Sports and Gender

Reconhecendo que o voleibol tem se mostrado o esporte em que, com flagrante recorrência, colocam-se questões quanto aos sentidos mais normalizadores do masculino, tanto pelas performances de gênero, como pela visibilidade da orientação homossexual de seus atletas, que têm sido protagonistas em potentes processos de rompimento com a dominância da heteronormatividade nos contextos esportivos, o foco desta pesquisa se desenvolve no referido esporte. Deste modo, buscou-se, nesta tese, problematizar os processos de significação da masculinidade entre jovens adolescentes atletas de voleibol e estudantes da educação básica, que se identificavam como gays e bissexuais, a partir da produção e discussão de narrativas que abordassem essa temática relativamente aos diferentes espaços-tempos do esporte e da escola. Como etapa inicial, realizou-se revisão da produção acadêmica do campo de estudos sobre homens e masculinidades, nas áreas de Educação e Educação Física, em publicações de periódicos da última década (2007-2016), buscando assim, o diálogo da tese com as pesquisas dos referidos campos de estudos. Foram mobilizadas as teorizações desenvolvidas por Jacques Derrida e Judith Butler, com destaque para as noções de performatividade da linguagem e performatividade de gênero, para discutir a categoria masculinidade, e procurou-se, ainda, a aproximação com a perspectiva queer, propondo os operadores de pesquisa masculinidade normalizadora e masculinidade queer para a interpretação das narrativas produzidas pela pesquisa. Os jovens adolescentes, em seus relatos, enunciaram a imposição da masculinidade normalizadora como performance nos espaços-tempos do voleibol e, principalmente, da escola, que os apreendia como corpos abjetos e precários. Entretanto, também foram frequentes as desestabilizações destes sentidos normalizadores, em particular no espaço-tempo do voleibol, quando os jovens adolescentes, nos clubes em que se constituíam como atletas, resistiam à exigência da masculinidade normalizadora por meio de enunciações subversivas e paródias de gênero, aproximando-se de uma significação da masculinidade que denominou-se como lançada em horizonte queer. As narrativas também apresentaram a categoria masculinidade atravessada por marcadores da diferença, como: orientação sexual; raça; classe social; idade; deficiência; e religião, mobilizando reflexões em abordagem interseccional sobre o agravamento da condição de precariedade destes jovens adolescentes nos espaços-tempos do voleibol e da escola, além de contribuírem para desmontar os essencialismos, usualmente postos nas identificações dos sujeitos. O desejo de um horizonte queer para a masculinidade, na contemporaneidade, expressa um ideal que se quer chegar e alcançar, potencializando ao infinito suas performances de gênero, ao mirar a ruptura radical das opressões e desigualdades que, as estabilizações identitárias promovem sobre os sentidos do masculino e de “ser homem”.

This study aims to address how, to what extent, and under what conditions may those who are not cisgen-dered as male do the work of negotiating access to male sporting space. In doing so, it brings together critical geographies of masculinity and the critical literature on skateboarding to address the role of particular kinds of skateboarding spaces in either reproducing or potentially disrupting gender segregated, patriarchal skate-boarding cultures. This project is offered not only to challenge patriarchal practices and values, but also to step beyond theory and actually examine how sport environments might be designed and sited so as to enable a wider range of gender performances and more inclusive spaces. Specifically, my research suggests that certain types of skate environments can somewhat lower women's barriers to entering the gender charged realm of skateboarding if and when those responsible for those spaces take patriarchy and the needs of noncisgendered male skateboarders seriously. Cette étude a pour but de savoir comment, dans quelle mesure et dans quelles conditions, les personnes n'étant pas des hommes cisgenres négocient leur accès dans l'univers sportif masculin. Pour ce faire, elle réunit les géographies critiques de la masculinité et la littérature critique sur le skateboard pour examiner le rôle de certains univers particuliers de cette pratique dans la reproduction, ou dans l'éventuelle rupture avec la ségrégation genrée, des cultures patriarcales du skateboard. Le but de ce projet n'est pas seulement de contester les pratiques et les valeurs patriarcales, mais aussi de dépasser la théorie et d'examiner vraiment comment les environnements sportifs pourrait être conçus et localisés de manière à permettre une plus grande variété de performances en fonction du genre et de devenir des espaces plus inclusifs. Plus spécifiquement, ma recherche suggère que certains types d'environnements dédiés à la glisse pourraient contribuer à réduire les barrières que rencontrent les femmes pour entrer dans la sphère fortement genrée du skateboard si et quand les responsables de ces espaces prendront sérieusement en compte le patriarcat et les besoins des skatebordeurs qui ne sont pas cisgenres.

El documento que aquí se presenta tiene como objetivo dar cuenta de las oportunidades y obstáculos de género para las mujeres que practican deporte en las universidades. Para ello fue preciso documentar de manera general antecedentes sobre las mujeres y el deporte, mostrar datos sobre la práctica actual en México, incluir la consideración de la perspectiva de género universitaria en el deporte y mostrar evidencias actuales de prácticas deportivas de mujeres. La metodología que se desarrolla es la de integración de la información reglamentada en política pública sobre género y deporte en las universidades, dando un enfoque específico al Centro Universitario de los Altos de la Universidad de Guadalajara, posteriormente se da cuenta de las actividades deportivas cotidianas que se desarrollan y se propician en esta institución y se analizan algunas opiniones de mujeres universitarias vinculadas al CUALTOS donde la intención es dejar ver las oportunidades que se despliegan y los obstáculos que afrontan en la realización de estas prácticas. En las reflexiones se muestras avances en cuestiones de fomento al deporte y las mujeres y, la ausencia de integración de políticas de género contextualizadas, la incorporación de casos de éxito y de obstáculos que se manifiestan, varios relacionados con el enfoque de género, mostrando un área de oportunidad que aparece en la realidad cotidiana universitaria y el deporte.

Palabras clave: mujeres, universidades, deporte, oportunidades, obstáculos

Kamberidou, I., & Chroni, S. (2016). The Greek Experience: Outstanding Women in the Social Space of Sport. In Inspirational Women in Europe: making a difference in Physical Education, Sport and Dance (pp. 224–242). Juiz de Fora, Brazil.: Rosa Diketmüller (editor). Juiz de Fora : NGIME/UFJF, 2016. 254 p. (IAPESGW Continent Series). Publication of the International Association of Physical Education and Sport for Girls and Women (IAPESGW), ISBN 978-85-67380-55-1. Copy at http://www.tinyurl.com/zcxmakh

Much attention has been given to the controversy surrounding Caster Semenya, an 18-year-old South African athlete subjected to “sex testing” during the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, but far less attention has been given to Semenya's rhetorical response to the media's scrutiny of her body. This essay explores how Semenya's portrait on the cover of You, a prominent South African magazine, employs a visual rhetoric that functions as an enthymeme. I argue that while Semenya hailed audiences to view her as an authentic, feminine self, her visual enthymeme was constrained by medical conceptions of gender. By investigating the Semenya case, I analyze how female athletic bodies are displayed, disciplined, and reinscribed into sexist and racist discourses about gendered athleticism.

This paper considers the phenomenon of sex-integrated martial arts training, adopting an auto-ethnographic perspective to outline the transformative potential of physical cultural practices.  By foregrounding the concept of habitus, the paper discusses how gendered dispositions are formed, reinforced, and at times challenged, throughout one’s life course.  Through a discussion of the author’s own experiences of mixed-sex martial arts training, along with data drawn from observations and interviews with other martial artists, the suggestion is made that (men’s) deeply-held, embodied dispositions and values might be challenged and transformed following experiences at the level of the body, such as ‘being hit by girls’, and indeed ‘hitting girls’, in the context of mixed-sex martial arts practice.  The paper suggests that for scholars interested in the potential of sport and related physical activities for ‘subverting’ inequitable formations of gender, such phenomena as the transformative potential of sex integration are worth closer examination.

In this study we explored the experience of competing in the Senior Games and the resultant contributions to the successful aging of older adults. We used in-depth interviews with older adults who participated in the National Senior Games. Analysis of the data produced five central themes: (a) perseverance, (b) career development and significant effort, (c) personal and social benefits, (d) unique ethos, and (e) identification as a senior athlete. We found that participating in the Senior Games as a form of serious leisure enhanced the well-being of older adults and could be utilized as a means by which to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

This chapter - taken from a larger study considering the role of sport in film - examines the representation of gender in the mainstream sports film genre. While identifying the main focus of the genre on masculinity and the male body, the chapter is principally concerned with tracing the role of women in the mainstream sports film. Historically women have featured within the genre primarily in the roles of inspirational lovers or femme fatales. In the aftermath of World War II, film responded slowly to the changes more generally in Western society, with women featuring increasingly in more significant parts even on occasion crossing the ropes of the boxing ring. However, a recurring feature of such films is the repeated attempts to reaffirm patriarchy through the undermining of strong women. While female owners of sporting franchises are viewed with suspicion, female athletes are subordinated to their male coaches while been repeatedly subject to sexualisation.  Films considered include National Velvet (1944), Pat and Mike (1952), The Main Event (1979), Raging Bull (1980), A League of Their Own (1992), Bring It On (2000) and Million Dollar Baby (2004).

This article explores the phenomenon of practising Muslim women playing Australian Rules football (Aussie Rules). While Western liberal-democratic governments have considered Islamic religiosity to be contrary to Western liberal-democratic values and therefore detrimental to integration, scholars and governments alike have regarded sport as a major tool for enhancing social cohesion and increasing social capital for ethnic minorities and marginalised groups. In-depth interviews with thirteen members of the Auburn Giants women’s football team demonstrate the limits of conceptualising sport participation in binarised terms of “integration” or “exclusion”, with findings providing nuanced insights into how Muslim women perceive the relationship between religion and playing competitive sport. The women interviewed saw no compromise between their religious adherence and their sporting commitments and ambitions to play competitive Aussie Rules. While religion was found to guide participants’ morals and behaviour, it did not feature as a significant factor in their decision-making to play Aussie Rules. Through discussions about playing the game, sports uniforms and family perceptions, participant responses show that Islamic religiosity comes in different shapes and forms. This research advances the interdisciplinary study of sport, religion and culture by deepening understandings of the relationship between gender, Islamic religiosity and sport participation.

El presente es un trabajo que trata de explorar algunos aspectos institucionales en la evolución histórica de una academia de Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) en los alrededores de la ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina. En particular trataremos de hacer foco en las distintas mutaciones de las identidades marciales, es decir cuales son los roles, figuras o “tipos ideales” que están detrás de los practicantes en distintos momentos de la evolución de la academia.  A través de las categorías conceptuales de algunos autores trataremos de identificar problemáticas relevantes relativas a la organización y el liderazgo, los conflictos y los cambios institucionales y algunas observaciones sobre género. Este trabajo es parte de una serie de reflexiones desarrolladas en el proceso de desarrollo de un trabajo etnográfico que se esta llevando acabo en la citada academia de BJJ. Presentado en El encuentro de estudiantes del IDAES 2015

Lise son sınıftayken yapmıştım bu araştırmayı, şimdi epey hata görüyorum, güncel olmadığının ve toplumsal cinsiyete giriş kısmındaki bilgilerin pek doğru olmadığını artık farkındayım, 2017'den beri daha çok gender okuyabilme fırsatım oldu. Makaleyi gizle diye bir özellik bulamadım ve 17 yaşımda 400 kişilik anket yapıp kendi kendime çatpat SPSS öğrendiğim için de silmeye kıyamıyorum. Tübitak projesi olarak yapmıştım ön elemeleri de geçemedi zaten hala aşamadım bu travmayı.

“Mixed doubles” was regarded as the most popular type of lawn tennis game for those preferring the ‘social’ aspects to competition. An analysis of behavioural etiquette in mixed doubles from 1870 to 1939 reveals a considerable amount about shifting gender relations in wider British society. Findings are presented from over fifty text books and instructional guides on mixed doubles play published throughout this period in order to answer the following questions: What differences are evident in the ways that men and women were instructed to play mixed doubles? How was the often uneasy balance between male competitiveness and chivalry dealt with in the context of play? What can an analysis of changing fashions of female tennis players and associated behavioural etiquette in mixed doubles tell us about shifting gender relations in wider British society, and what role did these developments play within broader feminist movements?

Am Wochenende vom 13. bis 14. Oktober 2018 kamen die queeren Sportvereine aus Deutschland in Berlin zur ersten Bundes-NetzwerkTagung (BuNT) zusammen, um sich gemeinsam mit weiteren Gästen aus Wissenschaft, Politik, Gesellschaft und dem organisierten Sport auszutauschen, neue Projekte zu entwickeln und die Zusammenarbeit im Kampf insbesondere gegen Homo- und Trans*feindlichkeit im Sport zu intensivieren.
Bundesministerin Dr. Franziska Giffey bezog Stellung in ihrer Videobotschaft: „Ich bin sehr gern Schirmfrau dieser Veranstaltung; denn es ist gut, dass Vereine die Inklusion von LSBTIQ* im Freizeit-, Breiten- und Wettkampfsport vorantreiben.
Nutzen Sie die Möglichkeit der Vernetzung mit Wissenschaft, Politik und dem organisierten Sport, damit alle Menschen frei von Vorurteilen und Diskriminierung Sport treiben können.“
Im Rahmen der Tagung diskutierten erstmals viele Personen aus Sportorganisationen, Wissenschaft, Politik und Gesellschaft gemeinsam über queere Belange im Sport. Spannende Fachvorträge und zahlreiche Workshops boten Raum für Austausch und
Ideen, wie eine tolerante und respektvolle Sportlandschaft in Deutschland vorangetrieben werden kann.
Vorspiel - Sportverein für Schwule und Lesben Berlin e.V. organisierte die BundesNetzwerkTagung 2018 in Kooperation mit Seitenwechsel - Sportverein für FrauenLesbenTrans*Inter* und Mädchen e. V., dem Deutschen Olympischen Sportbund (DOSB) sowie dem Landessportbund Berlin. Die Tagung wurde gefördert von der Bundesstiftung Magnus Hirschfeld, der Hannchen-Mehrzweck-Stiftung (hms) und diese Dokumentation vom Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend. Schirmpersonen der Veranstaltung waren die Bundesministerin für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend, Dr. Franziska Giffey und DOSB-Vizepräsidentin Dr. Petra Tzschoppe.
Die Beiträge der Tagung sind im Folgenden thematisch gegliedert dokumentiert, gefolgt von einem zusammenfassenden Kapitel zu übergreifenden Ergebnissen, offenen Fragen und Ausblicken. Am Ende der Broschüre finden Sie eine Sammlung
von Links zu Organisationen und Stellen, die Sie zu Fragen des queeren Sports und LGBTI* im Sport beraten und unterstützen können.

Resumo: Este artigo busca problematizar, através de entrevistas narrativas, como jovens adolescentes atletas de voleibol, que se identificam como gays e bissexuais, narram suas performances de masculinidades no contexto do esporte. Tomo como base a noção de gênero performativo, desenvolvida pela teórica feminista Judith Butler, que diz respeito à repetição discursiva de atos, gestos, atuações e encenações, inscritos nos corpos dos sujeitos, a partir de padrões normativos, mas que é um processo contingente que abarca possibilidades de repetições/deslocamentos de sentidos. As entrevistas narrativas, operacionalizadas pela proposta dialógica de Leonor Arfuch, apontam pelas falas dos jovens adolescentes atletas que o espaço do vôlei não nega a existência de diferentes orientações sexuais e performances de masculinidades, porém seu reconhecimento repete normatizações estabelecidas quando se busca mantê-las sob padrões regulatórios. Palavras-chave: Masculinidades. Performatividade. Narrativas. Voleibol. Esporte. Abstract: This article seeks to discuss through narrative interviews as young teenager volleyball athletes, who identify themselves as gays and bisexuals, narrate their performances of masculinities in the sport. Based on the notion of performative genre developed by feminist theorist Judith Butler, which concerns the discursive repetition of acts, gestures, actions and performances recorded on the bodies of the subjects, from regulatory standards, but that is an uncertain process that includes possibilities of repetition/dislocation of directions. The narrative interviews applied by dialogic proposal of Eleanor Arfuch point, through the comments of young teenager athletes that the volleyball space does not deny the existence of different sexual orientations and performances of masculinities, however its recognition repeats established regulations that seek to keep them under regulatory standards.

Roller derby is a growing, popular sport, where teams compete on roller skates, and where rules allow ‘blocking’ and full body contact. Roller derby is primarily played by women, with men restricted to support roles during its revival stage in the early 2000s. However, men and gender diverse skaters are increasingly playing the sport, in mixed/co-ed leagues and Men’s teams. This has created deep divisions within the derby community regarding the role of men in a women’s space and the playing of a full-contact sport with men against women on the track. The tensions within derby highlight the wider gendered problems in sport regarding perceptions of athletic ability, strength and capability. Drawing on an ethnographic methodology, we present a range of perspectives from derby players and counter-point their lived experiences with the structural constraints on gender enforced by the governing bodies with the sport Women’s Flat Track Derby Association and Men’s Roller Derby Association. We explicitly engage from a radically inclusive position inspired by Hargreaves’ call for sport to challenge gendered notions of capability.

Trazemos neste artigo discussão sobre a película tailandesa The Iron Ladies, que mostrou em sua história o caso real de uma equipe que na década de 1990 disputou a liga nacional de voleibol masculino na Tailândia, composto por atletas com performatizações de gênero não
normativas, que designamos no texto como masculinidades queer. Para tal, nos utilizamos dos estudos queer e operacionalizamos análise fílmica pela metodologia pós-estruturalista etnografia de tela. Reconhecemos que o longa-metragem tailandês problematizou importantes deslocamentos de sentidos sobre o masculino no esporte, através da performatização queer dos jogadores de voleibol, ponto principal da película que se utilizou de deboche e ironia como
alavanca para a ruptura.

This paper investigates whether male soccer tradition can predict the success of female soccer. Different from the existing literature, this paper utilizes panel data covering
175 countries during the 1991-2011 period, capturing country heterogeneity effects and time trends. An instrumental variable approach is further employed in order to identify causal relation. My findings do not support the widespread perception that male tradition determines female soccer attainments. On the other hand, my results indicate that women’s empowerment can be a driving force for the success of female soccer.

Understanding the role of gender in sport for development and peace (SDP) has sparked new and critical research recently, aligning with the focus on gender equality in the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Researchers tend to explore gender in terms of how girls and women access and experience sport. The academic literature often describes sport participation for girls as a form of empowerment, but fails to critically examine the masculinised, heteronormative framework of sport and rarely includes the voices of girls and boys together. 1 This unique study is the first to apply the human capability approach (HCA) to explicitly investigate gender role attitudes from the perspective of boy and girl participants in SDP. We believe it is vital to include voices of all participants to more critically examine how SDP might both challenge and reinforce restrictive gender norms.

Resumo: A Educação Física adentrou as escolas, no século XIX, propagando ideais de eugenia e militarismo, voltada, inicialmente, apenas aos meninos. Um padrão hegemônico de masculinidade, com vistas a torná-los fortes e robustos, era imposto nas aulas, ao mesmo tempo em que discursos se contrapunham à sua prática nas escolas. Apresentando relatos historiográficos, tendo como base as noções de masculinidade hegemônica, de Connell, e gênero performativo, em Butler, busco compreender e discutir diferentes performances de masculinidades na História da Educação Física.
Palavras-chave: Masculinidades; Educação Física; Performatividade

The notion that women are the weaker sex is not true in the world of sport. For women like men can be competitive and aggressive without destroying ones natural beauty and charm. Sports participation is after all a worthwhile goal for women. The purpose of this study is to determine the perception on women's sports participation while correlating to the type and degree of sports participation. It also determined the contributing factors of the moderating variables such as father and mother's educational attainment, family income, and institutional location. The study was conducted among the 973 randomly selected female Physical Education students of the three institutions; City. Descriptive-correlation method of research was used employing the Perception on Women's Sports Participation Inventory PWSPII as the foremost tool in gathering the data. Results indicated that the variables of father and mother's educational attainment and family income showed a significant correlation with the perception on women's sports participation, while, institutional location was not significantly correlated. Significant correlation was also found between father, mother's educational attainment, and institutional location towards the variable of the type of sports participation. However, family income showed no significant correlation to the type of sports participation. It was also found out that there was no significant correlation between mother's educational attainment, family income, and institutional location towards the variable of the degree of sports participation. Significant correlation however, was found between father's educational attainment and degree of sports participation.

While sport for development programming has flourished, the complex social and economic environment in the postcolonial Eastern Caribbean is often overlooked by researchers. This case study examines sport for development with ‘at risk’ adolescent girls in St. Lucia (n = 16). These young women, who have been removed from mainstream public schools due to behavioural issues, participated in focus group discussions regarding their experiences and perspectives on sport. Their sport participation included single-sex, organised programming at the Upton Gardens Girls Centre and mixed-sex, unsupervised football play. Results of the study indicate that these sporting activities contributed towards the capability development of the participants,  with limitations toward challenging gender stereotypes and encouraging kinetically focused body image. While the female-only sport participation encouraged a positive sense of self-efficacy and fostered peer/mentor relationships, engagement in co-educational football supported girls’ empowerment and the challenging of gender stereotypes. However, outcome towards progressive perspectives on sport and body image gleaned mixed results. As a whole, these results point to larger concerns within the sport for development field and the need for more in-depth and comprehensive critical research to better understand how sport impacts development initiatives.

The field of sport for development and peace (SDP) has flourished in recent decades, with development programmes around the world using sport as a mechanism to support social, economic and health-related development efforts. However, the academic literature on SDP is limited in comparison to more established development fields. This study is a critical examination of SDP, extending beyond existing research by contributing in two fundamental ways. First, it uses a gender lens that includes the perspective of both girls’ and boys’ attitudes on gender role attitudes, a rarity in SDP research. Secondly, the Human Capability approach of Amartya Sen is applied as a theoretical framework, perhaps for the first time in SDP research.
Furthermore, studies in the field of SDP also often overlook the complex social and economic environment in the postcolonial Eastern Caribbean. This study examines sport for development for at-risk adolescents and unemployed youth in Barbados and St. Lucia. Using quantitative and qualitative data through surveys, focus group discussions, interviews and journals.
Key findings indicate that boys tended to embrace a machismo masculinity regarding sport and domestic life. Their experience in sport, particularly sporting with girls, may in fact reinforce restrictive gender role attitudes and hetero-normative beliefs. On the other hand, girls seemed to experience a sense of empowerment through sport, despite struggling with the narrow scope of culturally ascribed and aesthetically defined ideals of the female body. Furthermore, although all participants expressed a positive relationship between sport participation and their own development of self-efficacy and social affiliation, girls focused more on social aspects while boys were more concerned with skill-building. Finally, the macro-level conversion factors of economic instability, inadequacies in education and government ineffectiveness undermine sustainable youth development efforts.
To conclude, these programmes largely function as an integrative development approach, rather than a transformative gender and development method. This study affirms that these SDP initiatives may be restricted by a neo-liberal framework, which relies on traditional modes of gender and hetero-normativity, as discussed in previous research (Forde and Frisby, 2015; McDonald, 2015; Chawansky, 2014; Levermore and Beacom, 2009). Role Creating a stronger presence of female role models as coaches and peer leaders may better engage at-risk girls and support the challenging of restrictive gender role norms amongst boys. Expanding the opportunities for type of sport played to include more gender-neutral or feminized sporting forms may also help transform the sport for development narrative.