A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Representation Of Student-Athletes In Visual Media

As the media impacts our lives on a daily basis, it shapes our perceptions of the world and people around us. According to the thoughts of Marshall McLuhan, George Gerbner, and Neil Postman, media create meanings for society to apply to their cultural norms and stereotypes. Whether we cultivate meaning from media metaphors or the media forms themselves, we reflect the mediated messages in our perceptions of identities, including those of student-athletes. After rhetorically analyzing films, television shows, advertisements, and online media, it can be said that visual media portray student-athletes in ways that present tensions for how society should view them: heroic, inspirational, egocentric, and rebellious. In addition, there are certain tensions among the identities of student-athletes according to media rhetoric.