gender equality in sport essay

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On different playing fields: the case for gender equity in sports, 6 minute read | stacie de armas, svp, diverse insights & initiatives | march 2021.

Women make up more than half of the U.S. population, but they are still fighting for equality in the world of sports, where gender-based discrimination is all too common. Recently, we saw a very public and painful example, during Women’s History Month no less, of the stark inequity in the treatment of female versus male athletes in the NCAA Basketball Tournament. It’s difficult to understand how neglecting to supply female student-athletes with the proper equipment and facilities—especially during the largest tournament of their sport—can still happen today. Unfortunately, it seems that sexism in sports is ingrained from the time our children are in youth sports. This inequity is also institutionalized—from how we define what qualifies as a sport to the imagery used to represent female athletes, disparities in the facilities, and support for female athletes. 

As superstar athlete and World Cup champion Megan Rapinoe testified to Congress, “One cannot simply outperform inequality or be excellent enough to escape discrimination of any kind.” As a mother of a son and a daughter, this inequality hit very close to home just last week. Up until two weeks ago, in my state of California, all youth sports, which were prohibited for nearly a year, were permitted to return. All sports, that is, except for one female-dominated sport: cheer. While my son was able to get back on the field and enjoy his sport, I, alongside many other concerned parents, had to continue to advocate at the state level for equity for cheer athletes. We were successful, but why did we even have to fight for recognition and equal treatment for these athletes? Women and girls in sports should not be an afterthought.

It is disheartening to see that the fight for equality for women’s sports continues beyond grade school, as collegiate athletes in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament recently experienced firsthand. Like many of you, I recently saw the viral video from University of Oregon sophomore forward Sedona Prince showing the weight room facilities provided for the female players at the basketball tournament compared with the facilities provided for the men. The women’s weight room consisted of a single set of dumbbells and some yoga mats, while the men’s weight room was stocked with state-of-the-art training equipment, rows of weights, and workout machines. Her TikTok video was further socialized on Instagram and Twitter and now has more than 20 million views. 

The outrage was swift, as many people were quick to criticize the blatant inequities for these female athletes, but the brands stepped in even faster. Not only did the outcry to correct the situation come from celebrities, sports journalists, and fans, but companies weighed in, too. Fitness and retail brands like Orange Theory, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Tonal responded to support these women athletes (who don powerful social media influence) with equipment the very next day and offered to make appropriate training facilities available. Shortly thereafter, the NCAA acknowledged this terrible error in judgment and installed a fully functional women’s weight room coupled with an apology. 

These brands understand the power of the moment and of female athletes. Research from Nielsen Sports illustrates the power female athletes hold as social media endorsers. Fans like to buy products and services that their favorite athletes endorse on social media. When brands partner with athletes to embrace their power and advocate for equity, they can enact change as well as accountability in sports institutions. That’s a winning play for brands—fully embracing the power of female athletes, while proactively building equity in women’s sports and not just in response to a crisis.

There are several fundamental truths here that brands need to embrace: social media is powerful; female athletes are powerful influencers; and consumers are asking more from brands when it comes to social responsibility. For example, a global Nielsen Fan Insights study reveals that 47.5% of respondents have a greater interest in brands that have been socially responsible and “do good.” The good news is that some brands are taking notice and recalibrating business and marketing models to meet consumers’ changing needs in a new era of sports sponsorship . The brands stepping in to act on the values they espouse as an organization are a perfect example. Brands, including leagues, teams, owners, and even school districts, must address changing consumer and social demands and their female athletes’ needs by operating with equity in women’s sports. 

More opportunity leads to more audience

The weight room in San Antonio isn’t the only place where we need to see change. While we’re seeing progress in how women are represented on television in scripted content, we have not seen the same visibility in women’s sports. This isn’t for lack of women’s sporting events or even viewer interest, but rather the relative lack of access to women’s team sporting events being broadcast and promoted on TV compared with men’s events. We know this needs to change, but it is a catch 22. Far fewer women’s sports are being broadcast, and when they are, games are often carried on difficult to find, smaller outlets, and are under-promoted, naturally resulting in smaller audiences. This overall lack of investment and promotion on television negatively affects audience draw, and therefore ROI for advertisers and sponsors. This lower brand investment is being used to justify disparities in resources for women’s sports. And the cycle continues. 

The good news is that there seems to be a change in tide. Coverage for the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament this year is one of the broadest in its history thanks to ESPN’s expanding coverage—a move that has so far doubled the audience reach of the first round of the women’s tournament compared with the one in 2019. 

Along with the gripping game play, the increase in reach is most likely attributed to the number of games actually being aired. Round 1 of the tournament in 2019 was exclusively broadcast on ESPN2, which aired just nine game windows. This year’s NCAA women’s games have been on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, and every single one of the 32 games has been aired in round 1. When audiences have access to women’s sports, they tune in. Female athletes deserve the facilities, equipment and support they need to thrive. While the men’s tournament has seen multi-network coverage since 2011, the women’s tournament is finally seeing increased coverage, with 2021 marking the first time the women’s tournament has been on network TV—and not just on cable—in decades. Because that viewing opportunity exists, more people are watching. It is time women’s sports get the investment, coverage and support they deserve. Advertisers should take note: A growing fan base means a bigger audience.

It has been nearly 50 years since Title IX legislation granted women equal opportunities to play sports. But the legislation also mandates the equal treatment of female and male student-athletes from equipment to competitive facilities to publicity and promotions and more. As more and more brands champion equity for women’s sports and female athletes become more influential as brand endorsers, it is my hope that we will see fewer disparities in playing time, facilities, brand partnerships, and coverage of women’s sports on screen. And that for future female athletes, equity for women’s sports will be a slam dunk.

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Women in International Elite Athletics: Gender (in)equality and National Participation

Henk erik meier.

1 Institute of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Münster, Münster, Germany

Mara Verena Konjer

Jörg krieger.

2 Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

Associated Data

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

Gender discrimination has been strongly related to the suppression of women's participation in sport. Accordingly, gender (in)equality has proven to be an important determinant for the participation and the success of countries in international women's elite sport. Hence, differences in gender (in)equalitity, such as women's participation in the labor force, fertility rates, tradition of women suffrage or socio-economic status of women, could be linked to success in international women's elite sports. While major international sport governing bodies have created programs to subsidize the development of women's sports in member countries, gender equality has figured rather low within the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) (now World Athletics). Therefore, the paper examines the impact of gender (in)equality on country participation in international athletics on the base of a unique dataset on season's bests. The results provide further support that gender inequality matters and is associated with participation in women's elite sports. Whereas, women's participation in athletics has made considerable progress in the past two decades as a side-effect of the IAAF's decentralization strategy, the analyses illustrate the need for better targeted and better resourced development programs for increasing participation of less gender equal countries. Moreover, the analyses indicate the limitations of a pure macro-social approach as there are some rather unexpected dynamic developments, such as, the substantial progress of women's athletics in the Islamic Republic of Iran as a country with strong Muslim religious affiliation. The results from this analysis were used to provide practical implications.

Introduction

Since men's control of women's physical activity has been at the heart of masculine hegemony, sports has been a highly gendered social sphere. For a long time, women were denied the right to engage in physical exercise for reasons of health, that is, the alleged physical “weakness” of women's bodies or detrimental effects on the fertility of women, chastity or threats to the “natural order” of sexes (e.g., Pfister, 1993 ; Meier, 2020 ). Over the last decades, women have made considerable progress with regard to participation in mass sports as well as elite sports. Nevertheless, there is still evidence that sport continues to be gendered. Thus, a persistent finding of macro-social research on international elite sport participation is that the participation and success of women in international elite sports is strongly related to national gender regimes.

International sport governing bodies, such as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the international governing body of football (Fédération Internationale de Football Association—FIFA), have tried to promote women's sports and women's sport participation. Such efforts do not necessarily indicate that these organizations have ceased to be institutions of men's hegemony (Fink, 2008 ; Williams, 2014 ). Initiatives to promote women's sport might simply reflect the search for new customers in an increasingly saturated sports entertainment market. Nevertheless, there is evidence that such promotional efforts inspired more women's elite sport participation (e.g., Jacobs, 2014 ).

In contrast, the International Athletics Association Federation (IAAF)—since 2019 known as World Athletics—made little effort to promote women's athletics throughout its history (Krieger, 2021 ). Therefore, the current paper explores the relationship between gender (in)equality and country participation in women's elite athletics. It does so on the base of a unique dataset on season's best in women's athletics covering the period between 2000 and 2019.

Theoretical Background

Gender discrimination in international elite sports has been examined from different theoretical and methodological perspectives. Much of the research has more or less characterized women's access to elite sport as the political outcome of a liberal-feminist discourse centering on equal opportunities, socialization practices and legal or institutional reform (e.g., Scraton et al., 1999 ).

Historical research on women's sport has highlighted how women have been kept out of sport for medical, aesthetic and social rationales (Guttmann, 1991 ; Hargreaves, 1994 ; Schultz, 2018 ). The founder of the modern Olympic Movement, Pierre de Coubertin, thought women's sport was “impractical, uninteresting, ungainly, and, I do not hesitate to add, improper” (Coubertin, 1912 ). Following attempts to restrict women's participation in the early Olympic Games, more women's events were added during the interwar years due to the growing significance of women's sports and the increasing activities of women's sport organizations (Pfister, 1993 ). Put simply, men wanted to maintain control over women's sport so it would not exceed the men's sport in popularity (Krieger and Krech, 2020 ).

After the Second World War, social, economic and legislative changes catalyzed the increased participation of women in elite sport. Between the 1970's and the 1990's, the international women's sport movement gained increasing momentum that culminated in the inaugural World Conference on Women and Sport, held in Brighton in 1994 (Hargreaves, 1999 ). The outcome of the conference was an international treaty to support the development of a gender equal sport and physical activity system (Brighton Declaration on Women Sport, 1994 ). The IOC supported and signed what became known as the “Brighton Declaration.” Thus, since the end of the 19th century, women have gained access to participate in all sporting disciplines at the Olympic Games. The 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang were the first Olympics at which more medal events for women than for men were held (IOC, 2020 ). However, it should be mentioned while women have access to all sporting disciplines in the Olympics, there are still some events which they cannot compete in. In athletics, until 2017 women could only participate in 20 km race walk, but not in the 50 km race walk.

The current study does, however, not focus on the women's sport movement's struggle to gain access to elite sports but examines the (relative) impact of national gender regimes on country participation in international elite sport. The concept of gender regimes tries to grasp gender hierarchy within societies. According to the influential contribution of Connell ( 2002 , p. 53–68), a gender regime can be characterized via four dimensions:

• “Gender division of labor,” that is, the way in which production and consumption are arranged along gender lines;
• “Gender relations of power,” that is, the way in which control, authority, and force are exercised along gender lines;
• “Emotion and human relations,” that is, the way in which attachment and antagonism among people and groups are organized along gender lines; and
• “Gender culture and symbolism,” that is, the way in which gender identities are defined in culture, the language and symbols of gender difference, and the prevailing beliefs and attitudes about gender.

The macro-social research on the impact of national gender regimes on country participation has, however, usually not employed such an encompassing definition of gender regimes but focused on gender equality in the spheres of education, labor market and political process (see below). Most of this research is inspired by the parsimonious economic model developed by Bernard and Busse ( 2004 ). Accordingly, the production of athletic success can be explained by two primary factors, that is, population size and national wealth. Population size defines the national pool of athletic talents, while national wealth provides the economic means to develop these very talents. Most empirical accounts also consider (former) membership in the communist bloc as additional variable, which has served as a proxy either for organizational capacities or for policy priorities in favor of elite sports policies (Bernard and Busse, 2004 ). Macro-social research on women's international elite sports has expanded the basic economic model by adding different proxies for gender inequality. In a groundbreaking paper, Klein ( 2004 ) demonstrated that stronger participation of women in the labor force related to better women's performances in the Summer Olympics and the Women's Football World Cup even when the analyses controlled for income per capita and population size. Klein's ( 2004 ) contribution inspired a vibrant research, which used different indicators of gender inequality but supported his main findings.

With regard to international women's football, Hoffmann et al. ( 2006 ) found that the ratio of average women's earnings to men's earning related significantly to better team performances measured by the scores awarded to national women's soccer teams by FIFA's ranking system. Hence, the lower the gender pay gap, the better national team performances. In an ambitious article, which compared determinants of men's and women's team performances as measured by FIFA scores, Congdon- Hohman and Matheson ( 2013 ) used the ratio of women's to men's secondary enrollment rates as an indicator for gender equality. They found that the influence of economic and demographic factors were similar for men's and women's team performances. In contrast, Muslim religious affiliation correlated with lower women's success but not men's, while communist political systems showed better women's performances but men's performances were worse. The gender equality indicator used seemed to exert a positive impact on women's soccer performance but not on men's. Cho ( 2013 ) also used FIFA scores to examine the question whether football traditions or women empowerment were a driving force for national success in women's soccer. Again women's labor force participation served as proxy for gender equality. Cho ( 2013 ) found that women's empowerment correlated with the success in women's soccer.

Concerning success in the Olympics, Leeds and Leeds ( 2012 ) confirmed Klein's ( 2004 ) finding that higher women's labor force participation related to improved women's performances at the Summer Olympics. Moreover, they found that lower fertility rates and a longer tradition of women's suffrage also correlated with better women's performances. Noland and Stahler ( 2016 ) used several indicators for gender equality in their more recent analyses of women's performances at the Summer Olympics and demonstrated that the socio-economic status of women correlated significantly with better performances. Lowen et al. ( 2016 ) employed the gender inequality value (GIV) as developed by the United Nations as predictor for success in the Summer Olympics. They confirmed that greater gender equality has been consistently and significantly associated with improvements in two measures of Olympic success, that is, athletic participation and medal counts, even when other important predictors were taken into account. Interestingly, they even found that higher gender inequality related to lower number of medals won by both men and women. Finally, the finding that Islamic religion is a negative correlate of sporting success in the Olympics has been related to the fact that Islamic religion does not support women's sport participation (Sfeir, 1985 ; Tcha and Pershin, 2003 ; Trivedi and Zimmer, 2014 ; Noland and Stahler, 2016 ).

These findings can be summarized as follows: There is solid and consistent evidence that macro-social gender inequality relates to women's participation and success in international elite sports. However, the cited macro-social approaches suffer from a number of limitations. With regard to measuring gender (in)equality, the studies exclusively employ macro-social indicators focusing on what has been called “public sphere gender equality,” which refers to women's equality in education, labor market and political process. However, it has been argued that the gender revolution will only be complete when gender equality reaches the private sphere since even in societies with high public sphere gender equality responsibility for household chores is unequally distributed (England, 2010 ; see also: McDonald, 2000a , b ). A second limitation is that most studies fail to consider meso-level factors, “such as sports federations and sports clubs, families, the media, schools and peer groups [which] function as gatekeepers and mediate or moderate the effect of macro-level gender equality” (Lagaert and Roose, 2018 , p. 546). Yet, a recent study by Meier ( 2020 ) on women's soccer in reunified Germany indicated that macro-social gender equality does not translate in a linear manner into more women's sport participation and that policy priorities of sport organizations at different levels (national, regional and local) appeared to be highly consequential for women's sport participation and the popularity of women's sports. Finally, there is a lack of studies examining the impact of the efforts of international sport governing bodies to promote women's elite sports and to inspire women's sport participation. A particular exception is the innovative study conducted by Jacobs ( 2014 ). Jacobs ( 2014 ) evaluated the effects of FIFA programs for promoting women's soccer by using FIFA scores as dependent variable. At the macro level, she found income per capita, women's population size and women's labor force participation to be consistently and positively associated with women's team success. In addition, there was a significant impact of meso-level organizational factors on women's team performances. Dedicated governance staff and training proved to be key correlates of successful women's soccer nations in the short term, while dedicated governance staff and investments in youth developments were strong predictors of success in the long term (Jacobs, 2014 ).

Hence, although the current study follows the path of previous macro-social research on the relationship between gender (in)equality and country participation, it is fully aware of the conceptual and measurement limitations of such an approach. The main innovative contribution of the current study is, therefore, to apply macro-social research approaches to a new subject, that is, country participation in international women's athletics. As will be elaborated now, women have been long marginalized in international athletics.

Gender Discrimination in International Athletics

The IAAF was founded in 1912 to organize men's international athletics, and initially expressed little interest in the women's sport. It was not until French sport official and feminist Alice Milliat through her organisation Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale (FSFI) began successfully organizing international athletics competitions for women. In response, the IAAF began to consider extending its influence to cover women athletes. Viewing the FSFI as a threat to its singular authority over the sport, the men's federation usurped control from the women's federation through a series of strategic maneuvers. In 1922, the then President of the IAAF, Sigfrid Edström, ordered the all men's IAAF officials to study the possibility of the IAAF governing women's sport. As result of these efforts, two women's FSFI representatives were co-opted, which contributed to the disintegration of the FSFI. Yet, the influence of the former FSFI representatives was intentionally limited (Krieger and Krech, 2020 ). A similar development occurred later in the U.S., when the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was forced to discontinue its activities in 1982 in favor of the NCAA, which until then had been responsible only for men's sports (Wushanley, 2004 ). When IAAF business resumed after World War II, an all-men's Women's Commission was appointed (IAAF, 1946 ). It took 10 years before Zoya Romanova was elected as the first women to chair (IAAF, 1956 ). Moreover, Romanova's recruitment seems to have been primarily motivated by the Soviet demands for greater representation in IAAF leadership positions (Krieger and Duckworth, 2020 ).

The Women's Commission focused on adding women's events to the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and European Championships. However, progress was rather slow and women's influence in the IAAF's governance structures remained limited. Within the IAAF a centralized power structure and misogynistic culture were deeply intertwined, and characterized the organizational environment within which the Women's Committee operated at least until the early 2000's. For example, in 2002 women still only made up an average of 7.1% of all committee and commission members (outside the Women's Committee) (Bechthold, 2002a , b ).

Therefore, the concerns of women's athletes and its development had a difficult stance within the IAAF. Throughout the 1990's, the Women's Committee under the leadership of German sport administrator Ilse Bechthold continued to seek the expansion of the women's programme of events at international competitions. It also adopted the explicit goal that, by the turn of the century, the IAAF should recognize an equal number of events for women as for men (IAAF Women's Committee, 1995 ). In response, the IAAF Congress agreed to a plan in 1995 which would see women's pole vault and hammer throw debut at the 1999 World Championships in Athletics (IAAF, 1995 ). Adding steeplechase races for women to IAAF events proved even more cumbersome and did not materialize until the 2005 World Athletics Championships (IAAF Women's Committee, 2002 ). However, it was only in 2017 that the women's competition programme reached the same number of events as the men (Krech, 2019 ).

Regarding development work for women's athletics, the Women's Committee proposed a Strategy for the Development of Athletics for Women in 1991, which focused on detailing “the situation of women's athletics in the world” and proposing specific strategies to encourage women's involvement in all roles in the sport (IAAF Women's Committee, 1991 ). Such development work was to be undertaken in both “advanced” and “less advanced” athletics nations, although the strategies would differ by context (Ibid.). These goals were primarily pursued through the staging of seminars and workshops around the world. These events failed to have a sustainable impact so the Women's Committee proposed the establishment of an IAAF Year of Women in Athletics, which would involve a range of promotional activities around the world (Ibid.). This was agreed in 1995 and the Year of Women's Athletics eventually took actually place in 1998. However, the Women's Committee was denied its own budget for developing women's athletics, while its proposals were ignored in the activities of the IAAF's Regional Development Centres (RDCs), located around the world. The Women's Committee also failed to make the establishment of a women's committee in each member federation a common standard. Therefore, the historical account described lends to the reality that women tend to be underrepresented in the national federations (Anthonj et al., 2013 ).

More recently, the IAAF has become increasingly aware about the federation's gender inequalities and has addressed the issue of gender in its latest governance reform process to ensure that more women are represented at all levels in the sport's governance. This was primarily done through a change in the IAAF constitution to reach better gender balance on the IAAF Council, the IAAF's executive body. Several milestones were introduced that lead to 50% gender distribution in the IAAF Council and amongst the IAAF vice-presidents by 2027 (World Athletics, 2016 ). In 2019, the IAAF introduced a Gender Leadership Taskforce to intensify the development of specific programmes to educate potential candidates for executive roles from national federations. Significantly, the governance reform only focused on the level of representation, with issues of women's overall participation in athletics, technical aspects and global development of women's athletics still overseen by the IAAF Women's Commission.

Despite those latest changes on the governance level, it seems fair to conclude that for most of IAAF's existence, women's athletics was not an organizational top priority. The Women's Committee figured particularly low on the organizational hierarchy and its policy initiatives regularly encountered pushback from within the IAAF structure. The ignorance for the issues of women's athletics stands in stark contrast to IAAF's general efforts to diffuse athletics worldwide (Krieger, 2019 ). In 1976, the organization created an IAAF Development Aid Programme in order to promote the spread of athletics in particular in developing countries (Connor and McEwen, 2011 ). Beginning in 1985, the IAAF further established Regional Development Centers (RDCs) in developing countries. The first RDC was located in India, others followed. Moreover, the IAAF founded the International Athletics Foundation, which aims to develop and spread scientific knowledge about coaching and training, to financially help building sporting facilities and also to encourage their member states to organize competitions (World Athletics, 2012 ). As in other international sport governing bodies, these development policies also served the goals of the leadership of IAAF to secure votes from the benefitting countries (Krieger, 2021 ).

The IAAF has also increasingly pursued a decentralization strategy reflecting concerns about the commercial future of athletics. Hence, the IAAF's marketing plan of 2006 strongly suggested to better develop the African market because European markets saw decreasing audience figures and lacked star athletes (International Association of Athletics Federations, 2006b ). Former IAAF president Lamine Diack promoted an Athletics World Plan in 2003, which empowered the Area Associations (International Association of Athletics Federations, 2009 ). Therefore, in 2008 the IAAF changed its rules for sanctioning competitions (International Association of Athletics Federations, 2008 ). Previously, the IAAF Council had the exclusive right to determine whether member federations could stage IAAF events (International Association of Athletics Federations, 2006a ). From 2009 on, the authority was given to the six Area Associations. As a result, all six Area Associations held events in the second highest competition category, called World Challenge, in 2010 for the first time. In addition, the IAAF lowered the performance requirements for athletes to appear in the season's best list. In short, the IAAF decentralized its competition programs to increase visibility for more member federations, enhance its marketing opportunities and promote the development of athletics.

In summary, previous research has shown that the development of women's athletics has faced multiple challenges, which included opposition from men's officials in international athletics to highly unequal national gender regimes. As a result, the promotion of women's athletics was difficult. Therefore, the current study addresses two key questions:

• How does macro-social gender inequality relate to country participation in international women's athletics?
• How did the IAAF's decentralization strategy affect the participation in international women's athletics?

Research Design

Data sources.

Research presented here analyzes data on season's bests in international athletics in the period from 2001 to 2019. The performance data analyzed here have been exclusively retrieved from the official website of World Athletics (formerly IAAF website). World Athletics is collecting the results of every performance at an officially licensed events and makes them publicly available. At the end of each year, these results are combined into season's bests lists with only the best result of an athlete in a discipline in a respective year. World Athletics allows for non-commerical use of the data as long as the data source is mentioned. Moreover, it should be mentioned the season's bests data are here only analyzed in anonymized from, that is, without considering the identity of the individual athlete. World Athletics has defined minimum performances to enter the season's best list (i.e., 11.00 s in the men's 100 m run), so that the list entries are limited. We decided to exclude the combined events (heptathlon and decathlon) from our datasets since only few countries in the world are participating here due to technical and infrastructural reasons.

Analyzing season's bests comes with a number of methodological advantages. First, in comparison to analyzing Olympic medal shares, data on season's bests are by definition available on an annual base and not only in 4-year intervals. Second, season's bests might also more accurately reflect the proficiency level of athletes and elite sport systems, as Olympic performances are heavily day dependent with athletes employing different tactics (Lames, 2002 ). Third, the analysis of season's bests avoids modeling problems resulting from the two-stage character of Olympic competitions (Johnson and Ali, 2004 ).

Dependent Variables

The account presented here analyzes four different indicators for country participation in women's international athletics. First, we calculated the share of women's athletes in the total number of athletes of a country c in a certain discipline j and a certain year t (PARITY c, j, t ). PARITY ranges from “0” in cases where only men's athletes participated in a discipline to “1” in cases where only women athletes participated. This serves as an indicator for the development of women's participation with respect to men's participation. In addition, two count variables were conducted for measuring the visibility of member federations in women's athletics, that is, the number of women elite athletes per 100,000 inhabitants appearing in the season's best lists in a certain discipline j for a country c in a certain year t and the number of women's events per 100,000 inhabitants in a certain discipline j a country c has been hosting in a certain year t. The latter is drawn from the season's best lists' additional information about the venues where the respective result has been achieved. Only events licensed by World Athletics, that is, events fulfilling minimum infrastructure and participation standards appear in the season's best lists. Both variables appeared to be extremely strongly overdispersed, with more than 80 percent of the observations equaling zero. The research team decided to convert them into categorical variables with three categories, having countries with zero athletes or events in category 1, countries with up to 0.1 athletes (ATHLETES c, j, t ) or events (HOSTINGS c, j, t ) per 100,000 inhabitants in category 2 and all with more than 0.1 in category 3. Finally, the number of athletic disciplines in which a particular country c participated in a certain year t was counted (DISCIPLINES c, t ). This dependent variable serves as an indicator for a countries visibility in athletics in general.

Independent Variables

As discussed above, previous scholarship has used quite different indicators for gender (in)equality in the public sphere. After intense discussion, the women's political empowerment index (WPEI) as developed by the V-Dem Institute was chosen as indicator because it seems to allow for more precise measurement and covers the Global South better than other indices. The V-dem Institute offers free access to datasets with democratic indicators for 202 countries over a period from 1789 to 2020 (Coppedge et al., 2021 ). The WPEI, as one of these indicators, considers three dimensions of empowerment, that is, women's civil liberties, civil society participation and political participation and originally ranges between “0” (no political empowerment) and “1” (full political empowerment) (Sundström et al., 2017 ). For the analyses presented here, a categorical variable with five categories (from “1 = very low WPEI” to “5 = very high WPEI”) was created. Hence, with regard to the research questions, WPEI represents the first key independent variable. The second key independent variable is a set of year dummies for the period from 2001 to 2019 in order to estimate a potential effect of World Athletics' strategy change (YEAR). The year dummies do not only allow to estimate the effects of the decentralization strategy of World Athletics but also to account for general trends.

As religion seems to play an important role for women's sporting participation and women's success (Sfeir, 1985 ; Trivedi and Zimmer, 2014 ; Noland and Stahler, 2016 ), a categorical variable for RELIGION was created based on a country's majority religion. Data on the religious affiliation of a country's population was retrieved from the Pew Research Center website (Pew Research Center, 2015 ). Since the IAAF developed its decentralization strategy in particular to promote the diffusion of athletics in Africa, the second control variable categorizes World Athletics' distinct Area Associations (ASSOCIATION). Moreover, the existence of a national elite sport tradition was considered by measuring the age of the first acknowledged National Olympic Committee (NOC) (NOCAGE). Since the literature on the specialization of national elite sport systems assumed that countries with lower resource endowments are more prone to make strategic choices, the analyses control for the strength of the national economy (GDP PER CAP) and country size (POPULATION) by including two categorical variables. POPULATION and GDP PER CAP were retrieved from the World Development Indicator (WDI) database as provided by the World Bank (World Bank, 2020 ). In order to account for differences among athletic disciplines, they were combined into groups (DISCIPLINE GROUP) ( Table 1 ).

Dependent and independent variables for all regression models.

Analytic Strategy

The research questions are first addressed with some descriptive analyses of the key indicators. For conducting multivariate analyses, two different data sets were created:

The so-called “Participation dataset” contains 79,580 observations for each of the 20 disciplines for 210 countries in a certain year. It entails the dependent variables PARITY, ATHLETES, and HOSTINGS as well as the independent and control variables. Since PARITY appeared to be nearly normally distributed, ordinary least square (OLS) regressions were employed.

For ATHLETES and HOSTINGS we employed ordered logistic regressions. In all models we includes country dummies 1 to account for the fixed effects-panel shape of the data and year dummies to map developments over the years.

The “Discipline dataset” is country based and contains 3,857 observations on country level with the dependent variable DISCIPLINES. The analyses employ tobit panel regressions for censored data since the number of disciplines for women is limited to 20. Only fixed effects models were calculated by including country dummies. Again, including year dummies serves to account for the longitudinal character of the data. The dataset includes all independent and control variables, except for DISCIPLINE GROUP.

Descriptive Findings

With regard to the relationship between gender (in)equality and country participation in international women's sport, Figure 1 demonstrates that in countries with more political empowerment of women, the share of women's athletes, the number of women's athletes, as well as the number of women's disciplines in which a country makes visible appearances tend to be higher. Moreover, countries with more macro-social gender equality seem to host more women's events ( Figure 1 ).

Gender (in)equality and participation in women's athletics. The figure displays violin graphs for different dependent variables and five categories of the women's political empowerment index (WPEI); 1 = low empowerment; 5 = high empowerment.

A simple mapping of country participation patterns, which is measured by number of athletic disciplines in which women's athletes make an appearance in seasons' bests, illustrates that women's athletics has made substantial progress between 2000 and 2019. The number of “white spots” (lowest quantile = 0 disciplines) for women's athletics on the world map has substantially decreased and a number of countries has expanded its visibility in women's athletics. This is particularly evident in the third figure, which shows the differences between 2001 and 2009. The highest growth were recorded in South America and in the Islamic Republic Iran ( Figure 2 ).

Country participation in women's athletics in 2001 and 2019 and difference between 2001 and 2019. (A,B) Displayed are the 5 quantiles of the number of women's athletics disciplines in which athletes from a particular country participate from white = 0 disciplines to black = 20 disciplines. (C) Displayed is the difference in absolute numbers of disciplines from white = −5 to 0 disciplines to black = more than 15 disciplines.

A more detailed look at the top-ten increases in terms of disciplines confirms these surprising insights. A number of South American countries heavily increased their visibility in women's athletics. The same applies to the Islamic Republic Iran. Moreover, a number of European countries also appear on the list with the highest increases in terms of visible participation in disciplines ( Table 2 ).

Top-ten countries with regard to participation increases.

Displayed is the number of women's athletics disciplines in which athletes from a particular country participate .

Figure 3 suggests that the progress of women's athletics between 2001 and 2019 is related to IAAF's decentralization strategy. Hence, after the implementation of the decentralization strategy substantial increases materialized in the average share of women's athletes, the average number of women's athletes, the average number of hosted events as well as the average number of disciplines in which countries make appearances. However, as the depiction of medians makes evident, the majority of countries have neither women athletes nor events in women athletics ( Figure 3 ).

Development of participation in women's athletes between 2001 and 2019. The figure displays trends for different dependent variables.

Multivariate Analyses

Separate multivariate analyses are conducted for the distinct dependent variables. Since PARITY ranges between 0 and 1 and is nearly normally distributed, OLS regressions were calculated. We included country dummies to account for fixed effects and year dummies to account for time-dependent developments and effects of IAAF's decentralization strategy in 2008. Two different models are presented: Model 1a represents the basic model, whereas in model 1b interactions between YEAR and WPEI were included ( Table 3 ). Both models appear to fit the data quite well with an adjusted R 2 of 0.365 or 0.367, respectively, but still leave a fairly high proportion of unexplained variance. In addition, the coefficients appear to be very stable in both models.

OLS regression models for parity.

Dependent variable is PARITY; Method is ordinary least squares regression with country dummies to account for the fixed effects-character of the data. Coefficients for country dummies are not reported .

First of all, the results do not confirm the descriptive findings as clearly as we expected: IAAF's decentralization strategy in 2008 did not significantly increase the share of women's athletes for all nations substantially since there no significant coefficients for the YEAR dummies after 2008. A higher WPEI correlates only slightly with higher share of women's athletes. PARITY is substantially higher in Christian countries than in countries with other dominant religious affilitations (RELIGIONS). Europe, compared to the other Associations, has the highest women's athlete share (ASSOCIATION), indicated by the highly significant, negative coefficients for all other associations. Interestingly, a higher share of women's athletes is found in countries with small or low middle populations (POPULATION), with a higher GDP per capita and in those with longer sporting traditions (NOCAGE) (Model 1a). The interaction coefficients in model 1b indicate that the STRATEGY CHANGE has served to increase women's athlete share in particular among countries in the middle WPEI categories. There are also discipline specific differences: Sprint, middle distance running and throwing seem to be the most equal discipline groups, especially compared to walking, which is the reference category.

For analyzing ATHLETES, which is a categorical variable, ordered logistic regressions were employed. Again, a basic (model 2a) and an interaction model (model 2b) were calculated. Model 2a does again not show a significant effect of IAAF's decentralization strategy (YEAR). WPEI and RELIGION have no significant impact on ATHLETES while countries with low middle population (POPULATION) and middle incomes (GDP PER CAPITA) seem to be more likely to have women's athletes appearing in the season's bests. Additionally, there are no significant differences among the Associations (ASSOCIATION). The interaction model provides a more nuanced view: IAAF's decentralization strategy served primarily to increase the likelihood of countries with a higher WPEI to make a visible appearance in women's international athletics over the entire period under scrutiny ( Table 4 ). Including the interaction terms slightly served to increase the model fit, indicated by the decreased AIC. In order to check for rubustness, we calculated the basic model again for each of the different categories of WPEI (see Appendix , Table A6). The results in general confirm the original findings and offer even more insights: Again we see that higher WPEI countries increased their number of women athletes after 2008. Additionally, we find countries with low WPEI (WPEI = 2) also appear to have increased their participation after the decentralization strategy was implemented. There is a significant effect for Muslim countries. In general, the wide variation in AICs suggests that the macro-social models employed fail to account for adequately for country specific features beyond WPEI.

Ordered logistic regression models for Athletes.

Dependent variable is ATHLETES; Method is ordered logistic regression with country dummies to account for the fixed effects-character of the data. Coefficients for country dummies are not reported.

In order to examine whether women's or men's elite sport participation benefitted more from World Athletics' strategy change, we tested how PARITY has developed with respect to the number of women's athletes (ATHLETES). Therefore, we employed an OLS regression with PARITY as dependent variable and an interaction of ATHLETES and YEAR as independent variable ( Table 5 ). To account for country specific differences, country dummies were included. Negative coefficients for the interactions would indicate that men's elite sport participation benefitted more from the strategy change, since the absolute number of women's athletes, as shown, has been generally increasing.

Influence of the interaction between Athletics and Year on Parity.

Dependent variable is PARITY; Method is Ordinary least squares regression (OLS) with country dummies to account for the fixed effects-character of the data. Coefficients for country dummies are not reported.

d Reference category is “No women's athletes × YEAR.” Only significant interaction coefficients are reported. For all coefficients see Appendix .

** p < 0.01,

* p < 0.05 ,

† p < 0.1 .

Actually, the results indicate that an increasing number of women's athletes per 100,000 inhabitants is negatively associated with the development of PARITY. There is a substantial and significant drop from 2008 to 2009 with respect to the number of women's athletes. Accordingly, it can be inferred that men's participation in elite athletics has developed better after the IAAF implemented its decentralization strategy. The model fits the data very well, indicated by an adjusted R 2 of 0.793.

In order to analyze HOSTING, which represents also a categorical variable, again ordered logistic regressions were employed. As for ATHLETES, Model 3a does not show a significant effect of IAAF's decentralization strategy (YEAR). We see more events in countries with very high WPEI (WPEI), with big populations (POPULATION) and high income (GDP PER CAPITA). The interacted model (model 3b) is hard to interpret: the number of events seems to have increased in all WPEI categories and independently of the IAAF decentralization strategy since we see highly significant and positive odds ratios also before 2008 ( Table 6 ). The robustness checks (see Appendix , Table A7) again confirm our general models. Additionally, we see that the number of events especially increased in countries with high and very high WPEI already before 2008. The models also provide stronger evidence that in particular countries with low WPEI seem to have increased the hosting of women's events after the decentralization strategy was implemented. Again, the variation in AICs suggest, however, that pure macro-social models do not grasp the developments very well.

Ordered logistic regression models for Hosting.

Dependent variable is HOSTINGS; Method is ordered logistic regression with country dummies to account for the fixed effects-character of the data. Coefficients for country dummies are not reported.

Finally, the number of disciplines in which a country is present in the season's bests (DISCIPLINES) is analyzed as proxy for the development of a national women's elite sport system. Since the dataset has panel character with a censored dependent variable, tobit regressions were conducted. Fixed effects models, which provide more consistent estimators, were calculated (Models 4a and 4b) by including country dummies. Again, a basic model and an interaction model were estimated. Both models have a very a high model fit, in particular model 4b, which predicts 82% of the data correctly (multiple R 2 ).

First of all, all model 4a shows highly significant and positive coefficients from 2009 onwards. Accordingly, IAAF's decentralization strategy is related to an increase of the disciplines in which women's athletes of a particular country appear in the season's bests. Additionally, DISCIPLINES is significantly higher for countries with higher WPEI's. The number of DISCIPLINES per country is higher in Europe, non-Islamic and non-Buddhist countries as well as countries with larger populations and a longer sport tradition. Interestingly, GDP PER CAPITA seems to exert a negative effect. In the interacted fixed effect model (Model 4b), the mostly insignificant interaction coefficients show that developments over time were not related to WPEI ( Table 7 ).

Tobit regression models for Disciplines.

Dependent variable is DISCIPLINES; Method is tobit regressions with country dummies to account for the fixed effects-character of the data due to the truncated dependent variable. Coefficients for country dummies are not reported.

The results of our study will be first discussed in the lights of the guiding research questions, that is, (1) the relevance of macro-social gender inequality for country participation in international women's athletics, and (2) the impact of IAAF's decentralization strategy on participation in international women's athletics.

With regard to the first question, the study, which relied on a larger sample of countries and more fine-grained data, primarily confirmed previous findings. It was demonstrated once more that macro-social gender equality matters for women's sport. Higher women's empowerment in the public sphere relates to higher participation of countries in international women's athletics. It became also at least slightly evident that countries with Muslim religious affiliation appear to be in general less supportive of women's participation in international elite sports. However, there are notable exceptions, such as, the Islamic Republic of Iran (see below). Interestingly, population seems to play a less important role than in men's sports, while country participation in women's international athletics increased with higher GDP per capita.

Concerning the second questions, the study demonstrated that women's athletics made substantial progress over the last two decades, which is in some aspects related to the IAAF's decentralization strategy. The number of disciplines in which countries participate substantially expanded over the period examined. Also the number of athletes and hostings generally increased. It is most interesting that the progress of women's athletics is not related to a deliberate developmental policy of the IAAF (now World Athletics) with regard to women's athletics. The progress appears to be the outcome of a more general decentralization strategy, which involved the lowering of performance requirements for season's bests and of technical standards for hosting. The decentralization strategy allowed more countries to make visible appearances in women's athletics and served to increase women's share among national elite athletes. However, the findings also indicate that although the decentralization strategy served to increase the participation of countries in women's elite athletics, men's athletics appear to have benefitted even more.

Hence, it can be concluded that the study demonstrates the limits of such rather gender unspecific development strategies. The analyses showed that the decentralization strategy mainly promoted the development of women's athletics in countries characterized by higher levels of women's empowerment. These countries include, among others, Costa Rica, where the share of women's athletes increased after the implementation of the IAAF's decentralization stratey, the United States, which experienced a remarkable growth in women's athletes appearing in the season's bests and in hosted events, and Croatia, where the number of athletic disciplines in which women's athletes appeared in the season's bests increased. By implication, the differential impact of the decentralization strategy is likely to increase the gaps in the development of women's athletics between less and more gender equal countries. It seems reasonable to assume that the decentralization strategy allowed more gender equal countries to increase their visibility in women's international athletics because of stronger grassroots of women's athletics in these countries. Accordingly, the current study suggests that a more deliberate developmental and better resourced strategy is needed to promote women's athletics in countries characterized by lower women's empowerment. If such efforts are not made, the progress of women's athletics in these countries will depend on whether women's empowerment increases and automatically translates into better opportunities for women's elite sports. Hence, if World Athletics aims to deliberately promote women's athletics in less gender equal countries, it should create better targeted women's developmental programs. The IAAF Women's Commission made similar recommendation in the period between 1990 and 2007 but received significant pushback from leading IAAF bodies. However, it should be realized that encouraging investments in women's elite sports might not the most reasonable strategy for promoting women's sport and physical activity in such countries as it is highly questionable whether such top-down approaches result in “trickle down” effects benefitting women's participation in sport or physical activity in general (Connor and McEwen, 2011 ).

Limitations

First of all, it should be realized that the current study does not allow for strong causal claims as it represents only a retrospective data analysis. In addition, the current study shares the limitations of other macro-social accounts, which usually neglect meso-level factors. It is important to realize that the analyses hinted at the existence of country specific responses to IAAF's decentralization strategy. However, a macro-social approach provides little means to dissect these responses. The relevance of meso-level factors has been indicated by the substantial progress of women's athletics in the Islamic Republic of Iran. This progress in a country with strong Muslim religious affiliation seems to reflect the efforts of the Iranian government to exploit sport in pursuit of a broad range of domestic and international policy objectives (in general: Dousti et al., 2013 ; for women's sport: Sadeghi et al., 2018 ). Hence, the progress of women's elite sport depends on priorities of national sport policies. Moreover, the relevance of path dependencies and diffusion patterns is indicated by the fact that countries with a longer sport tradition seem to show a higher participation in women's international athletics. It might be speculated that, even though the first sport men's officials heavily discriminated against women, an earlier establishment of a national sport movement served also to bring earlier up the question of women's participation or women's sport. Hence, besides national gender regimes and sport policies, sport specific trajectories seem to be relevant.

Accordingly, future analyses should try to conduct more sophisticated proxies for meso-level factors in order to improve academic understanding of the development of women's sport and to provide better guidance to sport administrators at international and national level.

Data Availability Statement

Author contributions.

HM and MK contributed to the conception and design of the empirical study. MK organized the database and performed the statistical analyses. HM and JK wrote the theory section and the discussion section. All authors wrote sections of the manuscript.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

1 Coefficients for the 210 country dummies will not be reported.

Supplementary Material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2021.709640/full#supplementary-material

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Achieving gender equity in sports

Gender parity has been a problem since the dawn of society. Numerous historical records show women encountering inequalities in their careers, education, homes, etc., and sports is not an exemption. The perceptions of dominance, physical strength, and power typically portrayed by men manifest in violence against women, exploitation, non-inclusion, and discrimination. This narrative needs to stop.

Sports has always been associated with men and their interests. This has alienated other genders who wish to participate in sports. There are several ways to encourage gender equity in the sporting world, and the following must be put into practice for a more inclusive future.

Work to reduce the investment/financing gap in women's sport

Insufficient finance is one of the issues many sports teams face. Men’s teams most times receive the majority of sponsorships and television deals. 

Most companies are hesitant to support women's sports, and those that do view it as a moral obligation rather than an investment. Women's sports are developing and can reach greater levels with the appropriate financial assistance.

The economic gap can be closed by increasing funding for women's sports. Women can then have more options to participate in sports as a result.

Boost media exposure

Media representations of sports and athletes contribute to the construction of harmful gender stereotypes, as the media tends to represent women athletes as women first and athletes second. 

The media is a powerful tool, if strategically engaged to address the gender disparity in sports. It is also a source of hidden power, affecting societies, influencing and reinforcing attitudes, beliefs, and practices, without realizing it.

Together, collaborating organizations and the media can use their power and voice, take action, and show leadership in increasing visibility for women in sports by addressing the inequality in sports and journalism.

The training and recruitment of female reporters into the sports industry can also contribute to promoting women's sports and addressing gender inequalities in sports.

Stop assuming that men are superior athletes

Another way to promote gender equity in sports is to stop assuming and portraying men as superior athletes. Men are often perceived to be stronger, better, and faster at sports than other genders due to the build of their body. This is not always true, as women have unique strengths and weaknesses. For example, they tend to be less likely to injure themselves and perform better than men in sports.

Create policies for gender equality

The gender equity goal needs to be pursued strategically by sports groups. Women who put in an equivalent amount of effort should be entitled to the same participation possibilities, financial support, pay, and perks as men.

Establish a whistleblower program

An easy-to-use, secure, and anonymous whistleblowing platform can capture discrimination and harassment complaints in sports organizations. Coming forward to expose unfair practices can be daunting, so maintaining the whistleblower’s security and privacy is essential.

Encourage female-led sports team

It is essential to support women's teams the same way as you would men's teams. This is a great strategy to encourage female athletes and advance gender equality in sports.

This can be done by paying women the same attention given to men's sports. You may also consider joining a club, going to games, and attending sports events for all genders as a strategy to promote gender equality.

To promote equity in sports, equal opportunities must be provided for all genders. Promoting gender equality in sports requires the participation of everyone. As an individual, be mindful of your words and actions, as you may inadvertently support gender inequality. When discussing gender equality on social media, exercise caution and use inclusive language. It is also important to try to find materials and information on how other people are promoting gender equity in sports.

As Nelson Mandela said, “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair.”

_____________________________________________________________________________

Anna Mambula is the Programme Manager at FAME Foundation , a gender not-for-profit organization using sports as a tool to advocate for the SDGs.

Emma Abasiekong is the Assistant Project Officer at FAME Foundation.

• Read more: Reshaping sport and development
• Related article: Implementing sports governance and fostering social development
• Visit the FAME Foundation website

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Editorial article, editorial: gender and racial bias in sport organizations.

• 1 Center for Sport Management Research and Education, Department of Health and Kinesiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
• 2 Department of Sports Science, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
• 3 Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, United States

Editorial on the Research Topic

Gender and Racial Bias in Sport Organizations

Legal mandates, social pressures for inclusion, and shifting demographic landscapes all contribute to an increased focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion in sport ( Cunningham, 2019 ). Some leagues, such as the Women’s National Basketball Association, excel in this area, serving as a model for others ( Lapchick, 2021 ). Despite the presence of exemplars, most of professional sport in the United States remains mired in the decades-long pattern of similarity and exclusion where White, able-bodied, cisgender, heterosexual men hold key leadership roles ( Brassil & Lutz, 2020 ). These patterns are also evident in other sport contexts in the United States and around the world ( Ahn & Cunningham, 2017 ; Cunningham et al., 2021 ; Walker & Bopp, 2011 ; Wicker et al., 2019 ; Wicker et al., 2020 ). Thus, even though members of underrepresented, minoritized groups frequently represent the majority of players, leadership roles are seemingly reserved for those who have historically held power.

In addition to limited access, members of underrepresented groups are likely to encounter stereotypes, prejudice, and treatment discrimination in sport. The disparities are evident among athletes, administrators, coaches, officials, and fans ( Burton, 2015 ; Singer, 2016 ; Sveinson et al., 2019 ; Hindman & Walker, 2020 ; Wells et al., 2021 ; Wicker & Kerwin, 2020 ). These patterns suggest that, even though group diversity is frequently associated with desired outcomes, such as organizational effectiveness and positive affective outcomes ( Lee & Cunningham, 2019 ), sport is a place where people who differ from the typical majority face various biases, limiting their access to and full participation in sport.

The purpose of this Research Topic was to explore these issues in greater depth. Specifically, we sought research from authors who 1) focused on taken-for-granted assumptions, 2) considered the myriad of factors that could influence the manifestation of bias, and 3) explored the intersections of race, gender, and other diversity forms. As we outline in the following section, the selected articles accomplished these aims.

Selected Dimensions of Gender and Racial Bias in Sport Organizations

One of the themes to materialize from the articles was the value of critically examining the presence of and consequences of diverging from taken-for-granted assumptions and practices. Frick and Moser ’s study offers an apt illustration, questioning the assumption that, among Nordic and Alpine skiers, women are less competitive than men. To do so, they analyzed decades of data from the sport. Their results showed that women and men were equally adept at managing career successes and failures, and that the career length of women and men was virtually identical. Thus, at least among elite skiers, their findings counter the notion of gender differences in competitiveness and drive. From another perspective, Braumüller et al. drew from a large-scale dataset, which included respondents from Germany, Scotland, Austria, Italy, and Hungary, to explore the experiences of transgender, non-binary, and cisgender athletes. Given that sport is largely segregated based on sex assigned at birth, and transgender and non-binary athletes challenge this demarcation, it is possible they have poor experiences in sport. Consistent with this perspective, results showed that transgender and non-binary athletes faced continued anti-trans bias, including structural forms of discrimination.

Two articles considered factors that might influence the presence of bias in sport. Mire et al. , for example, conducted a study of weightlifters and examined whether coach-athlete gender similarity influenced the athletes’ performance. Among men, gender congruence was associated with better performance. Women performed better when their coach was a man, but only until age 43, at which point they performed better when guided by a woman. The authors noted historical biases against women in the sport could contribute to these patterns. Demographic similarity, or a lack thereof, is also associated with referee decisions. Specifically, in examining multiple years of data from the National Football League, Eiserloh et al. found that Black umpires called more penalties when their referee (the leader of the team of officials) was White. The authors reasoned that Black umpires might feel more pressure to assess infractions when their team leader is White—stresses others have observed in different sport contexts ( Foreman & Turick, 2020 ).

The importance of contextual factors was highlighted in two studies. Focusing on men’s intercollegiate basketball in the United States, Nesseler et al. found that Black coaches were underrepresented—a pattern that continued for decades. The effects were more pronounced, however, in Division III institutions, which are comparatively smaller with more White undergraduate students. Gomez-Gonzalez et al. also illustrated the importance of context. The authors noted that previous researchers had found that demographic dissimilarity was associated with the number of infractions a referee called on an athlete. Most of these studies, though, were set in the United States or United Kingdom and focused on men’s sport. Gomez-Gonzalez et al. diverged from this pattern, analyzing data from women’s basketball teams in Spain. Contrary to previous work, the authors observed no effects of racial dissimilarity or nationality dissimilarity. Thus, the country and sport might moderate the relationship between dissimilarity and infractions called.

Finally, other contributors highlighted the importance of explicitly considering intersectionality—a position for which previous researchers have advocated ( Walker & Melton, 2015 ). In the first study, Bartsch and Rulofs focused on physical education teachers’ attitudes toward children from refugee backgrounds. Racialized and gendered notions of threat and vulnerability were evident, with four themes emerging: victimization and vulnerabilization, notions of threat and impulsivity, claims for assimilation and normalization , and demands for discipline . Given the increased number of refugees around the world, and the important role of physical activity and sport in their lives ( Anderson et al., 2019 ), Bartsch and Rulofs’ findings are especially instructive. Finally, Cooper and colleagues made a persuasive argument for new, innovative leadership approaches in sport. They argued that leaders should adopt anti-racism, anti-sexism, and culturally responsive stances. Only through such a paradigmatic shift can leaders hope to create and maintain diversity, equity, and inclusion in their sport organizations.

The Research Topic enhances the understanding of gender and racial bias in sport and its organizational settings. The included articles have provided rich insights into the topic from a number of perspectives, including the challenge of taken-for-granted assumptions, the study of factors that might influence the presence of bias in sport, the role of contextual factors in terms of national research settings, and the consideration of intersectionality. They help understanding how, why, and in what contexts gender and racial bias toward and discrimination of under-represented groups in sport is evident, ultimately enhancing the evidence base for taking informed action toward making sport a more inclusive and diverse environment.

Author Contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work and approved it for publication.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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Keywords: diversity, equity, inclusion, gender, race, sport, intersectionality

Citation: Cunningham GB, Wicker P and Walker NA (2021) Editorial: Gender and Racial Bias in Sport Organizations. Front. Sociol. 6:684066. doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2021.684066

Received: 22 March 2021; Accepted: 18 May 2021; Published: 31 May 2021.

Edited and reviewed by:

Copyright © 2021 Cunningham, Wicker and Walker. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: George B. Cunningham, [email protected]

This article is part of the Research Topic

Sport for Gender Equality and Empowerment

• First Online: 26 July 2022

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• Kazem Hozhabri 4 ,
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There are many reasons for girls and women to participate in sports, not only from a health perspective but also from an individual and societal perspective. Female involvement in sport has the power to upend what is seen/presented as “normal” and become a major force for social change beyond sport by challenging gender norms. There is a sense of the potential in using sport to address some of the inequalities and injustices faced by girls and women within and beyond sport. For many, women’s sporting achievements are a vindication of a struggle, showing power and presence (Saavedra, 2009). The movements for gender equality in/through sport have interconnected with the international development movements. The international community, broad policy statements and declarations, and sports community itself, support the potential of sport as a fuel for change and to address objectives such as empowerment of girls and women, gender equality as well as gender-based violence by harnessing the popular appeal and inherent properties of sport (Petry & Kroner, 2019).

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Gender equality: Women empowerment in sports and science

Empowering women: Unleash the opportunities

Nadia Nadim’s striking life story brought her from Afghanistan to a refugee camp in Denmark, then on to career as an elite footballer and, now, a qualified doctor. She is also UNESCO Champion for Girls’ and Women’s Education.

After growing up in a country where women were not allowed to leave the house without a male relative, Nadia Nadim fought adversity and discrimination in order to pursue her dreams. Her experience of losing freedom under the Taliban and living in poverty in a refugee camp in Denmark fueled her intense desire to succeed.

Football saved me from being this poor outsider kid and made me get accepted.

Once her family’s asylum request was granted by Denmark, where girls are empowered to play sports, Nadim’s professional career took off.

Today, Nadim has become a role model for many girls and women who aspire to emancipate and unleash their potential against gender norms and discrimination.

Gender equality starts in the classroom

With the ongoing deterioration of the security situation in Afghanistan, violence and instability have prevented many women and girls from accessing schools and education. More recently the attitude of Taliban leaders toward female education is seriously impacting the enrollment of female students and their opportunities for success.

I was born on the 2 nd of January 1988 in Herat, Afghanistan, where I was raised by my mother and father, together with my four sisters. When I was young, I got the heartbreaking news that the Talibans had executed my father. After that, my family decided to escape Afghanistan, as it was not a safe place for a family of six women.

Too many girls and women around the world are still held back by social norms and traditional school practices that limit their educational right and opportunities. Yet, their education is the most powerful investment to make for society’s collective future.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, school closures have exacerbated girls’ and women’s unpaid care work, limiting the time to learn at home. Amid this unprecedented disruption to education, UNESCO estimates that  11 million girls may not return to school . Girls aged 12-17 are at particular risk of dropping out of school in low and lower-income countries.

Without schools as safe spaces, adolescent girls are at increased risk of gender-based violence, early marriage and unintended pregnancy, as well as sexual exploitation and abuse.

Nadim became UNESCO Champion for Girls’ and Women’s Education in 2019 after deciding to put her heart and notoriety at the service of girls and women everywhere.

For me, education is very important. If you want to change something in the world, it is with education. There are many children who can’t study or go to school. I hope this will change because if you want to change something, it will be with school, she said.

Her education, our future  is UNESCO’s mission to accelerate action for girls’ and women’s education by leveraging political and financial commitments, as well as leadership for women and girls. It will contribute to the  UNESCO Strategy for Gender Equality in and through Education (2019-2025)  and its three pillars aiming for better data to inform action for gender equality in and through education; better legal, policy and planning frameworks to advance rights; and better-quality learning opportunities to empower girls and women.

Her education, our future

#HerEducationOurFuture

Girls’ emancipation through sport

The positive impact that sports can have on the emancipation of young girls and women has been acknowledged for decades.

Participating in sports can help break-down gender stereotypes, improve girls’ and women’s self-esteem and contribute to the development of leadership and strategic thinking skills.

Women in sport break down the misperception they are weak or incapable.

The fact that certain political or religious groups wish to continue to prohibit or restrict the practice of women or the presence of women in stadiums testifies to the importance and social influence of sport.

It was thanks to the Iran-Spain match during the 2018 FIFA World Cup that the Iranian women were able, for the first time since 1979, to officially enter the stadiums. This is an example of sport – football, in this case – as an accelerator of social change in favor of the freedom of young girls and women.

We were smuggled to Denmark, where I lived in a refugee camp for six months. One day I saw a young girl play football. I knew what it was, but I had never seen girls play. I didn’t even know it was something I could do. When I saw this girl play, I was like, wow! I want to play this game. Now I’m here.

She began playing for local teams in Denmark and made her debut with the national team in 2009, going to play with high profile teams such as Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.

To support girls and women like Nadia Nadim, UNESCO has kickstarted programs to enforce their right for girls and women to participate in physical education, physical activity and sports at all levels. These missions also aim to protect participating girls and women from harassment, misconduct and abuse, as well as use sport to promote gender equality and empower girls and women.  

With UNESCO’s support, the Global Observatory for Women, Sport, Physical Education and Physical Activity has been established as an incubating association in Lausanne, Switzerland.

It aims to overcome global and systemic inequalities for girls and women in sport. For example, in Europe,  45% of men play sport at least once a week compared to 37% of women .

I was told women don’t play football and that there were other things set out for me. I should learn to cook, I should prepare to be a wife. That was the life people were expecting for me. I said that wasn’t true. So I started playing football.

Tackling the gender bias in sport

In 1924, women made up just 4% of all Olympic athletes. A lot has changed since then. Today, women athletes compete regularly and many of them become elite sportswomen. Indeed, a century later, the Paris 2024 Olympic Games are set to achieve full gender balance in the number of participating athletes for the first time in Olympic history.

Still, one thing that has not changed is media interest.

There are still a lot of differences and a lot of inequalities. Most people are interested in the men’s game and don’t have a clue about what’s happening on the women’s side. But that’s changing. From when I started until now, there’s been a huge change in the women’s game and that’s in the right direction. If you want change, you have to use your voice. It’s going to happen, but it won’t happen overnight.

Women only get 4% of sports media coverage, and of that coverage, their physical appearance, family life and love life are referenced more than their athletic ability, while men are depicted as powerful, independent and valued as athletes.

This is due to the low percentage of women in sports journalism. Even though this field has become more accessible to women, numbers show that there is still a noticeable gap. Currently, a low percentage of sports broadcasters are women, while the number of women who enter into sports journalism is still relatively low. This particular area of reporting remains a predominantly male-dominated specialty in countries all over the world.

#HerMomentsMatter  is a spinoff of UNESCO’s World Radio Day campaign promoting fairer coverage of women athletes. It encourages participants to share videos and images of sportswomen on your social networks and help raise awareness for fairer coverage of women athletes.

In order to promote gender equality in media coverage , UNESCO’s Communication and Information  mission has spearheaded many initiatives to empower women and girls, such as the development of Gender-Sensitive Indicators for Media (GSIM) and the promotion of gender-sensitive educational resource policies.

Smashing the glass ceiling for women in science

While playing as a professional footballer, Nadim decided to pursue studies in the medical field. She has since graduated from Aarhus University in Denmark with a medical degree, focusing on reconstructive surgery. When her sports career eventually ends, Nadim aims to join Doctors Without Borders, the international humanitarian medical non-governmental organization known for its projects in conflict zones and in countries affected by endemic diseases.

Nadim’s profile as a professional athlete will help her acquire a platform to raise awareness about the lack of medical resources in many countries around the world.

I am going to have a platform as a doctor so I can reach out to people who are in need. I love playing football, but I always wanted to give something back. Being able to do it as a doctor is going to be different than what I’ve been doing as a footballer.

Yet, for many women attempting a career in science there are many hurdles to overcome, and that even before they attempt to balance work and family life.

Often, a male-dominated culture prevents some women from even considering leadership positions in academia or from being satisfied with their achievements.

Throughout the years, women working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) have been faced with a significant gender gap in these disciplines all over the world. Even though women have made major progresses towards increasing their participation in higher education, they are still under-represented in these fields.

According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics , less than 30% of the world’s researchers are women. Women who are active in STEM fields publish less, are paid less for their research and do not progress as far as men in their careers.

Achieving gender equality in STEM is not just a matter of fairness or a basic human right. The fact there are many brilliant girls and women who might be interested in STEM, but choose to pursue careers elsewhere because of the various obstacles they may face, is a lost opportunity – both for women themselves as well as for the society as a whole.

UNESCO has worked to highlight and support the work of women scientists around the world by recognizing the excellence of their work.

The L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Awards are presented every year to five outstanding women scientists – one per each of the following regions: Africa and the Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America – in recognition of their scientific accomplishments. The scientific fields considered for the awards alternate every other year between Life Sciences and Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Computer Science.

To encourage women in the early stages of their science career, UNESCO and L’Oréal has also launched the International Rising Talents initiative, which selects the 15 most promising women scientists among the 275 national and regional fellows of the L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women In Science programme. As these young women represent the future of science, recognizing their excellence will help ensure that they reach their full potential.

L'Oreal-UNESCO for Women in Science programme

Women empowerment: making the equality dream come true.

The continued marginalization and under-utilization of women’s talents, expertise and resources across the world represents a serious loss of opportunity for society as a whole, not just for the women who are left by the wayside.

Keep believing in yourself, even though there is going to be a lot of people telling you not to. And secondly, remember always to have a dream. Because these are the things that have always been with me. First of all, I dreamt. And secondly, I believed my dreams would come true.

The Covid-19 crisis has disproportionately affected women. They are on the frontline of the pandemic while conservative forces attempt to undermine the rights acquired after decades of progress.

Against this backdrop, the full participation of women in social, cultural and economic development – and in democratic processes at all levels – is a moral imperative, a matter of human rights and a political priority of the highest order.

Generation Equality is a landmark global initiative supported by UNESCO which is driving commitments in six thematic areas –  Action Coalitions  – that include  gender equality  to foster significant and lasting change for generations of women to come.

Examination of Gender Equity and Female Participation in Sport

Author: Joshua A. Senne*(1)

(1) Joshua A. Senne is a doctoral student at the United States Sports Academy located in Daphne, Alabama. His doctoral emphasis is sports fitness and health, with a specialization in sport marketing. He currently holds a master of science in recreation and sport management from Indiana State University, a business credential from the Harvard Business School, and is a Stanford Certified Project Manager.

*Corresponding Author: Joshua Senne, MS, SCPM 5068 Argus Dr. Apt 1 Los Angeles, CA 90041 [email protected] 225-202-6787

ABSTRACT This paper presents an overview of five topics related to gender equity and sports. These topics include (a) history of gender equity in sports and Title IX, (b) gender equity in sport governance, (c) gender equity issues in athletics, (d) gender equity, sports participation, and Title IX, (e) and gender equity in coed sports. For each topic, the author presents an overview as well as a reason for selecting the topic. Further, the author presents information about the importance of each topic to gender equity in sports, plus any relevant social, ethical, or legal concerns.

KEYWORDS: gender equity, sports, sports governance, Title IX, coed sports.

INTRODUCTION Gender equity has been an issue in society since the beginning of time. In recorded history, one can find many accounts of where women faced issues of equity in relationships, their career, education, and athletic opportunities. The purpose of this paper is to explore the history that surrounds the issues of gender equity in sport, what actions have been taken to provide equal opportunity for women in sports, the current issues facing women in sports today, the research surrounding the issues pertaining to gender equity in sport, and also to discuss the findings and present recommendations for further research in this area.

Title IX was initially enacted by the federal government to ensure equal educational opportunities for males and females, but eventually it was used to create equal opportunities for women in sports. Title IX was monumental in increasing the participation of women in sports, but women still face scrutiny and stereotyping because of social norms, which define women as being fragile, less capable, and passive. Furthermore, sport has always been seen as a masculinized entity, and therefore, women are perceived as intruding on male boundaries. Recent and past research has shown that having a more balanced male and female board in sports governance contributes to a better work environment.

While Title IX has created more opportunities in sport for women, it has done very little to reduce the stereotypical image of women in sports. Further, it has done little to help establish equal opportunities in sport governance and the pressures women face in a hegemonic masculinized sport organization. It is necessary to reduce the stereotype that women are not equal to men in sports and sports governance because although women are mostly given an equal opportunity, they are still less likely to participate in sports or to be given equal opportunities in sports governance because of gender discrimination and gender stereotypes.

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE History of Gender Equity in Sports and Title IX Title IX of the Omnibus Education Act was enacted in 1972 by the United States Congress to ensure that institutions were providing equal opportunities for male and female students at higher education institutions that received federal funding (13). The Title IX Statute states, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance” (20). Exceptions to Title IX include educational institutions that traditionally admit members of only one sex, institutions that train individuals for military service, and institutions whose compliance with Title IX would violate religious beliefs (20).

Furthermore, it did not specifically refer to athletic opportunities when it was first developed; however, subsequent interpretations and court cases set the tone that opportunities in athletics are also to be upheld to this standard (13). Further continuations of Title IX involved the 1975 Title IX regulations and the 1979 Policy Interpretation: Title IX and Intercollegiate Athletics, which were both issued by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare: Office of Civil Rights, and the 1996 Clarification of Intercollegiate Athletic Policy Guidance: The Three Part Test, issued by the U.S. Department of Education: Office of Civil Rights (11). This test (11) presents the following key points: 1. Are participation opportunities substantially proportionate to enrollment? 2. Is there a history and continuing practice of program expansion for the underrepresented sex? 3. Is the institution fully and effectively accommodating the interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex?

Also, as it relates to sports participation, the general rule in both contact and non-contact sports is that when only one team is available, both sexes must be allowed to try out for and play on the team. If there is a contact sport where no women’s team is available, the trend is to allow women to participate on the men’s team (20). Further, the HEW regulations under Title IX permit an athletic department that receives federal funds to maintain separate teams for each sex if selection for the teams is based on competitive skill or if the sport involved is a contact sport (20).

Gender Equity in Sport Governance As was previously mentioned, women face gender equity issues as athletes and as sport governance officials. There is a lack of women in leadership positions in sport due to the fact that sport is a gendered institution and that all processes operate within a hegemonic masculine norm (3). Furthermore, sport institutions have institutionalized masculinity as the operating principle within sport, which identifies male activity as privileged, and reinforcing masculinity and masculine behavior as acceptable leadership qualities required in sport (3). Therefore, it is said that gender inequality has become an institutionalized practice within sport organizations.

Women hold only 33% of general manager positions within the Women’s National Basketball Association, and outside of the U.S., women are less likely to hold leadership positions in sports, including volunteer and professional level organizations (3). Furthermore, the International Olympic Committee has only recently met its self-imposed threshold of at least 20% women as members of the board (17). Within national Olympic governing bodies (NGBs), 85.3% of those governing bodies are composed of all male leadership teams, and 14.1% have male/female leadership teams, whereas only one (.5%), Zambia, has an all female leadership team (17). Based on this data, one can see the leadership positions in sports organizations are skewed towards male leadership, and this supports the notion of masculinity in sports as well as masculine leadership in sport.

Hegemonic masculinity is an operating principle within sport organizations that restricts women’s access to leadership positions within sport (3). Based on a study (23) on the influence of hegemonic masculinity on the rate of advancement of women and women in senior leadership positions in intercollegiate athletics, it was found that men maintain control of athletic director positions at the highest level of intercollegiate sport and have higher rates of organizational success. Furthermore, It was found that women held less than 15% of athletic director positions at the interscholastic level (22).

Another issue affecting gender equity in sports government is the influence of power. One study (5) examined affirmative action policies, and how such policies are interpreted in sport organizations. Male leaders of the examined sport organizations discussed the importance of women’s inclusion as members of Boards of Directors, but these leaders did not show any support for any policy changes that would effectively increase the number of women on those boards. Furthermore, recruitment and selection of women included a gender fit, which included that they have no young children, are well educated, held high jobs previously, had flexible schedules, and behaved properly based on the standards of male leaders. Therefore, it was demonstrated that male leaders use power to ensure that male leadership remains dominant, and the participation of women is limited to those who fit the model of leader as determined by the men on the boards studied.

Alongside the theme of masculinity comes the issue of access and treatment discrimination. These types of discrimination occur at the organizational level and can negatively impact women in leadership positions in sport organizations (3). Access discrimination operates by excluding members of certain groups from entering the organization, while treatment discrimination occurs when individuals from certain groups receive less organizational resources than would be legally deserved (3). In relation to women in sport, they are often impacted by treatment discrimination as they are denied access tor rewards, resources, or opportunities on the job that they legitimately deserve (3). When examining the work experiences of women in intercollegiate athletics in the U.S., there was evidence to support that women in the Senior Woman Administrator position were denied opportunities to engage in important oversight roles in budgeting and leading men’s sports programs, which negatively impacted their abilities to build skill sets toward positions of athletic director (19).

A considerable body of research in the corporate domain has found that that ratio of women directors is positively related to board effectiveness and good governance (1). Another study (18) found that an organizational culture that valued gender equity and top management support for gender equity had more positive organizational outcomes for women and men within the organization, which included stronger organizational commitment and intentions to stay in the organization, when compared to gender equitable policies. Their findings found that organizations that practiced support for women can have a more significant impact on the entire organization in a positive manner. It makes one wonder why sport organizations would not implement equality in leadership positions based on the results that this would improve upon organizational objectives. Gender Equity Issues In Athletics

Previously, it was discussed how women face different issues in sports leadership due to the masculinization of sport. Similar to sport leadership, women in athletic sports participation are affected by some of the same masculinizing effects. It was anticipated in 1996 after the Olympic Summer Games that the enormous progress female athletes experienced in terms of their abilities 25 years after Title IX would have brought greater media attention in terms of quantity, and also, a qualitative reform in which women are recognized as true athletes (9). However, 15 years later, very little has changed in terms of media coverage, marketing, and promotion of female athletes and women’s sport (9). Women in sport are still greatly underrepresented in all types of media and are usually not recognized for their athletic ability, but instead for their physical appearance, femininity, and/or heterosexuality (9, 16, 21). One will discuss how the media affects gender equity in sports and promotes the masculinization of sports, and also, how society is affecting gender equity and female sports participation through feminization of women.

Gender marking is a common issue women face in sport media, and this term represents the verbal and visual presentation of male athletes and men’s sports as being the norm, while rendering female athletes and women’s competitions as secondary (9). Examples of gender marking are present in many women’s championships like the Women’s World Cup, the Women’s NCAA Final Four, and the United States Women’s Open Championship. When looking at the similar events for men’s sporting events, one will notice that they are never qualified with a gender moniker, which sets the tone as the male event being the standard and the female event being marked as the “other” event. A study (15) found that sport commentators often participate in gender marking for women’s events but not men’s events. It was found that gender marking occurred an average of 27.5 times in women’s sporting events, but none in men’s sports.

Another issue women face in sport media is a focus on femininity, heterosexuality, and sexism. Essentially, sport media reinforces patriarchal sovereignty by focusing on female athletes’ femininity and heterosexuality, which serves to degrade their athletic accomplishments and athleticism (9). The most common theme of sexualization in sport for women is in reference to their appearance, which many studies have observed that print media focus on the physical appearance of women athletes much more than their athletic skills or abilities (21). According to these studies, the most referenced was make-up, hair, and body shape for women, but this was rarely, if ever, focused on with men. This shows that physical appeal and aesthetic appeal highlight the idea that gender inequalities are the norm in the media (21).

According to a recent study (4), women had a rough entrance into the sports arena as it was seen as an unwelcoming intrusion into the realm of masculinity, and this caused women who played sports to be viewed as masculine or lesbians. Essentially, for women to not be considered lesbians in sport, they must have beauty and grace as opposed to skill or athleticism. Successful women athletes were considered to be lesbians because they were seen as portraying a manner contrary to gender roles (21). It has been found (2) that by perceiving powerful women as lesbians, it is an attempt to belittle and disempower them. This threat and the resulting perception of it, reinforces the negativity of lesbianism, but also the negativity associated with being a female athlete, and could potentially affect female participation in sports, and society’s interest in female sports.

In a recent paper (16), it was purported that the socializing affects at an early age affect sport participation of females throughout development. She points out the notion that at a young age, girls are made to play with dolls, baking kits, and are essentially bombarded with the color pink, which sets the tone for women as feminine, soft, and passive. However, she notes that for men, the color most associated with them is blue, but also they are made to play sports when growing up, as well as play with trucks and masculinizing things. Gender bias and stereotypes limit the physical activities in which girls participate, persist, and succeed (16). Title IX has greatly increased athletic participation among girls and women, however noncompliance and inequities are still common.

Early studies (12) indicated that while American boys who play sports enjoy high school status from their peers, female athletes are judged to be of lower social status, especially if they play masculine sports. Furthermore, girls who play sports during adolescence are also subject to direct, derogatory comments about their athleticism (12). In a recent study (14), it was found that about three-fourths of the girls in their sample reported discouraging comments regarding their ability in sports. The most common sources were brothers or close male friends at 45%, other male peers at 54%, sisters or close female friends at 31%, and female peers at 38%. Furthermore, teachers and coaches were less common sources at 28%.

Based on the presented data, one can see that women in sports are faced with many challenges when wanting to participate in sports. From the fact that sport is essentially masculinized from the beginning, to sexism, lesbianism, and heterosexualization of sport, one can see that women are continuing to be perceived less capable than men, and only taken seriously as beautiful and graceful athletes, assuming that they are beautiful and graceful. Any woman that is not perceived as such is considered masculine, or perhaps a lesbian for not following gender guidelines set forth by men. Furthermore, they are perceived as lesbian if they attempt to play masculine sports, and succeed. It is plausible to state that these issues could cause women to want to participate less, especially if they are socialized to fear the scrutiny involved with being athletic, or the ordeal of not being taken seriously as an athlete.

Gender Equity, Sports Participation, and Title IX Before the enactment of Title IX, less than 32,000 women participated in intercollegiate athletics and 300,000 girls in high school athletics (13, 11). Now, there are more than 200,000 women in college athletics and three million girls who participate in interscholastic athletics (11). A significant milestone for women’s participation in sports was reached at the London Olympic Games in 2012, where 44.3% of the athletes were women (1). Further, the participation of female athletes on the teams of Brunei, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia meant that for the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, every National Olympic Committee (NOC) had sent women to the Games (1). Also, with the inclusion of women’s boxing in the 2012 Olympic program, female athletes were able to compete for the first time in featured sports (8).

According to a recent study on participation data and the hypothesis that women are inherently less interested in sports than men, it asserts that Title IX might be taking the wrong approach. This study, which consisted of essentially three different studies on participation, resulted in some interesting conclusions. The first study, The American Time Use Survey, consisting of 112,000 individuals, U.S. residents 15 years and older, from the years 2003-2010, found that females comprised 28% of those who participated in individual sports and 20% in team sports (7). The second study, Observations at Public Parks, documented a total of 2,879 sports and exercise participants at public parks at four U.S. locations, where it was found that females make up 19% of the participants in individual sports and 10% in team sports (7). The third study, Intramurals at Colleges and Universities, involved surveys of intramural sports registrations at colleges and universities in the U.S where it was found that women accounted for only 26% of registrations (7).

According to these results, it is plausible to state that the participation rates of women in sports are essentially much lower than the participation in sports of males. Therefore the question remains, is the argument of whether or not the approach of Title IX to present equal opportunities to participate in sports based on equal interest a feasible argument? Based on the statistics, one can state that Title IX implementation should not be based on the assumption that men and women have equal interest in sports. The main legal guiding principles of Title IX are not necessarily based on the fact that men and women have equal interest. For example, Title IX requires institutions to award total financial aid dollars to male and female athletes in proportion to their athletics participation numbers. However, to treat males and females equal in terms of recruiting or in terms of benefits all athletes receive, this interest ratio from recent studies should be observed more intently.

A study (10) evaluated whether the differences exist in expenditures on male and female athletics in a sample of institutions that report data to the U.S. Department of Education. The data set for this study consisted of institutions that participate in NCAA Division II without football. Furthermore, data were analyzed for three different variables: student-athlete financial aid, total expenses, and basketball. According to the results of the study, the data supported that schools in the data set were meeting Title IX goals, and also equality was exhibited in athletic financial aid and overall operating expenses for men and women sports and expenditures on basketball by gender. Equality was achieved in 2003 and continued in 2013 (10). The limitations of this study were that it pertained only to Division II schools that do not compete in football.

In reviewing the presented data on the impact of Title IX and sports participation, one can see that participation has greatly increased since its enactment. Further, one can see that colleges are beginning to meet the requirements of Title IX by providing equal opportunities to women. That being said, the research also shows that women are still participating in sports much less than men. This can easily be understood by reviewing the aforementioned data on the different gender perceptions and stereotypes women are forced to accept when participating in sports.

Gender Equity in Coed Sports As previously discussed, the norms and traditions of sport still reinforce and perpetuate notions of hegemonic masculinity, and for women who want to play in these sports, they are either given supportive roles in coed sports or must play the sports with all women teams, which can turn away female participants (6). A study (6) was performed that examined the impact of the coed aspect of the sport of quidditch on its participants, and to determine how the structure and rules of the sport influenced participants and attitudes toward the opposite gender (6). The study was conducted through online qualitative surveys taken by 343 quidditch players, with age ranges of 13-17 years and 18-21 years (6).

The measurement methods were designed to analyze the impact of participating in a coed sport. To increase trustworthiness of the study and provide means for triangulation of the information gathered, a four-step process was used (6). The results of the study found that through the rules and regulations of the sport, both males and females enjoyed a positive coed experience, which led to an increased desire for inclusivity and equality (6). Further, there was a reduction in stereotyping, and females developed an increased level of self-confidence (6). However, it was found that there was still underlying prejudice towards women.

The findings of this study show that coed sport can serve as an outlet to impact gender perceptions through contact with the opposite gender and offer an alternative view of previous examinations of coed sport that offered a negative experience (6). The limitations of this study are that there was sample bias due to the participants’ affinity with the sport of quidditch, and that participants with a less than optimal experience were less likely to fill out the survey (6). Future studies could take a deeper look into the structure and processes of quidditch, and see how those processes could be used to create a positive experience in coed sports that are currently perceived as being a negative experience (6).

SUMMARY Title IX of the Omnibus Education Act was enacted in 1972 by the United States Congress to ensure that institutions were providing equal opportunities for male and female students in higher education (13). Further, while it did not specifically refer to athletic opportunities when it was first developed, subsequent interpretations and court cases set the tone that opportunities in athletics are also to be upheld to this standard (13). There is a lack of leadership positions in sport due to the fact that sport is a gendered institution and that all processes operate within a hegemonic society. Also, sport institutions have institutionalized masculinity as the operating principle within sport, which essentially strengthens the masculine image of sport and reinforces masculine behavior as acceptable leadership qualities required in sport (3).

Similar to sport leadership, women in athletic participation are affected by the same masculinizing effects attributed to the norm of sports. A major factor contributing to the feminizing of women in sports and reinforcement of hegemonic masculinity is the portrayal of female athletes by the media. A common issue women face in the media is gender marking, which represents male athletes and men’s sports as being the norm, and women’s sports as “other.” Another issue is that, in the media, the representation of successful female athletes is often based on beauty, shape of the body, hair, and other personal attributes (21). Further, socializing women into gender norms at a young age teaches females that they are soft, passive, and less capable than men in sports.

Title IX has had a major impact on the increased opportunity for women to play sports as can be seen from an increase in women who participate in collegiate athletics from 32,000 women to over 200,000 women (13). Further, there was an increase in high school athletics from 300,000 girls to three million (11). Even though Title IX has caused a significant impact in sports participation, a study (7) found that women are still participating significantly less than men in athletics. This is most likely attributed to the fact that women are still greatly gender stereotyped, underrepresented in the media, and ridiculed at a young age for participating in sports (12, 16).

Given the still current difficulties women face for equity in sport, one has to wonder if there is any way to promote equity in perception and media representation, as well as opportunity in sport governance. A study (6) examined the impact of the coed sport of quidditch and found that coed sport can serve as an outlet to impact gender perceptions through contact with the opposite gender and offer an alternative view of previous negative perceptions of coed sport. Essentially, the factors that one should look at in the examination of this coed sport were that women participants were treated equally and worked equally alongside their male counterparts. This level of equity in participation of this coed sport allowed for the male counterpart to see that the female was capable of meeting the demands of the sport, and changed the perception of most of the male participants. Further, this study showed an increased positive self-perception of the female participants.

RECOMMENDATION Title IX has had a significant impact on society in that it has increased the opportunities for women to participate in sport; however, something that it has not done is help to remove the gender stereotypes and masculine influence of power that still reigns over sport governance boards and athletic sports. Because of this, there are still more male participants in athletics. Understandably, women are less likely to participate in sports towards the end of high school due to the increased recognition of gender norms and derogatory comments received from male peers for wanting to participate in sports, or for being successful at masculine sports. Society needs to stop socially conditioning youth into masculine and feminine roles, and needs to stop ridiculing and underrepresenting women in athletics. Further research could examine the impact of having a female coach of a male sports team on participation by males, and the impact of having a male coach over a female sports team, and also a female to female sports team as well as a male to male sports team to examine the effects on sports participation of having like and opposite gender coaches.

CONCLUSION The research indicates that Title IX has had a significant impact on female participation in sports due to creating the opportunity to participate. However, it appears that women are still faced with gender equity issues in sports governance, athletic media representation, and perception in sports. Therefore, while the opportunity to participate in sports is ever present for women, there is the perception and socially conditioned notion that women should not participate in masculine sports because it makes them appear lesbian and causes them to be ridiculed. However, women athletes that are perceived as beautiful and graceful, are able to get media coverage, but not for their actual athletic abilities, only their appearance. Research shows that sport is still strongly masculine, and strongly in favor of men as the primary controller of sports.

It is important to give women equal opportunity in sport governance because gender diverse sport organizations are found to be more successful than those that are all male. Further, in order for women to have true equality in sport, the media will need to begin to recognize women for their athletic ability and not their looks or personal life alone, but also, society will need to move away from the social conditioning of women into gender stereotyped roles and allow for young girls to choose their own path, especially if that includes an interest in sports. Men must begin to see women as equals before women can truly be equals.

Because of the institutionalized masculinity as the norm, this will be a hard perception to break in society; however, if women are given an equal opportunity to participate in sports as an equal participant and not a “female” participant, perhaps one could see a shift in societal perception, as was shown in the research study on the coed sport of quidditch. Perhaps the development of more coed sports could help reform the norm of masculinity in sport.

APPLICATIONS IN SPORT While Title IX was developed to enhance equality in education, it has had an enormous impact on the development and improvement of gender equity in sports. That being stated, the data show that there is still a long way to go before women feel equal and are treated as equals in the realm of sports regarding participation and employment. Women are participating more than they once were, and are receiving better treatment in sports management and athletics, but the data show that they are still outnumbered by males in employment and sport participation. Therefore, the field of sport management should continue to work towards a level of quality that truly treats women as equals, offers them equal opportunity, and permits them to feel equal in sport management and athletic participation.

A study of a coed sport (quidditch) showed that this format of spectatorship enhances the perception of equality in sport of both male and female participants, and therefore, one could use this sport as an example of how to improve gender equity in sport participation. Further, it was shown that having a diverse workforce in sport governance enhances the performance of the sport organization, which shows that providing equal opportunity to women in sports management can have a positive effect on performance of sport organizations. Gender equity in sport is both necessary and beneficial for increasing female participation in sport and improving performance in sport governance.

REFERENCES 1. Adriaanse, J., & Schofield, T. (2014). The impact of gender quotas on gender equality in sport governance. Journal of Sport Management, 28(5), 485-497. 2.Blinde, M.E. (1991). Differential media coverage of men and women’s intercollegiate basketball: Reflection on gender ideology. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 15, 75-98. 3. Burton, L.J. (2015). Underrepresentation of women in sport leadership: A review of research. Sport Management Review, 18(2), 155-165. 4. Cahn, S. (1994). Coming on strong: Gender and sexuality in twentieth-century women’s sport. New York, NY: Free Press. 5. Claringbould, I., & Knoppers, A. (2007). Finding a ‘normal’ woman: Selection processes for board membership. Sex Roles, 56, 495-507. 6.Cohen, A., Melton, E.N., & Peachey, J.W. (2015). Investigating a coed sport’s ability to encourage inclusion and equality. Journal of Sport Management, 28(2), 220-235. 7. Deaner, R.O., Geary, D.C., Puts, D.A., Ham, S.A., Kruger, J., Winegard, B., & Grandis, T. (2012). A sex difference in the predisposition for physical competition: Males play sports much more than females even in the contemporary U.S. PLoS ONE, 7(11): e49168. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0049168 8. Donnelly, P., & Donnelly, M.K. (2013). The London 2012 Olympics: A gender equality audit. Toronto, Canada: Centre for Sport Policy Studies, University of Toronto. 9. Fink, J.S. (2015). Female athletes, women’s sport, and the sport media commercial complex: Have we really “come a long way, baby?” Sport Management Review, 18(3), 331-342. 10. Frazier, J.W., & Caines, R.W. (2015). Gender equality in private college athletics: Is Title IX having an impact? International Journal of Education Research, 10(1). 125-131. 11. Kennedy, C. L. (2010). A new frontier for women’s sports (beyond title IX). Gender Issues, (1-2), 78. doi:10.1007/s12147-010-9091-y 12. Knifsend, C.C., & Graham, S. (2012). Unique challenges facing female athletes in urban high schools. Sex Roles, 67(3/4), 236-246. doi:10.1007/s11199-012-0159-x 13. Koller, D.L. (2010). Not just one of the boys: A post-feminist critique of Title IX’s vision for gender equity in sports. Connecticut Law Review, 43(2), 401-456. 14. Leaper, C., & Firedman, C.K. (2007). The socialization of gender. In J. Grusec & P. Hastings (eds.), Handbook of socialization: Theory and research (pp. 561-587). New York: Guilford. 15. Messner, M., Duncan, M.C., & Jensen, K. (1993). Separating the men from the girls: The gendered language of televised sports. Gender & Society, 7, 121-137. 16. Mullins, N. M. (2015). Insidious influence of gender socialization on females’ physical activity: Rethink pink. Physical Educator, 72(1), 20-43. 17. Smith, M., & Wrynn, A. (2013). Women in the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games: An analysis of participation and leadership opportunities. Ann Arbor, MI: SHARP Center for Women and Girls, Retrieved from http://www.womenssportfoundation.org/en/home/research/sharp-center 18. Spoor, J. R., & Hoye, R. (2013). Perceived support and women’s intentions to stay at a sport organization. British Journal of Management http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.120118 19. Tiell, B.S., Dixon, M.A., & Lin, Y. (2012). Roles and tasks of the senior woman administrator in role congruity theory perspective: A longitudinal progress report. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 5, 247-268. 20. Thornton, P.K., Champion, W.T., & Ruddell, L. (2012). Sports ethics for sports management professionals. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett. 21. Trolan, E. J. (2013). The Impact of the media on gender inequality within sport. Procedia – Social And Behavioral Sciences, 91(PSU-USM International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences), 215-227. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.08.420 22. Whisenant, W.A., (2008). Sustaining male dominance in interscholastic athletics: A case of homologous reproduction…or not? Sex Roles, 58(11-12), 768- 775. 23. Whisenant, W.A., Pedersen, P.M., & Obenour, B.L. (2002). Success and gender: Determining the rate of advancement for intercollegiate athletic directors. Sex Roles, 47, 485-491.

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Sport for Generation Equality: advancing gender equality in and through sport

Date: Tuesday, 10 March 2020

In 2020, the most visionary agenda for the empowerment of women and girls—the Beijing Platform for Action (1995)—celebrates its 25 th  anniversary. In 1995 it was adopted by 189 member states and addresses 12 Critical Areas of Concern with strategic objectives identified for each of them. The Beijing Platform for Action is a guideline to removing the systematic barriers that hold women and girls back and, until now, remains as the most ambitious agenda for achieving gender equality.

The Generation Equality campaign, led by UN Women, is an invitation to bring in new partners and generations to embrace and revitalize the historic Beijing Platform for Action and to make gender equality a lived reality.

Sport is explicitly referenced in the Beijing Platform for Action. The sports ecosystem and its various stakeholders have a strong role to play, especially with recent momentum escalating across the sport sector in favor of gender equality.

In recent years, sport has demonstrated its enormous capacity to propel women and girls’ empowerment. It mobilizes the global community and speaks to youth. It unites across national barriers and cultural differences. It is a powerful tool to convey important messages in a positive and celebratory environment – often to mass audiences. In addition, it teaches women and girls the values of teamwork, self-reliance and resilience; has a multiplier effect on their health, education and leadership development; contributes to self-esteem, builds social connections, and challenges harmful gender norms.

Many actors in the sport ecosystem are making significant strides to advance gender equality. For example, organizations are developing their sport at the grassroots level for women and girls; implementing gender equality strategies; creating their safeguarding policies; increasing the participation of women in leadership and at all levels of the profession; increasing resource allocation for women’s sports; doing better and more media coverage; marketing free from gender bias and promoting women’s achievements.

However, until now, these initiatives have been working in relative isolation, leading to missed opportunities of learning and scaling the best practices. At the same time, in various contexts, the world of sport remains plagued by many of the same gender inequalities that we see more broadly in society – issues such as unequal pay, gender-based violence, a lack of targeted investment and the reproduction of negative stereotypes and social norms.

Led by UN Women, the Sport for Generation Equality Initiative is an invitation for the sports ecosystem to be part of a powerful multi-stakeholder coalition to make gender equality a lived reality in and through sport.

Consisting of governments, United Nations organizations, sport for development and peace organizations, civil society, sport federations, event organizers, leagues, teams, brands, marketers, media, and sport influencers, it multiplies impact for gender equality and women and girls’ empowerment by enabling learning from one another and accelerating efforts to:

• Promote women’s leadership and gender equality in governance models
• Prevent and respond to gender-based violence
• Undertake to close the gap in investment in women’s sport and promote equal economic opportunities for women and girls
• Promote women’s equal participation and bias free representation in media
• Provide equal opportunities for girls in sports, physical activity and physical education

Sports for Generation Equality Initiative members are invited to make specific commitments, aligned under a shared vision, a common set of principles, and design action plans to accomplish them. They also commit to monitor and report progress.

The list of organizations that have signed on is growing, and includes the International Olympic Committee, Professional Squash Association, World Sailing Federation, Cricket Australia, Male Champions of Change in Sport, Ibero-American Sports Council, among others.

UN Women invites inquiries from across the sport ecosystem about membership in this rapidly growing movement. To register an inquiry about membership, please visit  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1qhSkkxCAeGof1FITfYC37w3vCJb2O1otv5t83otoJXA/edit

See the detailed set of Sport for Generation Equality Principles and the requirements to join

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Fighting for fairness: the efforts to close the gender pay gap in college, professional sports.

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Iowa's Caitlin Clark is expected to be the top pick in next month's WNBA draft, and records show her starting salary would be $76,535 as a rookie in her first season. That figure is raising some questions about women's pay in sports and how it compares to men's.

During the 2023 draft for the WNBA, the number one pick made $74,305 as a rookie, according to Spotrac. In that same year, the number one pick in the NBA draft made $10,132,300, according to Spotrac .

"That's disgusting," Bonnie Morris, lecturer in women's history at the University of California, Berkeley, said. "It's not fair."

It's not just female athletes who are getting paid less. It's also their coaches.

Iowa's Lisa Bluder is one of the highest-paid coaches in the women's game. But the $1.4 million she'll be paid this year is a little more than a third of the $3.3 million men's coach Fran McCaffery is making .

Civil rights attorney Roxanne Conlin said historically the excuse for the difference in pay has been that "women's sports do not make as much money for the university as men's sports."

But she said when Clark is on the court, that may not be the case. Attendance records show the Iowa Women's Basketball team sold out every home game this season — averaging close to 15,000 fans per game. Meanwhile, the men's team was averaging close to 10,000 fans per home game.

"Let's find true equality in the sports world for men and women," Conlin said. "No better example of a woman who deserves equality or better is Caitlin Clark."

Conlin said having more women in positions of power, like newly appointed Iowa athletic director Beth Goetz, will help close the gap. Morris said pressure from the media will help as well.

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Buffalo Bills: Leading Gender Equality & Women Empowerment in NFL

The Buffalo Bills are making significant strides in empowering women and promoting gender equality in the NFL, with 60 female employees, making up 26.9% of NFL team female employees.

• 60 female employees make up 26.9% of all female NFL team employees.

While the Bills have made great progress, there is still work to be done in achieving full gender equality in sports and other industries.

• The Bills have been proactive in hiring women for various roles, including coaching, training, and front office positions.
• They have dedicated efforts to support women's organizations, female entrepreneurs, and young girls in the community during National Women’s History Month.

The Buffalo Bills are likely to continue their efforts in promoting gender equality, breaking barriers, and empowering women both within their organization and the broader community.

The Buffalo Bills are setting a remarkable example in the NFL by actively empowering women, promoting gender equality, and demonstrating that women are valuable contributors in all facets of the organization and community.

The summary of the linked article was generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence technology from OpenAI

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A Book Found in a Cairo Market Launched a 30-Year Quest: Who Was the Writer?

For Iman Mersal, the slim novel was “life altering.” She narrates her journey in the footsteps of its largely forgotten author in “Traces of Enayat.”

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By Aida Alami

Reporting from Rabat, Morocco

Crouching over piles of books in a market stall in Cairo one day in the fall of 1993, Iman Mersal stumbled upon a slim volume with a gray cover and a catchy title: “Love and Silence.”

Mersal, who was then a graduate student, thought the author might be related to a novelist and prominent anticolonial figure, Latifa al-Zayyat. She bought the book for one Egyptian pound.

What Mersal found instead was an intimate, introspective novel, an essential but largely forgotten work by a female writer in early contemporary Egypt. The voice, Mersal later wrote, was “modern, strange, limpid and beyond categorization.”

The book moved her, she said, and set her on a nearly 30-year journey to learn what she could about the author, a young Egyptian woman called Enayat al-Zayyat who died by suicide in 1963 after overdosing on pills. All she left was a note by her bed for her son, Abbas, that read: “I do love you, it’s just that life is unbearable. Forgive me.” After her death, her writing fell into oblivion.

In “Traces of Enayat,” translated by Robin Moger and to be published on April 2 in the United States by Transit Books, Mersal revives the story of the late writer. The Arabic version, published in 2019, won the Sheikh Zayed Book Award two years later and was a regional success. A mix of literary genres, the book is a subtle and universal exploration of identity.

“A sense of longing for a place and a self that has left you comes through in the pages,” Adam Levy, the book’s U.S. editor, said.

The book feels like a biography, he said, but it is more ambitious, and more interesting, than that. “As you read,” he added, “you start to feel Iman’s presence in it subtly.”

Mersal, who is now 57 and one of the most consequential Egyptian authors of her generation, grew up in Mit Adlan, a village in the delta of the Nile, in northern Egypt. As a child, she loved language and songs, often shutting herself in her room to listen to music, plays and narrated movies on the radio.

She lost her mother at a young age, and wrote her first poem, a critique of Mother’s Day that started with the phrase “against motherhood,” when she was in fifth grade. She wrote it in anger, she said, and read it out loud during a celebration in the school courtyard.

“One of the toughest teachers cried,” said Mersal, who has two sons. “I call myself a writer since.”

Al-Zayyat came of age during a golden era for Egyptian literature, in the 1950s and 1960s, during Gamal Abdel Nasser ’s government. Many influential writers in that era were driven by the urge to transform society. Mersal, too, socialized with writers who wanted to change the world, and joined a feminist publication, “Bint al Ard,” in 1986. But she wasn’t sure what kind of intellectual she wanted to become.

“The literary scene was controlled by the old guard who believed in Arab nationalism or communism, who believed that literature can change the status quo,” she said. “I was thinking about figuring out my own voice. Expressing my relationship with my father, my relationship with Cairo, my city. It was about individuality.”

In 1992, she visited Baghdad to meet with women affected by the Gulf War in Iraq and the brutality of the regime in their own country. It was then that Mersal started questioning her purpose.

“It was transformative. I faced many questions,” said Mersal during an interview from her work studio in Edmonton, Alberta, where she lives. “What does Arab nationalism mean, what does it mean to be a committed writer?”

New perspectives opened up when she discovered “Love and Silence,” another woman’s honest chronicle of suffering and self-discovery. The book, which came out four years after al-Zayyat’s death, tells the story of Najla, a young woman who is grieving the recent loss of her brother and figuring out her place in a fraught political context. The narrator’s unfiltered voice sketches Najla’s attempts at finding herself, failing brutally each time.

Though al-Zayyat’s book had its flaws, Mersal said, it was life-altering. Mersal had been facing depression and searching for meaning in her life, she said. “This book spoke to me in a way no other female writer spoke to me.”

Mersal moved to the United States in 1998 and later to Canada, where she has lived since as an academic, poet, translator and author. Al-Zayyat grew up in a very different world, among the high society of Cairo.

Over the years, Mersal took her time to carefully navigate al-Zayyat’s world. She includes this journey in her book, taking the reader to places few can access, such as a meeting with al-Zayyat’s childhood friend, the iconic Egyptian actress Nadia Lutfi.

Al-Zayyat grew up in a loving family and was particularly close to her father, but struggled with depression most of her life. She had a passion for drawing and painting but stopped studying before she turned 19 to marry a man from an affluent family. The marriage was agonizing, and soon ended in a bitter divorce.

In Mersal’s book, an entry from al-Zayyat’s journal dated 1962 captured her pain. “I don’t mean a thing to anybody. Lost, found, it’s all the same: Here is as good as gone. The world wouldn’t tremble either way. When I walk I leave no tracks, like I walk on water, and I am unseen, invisible.”

What led al-Zayyat to end her life is uncertain. A commercial film and a radio series were made based on her novel. Both disappointed Mersal and al-Zayyat’s niece. They felt that, among other issues, the productions had erased the substance of the novel and focused on elements of the plot.

During her last months, al-Zayyat lived in an apartment that her father built for her on the second floor of their villa in Dokki, then a wealthy residential suburb of Cairo. She wrote on a newly-acquired Optima typewriter, and was committed to getting her book published. At the same time, she was losing custody of her son in court.

After her mother received a call from the publishing house saying that the manuscript had been rejected, al-Zayyat chopped off her hair and locked herself in the apartment. According to Mersal, who spoke to the author’s sister and to her best friend, she was found dead the next day.

It seemed that being part of the upper class limited her possibilities, Mersal explained — as if society had disappointed her so much that death was the only form of protest that remained.

“The idea that a young woman would kill herself — a young woman with a son, a father and a best friend — and all because of a book, was genuinely tragic, but it was also seductive in its tragedy,” Mersal wrote in the book. “I pictured Enayat painstakingly acquiring the rudiments of good Arabic grammar and inflection, then carefully setting down everything she wanted to say in her novel, then refusing the suggestion that she should self-publish.”

Mersal had many questions that she attempted to answer over her long years of obsessive research, but her intent never was to write a biography or a history book, she said.

“Telling the story of searching for Enayat was my way of reading her life and not displaying her life,” she said. “My dream was to tell our story, my story, her story, this interaction between us. The past is not that glorious. It’s the collective and individual wounds of this past.”

When Mersal finished writing the book, she struggled with emptiness and sadness that echoed al-Zayyat’s.

“It felt like a friend died,” she said. “It was a weird feeling of mourning.”

Aida Alami is a Moroccan reporter who has been contributing to The Times since 2011. She is based in Rabat, Morocco, and Paris. More about Aida Alami

Explore More in Books

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How did gender become a scary word? Judith Butler, the theorist who got us talking about the subject , has answers.

You never know what’s going to go wrong in these graphic novels, where Circus tigers, giant spiders, shifting borders and motherhood all threaten to end life as we know it .

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Do you want to be a better reader?   Here’s some helpful advice to show you how to get the most out of your literary endeavor .

Each week, top authors and critics join the Book Review’s podcast to talk about the latest news in the literary world. Listen here .

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Jamaica’s Ring The Bell Ceremony Chimes in on the Global Campaign to raise awareness of gender equality on International Women’s Day

Date: Tuesday, 26 March 2024

08 March, 2024, Kingston, Jamaica : The Jamaica Stock Exchange officially marked International Women's Day with the Honourable Olivia Grange - Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Ringing The Bell to raise awareness of the pivotal role the private sector can play in advancing gender equality.

The Honourable Minister Olivia Grange- Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport rings the bell at the Jamaica Stock Exchange on International Women’s Day surrounded by critical gender equality stakeholders. Photo Compliments: Jamaica Stock Exchange

UN Women Multi-Country Office – Caribbean Representative Tonni Brodber participated virtually in the Ring The Bell ceremony saying that there are still barriers that hinder women entrepreneurs’ equal opportunity and access to markets.

She added that ringing the bell, “highlights the commitment and collaborative efforts amongst the private sector and government to promote gender equality.”

Also participating in the bell ringing was Dr. Marlene Street Forrest – Managing Director, JSE; Her Excellency Angie Martinez - Dominican Republic Ambassador to Jamaica; and Thalia Lyn - Former CEO of Island Grill, Jamaica and Social Stock Ambassador.

Sharing a light moment: L-R Dr. Marlene Street Forrest – Managing Director, JSE; Her Excellency Angie Martinez - Dominican Republic Ambassador to Jamaica; Thalia Lyn -Former CEO of Island Grill, Jamaica and Social Stock Ambassador; and Monique Long, Planning & Coordination Specialist at UN Women MCO Caribbean.

For the 10th year, 110 stock exchanges around the world hosted bell ringing ceremonies on the occasion of the International Women’s Day.

Exchanges that have participated in the campaign over the past ten years have made progress on closing gender gaps by increasing women’s access to finance and encouraging women to invest in public markets, developing new products, such as sustainability-linked bonds with gender criteria and gender bonds, or ensuring that trading companies meet gender equality standards and disclose gender data.

A cross section of the audience present at the Ring the Bell Ceremony at the Jamaica Stock Exchange

The Ring the Bell for Gender Equality campaign represents an opportunity to raise awareness of gender equality in the private sector, particularly in relation to the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs);  UN Women’s work in relation to the broader economy, financial and labour market, sustainable development; and the 2024 IWD theme .

Are you the CEO or senior manager at a  private sector company who would like guidance on how to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community? Click this link on how UN Women MCO – Caribbean can support this business goal: https://www.weps.org/join .

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The Sunday Essay March 31, 2024

The sunday essay: queer sikhs on the cusp of tomorrow.

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Some thoughts on my queer and Sikh identities, and how they mesh and collide.

The Sunday Essay  is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.

S undays were exciting, as they promised crispy bread pakora and chai over Punjabi chatter. If I was lucky, there would be jelabi, an orange spiral of sweet goodness prepped in the hot, crowded kitchen. I’d gulp it down in a single bite, sitting under the paintings of martyrs being scalped and buried alive. 

Afterwards, I’d run into the kitchen with sticky hands and an empty plate. I could feel the heat on the hairs of my arms from the giant puddle of oil in the wok; hear the sound of metal clanging against heads of garlic; see the kind face of a man pouring more water into the refill zone and turbans shining under the fluorescent lighting. The langar hall promised a warm meal for all. 

My nani (maternal grandmother in Punjabi), with her round sunglasses and white shawls, hoisted me onto her knees to tell me stories of Sikhi and the origins of langar. Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the first Sikh guru of ten, was given 21 rupees to start a business. He met weary and tired religious travellers on his way to the city. He offered to give them money, but they said receiving money from a well-off man felt degrading. So Guru Nanak brought food and cooked it, sitting on the floor with the religious folks and exchanging stories. This created the tradition of langar, where we all sit together on the floor to symbolise our equality in God’s eyes. 

So we sit on blue mats, our feet equally cold in the heatless room. My father spends more time in the langar hall than in the prayer room. This is where he chats with the men he met in small Onehunga flats when they were starving migrants. Everyone is welcome to langar; for this purpose, the langar hall and kitchen are always separate from the worship room. There is no need to thank a God you do not believe in to accept our kindness. 

T he most significant act of devotion as a Sikh is to take care of the world around us, because we believe we are simultaneously part of God as well as God’s creation. Through cooking meals, donating money, volunteering and teaching children or elderly people, Sikhs are worshipping God. This act is called seva. 

At age 12, I followed my nani’s loose pastel scarf into the gurdwara (Sikh temple) when I noticed a group of elderly women, heads covered in devotion with bright scarves, reciting the Punjabi alphabet. Their voices sounded tender yet powerful, an elder again becoming a child. Nani explained that she was the only educated girl out of her six sisters. Despite nani’s desire to attend university, she felt unsafe being the only woman to attend the local campus. 

At home, I would ask my father how my dadi (paternal grandmother) would reply to his letters, back when it was a dollar for every minute he called home. She would ask a village girl to read it out loud to her, sipping chai in her pale and sunny home, the words a blur of jumbled letters. How strange for my religion to create a new text for lower caste people and women, only to leave generations of women uneducated in the name of culture. I imagined my nani as a girl, curled up in her grandmother’s bed with a stomach full of fresh milk, bedtime stories of Sikh liberation and a light turned off to promise a better world tomorrow.

Our eternal Guru is Guru Granth Sahib, the central holy scripture written in Gurmukhi. The room where I visit the Guru has white fabric drawn across the floor. At the back of the room, I watched people bow down to the Guru one by one, their heads covered in turbans or scarves an act of worship. The Guru sees them as equal, but my local Sikh temple committee has decided it is crucial to segregate which floor men and women sit on. Often the faces of the committees are men, while women are silently ushered towards the kitchen.

An elder’s hand is often coarse and heavy from the weight of their familial pressure to reject schooling in exchange for cooking. All their bright scarves are devoted to a Guru they could not see. I pray for them, as they are a part of me; their joy at reading is mine. Often middle-aged mothers born from a lineage of illiterate women operate the classrooms that teach literacy within the temple.

Through people’s acts of seva, I learnt how to read Gurmukhi. We often discussed religious stories, and I became fascinated with the concept of gender in Sikhi. God does not have a gender, as they (God) existed before the manmade idea of gender. God is formless, transcendent. We dance with them, we are them, we are a part of their creation, and if we align ourselves right with the prayers and avoidance of maya (illusions of the world like drugs, beauty standards, wealth and competition with one another) we could join them in the centre of the universe. 

In Sikhi, the word for God is ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ ( pronounced wa-he-gu-roo) , translating to “ teacher of the air”. As we speak, we transmit knowledge; within this knowledge, God is present, guiding our hands gently. What is more genderfluid than the air itself? 

O n the other hand, my Sikh identity is at odds with my queerness. Sometimes, at parties, my shoe kicking into the dirt of West Auckland backyards, I’d make comments about God, and they would be met with dismissive laughter. Religion is a bit of a joke in queer communities, and after centuries of being at odds with one another, who can blame them? Religion and queerness mimic the patterns of an overdomineering mother, wishing to craft her child out of the clay from the lakeside, and a child with fast feet. Neither realise that they cannot exist without each other; in their moulding and destruction of one another, they create one another. 

Over the coffee table covered with Punjabi newsletters and biscuits, my nani laughed about a story of two women marrying. I often think of being a child, listening to my nana’s (maternal grandfather in Punjabi) prayer as the sun dips away. The gentle pull of his hands as he moves over the prayer book. The birds easing to sleep; the sweet scent of mothballs from my grandmother’s shawl. Queerness is a religion: a devotion to discovering oneself. Maybe it’s selfish to want more than one religion, to want a God and a girl to understand it too.

Since I was a child, sprinting through the hallways wearing a bandana and jeans instead of a salwar kameez with a dupatta, I knew I was different. My bisexuality often manifests as isolation from the right way of performing femininity. Men and women occupy different spaces in the temple, sitting opposite one another for cultural rather than religious reasons. In protest, I often followed my nana  to the men’s section; a long-haired girl wearing a loosely wrapped scarf with her boyish jumpers. 

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When I am in front of the guru, I remind myself that he knows who I am, as he has created me as much as I have created him. Gurnanak ( another way of saying Guru Nanak Dev Ji) often becomes an imaginary friend whenever I hear homophobic remarks in the gurdwara. I imagine his disbelief that we are still thinking about gender as a set of rules to follow – doesn’t this count as an illusion of the world? 

I often think of the twelve-year-old version of Gurnanak who refused to wear a religious string that only upper-caste boys were permitted to wear, his steely calmness when he explained, as a child, that he is not brought closer to God by pretending he is better than God’s other creations. 

While the challenges of Punjabi homophobia and transphobia exist, I have to remember that Sikhi is a religion created out of a warzone. I am resilient, both as a queer individual and as a Sikh. We transform the world, carving spaces of equality. In my home, there is always food for all, and gender is just an illusion we mess around with.

Fact Check: Did Joe Biden Create Transgender Day of Visibility on Easter?

P resident Joe Biden earned the ire of conservatives and a famous transgender woman, Caitlyn Jenner, when he issued a proclamation recognizing the Transgender Day of Visibility (TDoV).

"Today, we send a message to all transgender Americans: You are loved. You are heard. You are understood. You belong. You are America, and my entire Administration and I have your back," the president said in a statement released on Friday.

The message angered a number of conservatives as TDoV fell on March 31, the same day as the heterodox Christian Easter. Orthodox Easter this year falls on May 5.

A number of conservatives said that Biden had hijacked a holy holiday to support transgender people.

Jenner, an Olympic decathlete champion and reality TV star, who publicly came out as a transgender woman in 2015, took to X, formerly Twitter, to slam Biden's message of support to transgender people , suggesting that he created TDoV to be held on the "most Holy of Holy days."

"I am absolutely disgusted that Joe Biden has declared the most Holy of Holy days - a self proclaimed devout Catholic - as Transgender Day of Visibility. The only thing you should be declaring on this day is 'HE is Risen'," she wrote.

TDoV was created in 2009 to "celebrate the lives and contributions of trans people, while also drawing attention to the poverty, discrimination, and violence the community faces," according to LGBTQ+ media advocacy group, GLAAD.

It was first celebrated on March 31, which has remained the date of commemoration for the past 15 years.

Michigan-based transgender activist, Rachel Crandall-Crocker, created TDoV and reflected on how it had become a global day of recognition since 2009.

"It really is amazing how far it has come," she told NPR on March 30 . "I wasn't expecting to start an international movement."

"I wanted a day that we could focus on the living. And where we could have rallies all as one community all the way around the world."

Crandall-Crocker also explained why she specifically chose March 31 as TDoV, which was to ensure there was enough distance between it and Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20 and LGBTQ+ Pride Month in June.

Non-Orthodox Christians use the Gregorian calendar to determine the dates for movable feasts, such as Easter. As a result, Easter usually falls between March 22 and April 25 every year and is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon on or following the spring equinox. Orthodox Christians observe the Julian calendar.

Biden was the first U.S. President to proclaim March 31 as the official day of transgender visibility when he did so in 2021.

"Transgender Day of Visibility recognizes the generations of struggle, activism, and courage that have brought our country closer to full equality for transgender and gender non-binary people in the United States and around the world," he said in a public statement at the time.

Biden added: "In spite of our progress in advancing civil rights for LGBTQ+ Americans, too many transgender people—adults and youth alike—still face systemic barriers to freedom and equality."

This year, along with recognizing TDoV, the president also sent out a separate message to mark the Easter holiday.

"Jill [Biden, the First Lady] and I send our warmest wishes to Christians around the world celebrating Easter Sunday. Easter reminds us of the power of hope and the promise of Christ's Resurrection," he said in a statement.

"As we gather with loved ones, we remember Jesus' sacrifice. We pray for one another and cherish the blessing of the dawn of new possibilities. And with wars and conflict taking a toll on innocent lives around the world, we renew our commitment to work for peace, security, and dignity for all people.

"From our family to yours, happy Easter and may God bless you."

While Biden did officially acknowledge March 31 to be TDoV, he also did so in 2021 when Easter fell on April 4 that year.

The day was set by a Michigan-based advocate to raise awareness of the plight of transgender people and to celebrate their achievements.

The first TDoV was celebrated in 2009 when Easter occurred on April 12. Since then, the two dates coincided only twice: in 2013 and in 2024.

Biden did not invent TDoV, nor set the date to deliberately clash with Easter, which is on a different date every year.

FACT CHECK BY NEWSWEEK

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