BODILY issue-Sport and Gender Flashcards
Outline the issue of gender within sport?
A KEY ISSUE
- Post-pregnancy, pay gap, homophobia, toxic masculinity.
- A distinct social sphere- historically divided.
- A ‘regulated scientific paradigm’- division, a space that has structure.
Define gender (multiple options available) ?
An embodied identity
A biography
A performative, social identity?
An ideology
An identity ‘politic’
What’s the relationship between gender and society?
Gender- internalised from society, a LIVED experience.
WHY do we continue to challenge/ interrogate gender?
It’s related to many inequalities
It’s good to challenge the status quo
Sport likes hierarchies, divisions and simplicity, it is worth challenging this.
AND gender continues to be a site for the systematic exclusion and marginalisation of women, and certain forms of masculinity- LGBTQ+
The study of gender can be split into categories, what are these?
Historical- reproduce and mediate inequalities- CONSIDER- how societal norms around gender and inclusion in sports have changed OVER TIME
Structural- most of the time, many different issues can be categorised by multiple factors
Political- eg: female athletes/ mothers of young children- spoke openly during the Olympics
Medical- Intersex, gender testing, trans-biology/ medical discourse
Cultural- Media-ideological and part of our culture- CULTURAL MESSAGING
How do norms develop and how can we SYSTEMATICALLY ANALYSE ideas/ themes
What do ‘theoretical considerations’ of gender and sport focus on?
- Do inequalities in ACCESS still remain and if so, why?
-How has mens sport changed, is there greater equality in control and decision making?
-What types of ANALYSIS are revenant? do we need to focus on bodies, discourses and individual empowerment (MICRO LEVEL)
or
Make a WIDER STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS of gender systems (MACRO LEVEL)
What are the three main ways to analyse gender in sport?
- Marxist/ socialist Feminist Theory
- Post-structuralist Feminist Theory
- Post- Humanist Feminist Theory
Explain Marxist/ socialist Feminist Theory
Looks at STRUCTURES AND SYSTEMS
-Patriarchy as an overall ideology that comes with structures/ the economy.
- Focus on STRUCTURES as oppressive and deriving from economic and social relations
- Looks at the sexual division of labour within wider economic structures- pay, less jobs and opportunities.
Explain Post-structuralist Feminist Theory?
Looks at LANGUAGES, DISCOURSES, KNOWLEDGE and the MEDIA
-The media circulates messages and determines what is being transmitted
- Challenge and analyse the language/ discourses used as sites of POWER that is maintained
- Argue for a deconstruction of the term ‘woman’ - the sporting body as a site for analysis
Explain Post- Humanist Feminist Theory
SOMEWHERE INBETWEEN- looks at the structures and systems you can’t see and the language/ bodies in society
- Explores the complex interplay between bodies, material and structural forces
-They highlight that the ‘gendered body’ EVOLVES with material, structural and discursive forces.
Give some examples of how you could apply feminist theories to sport?
Post structural?
The role/ influence of modern day media coverage
Give some examples of how you could apply feminist theories to sport?
Marxist/ Structural?
The underrepresentation of women within coaching roles
Inequality in men/ womens sponsorship
Give some examples of how you could apply feminist theories to sport?
Post-humanist?
The role of female sporting events in promoting gender equality/ participation
Summarise the things learnt in this lecture?
Gender- not simply a binary concept- goes further than female/ male divisions.
Sport has a long exclusionary history when it comes to women, which manifests in wider practices such as systems and media coverage.
Research is needed, and we can use the three central theories to undergo in depth analyses.
