Gender Equity in Sports

• Gender and sports are closely linked and influenced by societal norms and beliefs.

Sex and Gender

• Sex is a biological characteristic, dividing individuals into male or female categories.
• Gender is a social construct encompassing behaviors, beliefs, and patterns that categorize men and women.
• Gender exists on a continuum between masculinity and femininity.
• Sex is determined by anatomy, physiology, genes, and hormones.
• Gender is influenced by roles, traits, behaviors, and power dynamics.

Gender as a Social Construction

• Gender norms are socially constructed and are not fixed.
• The definition of gender norms can change across different societies and cultures.
• Interactions with others can reinforce our common knowledge of reality and societal expectations.
• The understanding and perception of individuals as men and women are social processes shaped by learning and understanding.

Intersectionality

• Intersectionality studies how multiple dimensions of inequality combine.
• Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw developed this concept through investigations on work and discrimination.
• Intersectionality highlights how various dimensions of inequality can intersect.

Gender and Sports

• Sports are a social institution reinforcing norms and values.
• Sports bolster the idea of natural differences between men and women.
• Sports are highly gendered at both micro and macro levels.
• Gendered language is used at the micro level of sports.
• Sports are unequal in terms of pay and brand marketing at the macro level.
• Complex relationships exist between sports and the perception of masculinity, femininity, homosexuality, heterosexuality, and other aspects of sex and gender.

Gender Ideology

• Gender ideology intertwines ideas and beliefs defining masculinity and femininity.
• It identifies people in terms of sex and sexuality, evaluates sexual expression, and organizes social relationships.
• Orthodox gender ideology has ideas and beliefs are aligned with an inflexible binary approach.
• The two-sex system classifies humans into two non-overlapping categories.
• Orthodox implies a traditional ideology internalized as unchanging truth, linked to religious beliefs or essential reality.

Gender Ideology as Status Quo

• Gender ideology maintains the status quo.
• Males are viewed as superior based on traits linked to power and status.
• Women are viewed as inferior to men, except in their ability to nurture.
• This ideology leads to male-dominated, male-identified, and male-centered social worlds.

Gender (In)Equity in Sport Cultures

• Gender inequity issues are present when abilities and performance connect with masculinity within male-dominated systems.
• Gender inequity issues are also present when the focus goes primarily to men's lives in stories, legends, and media concerning sports in male-centered system.
• The sport that emphasizes values related to men and manhood contribute to gender inequity issue.

Masculinity in Sport

• Hegemonic masculinity, as defined by Connell in 1995, involves demonstrating male dominance and superiority in comparison to subordinated masculinities and women.
• Hegemonic masculinity maintains and celebrates male dominance, superiority, and heterosexuality

Costs of Masculinity

• The concept of the costs of masculinity was developed by Michael Messner.
• The concept of the costs of masculinity refers to the adverse effects of hegemonic masculinity on men.
• Men face sanctions if they deviate from traditional masculinity norms.
• Gendered insults and insults about one's sexuality can make a man feel inferior.
• The idea of masculinity may lead to life-altering injuries

Price of Violence: Brain Injuries & Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

• Disabling injuries from violence are a serious concern in certain sports.
• High injury rates in men's sports are linked to dominant ideas about masculinity
• CTE is a progressive disease caused by repetitive head trauma, common in contact sports and the the military.

Gender Ideology in Sports

• In the 20th century, school girls participated in semi-annual "field days" or "sport nights" to compete in running races, field events, or give skills demonstrations.
• Females participating in certain sports may threaten traditional gender ideas.
• Myths have been used throughout history to discourage participation by women and girls.
• Encouragement varied depending on the sport, with a focus on grace and beauty versus strength and speed.
• "Tomboy" behavior might be okay early in life, but become unacceptable by mid-adolescence.
• Physical activities frequently in past centuries emphasized grace and beauty as essential for "ladylike character".

Stopping the "Invaders"

• Myths widely believed until the 1960s suggested sports could harm the female body and fertility discouraging women.
• There was social marginalization for female athletes, often labeled as lesbians, immoral, unnatural, etc.
• Sports played by women frequently emphasized grace and beauty (individual sports) or had barriers between opponents.

Ladies, not invaders

• Women's sports teams often embraced feminine names like ""Lady this"" or ""Lady that"" to reduce the idea of threat.
• Women also called themselves ""ladies"" during most 20th century.
• "Ladies" identification was more common in southern states where women were kept subordinate.
• Today the term "lady" may not come with the same constraints but "lady teams" still lack resources
• Gender ideology leads women to attract funding and support when they play "men's sports" -even today.

Professional Sports Gender Hierarchies

• Professional sports can be deeply gendered institutions, with the binary understanding of gender maintained and women being accommodating to men.
• Emphasized femininity involves cultural support for the compliance and subordination of women.

Media Represenations of Athletes' Wives

• Media presents athletes' wives through archetypes like WAGS, Devoted Wife and Mother, Pin-Up Wife, and Dangerous Destabilizer.

Sport Marriage

• Career Dominated Marriage involves one spouse performing high-stress, high-profile occupation in a male-dominated world.
• This marriage traditional regards the "man" world.
• The marriage can be lived though lives characterized by geographic mobility or instability
• Husbands career comes fist and the wife is subordinate.

Courtsey Identity

• An identity designation reflects partner's status, activities, and traits that can value socially or discredit.
• The fotball wife indentity as a Courtsey reflects in the football team ( social interactions) and as a extension ( Public)
• Identity designation includes view self as a teammate (personal).

The Football Wife Identity

• The Football Wife Identity are associated with Identity Talk from Anderson and Snow 1987.
• Identity Talk represents a "football wife" which includes Envision self as a teammate and Distance from unwanted stereotypes.
• Women think there marriage can have negative connotations because others think their marriage isn't based in honest intention.

Presentation of the Football Wife

• Football Wife can have celeb Status which can expect something from the wife.

Deviating from Social Norms

• Devianting from Social Norms conequences may arise.

Gender Equity Progress

• New opportunities for participation, legislation mandating equal rights, the global women's rights movement, and media coverage of women has allowed for more progress in gender equality.
• During the 2012 Olympics in London, there were a number of "gender firsts"

Advancements in 2012

• There were no all male sports.
• Athletes from every nation had women on the team.
• United States team had more women than men.
• A black woman won gold in all around gymnastics.
• A female Saudi athlete wore hijab as part of Judo tradition.

Strategies For Change

• Alternative definitions of masculinity and feminity need development alongside changing traditions.
• Critically address destructive and violent behavior while questioning definitions of masculinity and femininity.
• Focus must be given to lifetime participation, support, equity, and mixed-gender participation in ports.

Explore the factors influencing gender equity in sports since the 1970s. Understand the strategies for changing gender ideology and culture within sports. Review Connell's definition of hegemonic masculinity and gender inequity issues within sports.