Distinguished Speakers' Series

Dr. Toni Bruce

"15 Rules of Media Representation:  Changing Images of Female Sporting Bodies Over Time"

Toni Bruce’s interdisciplinary research focuses on issues of difference related to gender, race and ethnicity, nationalism and disability, with sports media as the primary site of investigation. Theoretically, she draws upon cultural studies and various feminisms as frameworks from which to sociologically interrogate the nature and significance of sports media and sport. Toni is a former President of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport. She is widely published, with 3 books and over 70 articles. She has given keynotes or symposia presentations in Canada, China, South Korea, Japan, France and Switzerland. She currently serves on the editorial boards of Communication and Sport, International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, and the European Journal for Sport and Society. She reviews for a wide range of journals in sport sociology, communications, sociology and race/ethnic studies. Her current research focuses on identifying global patterns of sports media representation, especially of sportswomen. This work is ground-breaking in challenging taken-for-granted understandings deriving from North American research that does not adequately capture global trends, and reflects her commitment to ensuring research from non-English-speaking countries feeds into Western researchers’ understandings. She is also active in women’s sport advocacy at the national and international levels, serving on the Boards of WomenSport International, a United Nations-recognised Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), and Women in Sport Aotearoa. As a public intellectual, Toni regularly engages with local and international media on the meanings of sport, sports media coverage of women, and rugby in New Zealand, giving over 40 interviews in the past three years, including to the BBC, L’Equipe and Radio Australia.