University of Baguio

Assumption Road, Baguio City 2600

Gender and Society

Topic: Gender and Sports

I. Objectives:

1.Identify the points of conflict between gender equality as a principle and sports as a
practice.
2.Compare the implications of gender equality between male and female dominated
sports events.
3.Construct a simple critique of the intersections of gender equality and sports
.

Introduction:

Since the 1970s, gender has become an important category of analysis in the sociology
of sport. Research has clearly demonstrated that sports are gendered activities as well
as social contexts in which boys and men are more actively and enthusiastically
encouraged to participate, compared with girls and women. Evidence also shows that
more males than females participate in organized competitive sports, and that male
dominance characterizes the administration and coaching of sports. Sports, it is
theorized, operate as a site for the inculcation, perpetuation, and celebration of a type
of (heterosexual) masculine identity based on physical dominance, aggression, and
competitiveness. Associated with such masculine imagery, sports serve to legitimize a
perceived natural superiority of men and reinforce the inferiority of females who are
defined with reference to relative weakness, passivity, and grace – the characteristics
of femininity. Therefore, sports are often described as a ‘‘male preserve.’’

Three key themes have driven debates about gender and sport since the 1970s.

▪ Leading scholars in the sociology of sport have highlighted that throughout history,
sporting practices inculcated behaviors and values defined as male, manly, and
masculine.

▪ Issues surrounding the body, physicality, and sexuality have been brought to the
understanding gender relations in sport.

▪ It is emphasized that both women and men reinforce and challenge dominant
gender ideology in sport in various ways.

Historical Development

Victorian Era

The roots of contemporary sports lie in the Victorian period in Britain when sports began
to be characterized by organized structures and standardized rules. In terms of gender,
late nineteenth century British developments in sports largely centered on the beliefs
and values of white middle class males. The prestige, status, and superiority afforded to
men in society became marked at this time. In institutions such as public schools,
universities, churches, and private clubs, sports came to represent a Victorian version of
masculinity based on physical superiority, competitiveness, mental acumen, and a
sense of fair play. Established ideals of femininity such as passivity, frailty, emotionality,
gentleness, and dependence were in stark opposition to the strenuous task of playing
sports. The belief that male and female traits were innate, biological, and somehow
fixed prevailed. Women’s participation in sports was therefore a subject of debate
regarding what type and how much physical activity was appropriate for them.

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19th Century American Society

In both Britain and the US, changes in social life during the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries impacted gender relations in sport. British and American society at
this time was characterized by social relations that were becoming less violent, there
was a decreasing reliance on physical strength in the workplace, and home and
educational environments were becoming ones in which young males spent increasing
amounts of time with females. Eric Dunning (1999) and Michael Messner (1990) refer to
these social transformations as the ‘feminization’ of society. One consequence of these
processes was the reconstruction of sporting opportunities and social enclaves (such as
the Boy Scouts and the YMCA) for boys and men to reclaim and reassert their
masculinity. While opportunities for women in sports also increased in the early part of
the twentieth century, participation rates for females remained considerably smaller
compared to males. Some sports were acceptable for women so long as they were not
as strenuous or competitive as the male version. Women’s sports were still the subject of
intense debate reflecting and maintaining the Victorian myth of women’s physical
ineptitude.

Women’s Sports in the 1900s

• Golf
• Tightrope Walk
• Hot Air Balloon Race
• Swimming
• Association Football
• Softball
• Tennis
• Cricket

Claims and Controversies

Scholars in the sociology of sport have illustrated that many people are empowered by
being involved in sport despite traditional gender ideology. Examples show how sport is
a site where established values about gender have been resisted, negotiated, and
sometimes transformed. The assumption that homosexuality does not exist in sport is
challenged in research about the many gay men competing in sports at recreational
and elite levels. There are events such as the Gay Games that allow athletes to
compete in a relatively unprejudiced environment where they have less to fear about
derogatory and violent responses to their publicized sexual orientation. Several scholars
question the assumption that sport is a site for the oppression of women by exploring
the ways in which women gain from their sporting achievements. Such research shows
that it is possible for women to experience feelings of independence, confidence, and
increased self-esteem from their involvement in a variety of sporting practices. Female
participation in physical activity can also contribute to broadening and alternative
definitions of physicality that are not simply based on traditional ideals about feminine
appearance. In the case of professional sports, some women can gain consider able
financial wealth and worldwide recognition from their sporting achievements. (Gender
and Sports, 2020).

Conclusion

Scholars concerned with the relationship between sport, ethnicity, and femininity
emphasize that sportswomen are not a homogeneous group. Increasingly, there is
literature that presents a challenge to dominant universalistic conceptions of women in
sport that serve to construct white, western, middle class, able-bodied women’s
experiences as representative of all sportswomen.

Sociologists of sport have argued that the dominant assumption about female sports
operates to marginalize or even silence the sporting triumphs and struggles of women
who live outside the West and those who represent minority groups of females. A
central feature of scholarship in this area is the recognition of difference between and
within groups of women in relation to ethnicity, religious affiliation, social class, age, and
physical (dis)ability.

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A sense of difference is characterized by power relations operating simultaneously at
the personal and institutional level. In many ways, sport can be empowering for black
women, Muslim women, Aboriginal women, lesbians, and disabled women. At the
same time, these women are incorporated into the wider social networks of power in
which they live out their lives.

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