselfie from January 28, 2015 (beginning of the campaign) to May 6, 2016 (beginning of the research and hashtag activity decrease). Of the total, those images where no physical person was represented were eliminated, leaving a total of 956 images. Of these, 439 have been selected that correspond to images uploaded by women. 517 have been discarded because they were uploaded by men or by various entities (clubs, gyms, the brand itself). Predictably, the beginning of the campaign had a strong impact, with more than 100 photos uploaded within the first month. From there, the impact of the campaign diminishes, with progressively fewer photos being posted. In the second phase, the category system was formed and its reliability, validity, and accuracy were perfected. These are the three basic conditions that every categorical system must possess. ‘Reliability is the extent to which a measurement procedure yields the same results on repeated trials’ (Neuendorf 2017, 122). Validity is the degree to which the instrument measures what is meant to be measured. And accuracy is the extent to which the measuring procedure is free of bias. After an initial literature review (Daalmans, Kleemans, and Sadza 2017; Matthes, Prieler, and Adam 2016; Sherry, Osborne, and Nicholson 2016; Poyatos 1977), a preliminary proposal of categories was established based on a theoretical and conceptual review. After this first proposal, the category system was sent to two external reviewers to estimate and evaluate its internal and external validity. These two reviewers, experts in gender issues in sports and the use of qualitative methodologies, suggested modifications to the initial proposal, implementing extensions or restructuring the initial system of categories. Finally, a codebook with 23 categories of sociological, visual, and corporal type was established (see Supporting Information Appendix). Third, we proceeded to the codification of the selected photographs. This codification was done by two of the authors of the work after a training process with a sample of photographs (10%) selected at random. Intercode reliabilities were calculated in SPSS using the macro by Hayes for Krippendorff’s alpha (Hayes and Krippendorff 2007). All variables were analyzed as nominal variables except the number of likes, comments, and retweets, which were analyzed as ordinal variables. The stability index reached during training was high (Neuendorf 2011), allowing the use of the instrument for the analysis of images labeled with the hashtag. Finally, in the fourth phase, the analysis and interpretation of the data were performed. Results Since the launch in February 2015, the tagging of photographs with the hashtag #breakyourselfie on social networks has been present to this day. In general, the analyzed photographs are tagged with more than one hashtag (69.5%) and have an average of 3.7 Likes each, although there are nine of them that have more than 20 Likes. Concerning the spaces in which these photographs are taken (see Figure 1) it can be seen that in three out of ten occasions (29.8%) the photographs are outdoors (urban, parks, nature, etc.). On the other hand, for indoor spaces, gyms are the most recurrent places (22.8%) in the photographs analyzed. Figure 1. Space in which photographs are taken. Figure 2. Examples of variable 21 ‘Activity of the protagonist’ (Source: Instagram users' photos hashtaged with #breakyourselfie). © Copyrights 2020 Figure 3. Example of variable 22 ‘Non-verbal behavior with movement of the protagonist’ (Source: Instagram users' photos hashtaged with #breakyourselfie). Figure 4. Example of neutral posture of the protagonist (Source: Instagram users' photos hashtaged with #breakyourselfie). With respect to the protagonism and type of photography of the images, in all of them, at least one woman appears. In two out of three cases (64.7%), there is a photograph in which the woman is alone as the only protagonist. The type of photography most used by women, which is the goal of the campaign, is the selfie (65.4%). Regarding the configuration of the photograph, we found that the images are half or 3/4 length (59.8%), where the figure of the woman is observed from the head to the waist or knees respectively. Regarding the angle chosen by the women, the level photograph (65.1%) dominates, where the camera is in a horizontal line with the woman. Of the photographs analyzed, the ethnic group with the most participants is white women (88.4%). Regarding the corporal characteristics of the women photographed, it can be seen that the somatotype of the protagonist is mesomorphic (45.4%), followed by the ectomorphic (33.9%) and, finally, the endomorphic (20.4%). Thus, it is observed that while women with endomorphic somatotype prefer open spaces (52.8%), both women with ectomorphic and mesomorphic somatotype opt for interior spaces (75% and 77.3% respectively). Regarding the chosen length of the photograph, women with ectomorphic somatotype opt for whole length (31%) and close-ups (21.6%) while those with endomorphic somatotype select close-ups (35.7%) and whole length (21%). Regarding the clothing and accessories with which women are photographed, what is most commonly seen is: (1) the type of sports clothing the women used is short (40.9%), tight (56.3%), black (54%), and pink (27%); (2) they do not photograph themselves with make-up (46.8%); (3) they wear their hair pulled up (70.8%), usually in a ponytail; and (4) they use some accessory (38%): sunglasses, cap, plush, etc. Finally, regarding age, the women photographed are estimated to be young adults (62.9%) or adults (35.9%), with proportionally few older women being photographed. If we go deeper into the analysis of the variables described according to the type of women’s body, we find some differences. Women with ectomorphic somatotype wear loose clothing (14.8%) and some accessories (31.1%), which increase in the case of women with endomorphic somatotype (30.3% and 59.6% respectively). Another difference can be seen in the age of the women depicted: those with ectomorphic somatotype tend to be young adults (70%), while those with endomorphic somatotype tend to be adults (59.6%). Regarding sports activity, we can determine that most images are taken in the midst of a sporting situation (73.7%); however, they have also been photographed while performing an activity (16.6%) and just at the end of a sports activity (9.6%). In this case, there are no differences depending on the somatotype, since women with ectomorphic somatotypes (73.5%) are portrayed in similar non-sport situations than those with endomorphic somatotypes (82%). When analyzing the non-verbal behavior of the protagonists, the data reveal that 40.6% of women use emblems (Poyatos 1977; Sánchez-García and Núñez-Domínguez 2014), that is, they use gestures equivalent to words or phrases such as the victory sign. Within the total number of images, 39.5% use adapters (Ekman and Friesen 1969), that is, they are photographed using gestures that help them relax, such as touching their hair. Although samples of affection can also be observed (26.9%), these are less used (Ekman and Friesen 1969), and in these cases, some protagonists are photographed smiling or touching other people in a polite way. As for the positions in which women are photographed, we find that there are three positions that are most used. The most frequent is the neutral posture (39.7%) where the body is straight and oriented towards the objective. In the case of the selfie, the camera is held in one or two hands, and the arms are dropped next to the body. The neck is also usually straight, although sometimes we can find it slightly inclined or turned. Then, follows the affectionate posture (21%) and, lastly, the casual attitude (19.6%). We also find postures such as active (14.1%), winning (9.1%), tired (8.2%), or aggressive (3.4%). Discussion The objective of this research has been to describe and understand the way in which women have made use of the Reebok Break your selfie campaign. We analyzed 439 images uploaded by women to see if the objectives of this advertising and social campaign were achieved. This Reebok campaign differs from campaigns made by other brands because there is not association with excellence or with unattainable values (Helstein 2003); instead, achievable goals were sold, based on freedom or determination feelings. For Antunovic (2018), the focus of feminism on transformation raises the question of how digital media can be used for feminist activism. The social advances achieved in recent decades have allowed women to have greater freedom in their ways of acting. Likewise, the gradual incorporation of women into sports has allowed them to steadily feel more comfortable with bodies and practices that are not so feminine (Krane et al. 2010). Thus, the Reebok advertising campaign tries to overcome some of the obstacles that women face, as discussed by Vázquez (2002). The main obstacle is related to the body, namely, that the bodies of men and women have been coded differently. Women cannot use their body with the same freedom as men, because within their bodies there is a greater interconnection of biology, morals, and aesthet‐ ics, than in men (Sherry, Osborne, and Nicholson 2016). The rise among women of sports in general, and of fitness in particular, supposes a transgression of this barrier where historically they were not supposed to be because it ‘masculinizes’ and weakens their body (Washington and Economides 2016). As noted by Barak et al. (2018), these transgressions by female athletes seem to cross the boundaries of femininity and masculinity, avoiding perceived masculinity without being too feminine. Social networks can help to challenge traditional female representations of healthy and fit bodies (Warder 2018). In this sense, the analyzed campaign confronts the corporal status quo, facilitating younger women to break with the traditional models of femininity (Gómez-Colell 2015), since most of the women who tagged themselves showed the less feminine side of sporting practice, portraying themselves in ‘less feminine’ attitudes, such as being sweaty, tired, active, and at the same time happy. As Antunovic and Linden (2015) point out, the power of messages in social media lies not so much in followers or retweets, but in generating new social visions, affecting millions of readers. Thus, the study by Daniels and Wartena (2011) showed that how images are published determines how viewers interpret and assimilate them. The existence of spaces for debate or criticism in social networks provides an effective site to alter assumptions about gender and sports. On the other hand, we cannot say that the Reebok campaign has been effective and transformative. A majority of the women who have decided to participate in the campaign show a body that conforms to the dominant canons of feminine beauty. Few women dare to make public a photo of themselves on social networks that do not fulfill the prototype of a ‘beautiful’ female body in Western society; in many cases, if they do, they are portrayed with more qualifications, such as more close-ups to avoid imperfections, less tight clothing, use of accessories that conceal part of the body, etc. We can still glimpse the weight and validity of the corporal canons among women because only those who have a body closer to the ‘model’ dare to transgress the social system. Those women with a ‘more recognized’ body feel more empowered to face the challenge of Break your Selfie. We consider, together with authors like Murolo (2019), that digital photography has offered the possibility of taking control of the image itself, because one can correct those aspects considered undesirable in order to show an ideal image. Specifically, the selfie works as the resource par excellence for the projection of a desirable self-image for the audience involved (Mendoza, Ganter, and Basulto 2018, 170) where, according to Calvo and San Fabián (2018, 178), a ritual process of physical preparation (makeup, hair, pose, etc.) and technological steps (repetitions, assemblies, retouching, filters, etc.), attend to the values of physical and social attractiveness. The objective of the campaign was focused on the most attitudinal and behavioral aspects of sports, looking for women to break with the clichés of a ‘nice’ selfie. The evolution in sports marketing in recent years has meant that brands do not need or seek to sell a product and its qualities; instead what they increasingly sell are values, attitudes, or emotions (Dworkin and Messner 2002). This Reebok campaign is an example of a proposal focused on women with the objective to promote a different vision of women in sports advertising; nevertheless, from the analysis of the behaviors and postures, it can be concluded that this has not been achieved. The most frequent postures are the neutral and affectionate postures, while the postures that could have more relation with the objective of the campaign, such as active, tired, aggressive postures… are relegated to a more residual presence. The data generated here are in contrast to those obtained by Krane et al. (2010) since in their study with female university athletes, they pointed out that these particular women highlighted the intensity of sports in their photographic portraits, focusing on concentration and self-confidence, common traits in sports but not very ‘normal’ in femininity. Conclusions The objective of this research has been to describe and understand how women have made use of Reebok’s Break Your Selfie campaign. This campaign created in February 2015, continues with more than 16,000 publications. This study allows us to know in more detail the results and effects of an advertising campaign among the users of a social network (Instagram). From these results, it can be concluded in a general way that social networks can be configured as a new context from which to foster and develop the feminist movement. Specifically Instagram, through published and tagged images, can contribute to the elimination of sexist stereotypes traditionally linked to women, their bodies, and sports. However, despite the potential usefulness of these new ways of relating, the objectives set in the campaigns do not always achieve the desired results. In the case of the Break your Selfie campaign launched by the Reebok company five years ago, most of the participants show a body close to the standards of female beauty in the West. Relatively few women who do not have that ‘model body’ decide to portray and publish an image of them‐ selves in this campaign. If they do, they are portrayed with more cautions, such as more close-ups to avoid imperfections, less tight clothing, use of accessories that hide part of the body, etc. Furthermore, we observe the unequal repercussion of this campaign when viewed through a global lens. In the vast majority of the photographs analyzed, the protagonist is a white woman. Yes, the campaign has indeed had a greater impact in Western countries than in other parts of the world, but the statistics do not even come close to the percentages of racial composition of countries like the United States or the United Kingdom. This demonstrates the importance of taking into account different races and cultures concerning women, the body, and sport. Intersectionality has to play an important role in the analysis of this reality where bodily prejudices, sports practices, access to information technologies and communications … vary from one culture to another (Scraton 2001; Cooky et al. 2010). There are other sports brand campaigns with (and for) women that must be analyzed like #womenworthwatching of the US Open in 2019, or #lionesses of Budweiser for 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, to study more rigorously the evolution and connection between sports advertising and women. 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