Women's Sports and the Forgotten Gender

A Companion to Sport, 2013

2016

The aim of this paper is to analyze the connections among the concepts of sex, gender, and bodies because understanding their meanings is essential for gender studies and feminist theory, especially with relation to gender politics in sports.

We've come a long way since the 1952 Helsinki Games, where women represented only 10 percent of the Olympic athletes. At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing women represented approximately 43 percent of the total athlete delegation, up from 41 percent in the Athens 2004 Olympics. However, the "glass escalator" is not yet gender inclusive since women are exceedingly under-represented in all sport governing bodies (SGBs), primarily in the executive bodies of national and international sport organizations and institutions, such as the IOC. Researchers argue that men ride up the "glass escalator" when they enter predominantly female professions, as opposed to women who confront the glass ceiling and the "sticky floor" (Kimmel 2004) when they enter predominantly male professions. Taking their gender privilege with them, men experience positive discrimination (the glass escalator) when they enter female dominated social spheres, in other words they are socialized, encouraged, supported and promoted up the ladder even faster than their female counterparts. The first part of this study examines to what extent gender personification, the structurally secured and enforced gender segregation system continues-extends beyond the competitive sport expression, defeating the advocated values of social equity. In exploring the interrelation of social theories, anachronistic biologistic approaches and gender-based ideologies that established gender stereotypes and gender segregation in competitive sports, this paper renegotiates sport identity and corporeality in ways that reflect the processes of change in the construction of new sport identities: e.g. gender fluidity, men's participation in women's sports, respect for diversity, normalizing bodies and identities, bionic athletes, 'naturality' versus artificiality, emerging technologies used to enhance performance in competitive sports. Current discussions on the gender subject, no longer focus exclusively on the biological gender (sex), as an analytical category, but on the social gender which formulates, defines and redefines identity, according to evolving socio-cultural interpretations. In the new theoretical framework, gender identity and corporeality are being rediscovered and are under reconstruction, namely viewed as linguistic conceptions, socio-cultural manifestations, transformable meanings and evolving elements of change. Such an example is men's participation in rhythmic gymnastics , despite gender stereotypes that depict the sport as unacceptable for the image of masculinity, including the male body aesthetic. In light of the growing participation of men in the competitive sport of rhythmic gymnastics-on national and international levels-in Japan, Australia, Canada, the US, Russia, Greece and Italy,

Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 2004

U.S. society continues to accept myths regarding the supposed weakness of women’s bodies. Women’s displays of physical power are often prevented or undermined, typically in ways centering on the concept of femininity. Increasing numbers of female athletes have not led to a true physical feminist liberation, one which would increase women’s confidence, power, respect, wealth, enjoyment of physicality, and escape from rape and the fear of rape. Despite these possible benefits, most feminists have not encouraged the development of physical power in women. Although caution regarding physical power is warranted, the benefits of a physical, libratory feminism outweigh the risks.

Since the 1980s gender studies based research has looked at the problems faced by women in male domains of sports. Initial studies conducted predominantly in English-speaking countries dealt with aspects of marginalization and discrimination against women in the " male domain of top-level sports " in general. The increased participation of women in traditionally male sports in the 1990's caused researchers to gradually give more attention to the situation of women athletes. The following article provides an overview of international research literature related to both topical threads, paying particular attention to studies drawing on identity theories.

Handbooks of sociology and social research, 2018

Despite the seeming affinity between gender in sports contexts and the theoretical and methodological orientations of the field of sociology of gender, research studies of sport have, for the most part, been marginalized. With few exceptions, most edited collections and anthologies on sociology of gender do not include a chapter on sport (Malcolm in Sport and Sociology. Routledge, London, 2012). In this chapter, I offer insights into several factors that explains the marginalization of sport within the field of sociology of gender despite sport's relevance to gender scholars. Next, I provide a brief overview of key thematic trends in the research relevant to sociology of gender scholars, and offer a discussion and critique of the relevant approaches. I conclude with a few comments regarding future directions in the field of sociology of sport and gender.

Sex Roles, 2010

In this paper we critically review how research on girls or women and sport has developed over the last 35 years. We use a post-positivist lens to explore the content of the papers published in Sex Roles in the area of women, gender and sport and examine the shifts in how gender and sport have been conceptualized in these accounts. In order to initiate a broader dialogue about the scholarly analysis of gender and sport, we subsequently explore ideas inspired by feminist theorizing that have dominated/guided related research in other outlets over this time period but have received relatively little attention in papers published in Sex Roles. We conclude by briefly making suggestions for further research in this area.

British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2012

Based on DNA analysis of a historical case, the authors describe how a female athlete can be unknowingly confronted with the consequences of a disorder of sex development resulting in hyperandrogenism emerging early in her sports career. In such a situation, it is harmful and confusing to question sex and gender. Exposure to either a low or high level of endogenous testosterone from puberty is a decisive factor with respect to sexual dimorphism of physical performance. Yet, measurement of testosterone is not the means by which questions of an athlete's eligibility to compete with either women or men are resolved. The authors discuss that it might be justifi able to use the circulating testosterone level as an endocrinological parameter, to try to arrive at an objective criterion in evaluating what separates women and men in sports competitions, which could prevent the initiation of complicated, lengthy and damaging sex and gender verifi cation procedures.

Advances in Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, 2024

Today, the question of who can compete as a woman or a man in different sports is becoming more and more important. Is it biological sex that determines the legitimacy of a sport or gender identity? There is also the question of what motivates athletes to compete in the sport of the opposite sex. There are sports where it is worth competing as a man in the women's event or as a woman in the men's event. In many cases, the conflict between gender identity, biological sex and perceived self-image is indeed an inner fulfillment of the individual, while in other cases the laws allow the athlete to change gender and thus compete in the category of the opposite sex. Our research is focusing on the last 10 years of sport results in the field of Olimpic Programm, we have examined the issues that arise in sports, which we believe should be addressed in the future in all cases in order to sort out the gender categories in relation to sports. In some sports, gender segregation has a positive impact on the performance of the athlete, such as athletics, which is in the spotlight in this area. Boxing, weightlifting, skiing, etc. are among the sports in which men have a significant technical and physical advantage over women, while in gymnastics there is a significant potential for gender role reversal. As a starting point for discussion, we would like to raise the question of what is fair and what is not fair to athletes. Is there any chance for women against transgender participants?

The community of sport is a powerful site for the construction of masculinity, male identities, and heterosexuality. Consequently, the increased entry of women into the sporting arena has been actively resisted, with women athletes either excluded or framed within traditional, sexualized discourses of femininity and heterosexuality. Yet Title IX and increased female participation have been used to suggest that women have achieved sporting empowerment. Thus, elite, professional female athletes provide an interesting position from which to explore the discourses available for women's construction of athletic identities. Using critical discourse analysis with an emphasis on rhetorical and discursive analysis (Potter, 1996), we analyzed 20 interviews with professional female athletes with a particular interest in exploring the problematic nature of performing female identities given the limited hegemonic forms and resources offered by a predominant and powerful male discourse. Analysis revealed limited ways to construct female athleticism that involved complex and contradictory gender work, including the problematic construction of female athleticism through the deployment of hegemonic discourses that framed ordinary women as nonsporting. Our findings suggest that women athletes remain at the peripheries of the community of sport.