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Section One: The Fundamentals
A) Keywords
Exercise 1:
Provide a brief definition of one of the padlet keywords for this week.
| Equity:
Equity is a word that I first heard about when I was in high school. To better explain it my teacher showed us the photo that is above. This photo shows the difference between equality and equity. Although many people believe that they mean the same thing they do not. Equity is focused on making sure everyone is given the supports they need to be successful within society. These supports are provided so that people have the same chance to be successful in life and can do what they would like. Within sports this might look like athletes experiencing different challenges or policies for everyone to have the same chance at winning. Many believe that this might give certain people an advantage but in reality it is making it that everyone has an equal chance at success. |
B) The Social Significance of Aging in Sport
Exercise 2: Notebook Prompt
How is old age popularly represented today? Find an image online that you think exemplifies one defining attitude towards old age and paste in your notebook below with a brief explanation of what this image means to you.
There are many different stereotypes placed on older people in today’s society. The most popular one that I could think of was that older people are rude or they are mean towards other people. I picked the photo above as it shows an older man yelling at another person showing emotions of anger or being upset. Whenever an older person is upset about something or raise their voice most of society just plays it down as they are old and this is the only feeling they know instead of asking them why they are feeling these emotions. As someone who grew up living with my grandparents I do not feel this stereotype is accurate as they are still human meaning they are allowed to feel upset when something upsetting happens. As people get older that does not mean they become less of a human and they shouldn’t be able to express their emotions the same as a younger person. |
Exercise 3: Notebook Prompt
What does the article (referencing another study by Dionigi) mean by its statement that sport can help aging people to simultaneously “accept and resist the ageing process” (572)? Respond by audio or text and find paste two images sourced online into your notebook showing how sport might help aging people to both accept and resist the aging process.
Older people participating in sports has been talked about highly for many years now as a way for them to accept and resist the process of aging. Playing sports is a great way to get involved in your community and provide someone with a sense of belonging. For older people it works the same way and provides them with a way to connect with other people going through the aging process and they can openly talk about it with each other. They are able to discuss their experiences together and realize that they are not alone in this process. Playing in sports is also a great way for older people to still stay health and make sure their bodies are still getting the chance to move. This can help them slow down the aging process in some ways and allows for them to live a longer life in some cases. Playing sports offers many benefits for people no matter your age or your skill ability. I selected these two photos to show men and women who are older experiencing sports and providing them with a sense of community. Both photos show people playing a sport that they look to enjoy and they are using their bodies to move around keeping them healthier then if they were just to stay at home. |
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Exercise 4: Notebook Prompt
Who are the groups less likely to have extensive opportunities to take part in sports, according to Pike? How does privilege factor into aging and sport? (200 words max)
| According to Pike the following groups are less likely to have extensive opportunities to take part in sports those with disabilities, the very frail, some minority ethnic groups, those confined to care facilities and those living in rural areas. These people having limited access to play and engage in sports helps show that privilege plays a big factor into sports. People who have more privilege are more likely to play sports and have the opportunities to choose what sports they want to play. They will have more money to play sports, more sports to choose from, and more facilities that are willing to run sports programs. Privilege can also factor into aging and sport as Pike said that people in care facilities will have less access to sports and as people get older many of them are put into facilities as their families find it hard to provide them care with how busy their lives are. This can led to many older people not getting the chances to play sports that can benefit their physical and social health. |
Exercise 5: Padlet Discussion
Why do you think age discrimination is “reported more than any form of prejudice” with older people presented as a threat to social values and interests? Feel welcome to use video in your responses. Paste your comments (or transcript of your video) below!
| Age discrimination is spread throughout society because we have strong value for youth, provdivity, and independence. This helps create stronger bias around people of older age as they are believed to not have any of these values. When people think about older people they think of them as not youthful, lacking skills to be productive, and needing lots of assistance making them less independent. The older generations however can hold insightful information on life and different skills that can be useful for us. |
B) Older Women and Sport
Exercise 6: Notebook Prompt
What differences do you see in these ads? Which one is more inclusive? How is age represented or not represented in each? Answer these questions in your notebook.
| The Nike ad shows different athletes playing different sports over time and from past competes that have happened. However, many of the athletes seen are what would be considered young and full of youth. They did not show any athletes who would be considered older or of elderly age. The Nike ad provides coverage of many social issues that have taken place over the last couple of years giving more insight to important moments in sports.
The This girl can ad shows all different ages, races, and physical abilities of women. They show women being able to do whatever they put their mind too. It shows women pushing through pain, challenges, and life factors. This ad however does not show women who I would consider older but they do cover a wide range of age groups. |
Exercise 7: Notebook Prompt
In her article, “Assessing the sociology of sport: On age and ability,” Elizabeth Pike references a “trend towards a ‘feminisation of ageing’, with many women living longer than men” (573). Do you agree that aging has been “feminized” in this way? How? Answer these questions in your notebook.
| I do agree that aging has been “feminized” in certain aspects and that many aging related things are targeted at women. The first thing being that women typically live longer then men leading to them being the prime targets of anti-aging tools. The next biggest reason I believe this is because for women there are more expectations when it comes to aging. Women are meant to always look put together, younger than they really are, and that aging isn’t affecting them. Many products are made and advertised to target aging women using this idea that it can slow down aging for them. These products are not seen as often for men as there is not this idea that they need to stay young forever. Men are told to embrace their grey hair well women are told that they must colour it in order to stay young and youthful. I believe that there will always be this idea that women need to appear younger than they really are. |
Section Three: Module Mini Assignment
| After reading the article by Elaine Anselmi the problem being discussed is that many people within the city are against the removal of one of the parks. In place of the park the city wants to put in place a new parking lot and 16 pickleball courts. Pickleball as started to become a more popular sport among people especially over social media. However, many people are disappointed that these courts will be put in as there will be less grass for children to play and there were already tennis courts on site where pickleball could have been played. This project is supposed to cost around 4.4 million dollars yet many community members seem upset so why is the city continuing the project.
Although pickleball has started to become more popular over social media most of pickleball players are older people. Pickleball was made as a less intense version of tennis as a way for older people to still stay active and play a sport. When looking up photos of people playing pickleball many of the photos were like the one above and show older people playing the sport. The internet has deemed this as a sport for older people but slowly social media is changing this view. All over my social media is younger moms and their friends going to play pickleball as a way to get out and socialize with their friends. This might be a reason why the city is pushing for their to be more courts as they know it is becoming a more popular sport among people. I believe that younger people being shown playing pickleball more on social media comes from the fact that it is more commonly used by younger generations. They will post about the sport more compared to the older generations as many of them do not have social media. This might lead to there seem like there is only representation of younger people although the sport was made for older people. |
