Social Aspects of Sport-Outcome 2 Sociology is the study of human beings and the societies that they form. It is a way of attempting to observe

 Another perspective for social aspects of sport is Marxism. Marxism is based on the belief that in industrialised societies the minority elite of the population takes advantage of the majority of the population and exploits them. In return they offer rewards, which makes the majority the consumers. The majority work in order to buy their clothes and food and cars etc in order to make them happy and attend social events to seek distractions. The basis of Marxism is that every person takes from society according to their needs and then contributes to society according to their abilities. Marxists theory is based on the belief that the key to understanding social relations within society is to be found within the economic structure of that specific society. Within a capitalist society there are two groups. The first group being the bourgeoisie, these are the people that own the means of production such as factories and machines. The second group is called the proletariat or working class who sell their labour as means of production in return for a wage. Therefore this is an exploitation relationship between two different classes. The exploiting group being the bourgeoisie who are trying to gain as much as possible from their workers. The workers are always trying to reduce their exploitation. Capitalists use sports as a means of social control in order to appease the working class. These sporting activities give them diversion for their otherwise dull routine lives. The bourgeoisie also use sport to prepare their workers and make them fitter more disciplined and more effective and productive. The super structure composes of five different components; education, religion, political state, media and family. Power is a feature of all social relationships. It is rare that groups or important people are all powerful because they rely on the consensus of other people or groups. There are many factors, which can define social influences on sports participation. Gender can have a major influence upon a person’s participation within sport.  Much of the sports scene has been dominated by male domination. Women have been marginalized by sport although they are more involved today with barrier still been broken down. Away from the public eye too much of sport is still dominated by men. Progress has been made in sports such as football, athletics, golf and tennis where historically there was little expectation or provision for female participation. Although for women there is still a long way to go in order to achieve equality. There are many reasons as to why women took a long time to begin their quest for equality. The first being that they have lack of time, for example women in partnerships with men tend to take on the domestic responsibilities. They also have a lack of role models within sport, which may discourage them to participate. The major biological difference between men and women is that women can bear children so this has many psychological social repercussions. Another reason is class inequalities, which can lead to gender inequalities. Another reasons is that every society has a set of beliefs and values, which can dictate what is acceptable behaviour for women. However there are also reasons for the increase in women participants.  Capitalist economies keen to exploit all selling opportunities has been a factor leading to more involvement. Economics can have an impact upon people’s involvement within sport for example levels of disposable income can determine whether or not a person can afford to participate fully with certain sports. Although there are people who can afford to use their disposable income upon sports at the other end of the scale there are people who cannot afford to. Places such as rural communities can be affected by this as they often have problems with low income and few facilities. Ethnic background can lead to problems with participation as sporting bodies have been concerned about attracting people from ethnic minorities to take part in their sport. Ethnic minorities may experience barriers based on social circumstances such as; social or religious taboos, little understanding of British sports, no role models to follow, little experience to structured sports activities. One of the factors which probably has the most significant influence within participation is age. Research shows that participation within sport is higher among young people. Many older people enjoy sporting activities but at their own pace. The type of sport can also be affected by age, as younger people tend to get involved with highly competitive sports while older people tend to be involved non-competitive sports or even recreational activities.

  Sport participation has to compete with many other activities and the commitments that people have. The time people have to get involved with sport can be swallowed up with work commitments, lack of free time, family duties and the lack of availability of certain time slots. Most statistics show that men have more free time than women and therefore higher participation rates as women are subject to more complex factors. A person’s fitness level and also their ability can also decide how much they participate for example things such as obesity and health problems can cause people not to participate at all. As each sport demands different levels of certain abilities people may be put off feeling that they may never reach the desired level. Medical conditions can also have a similar effect but it may also make people take part in sport, more and more people are using gyms and doing sporting activities to lose weight. Similarly people with cardiac problems regularly take part in sport to keep the heart strong and healthy. Some forms of sport and exercise can cause people o lose stress and relax and recover from work and release feelings and emotions which have built up. Education allows people to participate within sport whilst at school. This has benefits as it allows people who may not normally participate outside of school to get involved along with their friends, which may make it a better experience for them. It also allows people to be taught to a certain level about specific sports, which may make them want to further their knowledge within it and is guaranteed to make them enjoy it more.