Studies about female bodybuilders and so-called “self-defensers” have shown us the possibilities of transgressing gender through the transformation of bodies and bodily skills. In Japan, professional women wrestlers transform their bodies as bodybuilders do, and like self-defensers, obtain bodily skills which can be used for fighting against violence. It is possible to explore whether such women wrestlers transgress the ideal female body or the normative femininity through considering women wrestlers' bodies and pro wrestling as work. As a first step, I considered whether women wrestlers' bodies transgress the ideal female body by focusing how women wrestlers perceive their wrestling bodies. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with 25 women wrestlers. Five perceptions were identified: “I accept my body as it is,” “I have a conflict about my body,” “I have the body of a wrestler,” “I have the body of an ordinary girl who can do pro wrestling,” and “I have the new ideal female body.” Particular attention should be paid to the last of these perceptions, as this view redefines the ideal feminine body from the normative “thin” body to a body which is strong and kakkoii (“cool”). Those who express this view regard their bodies as attractive both as wrestlers and as women. This is a view that transgresses the ideal female body, although it remains in the specific community as women's pro wrestling.

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This paper focuses the impact of women’s boxing over the general boxing. Furthermore, it highlights the remarkable feature of Japanese women’s amateur boxing, which has the ‘Technical Performance’ category in its boxing competitions, and considers how women’s sports would be able to influence on the whole of sports activities. ‘Technical Performance’ is one of the Japanese female boxing events. Those scoring items in ‘Technical Performance’ can examine the essential aspects for boxing, therefore, all the boxing players are required to obtain those necessary abilities and should be judged by how they are capable of showing the abilities. Thus, the technical performances should functionally improve the level of both women’s and all boxing competitiveness. Subsequently, it proves that there is no difference between men and women in their boxing techniques and consequently, the proof leads to abolish gender bias in boxing games. In addition, technical performance plays a key role in school educations as well. Japan used to rule out female boxers in schools and only men could learn boxing before. However, as technical performance does not contain any violent factors, for example, knocking out somebody, it would be relatively acceptable for physical educations in schools. It is believed to be possible to offer the opportunity for female students to learn the technical performance of boxing. This opportunity is quite significant to establish the true equality between men and women in terms of giving equal choices for both of them in lifetime. All sporting events including boxing need to be reviewed without gender bias or concerns and that would be able to enhance the sports skills and its appeal. Since the author has researched on relations between sports and gender, it is a very important mission to provide the possibilities and new attractions of sports.

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This study joins the “Sportwomen in the 2004 Olympic Games: A Global Research Analysis of Media Coverage”, and examines Japanese newspaper coverage during the 2004 Olympic Games from the perspective of gender. The sample in this study is taken from the Yomiuri. Content analysis was conducted to compare all the articles and photographs of female and male athletes on all pages. In addition to the Yomiuri, the Olympics photographs that appeared in the Asahi and the Mainichi newspapers are analyzed in the same way as the Yomiuri. In non-Olympics, the coverage of female athletes occupied less than 6% and there were a very small number of female sporting events. If the analysis of the coverage was conducted at another time, female athlete would receive more coverage than in this study. There will though continue to be great differences of coverage between males and females. On the other hand, in coverage of Olympics, female athletes received relatively equal newspaper coverage compared to male athletes. This is because the number of female athletes and female sporting events increased to the same level as male’s, and female athletes got almost as many medals as male athletes. However, seeing the Olympic photographic coverage of the athletes in the newspaper separately according to nationality, Japanese athletes’ coverage is found to reflect their results in the games for both gender, whereas in foreign athletes’ case, gender stereotype of sports can be perceived both qualitatively and quantitatively. The representation of gender in the newspaper is not likely to disappear easily. These representations of sport by the media have become an obstacle to the realization of gender equality and equity.

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Taking a media literacy approach, this paper enquires about the role of journalism in the media, and in particular, the purpose of journalism in connection with respect for human rights and the development of democracy. This paper is an analysis of the coverage of the Turin Winter Olympic Opening Ceremony from a gender perspective. The objective of the research analysis was the five major evening news programs and live broadcasts on February 11, 2006. The analysis was based on a detailed examination of the construction of the programs. A comparative analysis of the usage of live footage from the Olympic Opening Ceremony and the way the opening ceremony was reported in the news programs was also conducted. Additionally, the opening ceremony reports on each program were analysed from a gender perspective. The main findings show that the media focus on the opening ceremony of the Olympics as a special event and construct it as exciting and sensational. On the other hand, the media also trivialize the role of women in the ceremony. Only footage of their smiling faces was shown, a characteristic of the coverage of women in mainstream media. The carrying of the Olympic flag into the stadium by eight women was constructed in the programs merely as a symbol of peace. The news media, therefore, excluded showing the diversity and positive existence of women in the ceremony. This paper argues that the lack of diversity in these programs is an indication of how journalism is not functioning to its full potential.

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