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
95 descriptors suggesting strength
38 descriptors suggesting weakness
103 descriptors suggesting weakness
Ratio 3.84:1 Ratio 0.92:1
Study of basketball commentators:
Case Study: Sexism in the Case Study: Sexism in the Media 2Media 2
Men’s basketball Women’s basketball
59 descriptors suggesting strength
51 descriptors suggesting strength
10 descriptors suggesting weakness
24 descriptors suggesting weakness
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
Case Study: Sexism in the Case Study: Sexism in the Media 3Media 3
• Sky Sports presenters in the UK, Andy Gray and Richard Keys were sacked for making sexist comments about a
female linesman:
Case Study: Sexism in the Case Study: Sexism in the Media 4Media 4
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.