Lesson Six: Sexism and Sport Cultural Diversity In & Through Sport

Lesson Six:Lesson Six:Sexism and SportSexism and Sport

Cultural DiversityCultural Diversity

In & Through Sport In & Through Sport

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By the end of the session you should be able to:

• Describe the term sexism

• Identify how sexism is manifested using sporting examples

• Examine own attitudes towards sexism

• Explain the consequences of prejudice and discrimination

• Identify ways in which attitudes can be challenged

Learning OutcomesLearning Outcomes

In groups discuss the following questions:

• Are certain sports more suitable for males than females and vice

versa?

• Are there stereotypes for males and females who play certain

sports?

• Why do you think fewer females play sport than males?

Task: Warm UpTask: Warm Up

The culture of sport presents problems:

• It is seen as male dominated

• Male traits – competitive, aggressiveness, physical strength

• Not feminine or ‘girly’

Gender StereotypesGender Stereotypes

What do you think the stereotypes are for the following athletes?:

• Male gymnast

• Female rugby player

• Male hockey player

• Female bodybuilder

Task: Gender Task: Gender StereotypesStereotypes

• Gender discrimination is prejudice or discrimination based on a

person’s gender

• Attitudes, conditions, or behaviors are often based on stereotypical

ideas of gender roles

• Gender discrimination is not only on a person-to-person basis but

can also be institutionalised

• It is often associated with ‘gender supremacy’, in that one gender is

better than the other

Definition of Gender Definition of Gender DiscriminationDiscrimination

In groups discuss the following questions:

• How does media encourage sexist attitudes?

• Discuss how film, TV, newspapers and books encourage sexism

• Think about male and female stereotypes and characters

Task: Sexism in the Task: Sexism in the MediaMedia

• Sports women continue to be underrepresented in news coverage

• Often women are referred to in in a sexual or demeaning manner

• Descriptors involving sports skills are often absent from descriptions

of women athletes

• Descriptors used for men – big, strong, brilliant – are different from

those used to describe women – weary, fatigues, vulnerable

Sexism in the MediaSexism in the Media

In groups, look at the sports section of the newspaper provided

• Discuss the quantity and quality of women’s sports coverage

• Consider the photographs used

• What is the ratio of coverage between male and female sporting

events and/or athletes

Task: Sexism in Sports Task: Sexism in Sports CoverageCoverage

• According to Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation, only 5% of all

sports coverage in the media is of women’s sports

• In a sports fan research survey carried out in 2012, 61% of

participants would like to see more women's sports

• A report by the Commission on the Future of Women's Sport found

that women’s sports only gets 0.5% of all sponsorship in the UK

• 61% of the female respondents in the Women's Sport and Fitness

Foundation survey agreed that seeing successful sports stars

encouraged them to get involved in sports

Sexism in the MediaSexism in the Media

Case Study: Sexism in the Case Study: Sexism in the Media 1Media 1

Men’s basketball Women’s basketball

146 descriptors suggesting strength


38 descriptors suggesting weakness


Ratio 3.84:1 Ratio 0.92:1

Study of basketball commentators:


Men’s basketball Women’s basketball





Ratio 5.9:1 Ratio 2.1:1

Study of tennis commentators:

Study found that in tennis, last names were used much more for men

while first names were used for women

•Females were referred to by first name 52.7% of the time

•Males were referred to by first name 7.8% of the time


• Sky Sports presenters in the UK, Andy Gray and Richard Keys were sacked for making sexist comments about a

female linesman:


Click here.

• Sport is still considered a masculine domain in our society.

• It is very clear that the institution of sport promotes compulsory

heterosexuality

• Female athletes can feel a pressure to conform to a heterosexual

image which is often hypersexualised.

Sexulisation of Female Sexulisation of Female AthletesAthletes

• Anna Kournikova is a retired Russian

professional tennis player.

• She was one of the best known tennis

stars in the world, yet she never won a

singles title.

• Most of her fame has come from the

publicity surrounding her looks and her

personal life.

Sexulisation: Case StudySexulisation: Case Study

BBC Sports Personality of the Year

Nominations made by sports editors:

• In 2012, a bookmakers gave the follows odds for a male versus a

female winner:

– 1:2 that the winner will be male

– 1:6 that the winner will be female

Celebrating All AthletesCelebrating All Athletes

Women tend to have less opportunities to participate in sports:

•Sport is dominated by male athletes, coaches, managers, commentators

•Equipment is often designed for men; in 1996 Spalding produced the first

baseball glove for women

•Royal and Ancient Golf Club in Scotland lifted its longstanding ban of women

playing in the Open Championship in 2005

•Women in sport receive less money than their male counterparts;

Wimbledon has only offered equal price money since 2007

Accessing OpportunitiesAccessing Opportunities

Men v Women’s Pay: Men v Women’s Pay: CricketCricket

Women’s Team Men’s Team

Name Charlotte Edwards Andrew Strauss

Age 29 32

Team Kent Middlesex

Earnings £35,000-£40,000 £175,000-£200,000 + bonuses

Captain’s of England*: The difference between men & women’s pay in cricket:

* Details correct as of August 2012

Men v Women’s Pay: Men v Women’s Pay: FootballFootball

Women’s Team Men’s Team

Name Casey Stoney Steven Gerrard

Age 30 32

Team Lincoln Ladies Liverpool

Earnings £35,000-£40,000 £8.5million + bonuses

Captain’s of England*: The difference between men & women’s pay in football:

* Details correct as of August 2012

Sepp Blatter, FIFA President was asked in January 2004 how women's

football could be made more popular. He said:

•"Let the women play in more feminine clothes like they do in

volleyball. Female players are pretty, if you excuse me for saying so,

and they already have some different rules to men – such as playing

with a lighter ball. That decision was taken to create a more female

aesthetic, so why not do it in fashion?"

Power Comments Power Comments

International Olympic Committee:

• Reached their goal of having 10 % female members in 2000.

• Of the 106 national Olympic committees, 5 have female presidents.

• Out of the 34 international sport federations that participate in the

Olympic Games, two are led by a woman.

Positions of Power: Case Positions of Power: Case StudyStudy

• Working in groups, identify ways in which sexism can be

challenged and women can be given equal opportunities

Task: Challenging SexismTask: Challenging Sexism

Female Role ModelsFemale Role Models

• Two of Team GBs best female athletes, Sally Gunnell and Jessica Ennis:

Click here.

A brief overview of women’s achievements in sport through history:• 1884 - Women's singles tennis competition started at Wimbledon. • 1900 - Charlotte Cooper became the first British women to win a gold medal at the

Olympics • 1952 – Jeannette Altwegg became the first British women to win an individual gold medal

at the Winter Olympics • 1960 – Anita Lonsbrough became the first female BBC Sports Personality of the Year after

winning a gold medal in Rome • 1964 - Mary Rand became the first British women to win an Olympic gold medal in

athletics • 1972 - Mary Peters won the Women's Pentathlon at the Munich Olympics• 1992 - Sally Gunnel wins gold at the 1992 Olympics in the 400m hurdles in Barcelona• 2004 - Dame Kelly Holmes won two gold at the Athens Olympics and Dame Tanni Grey-

Thompson won her 11th gold Paralympics’ gold medal in Athens.• 2008 - Team GB women won 7 gold medals in total at the Beijing games.

Women in SportWomen in Sport

BBC Sports Presenter, Gabby Logan, made a documentary in April 2012

about sexism in football:

• She was reluctant to even do the documentary because: “No-one wants

to look like they are moaning.”

• She was shocked that “in 2012 some people have been locked out of

training grounds for being a woman.

• She also noted a “lack of representation at the top of the game with

Karen Espelund the only female on the Uefa executive committee.”

• For the full article, click here.

A Long Way to GoA Long Way to Go

To challenge sexism in sport, it is important to have:

• Women’s Development Officer posts

• Increased opportunities for women to participate

• Role models

• More women in positions of power

• Legislation

Challenging SexismChallenging Sexism

Thought for the DayThought for the Day

• An anti-sexism advert from the Kick it Out campaign:

Click here.

Documents

Lesson Six: Sexism and Sport Cultural Diversity In & Through Sport