A new platform designed to encourage and promote women in sports has allegedly done the opposite, solidifying gender stereotypes.

Sky Sports have recently created a new TikTok account, ’Sky Sports Halo’, created to highlight and support  women in sport and female fans. However, the backlash it has received has sparked controversy over  whether it is setting women back into rigid stereotypical boxes. 

The profile’s bio previously described the account to be ‘Sky Sports’ Lil Sis’, which many believe presents  women’s contribution to sport to be inferior. Moreover, backlash from this bio alone due to its less official  and less serious manner, feeds into the stereotype of women’s sport being taken less seriously.  

The videos posted on the account have also been critiqued due to the high number of male-focused  content, contrary to their pledge to promote women’s sports.  

TikTok's that Halo has posted have also received backlash due to their lack of focus on sporting news and  the irrelevant information provided. Opposed to sharing racing news regarding Formula One, a video of  Charles Leclerc speaking on his recent engagement was posted. This angered F1 fans, as they believe it  reinforces ideas that women only care for the sport due to the personal lives of the drivers. In such a highly male-dominated sport, women have already had to prove themselves on countless occasions. Many have  expressed their annoyance and frustration over the reinforcement of gender stereotypes. 

Moreover, the subtitles used in each video appear with pink, glittery text. This is something that fans have  been confused about, expressing their embarrassment. This has been said to infantilise and mock the so called safe and encouraging place for women in sport. Additionally, the captions used on videos including  references to ‘matcha’ and a ‘hot girl walk’ seemingly distract from promoting female fans. Instead, fans believe that the generalisation of stereotypical female traits has been used to gain views and followers. This retracts from their aims of allowing female sports fans a safe and supportive place for them to follow sports. 

A series of disapproving TikTok's has recently surfaced, with many fans, both male and female, voicing their opinions on the matter, with some saying the page is  

“Really setting women in sports back.”  

One female F1 fan shared on TikTok that “it continues to prove how hard it is to be a girl who loves sports,” and the caption wrote “There are so many ways to engage women in sports and bring women into  sports, but this just feels patronising.” 

Aside from changing the bio of the profile, there have been no formal comment or reply from Sky Sports regarding the backlash.  

The branding and design of the page has unfortunately steered attention and focus away from the  promotion and encouragement of women’s sports. What started as a well-intentioned place for women’s  voices and achievements in sports to be shared, has become clouded from and has subverted their aims.

@jessicaecclesjournalism on ig