gender in sport essay

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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Steering board members.

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.

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Article contents

Gender and cultural diversity in sport, exercise, and performance psychology.

• Diane L. Gill Diane L. Gill University of North Carolina at Greensboro
• https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190236557.013.148
• Published online: 26 April 2017

Gender and cultural diversity are ever-present and powerful in sport, exercise, and performance settings. Our cultural identities affect our behaviors and interactions with others. As professionals, we must recognize and value cultural diversity. Gender and culture are best understood within a multicultural framework that recognizes multiple, intersecting identities; power relations; and the action for social justice. Physical activity participants are culturally diverse in many ways, but in other ways cultural groups are excluded from participation, and especially from power (e.g., leadership roles).

Sport, exercise, and performance psychology have barely begun to address cultural diversity, and the limited scholarship focuses on gender. Although the participation of girls and women has increased dramatically in recent years, stereotypes and media representations still convey the message that sport is a masculine activity. Stereotypes and social constraints are attached to other cultural groups, and those stereotypes affect behavior and opportunities. Race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and physical characteristics all limit opportunities in physical activity settings. People who are overweight or obese are particularly subject to bias and discrimination in sport and physical activity. Cultural competence, which refers to the ability to work effectively with people of a different culture, is essential for professionals in sport, exercise, and performance psychology. Not only is it important for individuals to develop their own cultural awareness, understanding, and skills, but we must advocate for inclusive excellence in our programs and organizations to expand our reach and promote physical activity for the health and well-being of all.

• cultural competence
• stereotypes
• weight bias

Introduction

Cultural diversity is a hallmark of society and a powerful influence in sport, exercise, and performance psychology. Participants are diverse in many ways, and physical activity takes place in a culturally diverse world. People carry their gender and cultural identities everywhere. Importantly, culture affects our behaviors and interactions with others. Thus, it is essential that professionals recognize and value cultural diversity.

This article takes a broad view of culture, including gender and extending beyond race, ethnicity, and social class to include physicality (physical abilities and characteristics). The article begins with a guiding framework, then reviews scholarship on gender and culture, and concludes with guidelines for cultural competence.

Culture: Basics and a Guiding Framework

This first section draws from psychology and cultural studies to provide a guiding framework for understanding culture and moving toward cultural competence in professional practice. Culture , however, is complex and not easily defined. Narrow definitions emphasize ethnicity, but we will adopt the common practice and broaden the definition to shared values, beliefs, and practices of an identifiable group of people . Thus, culture includes gender as well as race and ethnicity, and extends to language, spirituality, sexuality, physicality, and so on. Multicultural psychology further emphasizes intersections of identities and the totality of cultural experiences and contexts, which leads to the guiding framework for this article.

Psychology, cultural studies, and related areas all emphasize multiple, intersecting cultural identities; highlight power relations; and call for social action and advocacy. First, we all have multiple, intersecting cultural identities . The mix of identities is unique to each person. For example, two young women may both identify as black, Christian women athletes. One may very strongly identify as a Christian athlete, whereas the other more strongly identifies as a black woman. Moreover, the salience of those identities may vary across contexts. For example, religious identity may be salient in family gatherings but not in athletics. Also, when you are the only person with your identity (e.g., the only girl on the youth baseball team, the only athlete in class), that aspect of your identity is more salient.

The second theme of our framework involves power relations . Culture is more than categories; culture is relational, and cultural relations involve power and privilege. That is, one group has privilege, and other groups are oppressed. Privilege refers to power or institutionalized advantage gained by virtue of valued social identities. Oppression refers to discrimination or systematic denial of resources to those with inferior or less valued identities. Given that we all have many cultural identities, most people have some identities that confer privilege and other identities that lead to oppression. If you are white, male, heterosexual, educated, or able-bodied, you have privilege in that identity; you are more likely to see people who look like you in positions of power and to see yourself in those roles. At the same time, you likely have other identities that lack privilege. Most of us find it easier to recognize our oppression and more difficult to recognize our own privilege.

Recognizing privilege is a key to understanding cultural relations, and that understanding leads to the third theme— action and advocacy . Action and advocacy calls for professionals to develop their own cultural competencies and to work for social justice in our programs and institutions.

Understanding cultural diversity and developing cultural competence is not easy. As well as recognizing multiple, intersecting cultural identities, power relations and action for social justice, sport, exercise, and performance psychologists also must retain concern for the individual. The importance of individualizing professional practice is rightfully emphasized. Cultural competence involves contextualizing professional practice and specifically recognizing cultural context. The ability to simultaneously recognize and consider both the individual and the cultural context is the essence of cultural competence.

Gender and Cultural Diversity in Sport and Physical Activity

Physical activity participants are diverse, but not as diverse as the broader population. Competitive athletics are particularly limited in terms of cultural diversity. School physical education and community sport programs may come closer to reflecting community diversity, but all sport and physical activities reflect cultural restrictions. Gender is a particularly visible cultural influence, often leading to restrictions in sport, exercise and performance settings.

In the United States, the 1972 passage of Title IX prohibiting sex discrimination in educational institutions marked the beginning of a move away from the early women’s physical education model toward the competitive women’s sport programs of today. Participation of girls and women in youth and college sport has exploded in the last generation, particularly in the United States and western European nations. Still, the numbers of female and male participants are not equal. Sabo and Veliz ( 2012 ), in a nationwide study of U.S. high schools, found that overall boys have more sport opportunities than girls, and furthermore, progress toward gender equity, which had advanced prior to 2000 , had reversed since then, resulting in a wider gender gap. Following a 2013 conference in Europe ( http://ec.europa.eu/sport/news/2014/gender_equality_sport_en.htm ), a group of experts developed the report: Gender Equality in Sport: Proposal for Strategic Actions 2014–2020 ( http://ec.europa.eu/sport/events/2013/documents/20131203-gender/final-proposal-1802_en.pdf ).

In considering cultural diversity, it is important to go beyond participation numbers to consider power and privilege. Richard Lapchick’s Racial and Gender Report Card shows racial and gender inequities with little progress. For example, the 2015 report card (Lapchick, 2015 ) indicates that African Americans are slightly overrepresented in U.S. Division I athletics, but other racial and ethnic minorities are very underrepresented (see more statistics and reports at the Institute for Diversity and Ethnics in Sport website: www.tidesport.org ). Reports also show clear power relations. Before Title IX ( 1972 ), more than 90 percent of women’s athletic teams in the United States were coached by women and had a woman athletic director. Today less than half of women’s teams are coached by women (Acosta & Carpenter, 2014 ). White men dominate coaching, even of women’s teams, and administration remains solidly white male. The 2015 racial report card indicated that whites hold 90 percent of the athletic director positions, and less than 10 percent are women.

Although data are limited, the international coaching trends are similar (Norman, 2008 ) and suggest even fewer women coaches at the youth level than at the collegiate and elite levels (Messner, 2009 ). The 2012 London Olympics showcased women athletes and also demonstrated intersecting cultural relations. The United States sent more female than male athletes to London, but women were vastly underrepresented in several delegations; coaching positions are heavily dominated by men, and Olympic officials are not as diverse as the athletes.

Considering exercise, recreation, and the wider range of activities, we see more diversity, but all physical activity is limited by gender, race, socioeconomic status, and especially physical attributes. Lox, Martin Ginis, and Petruzzello ( 2014 ) summarized research and large national surveys on physical activity trends from several countries, predominantly in North America and Europe, noting that evidence continues to show that physical activity decreases across the adult life span, with men more active than women, while racial and ethnic minorities and low-income groups are less active. Physical activity drops dramatically during adolescence, more so for girls than boys, and especially for racial or ethnic minorities and lower income girls (Kimm et al., 2002 ; Pate, Dowda, O’Neill, & Ward, 2007 ).

The World Health Organization (WHO, 2014 ) identifies physical inactivity as a global health problem, noting that about 31 percent of adults are insufficiently active. Inactivity rates are higher in the Americas and Eastern Mediterranean and lowest in Southeast Asia, and men are more active than women in all regions. Abrasi ( 2014 ) reviewed research on barriers to physical activity with women from unrepresented countries, as well as immigrants and underrepresented minorities in North America and Europe. Social responsibilities (e.g., childcare, household work), cultural beliefs, lack of social support, social isolation, lack of culturally appropriate facilities, and unsafe neighborhoods were leading sociocultural barriers to physical activity. Observing others in the family or neighborhood participating had a positive influence.

Despite the clear influence of gender and culture on physical activity behavior, sport, exercise and performance psychology has been slow to recognize cultural diversity. Over 25 years ago, Duda and Allison ( 1990 ) called attention to the lack of research on race and ethnicity, reporting that less than 4 percent of published papers considered race or ethnicity, and most of those were sample descriptions. In an update, Ram, Starek, and Johnson ( 2004 ) reviewed sport and exercise psychology journal articles between 1987 and 2000 for both race and ethnicity and sexual orientation content. They confirmed the persistent void in the scholarly literature, finding only 20 percent of the articles referred to race/ethnicity and 1.2 percent to sexual orientation. Again, most were sample descriptions, and Ram et al. concluded that there is no systematic attempt to include the experiences of marginalized groups.

Considering that conference programs might be more inclusive than publications, Kamphoff, Gill, Araki, and Hammond ( 2010 ) surveyed the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) conference program abstracts from the first conference in 1986 to 2007 . Only about 10 percent addressed cultural diversity, and most of those focused on gender differences. Almost no abstracts addressed race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, social class, physical disabilities, or any other cultural diversity issue.

Just as publications and conference programs reflect little diversity, our journal editorial boards and professional organizations have been dominated by men, with few women leaders until very recently. The International Society of Sport Psychology (ISSP), which was the first organization founded in 1965 , had all men presidents for over 25 years. AASP began in 1985 with John Silva as president, followed by seven male presidents before Jean Williams became president in 1993 . Similarly, APA Division 47 (Exercise & Sport Psychology) had all male presidents from 1986 until Diane Gill became president more than 10 years later. Nearly all of those presidents have been North American or European and white.

An additional consideration is that our major journals have little international reach. Papaioannou, Machaira, and Theano ( 2013 ) found that the vast majority (82 percent) of articles over 5 years in six major journals were from English-speaking countries, and the continents of Asia, Africa, and South America combined had less than 4 percent. Papaionnau et al. noted a high correlation between continents’ representation on editorial boards and publications, suggesting possible systematic errors or bias in the review process.

The International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology (IJSEP) recently (Schinke, Papaioannou, & Schack, 2016 ) addressed this issue with a special issue on sport psychology in emerging countries. Sørensen, Maro, and Roberts ( 2016 ) reported on gender differences in an HIV/AIDS education intervention through soccer in Tanzania. The program is community-based and delivered by young peer coaches. Their findings highlight cultural intersections and the importance of considering gender along with local culture in programs. Other articles in that special issue report on Botswana’s active sport psychology in both educational programs and with national teams (Tshube & Hanrahan, 2016 ), and the established and continuing sport psychology in Brazil, which includes major research programs on physical activity and well-being as well as applied sport psychology (Serra de Queiroz, Fogaça, Hanrahan, & Zizzi, 2016 ).

Gender Scholarship in Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology

In reviewing the scholarship on cultural diversity, we first focus on gender, which is especially prominent in sport and physical activity, and thus, particularly relevant for sport, exercise, and performance psychology. Gender scholarship in psychology has shifted from early research on sex differences to more current social perspectives emphasizing intersecting identities and cultural relations.

Sex Differences

In their classic review of the early psychology research on sex differences, Maccoby and Jacklin ( 1974 ) concluded that few conclusions could be drawn from the literature on sex differences. Ashmore ( 1990 ) later concluded that average differences are elusive, and the evidence does not support biological dichotomous sex-linked connections. More recent reviews confirm those conclusions.

Hyde ( 2005 ) reviewed 46 meta-analyses of the extensive literature on sex differences and concluded that results support the gender similarities hypothesis. That is, males and females are more alike than different on psychological variables, and overstated claims of gender differences cause harm and limit opportunities. Zell, Krizan, and Teeter ( 2015 ) used metasynthesis to evaluate the many meta-analyses on sex differences. They found that the vast majority of differences were small and constant across age, culture, and generations, and concluded that the findings provide compelling support for the gender similarities hypothesis.

Social Perspectives and Stereotypes

Today, most psychologists look beyond the male–female dichotomy to social-cognitive models and cultural relations. As sociologist Bernard ( 1981 ) proposed over 30 years ago, the social worlds for females and males are different even when they appear similar. Today, the social worlds are still not the same for girls and boys in youth sport, male and female elite athletes, or women and men in exercise programs.

Gender stereotypes are particularly pervasive in sport and physical activity. Metheny ( 1965 ) identified gender stereotypes in her classic analysis, concluding that it was not appropriate for women to engage in activities involving bodily contact, force, or endurance. Despite women’s increased participation, those gender stereotypes persist 50 years later. Continuing research (e.g., Hardin & Greer, 2009 ; Riemer & Visio, 2003 ) confirms that expressive activities (e.g., dancing, gymnastics) are seen as feminine; combative, contact sports as masculine; and other activities (e.g., tennis, swimming) as neutral.

Sport studies scholars have continued that research, with emphasis on sport media. Early research (e.g., Messner, Duncan, & Jensen, 1993 ) showed that female athletes receive much less and different coverage, with the emphasis on athletic ability and accomplishments for men and on femininity and physical attractiveness for women. Despite the increased participation of girls and women at all levels, the media coverage has not changed much. In the most recent update of a 25-year longitudinal study, Cooky, Messner, and Musto ( 2015 ) found televised coverage of women’s sport “dismally low” with no progress. Media representations are a major source of stereotypes, and evidence indicates that all forms of the media send the message that sport is for men.

Stereotypes are a concern because we act on them, restricting opportunities for everyone. Fredericks and Eccles ( 2004 , 2005 ) found that parents held gender-stereotyped beliefs and provided more opportunities and encouragement for sons than for daughters. Chalabaev, Sarrazin, and Fontayne ( 2009 ) found that stereotype endorsement (girls perform poorly in soccer) negatively predicted girls’ performance, with perceived ability mediating the relationship.

Chalabaev, Sarrazin, Fontayne, Boiche, and Clément-Guillotin ( 2013 ) reviewed the literature on gender stereotypes and physical activity, confirming the persistent gender stereotypes in sport and the influence of stereotypes on participation and performance. They further suggested that stereotypes may influence participation and behavior even if they are not internalized and believed. We know the stereotypes, and when situations call attention to the stereotype (e.g., there are only three girls on the co-ed team), it is especially likely to affect us. Beilock, Jellison, Rydell, McConnell, and Carr ( 2006 ) showed that telling male golfers the females performance better on a golf-putting task decreased their performance, and a follow-up study (Stone & McWhinnie, 2008 ) found females similarly susceptible to stereotype threat.

Gender and Physical Self-Perceptions . As part of Eccles’s continuing developmental research on gender and achievement, Eccles and Harrold ( 1991 ) confirmed that gender influences children’s sport achievement perceptions and behaviors and that these gender differences reflect gender-role socialization. Gender differences are larger in sport than in other domains, and as Eccles and Harold noted, even in sport the perceived gender differences are much larger than actual gender differences in sport-related skills.

Considerable research also shows that self-perceptions affect sport and physical activity behavior. For example, Jensen and Steele ( 2009 ) found that girls who experienced weight criticism and body dissatisfaction engaged in less vigorous physical activity. No similar results were found for boys, and so the researchers concluded that body dissatisfaction is important in girls’ physical activity. Slater and Tiggemann ( 2011 ) looked at gender differences in teasing, body self-perceptions, and physical activity with a large sample of adolescents and concluded that teasing and body image concerns may contribute to girls’ lower rates of participation in physical activity.

Physical activity also has the potential to enhance girls’ and women’s physical self-perceptions and activity. Several studies (e.g., Craft, Pfeiffer, & Pivarnik, 2003 ) confirm that exercise programs can enhance self-perceptions, and Hausenblas and Fallon’s ( 2006 ) meta-analysis found that physical activity leads to improved body image. Greenleaf, Boyer, and Petrie ( 2009 ) looked at the relationship of high school sport participation to psychological well-being and physical activity in college women. They found that body image, physical competence, and instrumentality mediated the relationship for both activity and well-being, suggesting that benefits accrue as a result of more positive self-perceptions.

Related research suggests that sport and physical activity programs can foster positive youth development, particularly for girls. A report for the Women’s Sports Foundation— Her Life Depends on It III (Staurowsky et al., 2015 )—updated previous reports and confirmed that physical activity helps girls and women lead healthy, strong, and fulfilled lives. That report, which reviewed over 1500 studies, documented the important role of physical activity in reducing the risk of major health issues (e.g., cancer, coronary heart disease, dementias) as well as depression, substance abuse, and sexual victimization. The report further concluded that all girls and women are shortchanged in realizing the benefits of physical activity and that females of color or with disabilities face even greater barriers.

Sexuality and Sexual Prejudice

Sexuality and sexual orientation are often linked with gender, but biological sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation are not necessarily related. Furthermore, male–female biological sex and homosexual–heterosexual orientations are not the clear, dichotomous categories that we often assume them to be. Individuals’ gender identities and sexual orientations are varied and not necessarily linked. Gender identity is one’s internal sense of being male or female. For transgender people, gender identity is not consistent with their biological sex (Krane & Mann, 2014 ).

Sexual orientation refers to one’s sexual or emotional attraction to others and is typically classified as heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual. Herek ( 2000 ) suggests that sexual prejudice is the more appropriate term for discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, but related scholarship typically refers to homophobia . As Krane and Mann ( 2014 ) point out, heterosexism , which refers to privilege of heterosexual people, is common in sport—we assume people are heterosexual, and we discriminate against those who do not fit heterosexist stereotypes. Also, we clearly discriminate on the basis of gender identity against transgender people.

Messner ( 2002 ) argues that homophobia leads boys and men to conform to a narrow definition of masculinity and bonds men together as superior to women. We expect to see men, but not women, take active, dominant roles expected of athletes. Despite the visibility of a few prominent gay and lesbian athletes and the very recent expansion of civil rights, sexual prejudice persists. Anderson ( 2011 ) suggests that men, and particularly gay men, have more latitude in sports today, but sport is still a space of restricted masculinity and sexual prejudice.

The limited data-based research confirms that sport is a hostile climate for lesbian/gay/bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. In one of the few empirical studies, Morrow and Gill ( 2003 ) reported that both physical education teachers and students witnessed high levels of homophobic and heterosexist behaviors in public schools. Gill, Morrow, Collins, Lucey, and Schultz ( 2006 ) subsequently examined attitudes toward racial and ethnic minorities, older adults, people with disabilities, and sexual minorities. Overall, attitudes were markedly more negative for both gay men and lesbians than for other minority groups, with males especially negative toward gay men. Vikki Krane ( 2001 ) (Barber & Krane, 2005 ; Krane & Barber, 2003 ; Krane & Mann, 2014 ; Krane & Symons, 2014 ) have done much of the related work in sport and exercise psychology, and that research indicates that sexual prejudice is common in sport at all levels. Most of that research is from North America and Europe, but hostile climates have been reported around the world. For example, Shang and Gill ( 2012 ) found the climate in Taiwan athletics hostile for those with nonconventional gender identity or sexual orientation, particularly for male athletes.

In a review of research on LGBT issues in sport psychology, Krane, Waldron, Kauer, and Semerjian ( 2010 ) found no articles focused on transgender athletes. Lucas-Carr and Krane ( 2011 ) noted that transgender athletes are largely hidden. Hargie, Mitchell, and Somerville ( 2015 ) interviewed 10 transgender athletes and found common themes of intimidation, alienation, fear of public spaces, and overall effects of being deprived of the social, health, and well-being aspects of sport. As Lucas-Carr and Krane concluded, creation of safe and compassionate sport settings for all athletes, including trans athletes, is an ethical responsibility. On a promising note, Krane and Symons ( 2014 ) described several programs that promote inclusive sport climates, including Fair go, sport! an Australian social inclusion project focusing on gender and sexual diversity.

Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment, which has clear gender and sexuality connotations, has received considerable attention in psychology (e.g., Koss, 1990 ). Kari Fasting and Celia Brackenridge have led much of the related research and programs on sexual harassment in sport. The related scholarship indicates that the sport climate fosters sexual harassment and abuse; that young, elite female athletes are particularly vulnerable; that neither athletes nor coaches have education or training about the issues; and that both research and professional development are needed in sport and exercise psychology to address the issues (Brackenridge, 2001 ; Brackenridge & Fasting, 2002 ; Fasting, Brackenridge, & Sundgot-Borgen, 2004 ; Fasting, Brackenridge, & Walseth, 2007 ). That research comes from several European countries and Australia. Rodriguez and Gill ( 2011 ) subsequently reported similar findings with former Puerto Rican women athletes.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC, 2007 ) recognizes the problem and defines sexual harassment as “behavior towards an individual or group that involves sexualized verbal, non-verbal or physical behavior, whether intended or unintended, legal or illegal, that is based on an abuse of power and trust and that is considered by the victim or a bystander to be unwanted or coerced” (p. 3). Fasting ( 2015 ) recently reviewed the research and suggested building on the recent policies of major organizations such as the IOC to curb harassment, as well as continued research to advance systematic knowledge.

Race, Ethnicity, and Social Class

Race and ethnicity are just as salient as gender in sport and physical activity but have largely been ignored in our literature. As noted in the earlier section on gender and cultural diversity in sport and exercise psychology, there is a striking void in our journals on race and ethnicity, and virtually no research has been published on social class in sport, exercise, and performance psychology.

Although race and ethnicity are often conflated, they are not the same, and race is not a clear, biologically determined category. As Markus ( 2008 ) argued, race and ethnicity are not objective, identifying characteristics, but the meanings that we associate with those characteristics carry power or privilege. The psychology scholarship on race and ethnicity most relevant to sport, exercise, and performance psychology involves health disparities and stereotypes.

Race, Ethnicity, and Health Disparities

Health disparities are well documented, showing that racial and ethnic minorities and low-income people receive suboptimal health care (see 2011 National Health Quality and Disparities Reports; available at www.ahrq.gov ). Health disparities are relevant to sport, exercise, and performance psychology in that physical activity is a key health behavior.

Few studies have looked at race and ethnicity or social class disparities in relation to sport and physical activity. Heesch, Brown, and Blanton ( 2000 ) examined exercise barriers with a large sample of women over age 40, including African American, Hispanic, Native American, and white women. They found several common barriers, but they also reported variations by racial and ethnic group, and cautioned that their results and specific community needs precluded definitive guidelines for interventions. Crespo ( 2005 ) outlined the cultural barriers to physical activity for minority populations, including those with lower socioeconomic status, and called for professionals to consider unique needs and cultural constraints when giving advice on exercise. Ethnicity and social class are particularly relevant when considering migrant and refugee populations in Western countries. For example, Frisby ( 2011 ) interviewed Chinese immigrant women in Canada to better understand barriers and guidance for promising inclusion practices in sport and recreation. Promising practices included promoting citizen engagement, working from a broader social ecological framework, improving access policies, and fostering community partnerships to facilitate cross-cultural connections.

Stereotypes and Stereotype Threat

Steele’s ( 1997 ; Steele, Spencer, & Aronson, 2002 ) extensive research on stereotype threat , which is the fear of confirming negative stereotypes, has been extended to sport. Steele’s research indicates that stereotype threat particularly affects those minority group members who have abilities and are motivated to succeed. Steele also suggests that simple manipulations (e.g., telling students test scores are not related to race) can negate the effects. Beilock and McConnell ( 2004 ) reviewed the stereotype threat in sport literature, concluding that negative stereotypes are common in sport and lead to performance decrements, especially when the performers are capable and motivated.

Racial and ethnic stereotypes are well documented. For example, Devine and Baker ( 1991 ) found that the terms unintelligent and ostentatious were associated with black athlete , and Krueger ( 1996 ) found that both black and white participants perceived black men to be more athletic than white men. Johnson, Hallinan, and Westerfield ( 1999 ) asked participants to rate attributes of success in photos of black, white, Hispanic, and composite male athletes. Success for the black athlete was attributed to innate abilities, but the white athlete’s success was reported to come from hard work and leadership ability. Interestingly, no stereotyping was evident for the Hispanic athlete.

More important, these stereotypes affect behavior. When Stone, Perry, and Darley ( 1997 ) had people listen to a college basketball game and evaluate players, they found that both white and black students rated black players as more athletic and white players as having more basketball intelligence. Stone, Lynch, Sjomeling, and Darley ( 1999 ) found that black participants performed worse on a golf task when told the test was of sport intelligence, whereas white participants performed worse when told the test was of natural ability.

Although much of the work on stereotype threat involves race and ethnicity, gender and athlete stereotype threat effects have also been found. Heidrich and Chiviacowsky ( 2015 ) found that female participants in the stereotype threat condition (they were told women do worse than men) had lower self-efficacy and performed worse on a soccer task than those in the nonstereotype threat condition. Feltz, Schneider, Hwang, and Skogsberg ( 2013 ) found that student-athletes perceive stereotype threat in the classroom, and those with higher athletic identity perceived more threat. They also found that perceived coach’s regard for their academic ability affected athletes’ susceptibility and could serve as a buffer to stereotype threat.

Physicality and Weight Bias

Sport, exercise, and performance are physical activities, and thus physical characteristics are prominent. Moreover, opportunity is limited by physical abilities, skills, size, fitness, and appearance. Exclusion on the basis of physicality is nearly universal in sport and physical activity, and this exclusion is a public health and social justice issue.

Physical Abilities and Disabilities . Rimmer ( 2005 ) notes that people with physical disabilities are one of the most inactive segments of the population, and argues that organizational policies, discrimination, and social attitudes are the real barriers. Gill, Morrow, Collins, Lucey, and Schultz ( 2010 ) examined the climate for minority groups (racial and ethnic minorities, LGB people, older adults, and people with disabilities) in organized sport, exercise, and recreational settings. Notably, the climate was rated as most exclusionary for people with disabilities.

Semerjian ( 2010 ), one of the few scholars who has addressed disability issues in sport and exercise psychology, highlights the larger cultural context as well as the intersections of race, gender, and class with physicality. Physical skill, strength, and fitness, or more correctly, the lack of skill, strength, and fitness, are key sources of restrictions and overt discrimination in sport and exercise. Physical size, particularly obesity, is a prominent source of social stigma, and weight bias is a particular concern.

Obesity and Weight Bias

Considerable research (e.g., Brownell, 2010 ; Puhl & Heuer, 2011 ) has documented clear and consistent stigmatization and discrimination of the obese in employment, education, and health care. Obese individuals are targets for teasing, more likely to engage in unhealthy eating behaviors, and less likely to engage in physical activity (Faith, Leone, Ayers, Heo, & Pietrobelli, 2002 ; Puhl & Wharton, 2007 ; Storch et al., 2007 ). Check the Rudd Center website ( www.uconnruddcenter.org ) for resources and information on weight bias in health and educational settings.

Weight discrimination is associated with stress and negative health outcomes. Sutin, Stephan, and Terracciano ( 2015 ), using data from two large U.S. national studies, found that weight discrimination was associated with increased mortality risk and that the association was stronger than that between mortality and other forms of discrimination. Vartanian and Novak ( 2011 ) found experiences with weight stigma had negative impact on body satisfaction and self-esteem, and importantly, weight stigma was related to avoidance of exercise.

Exercise and sport science students and professionals are just as likely as others to hold negative stereotypes. Chambliss, Finley, and Blair ( 2004 ) found a strong anti-fat bias among exercise science students, and Greenleaf and Weiller ( 2005 ) found that physical education teachers held anti-fat bias and believed obese people were responsible for their obesity. O’Brien, Hunter, and Banks ( 2007 ) found that physical education students had greater anti-fat bias than students in other health areas, and also had higher bias at year 3 than at year 1; this finding suggests that their bias was not countered in their pre-professional programs. Robertson and Vohora ( 2008 ) found a strong anti-fat bias among fitness professionals and regular exercisers in England. Donaghue and Allen ( 2016 ) found that personal trainers recognized that their clients had unrealistic weight goals but still focused on diet and exercise to reach goals.

Weight Stigma and Health Promotion

Anti-fat bias and weight discrimination among professionals has important implications for physical activity and health promotion programs. Thomas, Lewis, Hyde, Castle, and Komesaroff ( 2010 ) conducted in-depth interviews with 142 obese adults in Australia about interventions for obesity. Participants supported interventions that were nonjudgmental and empowering, whereas interventions that were stigmatizing or blamed and shamed individuals for being overweight were not viewed as effective. They called for interventions that supported and empowered individuals to improve their lifestyle. Hoyt, Burnette, and Auster-Gussman ( 2014 ) reported that the “obesity as disease” message may help people feel more positive about their bodies, but they are less likely to engage in health-promoting behaviors. More positive approaches that take the emphasis off weight and highlight health gains are more promising.

Cultural Competence

Cultural competence, which refers to the ability to work effectively with people who are of a different culture, takes cultural diversity directly into professional practice. Culturally competent professionals act to empower participants, challenge restrictions, and advocate for social justice.

Cultural Sport and Exercise Psychology

A few dedicated scholars have called for a cultural sport psychology in line with our guiding framework (e.g., Fisher, Butryn, & Roper, 2003 ; Ryba & Wright, 2005 ). Schinke and Hanrahan’s ( 2009 ) Cultural Sport Psychology , and Ryba, Schinke, and Tenenbaum’s ( 2010 ) The Cultural Turn in Sport Psychology , brought together much of the initial scholarship. Special issues devoted to cultural sport psychology were published in the International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology (Ryba & Schinke, 2009 ) and the Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology special issue (Schinke & Moore, 2011 ). These works provide a base and call for cultural competence and social justice.

Cultural Competence for Professionals

Cultural competence is a required professional competency in psychology and many health professions, and is essential for anyone working with others, including sport, exercise, and performance psychology professionals. Cultural competence includes understanding and action, at both the individual and organizational level.

Most psychology resources follow Sue’s ( 2006 ) model of cultural competence with three key components: awareness of one’s own cultural values and biases, understanding of other worldviews, and development of culturally appropriate skills . In line with Sue’s model, the American Psychological Association (APA) developed the APA ( 2003 ) multicultural guidelines that call for psychologists to develop awareness of their own cultural attitudes and beliefs, understanding of other cultural perspectives, and culturally relevant skills. Furthermore, the guidelines call for action at the organizational level for social justice.

The ISSP developed a position stand (Ryba, Stambulova, Si, & Schinke, 2013 ) that describes three major areas of cultural competence: cultural awareness and reflexivity , culturally competent communication , and culturally competent interventions . Awareness and reflectivity refers to recognition of between- and within-culture variations as well as reflection on both the client and one’s own cultural background. Culturally competent communication involves meaningful dialogue and shared language. Culturally competent interventions recognize culture while avoiding stereotyping, take an idiosyncratic approach, and stand for social justice.

Cultural Competence and Inclusive Excellence

Cultural competence extends beyond individual competencies to all levels, including instruction, program development, hiring practices, and organizational policies and procedures. The APA multicultural guidelines call for professionals to recognize and value cultural diversity, continually seek to develop their multicultural knowledge and skills, translate those understandings into practice, and extend their efforts to advocacy by promoting organizational change and social justice. Cultural competence at the individual level is a professional responsibility. Inclusive excellence moves cultural competence to the institutional level. That is, we work for changes in organizations and policies that make our programs accessible and welcoming for diverse people. Taking inclusive excellence into sport, exercise, and performance psychology calls for recognizing and valuing diversity and social justice as goals that will enhance our programs and institutions, as well as bring the benefits of physical activity to participants. Therefore, we work not only to develop our individual cultural competencies, but also to effect change at the institutional level to ensure that our programs are inclusive and excellent.

Gender and culture are highly visible and influential in sport, exercise, and performance settings. Gender, race, ethnicity, social class, and physical characteristics often limit opportunities, sometimes through segregation and discrimination, but often through perceptions and stereotype influence. Sport, exercise, and performance psychology research confirms the influence of culture and offers explanations, but sport, exercise and performance psychology has made little progress in promoting cultural competence and social justice.

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The Past and Future of Gender in Sport (Transcript)

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Good Sport The Past and Future of Gender in Sport March 22, 2023

[00:00:00] Jody Avirgan: Did you know it’s been 50 years since Title IX passed in the United States? Or that in 2022, the US Soccer Federation announced that players on the men’s and women’s teams would get equal pay for the first time in history?

What about this one: this year–2023–for the first time ever, the women’s March Madness title game will air on network TV with a big pregame show and everything, just like the men.

Thinking about those milestones, my reaction is: “Gosh, it’s about freakin’ time.” And, yes, they represent genuine progress, that we should celebrate. We are expanding our notions of who gets to play sports, and what kind of resources they get to do it.

But of course, these milestones didn’t happen without a fight. Many fights. And–looking around–it’s not hard to see that there are still a lot of fights happening about gender in sports.

I mean, just look at the debate around trans athletes, the latest chapter in the long fight around who gets to participate, and how. I look at that debate and, if I’m being honest, I feel a little overwhelmed, but I also keep coming back to a core idea: we can and should find more ways for more people to participate in sports.

Not just because I think everybody should get to participate but also because doing so means we get to know amazing new athletes. We get new styles of play and new records and new opportunities to push the envelope of what our bodies can do. Which is what sports is all about, right?

And as I started talking to people who think a lot about gender and sports, I heard something that really put this question in a new light for me. It came from Laura Pappano, a journalist who co-authored a book called Playing With The Boys: Why Separate Is Not Equal In Sports.

[00:01:50] Laura Pappano: Transgender athletes have created so much of a challenge for a system that is set up as the most sex-segregated, social system we have in the country. I mean, it's more sex-segregated than the military.

[00:02:05] Jody Avirgan: Basically, what Laura is saying is that there are all these specific questions, including the one about trans participation. But behind all of them is the same root issue: gender segregation.

[00:02:17] Laura Pappano: So when I look at the controversy of transgender athletes, I don't look at it as the transgender athletes being the problem. I look at it as the problem of having set up sports because we decide how it works, right? We decide what the rules are, we decide who plays, we decide how it's scored, we decide, you know, all those pieces.

[00:02:41] Jody Avirgan: The debate about trans athletes stems from the same origin as all the other conversations about gender and sports: at some point, way in the past, we decided that they should be gender segregated. But why? And the rest of the world is thinking more expansively about gender—and I really do think it is—why is sports lagging behind? And what would happen if we did start to move away from gender as some fundamental, immutable divide in sports. Well, I think there are some really cool possibilities.

[MUSIC BREAK]

[00:03:16] Jody Avirgan: My name is Jody Avirgan, and this is Good Sport from the TED Audio Collective. Today’s episode: a history of gender segregation in sports. And, a humble proposal for how we might start moving past it. Here we go.

[00:03:58] Jody Avirgan: If we’re talking about diving sports by gender, maybe let’s start with some possible alternatives. Because it seems to me like there are all sorts of ways you could categorize athletes to make sure that play is safe, fair, and competitive.

Take wrestling for example. I have a buddy who wrestled competitively, who pointed out to me that in that sport, one way you go about categorizing people is by weight class. Maybe that’s a way we could go about it.

Or think about the paralympics, where they get really specific about different people’s functional abilities. Paralympic skiing, for example, has a standing division, a sitting division, and a visually impaired division.

Smarter people than me could probably suggest a bunch more ways to do it, but the point is we don’t have to segregate sports by gender… And, to put a finer point on it, maybe we shouldn’t.

Because as our society's understanding of gender has gotten more expansive—and, generally, I do think it has—sports has largely lagged behind.

[00:05:03] Laura Pappano: So, we've created a very gender-divided institution which just doesn't serve the reality of our population. It doesn't serve the broader purpose of athletics, in my opinion.

[00:05:19] Jody Avirgan: Yeah. No, I mean I’m, I think we're sort of like generally as a society in agreement that we have to address these things head-on in almost every sphere. And then we walk right up to sports and people freak out.

[00:05:32] Laura Pappano: Well, I mean, it's, sports are physical, and men are supposed to be physically supreme, and this messes with that. I mean, it's, it's, there are so many assumptions that have gone into the structure of the way sport works. And we, the idea that we need to revisit those assumptions is scary.

[00:05:55] Jody Avirgan: One of the reasons that people find it scary to confront this stuff, is because sports doesn’t just reflect a strict gender binary, but also a gender hierarchy. Men above women. Just look around and you’ll see it. More pay, more prestige, more attention to men’s sports than womens.

[00:06:12] Laura Pappano: If we have set up sport to be deeply sex-segregated and segregated in such a way that it really is a celebration of men's, you know, gender hierarchy, that's a problem. And it is a problem that we still have.

[00:06:31] Jody Avirgan: And Laura says this has a long history.

[00:06:36] Laura Pappano: Modern sports were created, you know, for socializing reasons.

[00:06:42] Jody Avirgan: So, let’s go all the way back to the Industrial Revolution, the time when modern sports were invented. Bit of a history lesson here, buckle up. The Industrial Revolution upended society. Manual labor turned into factory work. People moved to big cities. Huge changes. Disruption. A feeling of instability.

[00:07:00] Laura Pappano: There was a lot of, you know, confusion about how people should be, the changes that were happening, the urbanization. There were concerns that because we had vehicles, that people would lose, you know, use of their legs. I mean, it sounds funny now, but it’s… There was a lot of anxiety.

[00:07:21] Jody Avirgan: This is the moment when modern organized sports were born. In part, as a way to reintroduce physicality as people moved away from manual labor and provide some order in this brave new world, some continuity with the old ways.

[00:07:34] Laura Pappano: So, one of the ways of combating that was to really enforce this idea of separate spheres for men and women. The women's sphere was the home, the moral upbringing of children, all of those things. The men's was the public sphere. And there was a lot of attention to keeping those spheres separate.

[00:07:57] Jody Avirgan: That separation has been around for a long time, of course, and modern sports doubled down on it. Sports emerged as an arena for men; women were not to participate. Or if they did, not in any real competitive way.

[00:08:10] Laura Pappano: You can look at it in the dress, right? Uh, women’s early tennis dress were these long onerous kinds of outfits that I, I don't know how one actually could move in them. And maybe that was the point.

[00:08:23] Jody Avirgan: When women did participate in sports, it didn’t challenge those gender roles; it often reinforced them. Like when women started playing competitive basketball in the early 1900s…

[00:08:34] Laura Pappano: There was a lot of concern that they were looking too masculine, and there would be, uh, these kind of beauty pageants in the middle of the game. So you had the queen of the court who was chosen as a way of offsetting the fact that they were playing ferociously when it wasn't halftime.

[00:08:52] Jody Avirgan: Take a second to imagine that if you can. You’re playing basketball, sprinting, sweating, and at halftime you have to run off the court—not for a stretch or some water, but to put on some other outfit, probably change your hairdo, and come back onto the court to parade around in a beauty pageant. And then you have to go back to the locker room, change, and finish the game!

Absurd, right? But Laura says it all reflects gender norms that are still going strong today. Number one:

[00:09:20] Laura Pappano: Inferiority, the fundamental belief that women are physically inferior. Second is injury. The worry—that paternalistic need/desire to protect women from getting injured. And third is immorality. It was just wrong. And these things have had a tremendous impact on the way sports are set up and organized.

[00:09:45] Jody Avirgan: These days we’re not forcing WNBA players to slip into heels during halftime… but Laura says there are still lots of rules that keep women’s sports subordinate to men’s. Like, why in the world do women’s tennis players only play three sets instead of the five that men do? Or why is men’s lacrosse full contact, and the women’s version of the game is not. Though, anyone who’s watched or played knows how physical it can get—and now they’re not wearing helmets. There’s a ton of these examples.

[00:10:12] Laura Pappano: I mean there's been a long history of creating kind of these rules where the result is that the men are doing just a little bit more or a little bit longer. And that's not about women's inability to do the same distance. It's about men being, you know, the real version and the women's version being the second-class version.

[00:10:36] Jody Avirgan: In other words, we’ve designed sports to make it look like men are just more sporty. And, we’ve gone a step further. We’ve even changed the design of sports when that image is threatened.

[00:10:50] Laura Pappano: I interviewed someone who won, um, in riflery in the Olympics, and she was given the silver medal. She explained to me how she had actually won the gold medal, but was given the silver medal, and they were separated.

[00:11:01] Jody Avirgan: Laura’s talking about Margaret Murdock, who competed in the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. Back then, men and women competed together in this event. And Margaret Murdock tied a man for first place. But, because misogyny is real, the judges decided to break the tie by awarding her the silver medal. And by the 1984 Olympics—you guessed it—there was a new rule: men and women would compete separately in that event.

[00:11:28] Laura Pappano: That tells you everything you need to know about what's really going on here. So the history of and practice of organized competitive sport is so riddled with purposeful biases that go beyond physical differences. Yes, there are physical differences, but you know what, you know, there, there are some guys that I'm, I'm better at tennis than, right?

[00:11:51] Jody Avirgan: I believe it. Um, me!

[00:12:03] Jody Avirgan: Over time, over decades and decades, these rules, which we invented, become something like fact. “Clearly men are more athletic than women. Why else would there be these rules? So we need to keep the rules to make up for the difference between men and women!” And round and round we go.

In light of that… when I hear things like “women are fundamentally inferior athletes” or “women don’t want to be as physical,” or “they’ll get injured…” When I hear those stories about a high school boy’s team beating a pro women’s team in basketball or soccer, I wonder how much of that is something inherent about gender, and how much of that is a product of women being told they aren’t fast, they aren’t physical, that they’re gonna get injured.

Laura Pappano has a story about this, about how those larger forces come down to the individual level. It’s from her time growing up as a young girl who played baseball with the boys.

[00:12:57] Laura Pappano: I remember one game where I stole a base. I moved on the motion of the pitcher, which in that league was what the rule was. I stole the base, and everyone was appalled. And my team, the other team, they just didn't think that a girl should be able to steal a base. And they, I just remember standing on second base and people saying, “Go back. Go back.” And I just remember crossing my arms and just sitting there, listening.

[00:13:25] Jody Avirgan: This is a children’s baseball game. The stakes could not be lower! I mean, the whole point should be to get out there, move around, have fun. But instead it became about trying to put Laura in her place.

[00:13:37] Laura Pappano: You know, maybe I wasn't the best player, but I wasn't the worst player on the team either, and I wanted to participate. And I think that that's what we go back to, whether we're talking about transgender athletes or we're talking about, you know, kindergartners, or we're talking about, recreational players. People wanna participate.

[00:13:54] Jody Avirgan: Yeah.

[00:13:54] Laura Pappano: They wanna compete.

[00:13:58] Jody Avirgan: But after being told, over and over, that a certain space isn’t for them, what do you think’s gonna happen?

[00:14:04] Laura Pappano: I think one of the biggest problems, um, in the history of women and women's leadership and women's athletics and women in general is self-censorship. Is that it? It is very easy to um, get to a point where you don't need to be told that you can't, you decide ahead of time that you can't, that you're not able to do this.

[00:14:32] Jody Avirgan: See, there are other places in society where we’ve kind of established that when people are told that they are inherently not good at something, their performance gets weaker as a result. There’s even a name for this: the Pygmalion effect.

In Laura’s baseball experience, she was able to push through those messages that she couldn’t or shouldn’t play hard… But I can imagine there’s a lot of people who probably had a similar experience and didn’t.

So, hopefully, you’re with me on this basic idea, that in sports, we see larger gender problems reflected and reinforced. And hopefully, you’ll see that maybe there’s a path forward. For one, if we understand that we made sports this way, then we also see that we can re-make them too. We can change them so that they line up with our values and our goals. So that they DO reflect the reality of our population.

[00:15:23] Laura Pappano: So, the essence of sport is really good competition, and at a moment when the rest of society is challenging that and breaking it apart, it's time to do that in sports.

[00:15:35] Jody Avirgan: Absolutely. The question is: how?

[00:15:58] Jody Avirgan: So, alright, there is a fair argument for continuing to segregate SOME sports by gender. At least for now. As Laura pointed out, it can lead to meaningful differences between men and women when it comes to athletic performance, especially at the elite level.

But hopefully, over the course of this episode, we’ve started to make a case that there’s a version of sports where this isn’t the ONLY meaningful difference. That maybe there’s a world where gender doesn’t have to serve the role it’s played dividing athletes along lines that have all sorts of pitfalls. Maybe there are alternatives. So, what would that world even look like?

Admittedly, a very big question. And like we mentioned at the start of this episode, there are a number of directions you could go. Weight classes in wrestling, the paralympic model, that new idea that someone smarter than me will come up with. But what I want to focus on for the rest of this episode is something I know really well.

Because there ARE some sports where people of different genders already DO play on the same teams, on the same field, at the very highest level. And luckily for me (and maybe for you), my sport, ultimate Frisbee, is one of them.

There are men’s and women’s divisions in the sport, but mixed Ultimate is thriving as well. If you don’t want to take it from me, take it from the International Olympic Committee. The IOC has made it clear that the version of Ultimate that they’re interested in—that could become an Olympic sport someday—is the mixed-gender version. Where teams consist of seven players – at least three of whom are men and three women.

[00:17:34] Raha Mozaffari: I think it's just, like, really unique. Not many other sports out there at that level are mixed.

[00:17:41] Jody Avirgan: That’s Raha Mozaffari. One of the top Ultimate players in the game right now. She’s one of those players who can do it all, she’s comfortable gaining receiving yards with big cuts down the field. She can finesse throws, control possession. Yeah, she can do it all.

[00:17:56] Raha Mozaffari: I pride myself in my versatility. That's always been my strong suit. And as a defender, I think those types of players are one of the hardest players to defend.

[00:18:09] Jody Avirgan: She’s right. They are. Which is why I mostly played offense. Raha plays for one of the best teams in mixed Ultimate, and she loves it.

[00:18:17] Raha Mozaffari: Discs are coming in faster, slower, hanging more. Separation is different based on individual matchups. There's people, like, poaching off onto different genders, different speed, different size again.

[00:18:33] Jody Avirgan: In my career, I generally played men’s Ultimate. But I did play a few years of Mixed, and I loved it. My team even made the semifinals of the national championships, thank you very much.

To me, mixed Ultimate felt like a new version of a sport I loved, that I’d thought about a lot and tried to get really good at. And when I first joined a mixed team, it was like “Oh, cool, a new puzzle to figure out as a player and a team.” It’s the same size field and the same rules of play, but now there’s this new dynamic. We’d have strategy meetings and work in practice to figure out how do we take advantage of the unique way this version of the game is structured.

Because it's not enough to just mix it up and hope it goes right. You have to be intentional about what you're trying to achieve, how it might be different in a way that's better. Otherwise, you might make the same mistake that Ultimate made...

See, back in those early days of Mixed, women were seen almost as a handicap. Like the true version of the sport is played by men and now there’s women on the field, getting in the way. And the response for many was to ignore them. Just focus on the men.

[00:19:41] Raha Mozaffari: I remember the style being more geared towards, “Okay, so here are our best players, best athletes, and we're gonna try to figure out how to isolate them on the field.”

[00:19:52] Jody Avirgan: I noticed this myself when I played. It was hard not to. On some teams, the men wouldn’t pass to the women at all. They’d just be looked off.

[00:19:59] Raha Mozaffari: And that gets really frustrating if that happens over and over again. You give up and you're like, “Hey, I don't know what else I'm supposed to do. I'm doing everything I can. I'm open, but I’m still getting looked off.”

[00:20:10] Jody Avirgan: That’s a crappy way to treat women on the field. And it sucks to watch. But Raha’s main point is that, from a strategy perspective, it’s a terrible approach.

[00:20:20] Raha Mozaffari: If you're a smart defender and you see like, okay, your person is just not involved. You’re gonna leave them and go impact the field somewhere else. So that's, as an offensive team, that’s terrible strategy because then you have, like, extra defenders just guarding where the active part of the play is because they're not engaging all their players. So just basic Frisbee really.

[00:20:44] Jody Avirgan: But that’s the way it was when things were getting off the ground. All those old hangups about men and women, about categories and gender, they were still very much in play. Take this example from earlier in Raha’s career, when she had run-in on the field with a guy who desperately needed to listen to this episode.

[00:21:02] Raha Mozaffari: I was just making, like, a normal in-cut, and all of a sudden I feel. This massive, just, impact from the side, like, like a tackle. Just took me out as I was catching the disc.

[00:21:15] Jody Avirgan: By the way, Ultimate is technically a non-contact sport. Similar to soccer. Sure, there’s occasional body contact, but there shouldn't be stuff like what Raha’s describing. So, Raha was thrown by the contact, but more than anything, in this moment she saw a deeper dynamic going on. The guy didn’t think a woman would be playing as aggressively as Raha was.

[00:21:36] Raha Mozaffari: I was so mad. But, you know, I just kinda like stared him down and was like, “What the heck was that?” And he's like, “Oh, I didn't realize that you were gonna be fast enough to get there.”

[00:21:46] Jody Avirgan: There’s that inferiority bias, right?

[00:21:48: Raha Mozaffari: That just made me more upset. I was like, “Are you kidding me?” Like, do you know who I am? Like, I'm gonna catch the disc. If the disc is in front of me, I'm gonna go for it with all I can. So, that really just rubbed me the wrong way.

[00:22:02] Jody Avirgan: So yeah, in Mixed, we still have this larger gender problem affecting how individual moments play out. But here’s the part where an incident like this can actually move things forward. Because over time, the community has started to recognize that this is a problem and has started to check itself.

[00:22:20] Raha Mozaffari: People see these things, right?

[00:22:22] Jody Avirgan: Yeah.

[00:22:22] Raha Mozaffari: They don't go unsaid or unseen. So people make comments on Twitter and socials and like, as they should, and say like, “This is not okay.” Um, so that actually made that person be intentional about improving and working on that. And I really do think that they did. So that's a good way to learn, right?

[00:22:42] Jody Avirgan: Over time, that has had a noticeable impact on the way Mixed is played. It’s shifted everything from strategy to sportsmanship. And now, as I see it, the division is really flourishing. You saw this really clearly at the World Games in 2022, where mixed Ultimate was the ONLY version of Ultimate on display. To many, it was the best showcase the sport has ever had.

[00:23:04] Raha Mozaffari: It was really awesome seeing Mosquera pulling a full field at the back of the end zone and seeing, like, the other team have to work all the way up.

[00:32:14] Jody Avirgan: Okay, folks, we’re a little in the weeds here with Ultimate lingo here. Did you ever expect this to be happening to you? But, the pull, that’s like the kickoff. It’s very important. You try to pin your opponent deep on their side of the field

[00:23:25] Raha Mozaffari: It was really cool seeing, like, Sarah Meckstroth, just skying a bunch of guys, taller than her.

[00:23:32] Jody Avirgan: Skying, jumping in the air, catching the disc over your opponent. Sarah did a lot of that.

[00:23:36] Raha Mozaffari: So many other creative throwers, like Finney. And Carolyn and Trop just making these, like, incredible catches that she shouldn't.

[00:23:46] Jody Avirgan: All those players Raha just name-checked, they were women on the top teams. And as I watched them push their teams to victory, it really hit me what a long way mixed Ultimate has come in just a couple decades.

[00:23:58] Raha Mozaffari: So it was just the all-around like amazing display of athleticism and a unique style with men and women on the same field together and working together.

[00:24:09] Jody Avirgan: What I hear Raha saying is we have to learn to play with others no matter who they are. It’s a lesson I’ve learned over and over in sports. I’ve been a jerk. And I’ve been a good teammate. The latter feels way better on the field and off.

And it’s not just about feeling good. Rethinking gender lines can have a real impact, on and off the field. If you’re trying to be a successful team in the truest sense, I think that means working hard to be more inclusive and welcoming to everyone. The more people feel welcome, important, seen… The better they’ll perform. The better the team will perform. The best Mixed teams, the ones that feel like they give us a glimpse of where sports could be headed, are the ones that include everyone. I think that message is pretty clear at this point.

[00:25:02] Raha Mozaffari: Overall, I think it's been great. I think it's brought the community together. Like you said, it's just become a lot more cohesive, like we're all trying, um, to be more inclusive and listen to each other and yeah, it has been good.

[00:25:17] Jody Avirgan: Sports. Mirroring a better path, maybe even modeling it. Of course, it’s not simple. Progress could be slow. Mixed ultimate is still working through those entrenched gender dynamics.

But if sports has been a way of reinforcing gender segregation for, what, generations? These latest debates have been happening for, like, a blink of an eye. What we’re seeing right now is the few first steps in a new direction.

And so what I want to leave you with is this: if we let go of how unthinkable it would feel to get rid of gender segregation in sports—and just sit with that idea for a bit—maybe what we’ll find is not some tidy little solution that immediately sets everything right, but instead an opportunity, the space to try things and fail and maybe, eventually land on something that works.

Better than just works. We can find something new, and inspiring, and plain old fun. We gotta do this more often.

Next time, on Good Sport, what happens when, suddenly, you can’t play your sport anymore?


[00:26:33] Dawn Burrell: Really it was like, oh my gosh, um, I'm in survival mode. What can I do? You know. Because I suffered the death of my, my athletic career.

[00:26:41] Jody Avirgan: Retiring, aging, and finding your next thing.

Good Sport is brought to you by the TED Audio Collective. It’s hosted by me, Jody Avirgan. The show is produced by TED.

This episode was written and produced by Isabel Carter. Our team includes Camille Petersen, Poncie Rutsch, Sara Nics, Jimmy Gutierrez, Michelle Quint, Banban Cheng, and Roxanne Hai Lash. Jake Gorski is our sound designer and mix engineer. Fact-checking by Hana Matsudaira.

Special thanks this episode to Charlie Eisenhood and Dr. Sheree Bekker.

We want to hear from you. Questions, ideas, reactions. Our email is [email protected] . Or, you can find me on social media and yell at me there. One last thing, if you're game. If you like this episode, hit play in your podcast player and text it to a friend. Even better: text it to a friend who might not think that they're into sports. Who knows? They might be into this show. Thanks again for listening to Good Sport. My name is Jody Avirgan. See you soon!

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Insights > Sports & gaming

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 sport are changing the game

Date: Thursday, 22 July 2021

As the Tokyo 2020 Olympics kick-off on 23 July 2021, almost 49 per cent of participating athletes will be women, making it the most gender-balanced Games in history. All 206 National Olympic Committees also have at least one female and one male athlete representative. This marks a landmark for gender balance in sport – a powerful means of empowering women and girls .

Sport mobilizes the global community and speaks to youth. It unites across national barriers and cultural differences. 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.

To celebrate women in sport, here are just a few inspirational women breaking down gender barriers all around the world.

Malak Abdelshafi, a Paralympic swimming champion from Egypt

Malak Abdelshafi is a 17-year-old Egyptian Paralympic swimming champion who qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. When she was 10 months old, she suffered severe spinal cord injuries from an accident that left her partially paralysed.

“I started swimming as hydrotherapy, since wheelchair-users usually need to maintain blood circulation,” says Abdelshafi . “I did not plan to swim professionally. During my hydrotherapy sessions, my trainer said I was talented and pushed me to compete.”

“My first championship was in 2012 with my club and I won a silver medal. I was 9 years old then and the youngest among the participants. We were all surprised and did not expect it at all. Since then, I decided to pursue a professional track in swimming. I joined the national team in 2014.” Abdelshafi has since won 39 national and six international medals.

“Nothing can stop us because we’re girls. We’re all human and there’s no difference between a girl or a boy. One of my favourite quotes is: ‘There’s always another way’. When you find out that the way to your goal is blocked, don’t give up. Try to find another way and you’ll reach your goal with your persistence.”

“I believe that sports can influence our behaviour and help us have a positive impact on others. I hope I can do this one day and be an inspirational model.”

Kathely Rosa, an aspiring soccer coach from Brazil

When Kathely Rosa,19, first shared her dream of becoming a professional football player, people around her said football was for boys. When she tried to play with the boys, they refused and would only allow her to watch. Her brother, four years younger, had a completely different experience, and took football lessons from an early age.

 “He had a ball, a complete uniform, the opportunity to train at a club, money to participate in championships and selection processes. I got nothing,” says Rosa .

Rosa decided to coach herself, watching videos online to learn the tactics and practiced alone. One day, she was searching various ways of dribbling and found a video showing Brazilian football player and UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Marta Vieira da Silva scoring a goal 20 different ways.

“I learned football mainly from male figures, because women’s football is not that visible,” says Rosa. “I was just fascinated when I saw what Marta could do with a ball.”

In February 2020, Rosa, along with 15 girls from One Win Leads to Another (OWLA), a joint programme with UN Women and the International Olympic Committee that provides weekly sport practice and life skills sessions for adolescent girls, fulfilled another dream ­– she met Marta in person in Rio.

“Marta told me that if I truly believe in what I want to do, nothing is impossible,” says Rosa. “It may sound like an obvious advice, but I needed to hear that from her.”

“I will graduate, become a coach and create a female’s football team with girls from the favela . There are a lot of girls with so much talent. They just need to be properly trained,” says Rosa. In the meantime, Rosa continues to lead by example in her community, as the only girl who plays on the boys’ team. 

Anita Karim, Pakistan’s first professional mixed martial arts fighter

Anita Karim, 24, is the only woman among the more than 300 professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters in Pakistan.

“I understand how significant confidence and knowledge of self-defence are for girls,” says Karim . “I started training in mixed martial arts and I wanted to become an example for other girls to encourage them to join a sport like MMA that makes individuals healthy and active.”

Karim comes from a family of MMA fighters and trains at an MMA training centre founded by her brothers in Islamabad. Her first professional fight was in 2018. “My family always supported me and encouraged my enthusiasm towards MMA, which is why I have accomplished so.” says Karim.

“We get the message from our society that women and girls can't commute on their own or can only work in particular areas. We are taught to fear, and there is a perception that girls are weak and vulnerable, which makes it difficult for us to move forward. When we go out and encounter harassment, we get frightened and are unable to react. MMA has taught me confidence and also made me strong enough to compete at a global level. It has taught me strategies for protecting myself in any kind of difficult situation.”

Khadija Timera, a lawyer and boxer from Senegal

Khadija Timera, 35, was raised in a working-class district in Paris. She won a scholarship to study business law at the University of California, Berkeley, and has worked in one of the world’s top law firms.

“After graduating, I felt that I had achieved a challenge,” says Timera . “I wanted to create my own company to support high-level sportswomen, specifically soccer players.” Now, Timera runs a London-based business and investments consultancy for professional athletes and is also a boxer, who advocates against gender-based violence. She narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics.

“I made my first selection in 2019. We went to the African championship in Cabo Verde and I won the gold medal for Senegal,” says Timera.

“Violence against women is regrettable. Women and children in Senegal are vulnerable and should therefore be protected.”

“People need to become [more] aware that women and men are equal and complementary. I also think that women themselves have to realize that they have a real power that they send out; they have to learn to trust themselves.”

“Boxing can help to build confidence,” Timera adds. “There should be many more associations and action to help women recognize their personal value and learn self-development.”

To women, Timera says: “you are enough.”

Aizhan Alymbai Kyzy, a chess champion from Kyrgyzstan

Aizhan Alymbai Kyzy is a 26-year-old chess champion from Kyrgyzstan. She has been a member of the national team since she was 15 years old, and came third place in the Asian Rapid Chess Championship.

“In Kyrgyzstan, as in the rest of the world, chess is mostly male dominated,” says Kyzy . “Monetary awards for women at the Kyrgyz championships are almost half of what men are offered and mostly men participate in these tournaments. The situation is changing for the better now.”

Kyzy believes the world is heading towards equality and that families have a significant role to play in supporting their daughters.

“We can be the ones to push the boundaries of what is possible,” says Kyzy. “At chess academy, where I was teaching, we demanded equal performance both from girls and boys. But parents urged teachers to be less harsh on girls. We need to raise awareness on ensuring quality education for girls and encourage families to support their daughters.”

“In the modern world, creative thinking and analytics are highly valued, and this is exactly what chess can offer. I want to be a role model for other girls. Playing chess is empowering, self-fulfilling, and makes you realize that everything is possible. Our society needs to create an enabling environment for women’s empowerment in sports and beyond. I call on all women and girls to challenge gender stereotypes, smash the boundaries and keep realizing their dreams!”

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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.

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#GenderEqualOlympics: advancing gender equality beyond the field of play 

GENDER EQUALITY THROUGH TIME

Sport is one of the most powerful platforms for promoting gender equality and empowering women and girls.

Great progress has been made in terms of balancing the total number of athletes participating at the Games

As the leader of the Olympic Movement, the IOC is taking continuous action to advance gender equality.

Click to learn more about:.

Female Coaches

The IOC is committed to addressing the challenge and to supporting Olympic Movement stakeholders to find pathways for more women to reach the highest levels of coaching. Increasing the visibility of elite coaches who have broken those barriers and who are role models for more women to follow their lead is itself a goal.

Commission and Community

The Commission advises the IOC Session, the IOC Executive Board and the IOC President on the implementation of the gender equality and inclusion strategy to enable them to make informed and balanced decisions to advance gender equality in sport on and off the field of play across the three spheres of responsibility of the IOC: the IOC as an organisation, the IOC as owner of the Olympic Games, and the IOC as leader of the Olympic Movement.

An IOC LinkedIn community group has been created for individuals working in the Olympic movement who are committed to closing the gender gap in sport. The group is a place to share best practices, success stories, lesson learned, news and events, and fosters a solutions-based approach to achieving gender equality both on and off the field of play.

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More information

The IOC Framework on Fairness, Inclusion and Non-discrimination aims to help sports bodies provide pathways to inclusion in elite sport for all athletes, without discriminating on the basis of gender identity or sex variations, while defining disproportionate advantage in ways that preserve meaningful and fair competition.

The IOC firmly believes that harassment and abuse have no place in sport or in society, and advocates for safe sport, as the safety and wellbeing of athletes are paramount. Since 2004, the IOC has been developing programmes and initiatives to safeguard athletes from harassment and abuse in sport.

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Testing sex and gender in sports; reinventing, reimagining and reconstructing histories

Most international sports organisations work on the premise that human beings come in one of two genders: male or female. Consequently, all athletes, including intersex and transgender individuals, must be assigned to compete in one or other category. Since the 1930s (not, as is popularly suggested, the 1960s) these organisations have relied on scientific and medical professionals to provide an ‘objective’ judgement of an athlete's eligibility to compete in women's national and international sporting events. The changing nature of these judgements reflects a great deal about our cultural, social and national prejudices, while the matter of testing itself has become a site of conflict for feminists and human rights activists. Because of the sensitive nature of this subject, histories of sex testing are difficult to write and research; this has lead to the repetition of inaccurate information and false assertions about gender fraud, particularly in relation to the ‘classic’ cases of Stella Walsh and Heinrich/Hermann/Dora Ratjen. As historians, we need to be extremely careful to differentiate between mythologies and histories.

The athletic girl not unfeminine 1

The relationship between femininity and physical exercise is well studied by historians; in fact, it is probably better analysed and certainly more problematised than the relationship between masculinity and sport. 2 It comes as no surprise that as major international sporting events were developed in the very late nineteenth century issues of physical display, modesty, muscularity, competition and the perpetual risk of sterility were all used to exclude women from many sporting activities. Virtually the only way women could participate in competitive sport was through sexually segregated events.

The standard account of this process is as follows: the early years of the twentieth century are generally represented as a period of struggle and triumph for women's sports, with the eventual acceptance of a significant women's programme in the Olympics in 1924 and the proliferation of national organisations for women's sport. 3 But as international sport took its place as ‘sublimated war’ at mid-century, the desire to win apparently became so pressing for some nations that deliberate and systematic cheating took place in both the men's and women's events. Consequently, doping and gender fraud became central concerns in the late 1950s and 60s, resulting in the eventual introduction of systematic testing for both at international sporting events in the late 1960s. The usual explanation given for the introduction of sex testing is a list of gender frauds (or suspected frauds) most of whom fulfil a specific stereotype: physically muscular, deep-voiced competitors living under totalitarian, fascist or communist regimes. Amongst the ‘canon’ of gender frauds are normally the well-built and extremely successful Ukrainian sisters, Irina and Tamara Press, who dropped out of international competition when gender tests were introduced. 4 For an earlier example, the usual name listed is Hermann Ratjen, who, we are told, through loyalty to the Hitler Youth, bound his genitals and competed as a woman – Dora Ratjen – at the 1936 Berlin Games. Ratjen may have been discovered as a fraud at a sporting event in the late 1930s, and was definitively revealed by a journalist in the 1950s, to whom he told his story. 5 Ratjen's case has even been made into a feature-length, award-winning movie.

There are three problems with this account. Firstly, it ignores the fact that systematic sex testing, of a sort, existed at least as early as the 1940s. Secondly it obscures the fact that the first well-known gender ‘frauds’ in international sport were not Nazi sympathisers, or Communist state athletes, but a British shot putter, and a Czechoslovakian runner. Finally, Hermann Ratjen's name was not Hermann, but Heinrich, and documents (including medical records) released after his death in 2008 suggest that rather than being a conspiracy, his place on the 1936 German women's high-jump team is explained by a more mundane and human case of gender uncertainty, medical error, fear and embarrassment.

The story of sex testing, and histories of sex testing, in international sport tell us a great deal about social attitudes to gender, and how the co-option of science in sport (however it is resisted by scientists and human rights campaigners) can act to essentialize social categories. 6 Sex testing, after all, is a tautological (or at least circular) process: the activities which we recognise as sports are overwhelmingly those which favour a physiology which we consider ‘masculine’. As a general rule, the competitor who is taller, has a higher muscle-to-fat ratio, and the larger heart and lungs (plus some other cardio-respiratory factors) will have the sporting advantage. It is therefore inevitable that any woman who is good at sport will tend to demonstrate a more ‘masculine’ physique than women who are not good at sport. What the sex test effectively does, therefore, is provide an upper limit for women's sporting performance; there is a point at which your masculine-style body is declared ‘too masculine’, and you are disqualified, regardless of your personal gender identity. For men there is no equivalent upper physiological limit – no kind of genetic, or hormonal, or physiological advantage is tested for, even if these would give a ‘super masculine’ athlete a distinct advantage over the merely very athletic ‘normal’ male. (Of course, both men and women are liable to the same testing regimes when it comes to external sources of advantage, i.e. doping.) There are probably hundreds of genetic variations which lead to ‘unfair’ advantages in sport; only those associated with gender are used to exclude or disqualify athletes.

This article will explore how this unequal situation came about, and discuss in brief the various technologies of gender and sex testing in sports. ‘Gender’, ‘sex’ and ‘femininity’ are often used interchangeably when referring to testing in sports despite having quite different meanings; in this article I will quote directly from the primary sources or use the phrase ‘sex testing’. 7 More importantly I will also attempt to disrupt the comfortable narratives we have in place of sex-frauds being over-competitive athletes from non-democratic regimes. 8

The canon of gender frauds

There is a straightforward narrative path through the history of gender testing, which takes as its earliest starting point the Berlin Olympics of 1936. This is where Ratjen competed as a woman in the high-jump, but our attention is more often directed at the 100 m race. Here the American runner Helen Stephens (the ‘Fulton Flash’) was accused of being a man when she narrowly beat the favourite, Polish runner Stanisława Walasiewicz. Stephens underwent an unspecified test and was declared a woman by the Berlin authorities, taking gold. 9 Nearly four and a half decades later, in 1980, Walasiewicz (now known by her Anglicized name, Stella Walsh, which will be used through the rest of this article) was shot dead in a department store car park in Ohio. She had emigrated to the USA in 1947, and retired from competitive sport in 1951, continuing to do charitable work for young athletes. As her death was a violent one, the consequence of an armed robbery, her body was autopsied. At this point ‘ambiguous’ sexual features were made public.

The revelation of an Eastern European ‘sex fraud’ came at a sensitive time for international sports, as the Summer Olympics that year had been held, controversially, in Moscow. Despite demands that her medals and accolades should be revoked, the International Olympic Committee (hence: IOC) finally issued a statement saying that Walsh had competed in good faith, and had not broken the rules of the day. 10 Nonetheless Walsh has joined Ratjen in the canon of gender frauds, as the poster girl and poster boy for ‘sex cheats’. They occur in almost every historical account, text book of sports medicine, or newspaper article about the latest successful female athlete whose physique has provoked suspicion. Both Walsh and Ratjen fit the conventional narrative about the history of sex testing; one a tool of a fascist regime, the other Eastern European, if not strictly a Communist athlete. In Walsh's case the ‘irony’ of the accusation against the all-American Stephens makes her story irresistible to most authors, whether they’re journalists, historians or scientists.

Of course, neither Walsh nor Ratjen had anything whatsoever to do with the introduction of sex testing. Both their stories were revealed years, in one case nearly thirty years, after they had stopped competing, and neither were made broadly public until after systematic sex testing had already been introduced into international sports. Shortly after the accusation that Stephens was a man her team coach, Avery Brundage, called for more systematic screening of suspicious cases. But when he chose to point the finger at ‘suspicious’ cases, it was neither Ratjen nor Walsh that he named. Instead Brundage named the Czechoslovakian runner Zdenka Koubkova who had changed sex from female to male (becoming Zdenek Koubek) in 1936, and the British shot putter and javelin thrower Mary/Mark Weston. Ratjen and Walsh's stories have been reinvented to fit narratives about the Cold War and the politicisation of sport; in so doing, the stories of Koubek and Weston have been lost.

The Devonshire Wonder

Mary Louise Edith Weston (b. ∼1906) competed nationally for the Middlesex Ladies’ Athletics Club and internationally with the British Olympic Team earning the nickname ‘the Devonshire Wonder’ due to exceptional performances in the javelin and shot put. Weston took the Women's Amateur Athletic Association shot put title in 1925 and 1928, winning all three throwing events (shot, javelin and discus) in 1929. Weston also won the international women's shot put title in 1934. 11 Shortly after this achievement, Mary Weston had ‘a series of operations in Charing Cross hospital’, after which he abandoned competitive sport to take up a career as a masseur, and changed his name to Mark. 12

Weston's story gained media attention in the USA as well as the UK, with close coverage in the British Daily Mirror , and special features in North American in Physical Culture and Time . It's noticeable how positive, generally, this coverage is (especially compared to later media treatment of ‘unfeminine’ athletes). The Daily Mirror carefully pointed out that Weston had won the international shot putting title while unaware that he was ‘competing unfairly against other women competitors’ – it was an honest mistake, not a case of fraud. 13 Similar sentiments were repeated whenever Weston made the news; in 1938 when he married his long-term best friend Miss Alberta Bray, a ‘shy blonde in her early twenties’, and tragically in 1942 when his older brother Harry (previously known as ‘Hilda’), hung himself after becoming ‘depressed following [his] operations for change of sex’ (see Figure 1 ). 14

A page from an article in Physical Culture about transsexual individuals in sport. Pictured from left to right are Mark Weston and his partner; Mark Weston competing as Mary Weston; and Zdenek Koubek. D.F. Wickets, Can Sex in Humans Be Changed, Physical Culture (January 1937) pp. 16–7 & 83–5. Unsuccessful attempts were made to trace the rights holders to this image. See also note 11.

Zdenek Koubek's story was similar: he had set national records for long jump, high jump and some track events in Czechoslovakia, and a women's world record for the 800 m in 1934, before requesting in 1935 or 36 that the state should recognise him as a man. He retired from sport to pursue a career in cabaret, which took him to the USA, where he was interviewed by Time magazine which ran two stories relating to sex fraud and the 1936 Berlin Olympics. These articles discussed the fears of ‘worry-ridden Avery Brundage’ who ‘demanded examination for sex ambiguities in all women competitors’. 15 Brundage was not the only one advocating that segregation in sports needed to be more vigorously policed, and it was suggested at this time that sex tests should become compulsory at the next Olympic Games, due to take place in 1940. Although the Second World War disrupted the Olympic schedule international sports organisations rapidly took up the suggestion that some legislation on gender ought to be introduced. By 1946 the International Amateur Athletics Federation (hence: IAAF) had introduced a rule requiring female competitors to bring a medical certificate to prove they were eligible to compete (IAAF rule 17 paragraph 3). From 1948 (London), the IOC also required female competitors to comply with the IAAF's requirements. 16 So, it is clear that this concern about gender fraud is a phenomenon of the 1930s and ‘40s, and not solely one of the 1950s or ‘60s. That said, although certificates were required, these were not evidence of a standardized, internationally recognized gender test. Since neither the IOC nor the IAAF actually defined ‘femininity’ the assumption was that the social or cultural definition in any nation was acceptable for sports, and that any nation's judgement could be trusted. It is this that changed in the 1960s.

Standardizing femininity

The dramatic successes of female athletes from the USSR and GDR in the middle decades of the twentieth century certainly caused the sports organisations of the West some concern. That some of these women had physiques which transgressed traditional Western notions of femininity was obvious, and other historians have written about the ways in which appropriate and inappropriate physicality were discussed in the popular media. Epitomising this trend were Irina (1939–2004) and Tamara (b.1937) Press, sisters from Ukraine who competed in hurdles and pentathlon, and shot put and discuss respectively. The decision of the Press sisters, along with several of their co-competitors, to drop out of international sport coincidental with the introduction of formal sex tests only added fuel to the rumours about their gender. That the sex tests were necessary seemed to be confirmed by the absence of ‘suspicious’ athletes after their introduction. (The fact that two British athletes in the 1960 Rome Olympic team were accused by some newspapers of being men seems rarely to be reported by historians). 17

So systematic, at-event, standardized, ‘scientific’ sex tests were introduced in the 1960s because the process of femininity certification by team and family doctors that already existed could no longer be trusted. The first tests took place at the 1966 European Athletics Championship in Budapest, where female athletes were asked to undergo a visual examination of the genitals and secondary sexual features, carried out by a panel of three female doctors. 18 Other sports events instigated similar investigations, and a ‘naked parade’ was used at the 1967 Pan-American Games in Winnipeg. Even more invasive approaches were also trialled; at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Jamaica female athletes were challenged by a manual examination, likened by one athlete to ‘a grope’. 19 Unsurprisingly, these tests were deeply unpopular with many athletes, who saw them as invasive, and often functionless or unfair – as the American shot putter Maren Sidler said of the tests in Winnepeg:

They lined us up outside a room where there were three doctors sitting in a row behind desks. You had to go in and pull up your shirt and push down your pants. Then they just looked while you waited for them to confer and decide if you were OK. While I was in line I remember one of the sprinters, a tiny, skinny girl, came out shaking her head back and forth saying. ‘Well, I failed, I didn’t have enough up top. They say I can’t run and I have to go home because I’m not ‘big’ enough.’ 20

Not only were the tests perceived as crude and unpleasant, they were also not sufficient in and of themselves. Although it is not generally noted, the first person to be formally disqualified from women's sports (as opposed to the informal discouragement of girls who were ‘not big enough’) was only excluded after a series of tests. Ewa Kłobukowska (b.1946), a Polish sprinter who had passed the gender test at Budapest in 1966, caused concern at the 1967 European Cup Track and Field Event in Kiev. After failing a ‘close-up visual inspection of the genitalia [which] was used to establish eligibility’ she underwent further testing. 21 This included a prototype chromosomal test, which Kłobukowska failed. This chromosomal test (sometimes imprecisely called a ‘genetic’ test) was the Barr body test, and was adopted by the IOC in 1967, who trialled it at the 1968 Winter Games in Grenoble. The trial led to the disqualification of the Austrian downhill skier then known as Erica Schinegger (who had sex reassignment surgery and lived subsequently as Erik) and was rolled out using a lottery system for the Summer Games that year held in Mexico City. A reader of the Official Report from the Mexico City Games will look in vain for specific references to sex testing, however; despite the fact that the IOC's leading expert in sex testing, Dr Eduardo Hay, was a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology from Mexico, there is no mention of the testing done on female competitors, although other work was carried out by the ‘laboratory for human biological and genetic research’. 22

The test the IOC chose was the Barr Body test, which involves screening cells taken from the inside of the cheek (a buccal smear). Barr Bodies are cellular artefacts that are easily stained and visualised under a microscope, and a positive test was taken – for the purposes of sports sex testing – to indicate that a cell's sex chromosome complement is XX rather than XY. The Barr Body itself is an inactivated X chromosome; since only one X chromosome is necessary for biological function (otherwise XY human beings would be fatally compromised) the ‘spare’ chromosome folds in on itself forming a dense chromatin body. As critics, both at the time and subsequently, have pointed out, this test for chromosomal sex does not necessarily map on to physiological or phenotypic sex, which are the only kinds of sexual identity that confer a sporting advantage (and there are many confounding conditions, as people can be born with just one or three or more sex chromosomes, so that combinations like XXY or XO are quite possible). 23 Nonetheless this was the test used at the Olympic Games through the 1970s and into the 1980s, and although thousands of athletes were tested, none were (officially) reported to have failed after 1968. This low detection rate may, of course, be due to the fact that home nations could easily test their athletes themselves – in the UK the British Association of Sport and (Exercise) Medicine made a ‘sex test’ and a ‘chromatin count service’, available to British governing bodies of sport in 1970. 24

In the mid-1980s the high profile case of Spanish hurdler Maria Martinez-Patino, who fought a three-year campaign for reinstatement after being disqualified, was used to pressure the IOC and other organisations into changing (or eliminating) their sex tests. Patino failed a Barr Body test at the World University Games held in Kobe, Japan, in 1985, and was instructed by her coach to retire from sport with an ‘injury’; she refused to do so, and when she started competing in Spain again she was formally disqualified and had her medals and records revoked. 25 Patino eventually succeeded in overturning the ruling, based on the principle that a specific medical condition (androgen insensitivity syndrome) meant that she ‘failed’ a Barr body test, while gaining no physiological sporting advantage – so the argument was not that testing for sex was problematic in and of itself, but rather than this specific test, using chromosomes as a proxy for sporting ability, was inappropriate. This successful appeal was almost certainly due to the fact that human rights activists and geneticists who did not believe the test was fair took up her cause as a test case through which they could make their points about equality, scientific objectivity, and the complexity of human gender identity (see Figure 2 ).

Mario Patino's ID Card.

The IAAF was the first to drop the sex testing requirement for international competitions (somewhat ironically, as it was also the first organisation to introduce femininity checks via its requirement for certificates in the 1940s, as discussed above). In 1988 it dropped chromosomal and genetic testing in favour of a manual/visual ‘health check’ by the team doctor, and then abandoned all forms of systematic sex testing in 1992. The IAAF argued that these were no longer necessary because doping regulations required athletes to pass urine in front of witnesses, and that modern sportswear was now so revealing that it seemed unfeasible that a man could masquerade as a woman.

The IOC was more resistant to change, instead introducing a new sort of test in 1992, a genetic test which identifies a specific region of code usually found on the Y chromosome and known as the ‘sex determining region Y’. It was considered that the presence or absence of this single gene (which in turn controls the expression of another gene that codes for a protein vital to testicular formation) was a better marker of gender than the presence of X or Y chromosomes. 26 Even this test continued to throw what, for the purposes of sex segregation, seem to have been false positives, as although in Atlanta in 1996 eight women ‘failed’ this test all were allowed to compete after further examinations were carried out.

Finally, in 1999 the IOC agreed to follow the IAAF and remove the requirement for blanket sex testing, so that the Millennium Games in Sydney, 2000, were the first Games in three decades where the genetic make-up of female athletes were not scrutinised. Of course, as we have seen recently in the case of Caster Semenya, if the gender of an athlete is actually challenged, she can still be required to undergo a full gamut of tests: physiological, genetic, hormonal, psychological.

Ratjen revisited: reinventing gender fraud

For nearly a year, from her success in the 800 m at the World Championships in Athletics, August 2009, to the final declaration of her femininity from the IAAF in July 2010, the story of Caster Semenya has provoked journalists and academics to explore the history of sex testing in international sports. In the process these stories have helped to consolidate a mythology of gender fraud, which has not been shaken even by the revelation of new archive materials. In fact, this coverage has led to what I believe is a brand new myth about gender fraud, this time reinventing Stella Walsh as a ‘suspect’ athlete in the 1930s, when in fact her femininity was (comparatively) unproblematic until her death in 1980.

Gender is an extraordinarily difficult topic for historical analysis; it is an intrinsically embodied, lived experience which we can find hard to reconstruct, and it is also a personal and private matter which is often deliberately concealed from official records, both medical and sporting. By relying instead on a closed ‘canon’ of publically available information, often newspaper reports and early articles about sex testing, writers, including historians (and including myself), have restated and reinforced stories about gender fraud which are not based on first-hand primary material or archive research. Originally, and most obviously, the strong association between the tensions of the Cold War and sex testing has obscured the stories of earlier transsexual athletes which do not fit the pattern of post-war gender ‘frauds’.

But more worryingly, as some stories have been lost, others have explicitly been reinvented or re-imagined to fit this Cold War storyline. Stella Walsh's story is such a case, and is one that is currently in the active process of being re-created to fit with the narrative of gender testing which starts with the ‘Press Brothers’, and in which gender frauds are explicitly ‘other’ to the white western world: communist, fascist, Black. Walsh's reinvention started at least as early as the 1990s, as the following quote, from a paper in the Journal of the Medical Association of Georgia demonstrates:

In the 1932 Olympic games the 100-m sprint champion was found to have testes during a 1980 autopsy after her accidental death. 27

While this quote gets the dates right, the grammatical strangeness of it seems to suggest that Walsh's gender was suspect in 1932, which of course it was not (this is not even a mis-reference to the Games where accusations of gender fraud were leveled at Stephens for beating Walsh, as that was in 1936).

More recently the case has been explicitly made that Walsh was a suspected fraud as early as the 1930s. In its obituary of Irina Press on 31 May 2004, the UK newspaper the Telegraph claimed that Walsh was one of the athletes who, like the Press sisters, had incited speculation about gender. Suggesting that Walsh was ‘a man’ the paper claims that before the Press sisters retired from sport

[t]here had been several scandals of the kind, notably that of Stella Walsh, who won the 100-yard dash at the 1932 Olympics. Her rivals believed that she was a man, and in 1980 an autopsy revealed they were right. 28

This reinvention of Walsh's story, so that it is a ‘scandal’ of the 1930s, has not only reached into the academic and medical journals, but along the way has gathered a ‘legend’ (in both senses of the word).

A recent article in the South African Journal of Sports Medicine repeats the suggestion that Walsh's gender was a subject of public questioning in the 1930s, and claims that newspapers referred to her as ‘Stella the Fella’. 29 The reference for this claim is an article in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine , which does not in turn give a source for its belief that not only was Walsh's gender suspect and that she generated ‘Stella the Fella’ headlines, but also that it was actually Walsh who personally challenged Stephen's eligibility in 1936 (most earlier accounts have a Polish journalist as the accuser). 30 The claim that there were contemporary ‘Stella the Fella’ headlines is even repeated in sociology texts. 31 But such reports of specific, printed suspicions about Walsh's gender in the 1930s would seem to have appeared in articles only since 2004, i.e. after the claim was made in the Telegraph obituary.

It is of course possible that Walsh's gender was questioned in some circles, and her manly physique was certainly noted in newspaper articles. But Helen Stephen's strapping figure was also commented on, and the bodies of two British athletes were athletic enough to have them accused of being men in 1960 (see above); there are dozens (probably hundreds) of other cases where the successful, physically powerful woman athlete has been subject to suspicions, rumour and innuendo. If we selectively remember only rumours that were ‘revealed to be right’, suspicion would appear a disproportionately powerful predictor of gender ambiguity. This is a dangerous ‘lesson from history’ if it is to be applied to female athletes today.

Even more recent, however, is the revisitation of Heinrich Ratjen (still often called ‘Hermann’). Ratjen, after all, is the archetypal story of gender fraud – to date in fact the only ‘genuine’ case of a man masquerading as a woman. The movie, Berlin 36 , which was released in Germany in the Autumn of 2009 dramatises Ratjen's case, using the pseudonym ‘Marie Ketteler’ in order tell the story of another excluded athlete, Gretel Bergmann. Bergmann was a Jewish athlete, and her exclusion from the German Olympic team (ostensibly on grounds of underperformance) was almost certainly because of her ethnicity. She was replaced by Ratjen, which again fulfils a neat narrative of the totally corrupt, transgressive fascist body and sport (see Figures 3 and 4 ).

Heinrich Ratjen competing as ‘Dora’ at a track and field event in Berlin in 1937. Bild-183C10336. Reproduced with permission from the The Digital Picture Archive of the Press- and Information Office of the [German] Federal Government: http://www.bundesbildstelle.de/ .

Heinrich Ratjen and another high-jump team member, Elfriede Kaun, in 1937. Bild-183C10336: Reproduced with permission from the The Digital Picture Archive of the Press- and Information Office of the [German] Federal Government: http://www.bundesbildstelle.de/ .

But in response to the film, an investigative journalist from Der Spiegel pursued the question of Ratjen's gender, and retrieved original material from the Department for Sexual Medicine at Kiel University Hospital, which reinterprets Ratjen's story in a way entirely consistent with contemporary gender controversies, and which undermines our typical story of fascist/communist transgression. According to these records, Ratjen's gender ambiguity was not discovered at a sporting event, or revealed to a journalist in the 1950s, but was due to an ID-card challenge made by a German police officer at a train station. While Ratjen's identity card said he was female, the police officer believed him to be male; a medical examination declared him a man. Although the Reich Sports Ministry objected, and requested further tests and a stay in a sanatorium, eventually Ratjen was accepted as a man, officially re-designated, and given a new name and papers. Ratjen's circumstances appear to have been a consequence of confusion shortly after his birth, which neither he nor his parents seemed able to rectify when his identity became conflicted during adolescence, after a childhood raised unquestioningly as a girl. Ratjen was after all only 17 in 1936 when asked to compete for the Fatherland. Although the story of deliberate Nazi fraud makes better headlines, Ratjen's story is probably a more homely and familiar one of medical error, gender uncertainty, and embarrassed silences. 32

Reconstructing gender

There is a difference between history and the uses of history. Without doubt the media coverage of gender frauds has laid them into particular narrative patterns. They are often stories of direct conflicts between good and evil, the wonders of modern science in a battle against frauds, or the dangers of a medicalised, over-competitive sports ideology where even gender identity and sexual health can be sacrificed in the cause of national sporting success. There is considerable slippage between anti-drug rhetoric and discussions of sex testing – indeed, in some cases there is clear confusion between the androgenisation caused by steroids and conditions which might cause a woman to fail a sex test (it is unlikely that any sex test, now or in the past, would fail a competitor merely for the side-effects of steroid use). However, in most sources in the popular media, and many in the medical and scientific press, there is little critique of the fundamental concept that there are two types of athlete – and only two types – who can in theory be objectively, scientifically distinguished. (The question of whether genders, even if they exist, should be distinguished, or whether other measures would better ensure fairness in sport is usually left to academic work in philosophy and sociology.) It is therefore also the case that stories of gender fraud can reinforce a range of cultural and social understandings of femininity.

So we need to be careful about how we participate in the reinvention and reimagining of history; while the representational politics of gender testing are worth exploring, there is a risk that unless carefully written, our accounts of the representation of Ratjen or Walsh can be used by other writers to reinvent these historical actors’ stories (e.g. causing a newspaper's printed suspicions to become the lived reality). At the same time, we have clearly under-written other aspects of gender testing. There are very few articles by historians on the development of the technology of sex testing for sports, or on the conscientious objectors, the scientists who refused to take part and who advised and campaigned against the use of tests. There is no account explaining why the IOC chose the Barr Body test in the 1960s, or the sex determining region Y test in the 1990s. There is no thorough explanation for the difference between the IAAF and the IOC in the 1990s (and little to nothing on other sporting organisations’ gender testing).

Finally, we do not have a good account of sex testing and gender uncertainty before the Cold War. Athletes such as Weston are virtually written out of the current story, but need to be understood in their own context – i.e. within the revived fascination with sexual differentiation, hormones, steroids and organ therapy of the 1920s and ‘30s. 33 Cultural fears that sport and exercise might be medically dangerous to women are well studied, but when exactly did concerns that exercise might virilise women turn into a fear that being virile and being a woman was ‘cheating’?

Acknowledgements

Early research for this article was carried out at the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (Manchester), where I was a Wellcome Trust-funded Research Associate. Writing-up, at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science (Cambridge), was facilitated by the Wellcome Trust, Mellon Foundation and Isaac Newton Trust. I’d like to thank attendees at my presentation to the Gender Studies Workshop at Cambridge in the Spring of 2010 and anonymous reviewers for useful feedback, and Patricia Fara for encouragement.

1 The quote comes from a title in an American sports magazine: C.T. Herrick, Women in Athletics: The Athletic Girl Not Unfeminine, Outing 40 (1902), pp. 713–21.

2 For a good starting point, see Patricia Vertinsky's article & bibliography: P. Vertinisky, Gender Relations, Women's History and Sport History: A Decade of Changing Enquiry, 1983-1993, Journal of Sport History 21 (1994), pp. 1–24 & 25–8.

3 A. Jutel, ‘Thou dost run as in flotation’: femininity, reassurance and the emergence of the Women's marathon, International Journal of the History of Sport 20 (2003), pp. 17–36; G.P. Moon, A New Dawn Rising; An Empirical and Social Study concerning the emergence and development of English Women's athletics until 1960, PhD, Roehampton Institute (1997); J. Hargreaves, Sporting Females: Critical Issues in the History and Sociology of Women's Sport, Routledge, London (1994); A. Guttmann, Women's Sports : A History, Columbia University Press, Columbia (1992). For a slightly different interpretation which emphasises the continuation of paternalistic control see F. Carpentier et al., The Modern Olympic Movement, women's sport and the social order during the inter-war period, International Journal of the History of Sport 23 (2006), pp. 1112–7.

4 B.D. Dickinson et al., Gender Verification of Female Olympic Athletes, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise , 34 (2002), p. 1539–42; L.J. Elsas, R.P. Hayes, K. Muralidharan, Gender Verification At The Centennial Olympic Games, The Journal of the Medical Association of Georgia 86 (1997), pp. 50–4; T. Todd, ‘Anabolic Steroids and Sport’, in J Berryman and R Park (eds.), Sport and Exercise Science: Essays in the History of Sports Medicine (Chicago, 1992), pp. 319–50; E.A. Ferris, Gender Verification Testing in Sport, British Medical Bulletin 48 (1992), pp. 1–15 and of course J. Hoberman, Mortal Engines: The Science of Performance and the Dehumanization of Sport, Blackburn Press, New Jersey (1992).

5 Anon, High Jump She is a He – So Dorothy gets a World Record, Daily Mirror (24 Jul. 1957), p. 3.

6 For further critiques on drug and gender testing see: L. Wackwitz, Verifying the Myth: Olympic Sex Testing and the Category ‘Woman’, Women's Studies International Forum 26 (2003), pp. 553–60; I.E. Ritchie, Sex tested, Gender verified: controlling female sexuality in the age of containment, Sports History Review 34 (2003), pp. 80–93; L.R. Davis & L.C. Delano, Fixing the Boundaries of Physical Gender: Side Effects of Anti-Drug Campaigns on Athletics, Sociology of Sport Journal 9 (1992), pp. 1–19.

7 For a good introduction to the science of sex testing, which can only be briefly discussed here, see Dickenson et al. (2002).

8 On science and sport also A. Wrynn, The Human Factor: Science, Medicine and the International Olympic Committee, 1900–70, Sport in Society 2 (2004), pp. 211–31.

9 A. Carlson, Essay: Suspect sex, The Lancet 366 (2005 – supplement) pp. 39–40.

10 E. Hay, The Stella Walsh Case, Olympic Review 162 (1981), pp. 221–2; D. Langlais, The Road Not Taken: the sex secret that really didn’t matter, Running Times , Oct. 1988.

11 D.F. Wickets, Can Sex in Humans Be Changed, Physical Culture (January 1937) pp. 16–7 & 83–5. Physical Culture back copies have been digitised and made available by the Digital Media Repository at Ball State University, USA – see http://libx.bsu.edu/ [accessed August 2010]. Stories from Physical Culture and other popular science/health magazines are also posted on the Modern Mechanix blog, where I first encountered Mark Weston: http://blog.modernmechanix.com/ [accessed August 2010].

12 Anon, She's Now A Man, Daily Mirror (29 May 1936), p. 6.

13 Anon, Woman Athlete Who Became A Man Married to ‘Girl in a Million’, Daily Mirror (11 Aug. 1938), p. 1.

14 Anon, 2 Sisters Became Brothers, Daily Mirror (20 Jul. 1942), p. 4.

15 Olympic Games, Time (10 Aug. 1936); Change of Sex, Time (24 Aug. 1936), both available via http://www.time.com/time/magazine [accessed July 2010].

16 Moon (1997), p. 293.

17 Anon, Olympic Women ‘have medical certificates’, Times (22 Aug. 1960), p. 4.

18 L.J. Elsas et al., Gender Verification of Female Athletes, Genetics in Medicine 2 (2000), pp. 249–54.

19 S. Lynch, When men were men…and so were the women, Guardian (7 Aug. 2004), p. 82.

20 D. Larned, The Femininity Test: A woman's first Olympic hurdle, Womensports 3 (1976) pp. 8–11: p. 8.

21 Anon, Girl Athlete To Have New Sex Tests, Daily Mirror (20 Sept. 1967), p. 6.

22 All the Official Reports for the modern Olympic Games are available via: http://www.la84foundation.org/5va/reports_frmst.htm .

23 A. de la Chapelle, The Use and Misuse of Sex Chromatin Screening for ‘Gender Identification’ of Female Athletes, Journal of the American Medical Association 256 (1986), pp. 1920–23.

24 Archives of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine, Minutes of the Executive Committee 7 March 1970. The archives of the BAS(E)M have been deposited at the Wellcome Library under the classmark SA/BSM. I would like to thank Dr Neil Carter for providing me with copies prior to their deposition.

25 M Martinez Patino, Personal Account: A woman tried and tested, Lancet 366 (2005 – supplement) pp. 38–9.

26 B. Dingeon, Gender verification and the Next Olympic Games, Journal of the American Medical Association 269 (1993), pp. 357–8.

27 L.J. Elsas et al., Gender Verification At The Centennial Olympic Games, The Journal of the Medical Association of Georgia 86 (1997), pp. 50–4.

28 Obituary: Irina Press, Telegraph (31 May 2004) available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ [accessed June 2010].

29 R. Tucker, The science and management of sex verification in sport, South African Journal of Sports Medicine 21 (2009), pp. 147–50.

30 R. Ritchie, J. Reynard, T. Lewis, Intersex and the Olympic Games, Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 101 (2008), pp. 395–9.

31 S.L. Cavanagh, Transexual bodies at the Olympics, Body & Society 12 (2006), pp. 75–102.

32 S Berg, How Dora the Man Competed in the Woman's High Jump, Der Speigel International Online http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,649104,00.html , dateline 15 Sep. 2009 [accessed July 2010].

33 Including the apparently widespread use (or alleged use) of hormone treatments in professional and amateur sport in the UK – see the use of ‘glands’ by Wolverhampton Wanderer football clubs in V. Heggie, A History of British Sports Medicine, Manchester University Press, Manchester (2011), Chapter Three.

• Social Issues

Gender Equality In Sports Essay Example

Gender in sports has been a rising topic its recent years due to the challenges and hardships faced based on gender. We have seen female athletes try to bring awareness to problems they face in sports. On the other hand, we have seen male athletes have it easier simply because they are males. Gender in sports can be discussed on topics of differences between genders in sport, reasons for gender differences, and transgender involvement in sports. All these topics will be covered in this paper. 

The first difference I like to point out is the sports scholarships hand out based on gender. As stated in this study, “Females make up 54 percent of the student body, yet they only received 36 percent sports operating dollars, 42 percent college athletic scholarship dollars, and 32 percent athletic team recruitment spending. Male athletes receive $133 million more athletic scholarship dollars than female athletes each year” (2013). We are still seeing social stratification being occurred in sports scholarships. Males are given higher financial support leaving behind female athletes. Many female athletes have to give up on their sports careers because they do not have the financial stability to attended colleges. This important because society still views the male as the superior gender in sports. Another example of inequality that females face at a younger stage is the funding received to their sports program. There has been a study done that showed more money has been spent on male sports than female. Funding plays a significant role in sports because equipment, coaches, and gear can cost a lot of money. This advantage that male athletes get gives them a higher chance of succeeding. 

The second difference I want to point out is the difference in pay between each gender. In almost all sports male athletes make far more than females. In a recent study, “The WNBA players get paid less than $80,000 averagely in 2019–20, while NBA players earned $7.4 million averagely in the same period” (Berri, 2020). We see NBA promote NBA games weekly if not daily on different social media platforms and also on tv. But when it comes to the WNBA, we rarely see any type of advertisement. This lack of advertisement has a snowball effect because it leads to lower viewership and fewer sponsorships. Male athletes have talked about equal play in sports and yet we still have not seen a change. Females put the same amount of effort and dedication into their sport and yet still get paid significantly lower. We see this problem in cricket, soccer, baseball, hockey, and other sports. Many female athletes have to give on sports after putting a lot of time into training because they don’t have another source of income. In my opinion they can solve this solution by combing the same sports leagues together. By doing this it would advocate the league owners to promote female athletes more. 

The third difference is that female athlete are objectified on the field. They are recommended to wear shorter clothes so they could attract a higher amount of the male audience. As stated in this article, “men’s uniforms are loose and sleeveless allowing for a full range of motion. The women on the other hand wear a bikini” (Jane, 2014). The sports organizers would rather have female athletes wear short clothes than them wearing clothes that would perform better in their sport. I feel that there is a hidden curriculum when it comes to female sports. The sports organizers/owners seem more focused on attracting viewership rather than displaying female athletes’ talents. Another example of a female athlete being objectified is LFL. LFL is female football where they would only wear shoulder pads, small helmets, and bikinis just so they could attract the male audience. On the other hand, male athletes are covered from head to toe in shoulder pads for their safety. Our society fails to view female athletes in football. Females in sports are being displayed more like models than athletes. 

I want to talk about some of the reasons why there are differences in gender in sports. The first point is parents fail to encourage females to be more physically active. For example, “Parents have been shown to provide less encouragement for physical activity, offer fewer sport-related opportunities for their daughters than for their sons, and perceive their sons to have higher sport competence than their daughters” (Fredricks & Eccles, 2005). Most parents are still stuck in how males and females are viewed by society. As we learned in the lectures, we can apply the Social Learning theory in this situation. Most boys at a young age are motivated to participate in sports because that is the appropriate behavior for the gender while females are supposed to be more active in dancing, cooking, and other “feminine” activities. In different parts motivated to learn how to cook and be a good housewife rather than letting them do what they want. The second reason is social media. When it comes to sport almost all of the coverage that relates to sport is related to male athletes. The media has a hidden bias of mainly covering male athletes. When there is a female sport covered or posted on social media there are negative comments attached to it. One comment that is popular on a female-related post that reappears a lot is “go make me a sandwich”. I bring this comment because I feel like this relates to the quote “You can’t legislate away a mindset”. Even though there have been laws placed to bring gender equality, the mindset of some people doesn’t change. Some individuals in our society still have a mindset of where they think they are inferior to females. Overall, I think media can influence the values and ideals of the population as stated in our lectures. Media can be valuable to society by advocating more gender equality. If the media focused on promoting female athletes more then we could see a change in the wage gap that we see today. 

I wanted my last topic to be transgender in sport because I feel that this a relatively new topic that should be addressed quickly. In recent years many articles around the sports world started to revolve around transgender in sports. The main topic was which sports should they be allowed to compete in. For example, “But as more transgender athletes rise to the top of their fields, some vocal opponents are also expressing outrage at what they see as transgender athletes ruining sports for cisgender girls and women” (Aschwanden, 2019). The recent dominance of transgender athletes has led to states banning transgenders from competing in sports. They believe that transgender women have physical advantages over their competition. I feel that our society is only targeting the small success of transgender athletes and making them the main example. They are failing to cover that other 95% of the narrative. The majority of the news surrounding transgender athletes has been about trans girls. Trans boys have been overlooked make them almost invisible in their society. I find it unnecessary that states think it's alright for them to ban transgender from sports. We are taking a small sample size of success in a community and applying for all of them. Transgender must have the right to sports because many people build great friendships and memories through sports. We must start discussing transgender in sports because it is a new topic that can change society's perspective for the better.

In conclusion, there is a lot of discrimination in sports regarding gender. We fail to give females equal pay, scholarships, and respect as male athletes. Our society's view on gender has been integrated into sports as well. Some of the hardships that female athletes face start from our parents and social media. Society fails to give attention to female and transgender athletes leading to discrimination. Transgender athletes are starting to face new challenges that will only get more difficult because of the lack of knowledge society has regarding transgender in sports. The problems we face in sports regarding gender can be fixed if society wanted to. I feel that this relates to the quote “You can't legislate away a mindset” because society's view on gender has to be ingrained into our minds. The only way to change our views and to bring true equality is with education. The more we learn about one another differences the more we can start to understand each other. It is important to know the past but it also equally important to forget about the past. If we hold on to our old teaching equality in sports will never be achieved.

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Gender can be seen as purely biological, or within a cultural context. These days, gender is seen as a range of identifications concerning being female or male. However, traditionally, strictly male and female categories have been used in sports. Concerning gender in sports, it is a tricky issue. Sometimes, there is a differentiation in sports organizations based on gender for almost no reason at all, and other instances it seems obvious why there would be a separation of the sexes due to physical differences. My main contention is that sports that demand a heavy physical component should be divided by gender due to purely physical capabilities, while sports that demand only a low physical component can be played by all genders. I believe this due to the fact that if women were in such sports as boxing, basketball, and football with men, the dynamic of the game would change too much for it to be played well.

Though girls and women are increasingly being included in a variety of sports, there seems to be a threshold as to which sports can be coed and at which level of play. For instance, according to a 2010 study by the The Journal of Sports Science and Medicine , “The data that they collected and examined showed that, on average, men outperform women by a 10 percent gap” (Sanders, Alice). This percent difference is huge, actually. This means the best women athletes in the world would not be able to qualify for men’s Olympic sports, let alone get into top places of the competitions. This 10 percent gap becomes even more prominent when speed and strength are heavily involved. Take weight lifting for example. Even if women take steroids, they cannot seriously compete with the top 100 male weight lifters of the world. Take for instance the Olympic world records for most weight lifted. Lasha Talakhadze, a man, lifted a total of 473 kilograms at the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympics (current world record), while a woman named Zhou Lulu (the current record holder in the Olympics for women) lifted a total of 333 kilograms. That is an astounding difference of over 100 kilograms in comparison between the strongest man and woman in weight lifting. Besides a comparison in strength, speed is also a major reason there is a differentiation between genders in sports. The world record for men in the 100-meter dash is 9.58 seconds, which is held by Usain Bolt. On the other hand, the world record for women is 10.49 seconds, completed by Florence Griffith-Joyner. This does not put the women’s record even within the 100 runs in history (Avila, Michael). This demonstrates that while women can be quite fast, they cannot professionally compete in contests of speed when men are in the equation. Feminism has advanced the civil rights of women worldwide, and its efforts are highly commendable. However, we cannot ignore the differences in speed and strength between professional male and female athletes. Even some female athletes have acknowledged this disparity. Serena Williams, recognized as the greatest female tennis player of all time, said that, “If I were to play Andy Murray, I would lose, 6-0, 6-0, in five to six minutes, maybe 10 minutes. The men are a lot faster, they serve harder, they hit harder. … It’s a completely different game” (Abad-Santos, Alex). If the best female tennis player in the world can honestly talk about this issue, then we should be able to as well. Gender equality is positive in almost all spheres of activity. However, in sports that involve the heavy use of strength and speed, seeking gender equality would not be scientifically appropriate. It has been shown through records that the top male athletes are stronger and faster than the top female athletes by a significant margin—enough for them to not be able to compete with the top 100 male athletes in any given sport that focuses on strength and/or speed. In light of this, the inclusion of girls and women in sports has a certain threshold that cannot be physically crossed.

Works Cited

Sanders, Alice, “Is Gender Segregation in Sports Necessary? – How We Get To Next.” How We Get To Next , How We Get To Next, 14 July 2016, howwegettonext.com/is-gender-segregation-in-sports-necessary-dc188150f242. Avila, Michael. “Who Are the World’s Fastest Man and Woman?” LiveScience , Purch, 10 June 2010, www.livescience.com/32640-who-are-the-worlds-fastest-man-and-woman.html. Abad-Santos, Alex. “John McEnroe vs. Serena Williams, Explained.” Vox , Vox, 27 June 2017, www.vox.com/culture/2017/6/27/15879520/john-mcenroe-serena-williams-greatest-controversy.

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About Gender Discrimination in Sports

This essay will discuss gender discrimination in sports, examining how it manifests in areas such as pay disparity, media coverage, and opportunities for athletes. It will explore the historical and current challenges faced by female athletes and the progress made in achieving gender equality in sports. The piece will also consider the impact of policies, legal interventions, and advocacy efforts in combating discrimination. At PapersOwl, you’ll also come across free essay samples that pertain to Discrimination.

How it works

Gender discrimination in sports has been a controversial topic for a long time. Men and women have been given different opportunities in the sports community. In the beginning, men had more rights than women. Even though gender inequality exists in sports, the situation has improved. Today there are several famous female athletes, such as Simone Biles, Abby Wambach, and Ronda Rousey. These women have made an impact on the gender discrimination matter; however, most sports are still dominated by men. Gender discrimination in sports may be turning a corner, but it’s still not happening fast enough.

Social media coverage is another obstacle that women face when it comes to gender discrimination. Women’s sports receive significantly less airtime than men’s sports. According to the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota’s documentary: Media Coverage and Female Athletes, “40 percent of all athletes are female, yet they receive only four percent airtime of all sports media coverage” (qtd. in Lopez). In addition, low media coverage of women’s athletics results in a decreasing fan base. This consequence provokes sponsors and advertisements to give little support to these women. On the rare occasion that the media does give coverage on women’s sports, it tends to lean towards their appearance and not about their talent and athletic abilities. The lack of media coverage for women’s athletics is a reason they are “taken with a grain of salt.”

For decades, female athletes have publicized the issue of gender wage gaps. Kelsey Clark, a writer for Inequality.org, notes that the United States Women’s soccer team who are three-time World Cup champions, were only awarded $2 million for their first-place finish in comparison to the USA men’s team that obtained $9 million after losing in the sixteenth round. Paying men more money for the same sport strips a woman’s determination and encourages them to not to participate anymore. “As of 2017, females make only 80.5 cents for every dollar earned by a man, a 20 percent wage gap” (Milli). There is debate that the gender pay gap is reasonable due to the amount of money certain sporting events bring in when comparing men’s and women’s athletics.

Stereotypes of men and women have been established for an extended period of time. It is typical of people to assume that women should be more on the feminine side. From a young age, women were told not to engage in physical activities as much as men. Males have the reputation of being more masculine than women, although that may not always be the case in sports. A brand-new Nike commercial, Dream Crazy, was released a few days ago. The overall theme of the campaign is to overcome every obstacle or stereotype thrown in your path by dreaming big.

Courtesy of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, women were first introduced to sports in 1920 with the first girls’ state basketball tournament. Unfortunately, only five years later there was controversy surrounding this stepping stone for women. School administrators voted to discontinue their sponsorship of girls’ basketball because they believed it was unhealthy and inappropriate for girls. Due to popularity of the girls’ basketball tournament the event was televised for the first time in 1951 increasing its media coverage. “The state tournament continued to thrive with an estimated audience of 260,000 people” (Linder). Today women are participating in what was once all male sports. According to the New York Times football has remained a male-dominant sport, but some high school girls are gaining attention for their achievements. “For example, last fall, the high school quarterback Holly Neher threw a touchdown pass in Florida, making headlines as the first girl known to do so in state history” (Cretaz). Holly Neher is just one of many female athletes that are impacting gender discrimination in sports.

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Cultural, Gender and Racial Differences in Sports Qualitative Research

Racial bias, gender bias, cultural bias.

Cultural, gender and racial differences in sports are often observed but rarely acknowledged as important facets to sports management. Currently, there are many racial profiles regarding sports; like the common assumption that African Americans are better at sports than whites or Asians and males are better at sports than females (Bloom & Willard, 2002, p. 1).

These assumptions may have some grain of truth but they should not be used to generalize athletes and dictate the way sports is managed. Unfortunate or otherwise, sports management and athlete attitudes are largely influenced by such sort of stereotypes and this influences athlete performance and participation.

To understand the diversity brought about by cultural, racial and gender parameters, we will analyze Kenya, a country predominantly known to be the world’s long distance running capital. Kenya is located in East Africa and has been historically known to produce 20% of the world’s long distance runners since 1996 (Mosley, 2010, p. 3).

Apart from the vivid racial stereotypes characterizing black runners in Kenya and other runners from other racial groups, Kenya has a wide cultural and gender diversity which characterizes sports participation.

The level of sports participation between males and females in the country is interestingly wide and the types of sporting activities the youth participate in have been deeply entrenched in the country’s cultural divide (East African Community, 2010, p. 2). These factors will act as the pillar to this analysis.

This study is therefore multifaceted because it will explore three parameters (gender, culture and race) and their influence on sports management and athlete attitudes in Kenya.

The first analysis will compare Kenyan runners with other racial groups in long distance running and the second analysis will evaluate the role gender parity has to play in sports participation and management in the country. Lastly, we will establish how cultural diversity influences the attitudes of sports managers and athletes across the country’s gender divide.

It is interesting to note that racial bias in sports is a huge phenomenon which is evidently noticeable in virtually all sporting activities. Various racial stereotypes have therefore been formed as sampled by Mosley (2010) that “Elite black athletes have a phenotypic edge over athletes of other races and this edge derives from genotypic differences between the races” (p. 1).

Also to back up the racial differences in sports, Asians are considered to comprise about 57% of the world population but they don’t characterize some of the most democratic forms of sports, like running, football, or basketball; on the other hand, Africans who are estimated to constitute only 12% of the world population dominate most of major sporting activities like football, running and basketball (Mosley, 2010).

Running is the best sporting activity for this analysis because for athletes to perform well in the sport, little socioeconomic factors need to be considered. In other words, for one to excel in running, there are minimal facilities needed to perfect skills. Even the level of coaching needed is very low. Nonetheless, in almost every long distance marathon, a person of African origin usually wins.

Despite the success being associated with Africa, many of the high performing runners do not come from all zones of Africa. Instead, East Africa (and more notable, Kenya) is noted to be the home of runners (Mosley, 2010, p 4). The high level of success attributed to Kenyan runners has therefore affected the attitude of sports managers and athletes who almost entirely dedicate most of their time towards excelling in the sports.

If we trace the history of major long distance runners in Kenya, almost 90% of them hail from one major community (Nilotes) who were historically known for their opposition to colonial rule (Mosley, 2010, p.7).

Because of colonial opposition, Mosley recounts that the community was largely encouraged to undertake athletic activities to “blow off steam”, back in the day. However, some scholars have not directly accepted this theory as a possible explanation to Kenya’s excellence in modern world sporting events (Mosley, 2010, p. 8).

Nonetheless, the excellent performance of Kenya in long distance running has prompted most athletes to concentrate on the sport under the notion that excellence is an automatic guarantee if one hails from places perceived to be home to long distance running. Infarct some sports managers have recommended that other participants from other races train in this homeland of long distance runners (Mosley, 2010).

In this regard, many hopeful athletes from other races throng Nandi hills and Eldoret which are the two major towns in Kenya harboring long distance runners (Mosley, 2010, p. 10). Unfortunately, this hysteria with long distance running has rubbed the local youth in a negative way because most of them are leaving conventional ways of modern socioeconomic life and trying a hand in running.

Education has taken the brunt of this attitude because the local youth have abandoned conventional education systems and decided to take up sports as a way of life.

Criticisms have also been leveled against this ideology because some locals not only in Kenya but across most African continents believe that a socialization of the black people to sports is part of a big conspiracy to limit their opportunities for success in other types of economic pursuits (Mosley, 2010, p. 10).

Sports managers across the globe have been consistently fishing for long distance runners in Africa and offering them an opportunity to be citizens in foreign nationalities because of racial stereotypes associated with certain sports (running).

Kenya is a classic example of such a trend because many of its past runners have been poached into foreign countries to take part in long distance running and compete against their own country (Mosley, 2010). We can therefore see how sports managers are driven by racial prejudice in sourcing for athletes.

Comparatively, we can analyze the huge domination of white athletes in swimming and the domination of Asians in Kenyan Cricket games. Since these two sports are heavily socialized to be “unafrican”, many Kenyan youth do not take part in them.

The level of motivation to indulge in such type of sport is therefore very low and most of the locals do not even take interests in it at all (Mosley, 2010). In the commonwealth games of 2010, a Kenyan of white descent scooped the coveted top price, exposing the level of racial stereotyping in swimming because there were no other black competitors in the sport.

Similarities can also be drawn to the American stereotyping of black basketball players because African Americans are regarded as more fit for the sport than other races. This is the reason why major basketball clubs are characterized by black players.

This ideology has positively influenced many of the African American youth in the states because many strive to excel in basketball and other types of games presumed to be dominated by black players.

This is deeply entrenched even in the neighborhood setting where many of the African American youth look up to successful black basketball players for inspiration. Consequently, many current and future players exhibit a lot of determination in excelling in the sport and surprisingly, many of them succeed.

This does not mean that African Americans are genetically designed to excel in basketball, but because the society has stereotyped them in this manner, many of young future basketball players are socialized to think they have a higher chance for success and therefore put in more effort, dedication and time to do so (Mosley, 2010, p. 15).

This type of stereotype has also discouraged people of other races into practicing the game because they assume basketball is a reserve for African Americans. The result is a cyclical system of racial sport orientation where certain types of sports are associated with certain racial groups.

As much as the racial stereotyping of African Americans and native Africans is deep, there is a difference in the level of stereotyping of athletes in Kenya as compared to African Americans in America. In Kenya, the racial stereotype goes much deeper than racial profiling because cultural affiliation plays a big role in branding athletes.

For example, the predominantly black long distance runners come from one cultural group which is the Nilotic group. These runners also come from an approximate 60-mile radius centering the towns of Eldoret and Nandi hills which is home to the nilotes (Mosley, 2010). It is therefore important to note that as much as Kenya is known for long distance running, not all Kenyan subcultures participate in long distance running.

A certain sub cultural group of the nilotes is therefore known for long distance running and interestingly, other subcultures never take part in the sports because of the cultural stereotype. This fact will be further discussed in the cultural segment of this study. However, the above observation is different from the racial stereotype of basketball players in America because stereotyping does not go much deeper than race.

Gender participation in sports is primarily determined by the level of appropriateness or masculinity of the sport. Feminine sports are therefore viewed as those that generally conform to female expectations in the society while the same is true for male sports because they conform to male expectations in the society.

This fact cannot be overlooked because it almost characterizes the nature of many gender sports across the globe (Costa & Guthrie, 1994, p. 2).

In Kenya, a sport is termed as masculine if it involves wrestling an opponent down, a lot of body contact, or if it has immense projection of body weight onto a given object (Lefebvre, 2002, p. 2). These kinds of sports are perceived as more appropriate to masculine attributes like aggression, power and efficiency.

What is sad is the fact that the society perceives sport as generally masculine and male virtues such as strength power and aggression are highly celebrated at the expense of feminine attributes.

In fact, the mass participation of spectators in sports has been identified by some scholars as a means of weeding out weak participants (Lefebvre, 2002). In contrast, feminine sports are majorly perceived as a means of keeping women healthy because it acts as a form of exercise and not necessarily a means of competition (Lefebvre, 2002).

In the Kenyan context, the situation is no different because male sports are considered to be those that are largely violent, dangerous, involve a lot of team spirit, speed, strength, endurance and masculinity but more notable is the traditional male dominance that exists in the Kenyan society which scares females away if they want to participate in male dominated sports.

It therefore doesn’t come as a surprise that females who dare to take part in male sports often face a lot of opposition and the same is also noted of males who decide to take part in sporting events perceived to be feminine (Lefebvre, 2002, p. 8). This sort of gender stereotype has decreased the level of female participation even in bi-gender sports such as basketball and football.

The level of male participation in certain type of sports such as gymnastics is also very low, showing how gender stereotypes influences gender participation in mainstream sports.

Females are therefore more observed to take part in sports that exemplify their female form such as swimming, gymnastics, tennis and similar sports because they involve graceful, non confrontational movements as opposed to aggressive stunts noted in male sports. The former traits are associated with feminism.

In the American context however, females who dare to participate in male dominated sports such as wrestling, or boxing are branded as “not feminine enough” and therefore they may be mistaken to be lesbians (Lefebvre, 2002, p. 11).

This kind of ideology which exists in the America society has a twofold repercussion because primarily, heterosexual females are highly discouraged from taking part in male dominated sports because of the social stigma that characterizes such kind of a move and also, the fear of being isolated by their peers discourages them as well.

Secondly, females who are truly lesbians may suppress the urge to come out and express their interests as part of the gay community. This situation is not any different for males who wish to take part in sporting events perceived feminine, such as ice-skating, or synchronized swimming competitions (Lefebvre, 2002, p. 13).

In the Kenyan context, males who are willing to take part in female sports such as volleyball or netball are seen as lacking the masculine attribute which makes them superior to females and few males would rather experience such. In this regard, the number of males in Kenya taking part in female-dominated sports is extremely low (East African Community, 2010).

In fact, the number cannot be estimated to those willing to take part in female sports in the American context. This arises out of the fact that not many males are willing to equate themselves to females in any manner. If this societal norm is not observed, the traditional gender hierarchy would be destabilized.

The Kenyan society especially upholds this fact because if they allow females, for example, to take part in male-dominated sports, the age-old belief that men are physiologically superior will be dispelled and most people are not comfortable with such an idea. This kind of ideology is deeply entrenched not only in families but also in sports management.

However, coming back to family, it would not be surprising to see a Kenyan parent discouraging, or even forbidding the daughter from taking part in a male dominated sport. More emphasis is therefore given on letting each gender know his/her place in society.

Moreover, in the Kenyan society, females have their place in society, which is always characterized by motherly roles in addition to possessing qualities like kindness and submission (East African Community, 2010, p. 12). Many sport managers in Kenya interestingly share this belief because they are of the opinion that women should take part in female dominated sports only to sustain their high moral ground.

The same is also observed of men because if they are allowed to take part in female dominated sports, they may become soft and lose their edge, thereby denying the male species the power they need to dominate the society (Lefebvre, 2002).

Also, another existing assumption that prevents bi-gender participation of sports in Kenya is the fact that if females are allowed to compete on the same level with men, they may suffer injuries because of the male aggressive nature. This opinion may be justifiable to some extent.

Interestingly, this belief is also held by many males because they believe that they would not be playing to their full potential if they are allowed to compete with women in the same competitions (Lefebvre, 2002, p. 13).

The American context also holds similar beliefs especially in the way the media portrays gender participation in sports. For example, it was established that the American media aired 70% of male-dominated sporting activity as opposed to women’s 5% (Lefebvre, 2002, p. 13).

In fact, its is evidently clear that the American media airs stories about women sports only if a female has outstandingly outshone a male counterpart, or if there is a funny story, say, a group of nuns playing basketball against a group bikini dressed women. In this manner, we can deduce the fact that the American media shows female sports more for amusement purposes as opposed to female sport admiration (Lefebvre, 2002).

The same gender bias can also be noted in sports management. For example, in gender funding, there is a big disparity between the funding of male sports as opposed to female sports funding. For instance, if a female player comes in to play basketball, we can be assured that there is no way a sports manager would pay her the same way as he would, Kobe Bryant.

In fact, she would not be paid the same way as a bench player, regardless of how well she masters her basketball skills. The same disparities can also be observed through university funding of sporting activities. For example, at the University of New Hampshire, the total male sports funding was 1.7:1 when compared to female sports funding. This is unfair considering male to female participation was 1.4:1 (Lefebvre, 2002, p. 11).

Despite this appalling similarity between Kenyan and American gender role participation, there is a difference between the two countries when analyzed in the same context because in America, women are coming out to stamp their authority in the society while in Kenya, the status quo is still strongly evident.

For example, if an American female outshines a male partner in athletics, all existing theories of female frailty are usually dispelled, but in the Kenyan context, such occurrences may be quickly downplayed. Also, in America, the level of acceptance of female participation in most sporting events is quickly growing and more and more people are quickly being seen to break down the gender wall (Lefebvre, 2002, p. 14).

For example, in a past issue of sports illustrated, female boxing was constantly being advertised and a good number of supporters from across the gender divide came up to support female athletes (Lefebvre, 2002, p. 15). It is therefore important to foster equal gender participation in sports to increase democracy in sports management.

Cultural bias exists among different communities, especially regarding the adoption of sports. Some cultures embrace sport cultures for various reasons and become part of the social fabric while others place less emphasis on it.

In turn, generations become socialized to live according to cultural expectations and therefore perpetrate such systems or stereotypes. It is therefore not surprising to note that some cultures are practically dominant in many types of sports while others are conspicuously absent.

In Kenya, sports has been deeply entrenched as part of the wider goal of embracing the East African Community protocol but its importance goes deep into enhancing social cohesion between communities. Kenya and other East African states such as Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda have acknowledged the importance of sports in enhancing the East African spirit because it brings the locals together.

This is also in accordance to other social initiatives in education, science, social reforms and economic ties which are meant to bring the East African nations closer.

The level of entrenchment of the sport culture in Kenya and the rest of the East African community is however historical and has been reaffirmed over the years through frequent tournaments between various nationals in a variety of games such as soccer (East African Community, 2010, p. 4).

Kenya has therefore realized the importance of undertaking sporting events for the sake of ensuring community survival and social cohesion for the accomplishment of the overall goal of maintaining a stable environment for social, political and economic development.

This attitude has been complimented by the country’s efforts in abiding to UNESCO’s principles of upholding cultural diversity as a strategy to maintain security and also the accommodation of cultural diversity among all ethnic groups. The same principles are also protected by the East African Culture and Sports Council (East African Community, 2010, p. 7).

This cultural entrenchment of sports has made Kenya a home to many athletes in different types of sports. In this manner, the youth have grown up to adopt sports as part of culture and a way of life.

This can be evidenced through the huge emphasis on sports in the Kenyan education system where some of the best sports personalities have been discovered. For example, in the Kenyan rugby team, most of the players have been recruited from some of the best performing rugby schools which have burst into the spotlight because of Kenya’s robust sporting culture.

There is a similarity between the Kenyan and American context of sports and culture because both countries embrace sports as part of their daily lives. For instance, baseball has become very popular in America and is now considered part of the American culture.

However, the sporting culture in America is significantly different from the Kenyan sports culture because In Kenya, sports has been majorly entrenched in the society because of its ability to increase social cohesion and at grass root levels, sports have been used to reconcile warring communities.

On a national level, sports have been used to increase nationalism levels in the East African context. However, in the American society, sports have been entrenched into the society for entertainment reasons.

A lot of cultural, racial and gender differences plague the way sports is managed and influence athlete attitudes altogether. Racial prejudices in sports have been noted to determine how sport managers source and train athletes.

Racial expectations have also stereotyped young people to take part in certain sporting activities, but at the same time, discouraged others from taking part in certain sports. Consequently, various ideologies have developed, assigning certain types of sports to certain racial groups. However, it should be noted that this is just a socialization tool and certain beliefs may not necessarily be true.

Gender has also stuck out to be a strong force in determining gender participation in certain types of sporting activities. For example, Kenya has often-discouraged females from taking part in male dominated sporting activities because of the aggressive nature of male sports and males have equally been discouraged to take part in female dominated sports because of the feminine nature of female sports.

To a far extent, we can deduce the fact that gender participation in sports has been largely affected by gender socialization, not only in Kenya but in America as well.

Lastly, we can observe that culture has a huge role to play in shaping up future athletes. Kenya has adopted a sporting culture just like America, and in turn, many sports personalities have been developed from the integral nature of sports in the society. In other words, many people are motivated to take part in sports even though there may be different reasons for entrenching sports in various societies.

In societies where the sports culture is not properly socialized (like the Asian culture), minimal participation of athletes is likely to be noted. Overall, we can say with surety that racial, cultural and gender influences influence sports management and athlete attitudes.

Bloom, J. & Willard, M. N. (2002) Sports Matters, Race, Recreation, and Culture . New York: University Press.

Costa, M. & Guthrie, S. (1994) Women and Sports: Interdisciplinary Perspectives . Champaign: Human Kinetics.

East African Community (2010). The East African Culture and Sports Commission . Web.

Lefebvre, K. (2002). Topoc 2: Gender and Sport . Web.

Mosley, A. (2010). Racial Differences in Sports: What’s Ethics Got To Do With It? Web.

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IvyPanda. (2019, December 20). Cultural, Gender and Racial Differences in Sports. https://ivypanda.com/essays/cultural-gender-and-racial-differences-in-sports/

"Cultural, Gender and Racial Differences in Sports." IvyPanda , 20 Dec. 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/cultural-gender-and-racial-differences-in-sports/.

IvyPanda . (2019) 'Cultural, Gender and Racial Differences in Sports'. 20 December.

IvyPanda . 2019. "Cultural, Gender and Racial Differences in Sports." December 20, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/cultural-gender-and-racial-differences-in-sports/.

1. IvyPanda . "Cultural, Gender and Racial Differences in Sports." December 20, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/cultural-gender-and-racial-differences-in-sports/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Cultural, Gender and Racial Differences in Sports." December 20, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/cultural-gender-and-racial-differences-in-sports/.

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