Title: Gender and Sports - Sociology of Sport - iResearchNet
Headings: Gender and Sports
Gender and Sports
Outline
Historical Developments and the Gendering of Sport
Sport, Gender, Power, and Physicality
Sport, Gender, and Contested Ideology
References:

Content: 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.’’ Social changes reflecting the condition of women in society have influenced the status of knowledge about the relationships between and within groups of women and men in sports. Starting in the 1970s, a consequence of the feminist movement was to raise public awareness about the need for increased opportunities for girls and women in sports. Since then there has been growing political and public recognition of the importance of health and fitness. Furthermore, emerging knowledge about the health benefits of physical activity provided a foundation for the promotion of physical activity for girls and women. Opportunities for girls and women in sports have improved and participation rates among females have increased. Scholars studying gender and sports indicate that these developments have resulted in ongoing challenges to gender stereotyping, resistance and negotiation of established gender ideology, and the initiation of important legal and political change regarding sex discrimination in sports and society. For example, Title IX of the Education Amendments of the Civil Rights Act (1972) in the US, and the Sex Discrimination Act (1975) in Great Britain were intended to counter public discrimination against women.