3. The social rationale; that the qualities and behaviours associated with sport is contrary to real femininity.
The history of woman’s involvement in sport is therefore one of the most substantial exclusions; through informal and formal mean, woman have been debarred from equitable access to sports experiences (Barrie Houlihan, 2003)
It is not just at amateur level that women are disadvantaged in the sporting world but also at elite level. Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympics and influential in international sport, publicly opposed woman’s participation in competitive sport. (Barrie Houlihan, 2003) This view had been carried through generations however views have changed and women have been allowed to compete competitively for example in the Olympics.
Between the 2002 and 2006 Common Wealth Games there was a slight increase in the proportion of female competitors, team mangers, but a slight decrease in the proportion of female coaches. The sight decrease in female coaches may have to do with the principle that men are superior in sport so they are being employed to better the female athlete. This view results in inequality for woman in sport.
Fewer female elite athletes than male athletes are being funded. As of February 2007, 571 elite athletes compared with 832 elite male athletes received sports council funding. As a proportion of all athletes funded through the various programmes, woman make up 41%. On average, male elite athletes receives £8,770 compared with £8,111 for female elite athletes. This highlights an immense injustice to woman in sport as the idea of ‘sport as a level playing field’ is discarded.
Another idea which affects woman in life is salary sum. Across the sports sector in 2006, full-time males employees earned 18% more money than a full-time woman working in recreation, culture and sporting industries () Earning differences between genders has been an issue in many industries in the past but the gap has narrowed, however this highlights unfairness for woman involved in the sports industry as they are earning less money for doing the same job as their male counterparts.
A different topic of cultural belief is positions of power being given to woman. In 2006 over a quarter of all sports boards and committees (of governing bodies, sports organisations and sport councils) are made up of woman. An example is in Scottish hockey which has seen almost a 100% increase in female members which has brought the proportion of female members up from 23% to 48%.() This draw attention to the under representation of woman in places of power which may consequently result in the decisions made about woman in sport being unfair.
Traditionally in many cultures it is believed that woman should stay at home however this vision has altered with many women working. In 2006, there were around 417,000 jobs in recreation, culture and the sporting industry in the UK, with woman filling just over 50% of these posts. However, the distribution between full-time and part-time jobs is quiet different for men and woman. Woman filled around 40% of full-time jobs but around 70% of part-time jobs. () This is because of the culture structure but as views have changed many woman have got part-time jobs to allow time to still look after the family.
4.1% of men and 2.5% of woman in the UK have been involved in some kind of coaching in the last 12 months. While 3% of woman did at least one hour of volunteering in sport which is half that of male volunteering (6%) () These figures present that males are again more dominant in this area of sport. A reason for this is that traditionally sport was made by men for men so the thinking is that men would be better coaches than woman therefore causing an inequality for woman in sport.
The opinion that sport was made by men for men highlights a reason why the media is dominated by male presence. The absence of quality reports on woman sports is an important issue and brings the question Is the presence of woman in sports related to the lack of media coverage? to light.
An evaluation of seven newspapers (national and regional) measuring the number of articles, headlines, female journalists and use of imagery, demonstrated that between 2003 and 2006 the average space dedicated to woman and girls’ sports increased only slightly from 3.3% to 4.8%.() There was an increase in the average number of articles written per day about woman’s sport from 0.9 per day to 1.9 per day. 5.2% of all articles were devoted to female sports. () This limits fairness in sport for woman as there achievements are not always nationally acknowledged.
With regard to woman and men working in sports media, there are still large disparities. . However this may reflect the level of female interest in sport generally. Some media have seen greater improvements than other. In television and radio, for example female sports reporters regularly appear on our screens. In terms of staff, the BBC estimates that a quarter of the journalists, producers and editorial staff in its sports department are now woman. () An increase has clearly occurred however a lack of woman in media causes unfairness in sport for woman as some activities may not be reported on. For example males may choose to report on football whereas woman may choose gymnastics allowing a broader range of activities to be in the media.
Other cultures besides the UK have different beliefs. Around 46% of woman from black and ethnic minority communities take part in sport at least once a month. Woman from Bangladeshi (32%) and Pakistani (36%) communities are least likely to take part.() This is due to there culture as they have strong beliefs about what woman can and cannot for example mixed swimming is disallowed as woman have to keep their body covered and this therefore affects women’s participation in sport.
In the UK, school physical education is compulsory as it is culturally believed that habits picked up when young stay with the individual for life. With this thought by encouraging children to be active they will continue throughout life providing them with health advantages. In Britain it is during secondary school and adolescence that girls appear to turn away from sport and to develop a negative attitude to it. Some of the blame for this has been laid at the door of secondary school experiences of physical education, which are notably less successful in installing a long- term interest in sport in girls that in boys (Barrie Houlihan, 2003) One reason for this is that girls may feel inferior in class as boys generally make it competitive therefore the making the girls feel uncomfortable as they may not be able to compete to the same level and relate this feeling to sport for the rest of their life. Another reason is that teachers can favour boys as they are willing to work harder leaving the girls to be pushed aside consequently making them disinterested in sport as they are not being encouraged to perform to the best of their ability. On the other hand in some schools girls are pushed so far that it turns them off sport for life. This shows inequality in sport for woman starts at an early age.
In conclusion in terms of both structural and social cultural factors woman experience sport as an instituted of unfairness. These injustices emerge not only in the participation of sport in amateur and elite level but also in the work industry and media coverage.
References
- Kay, T (2003) ‘Sport and gender’ in Houlihan, B (ed) Sport & Society; A Student Introduction, London: Sage, pg 89-101
- Sports Council, 1993, p3, cited White, 2003, p3
- White. A (2003) ‘Woman and sport in the UK’ in Hartmann-Tews and Pfister, G (eds) Sport and Woman; Social Issues in International Perspective. London; Routledge, pg 35-53
