2
Section One: The Fundamentals
A) History and Context
Exercise 1: Notebook Prompt
| Make a note of anything that surprised you in this episode or something new that you learned.
After listening to the episode there were two main events that surprised me and were things that I learned for the first time after listening The first event being when Maximila Imali had her body examined in order to race. Before this module I did not know that body examinations were needed to compete in higher level sports. Listening to the podcast made me feel upset for Maximila and the way they went about the examination. First off they did not explain the process to her or what tests they were running on her. This would make anyone feel uncomfortable and the fact that it is so common is very upsetting. The process of body examinations is wrong but if they need to be done I feel that they should explain what is happening to make the person feel more comfortable. The second thing that surprised me in the episode was there being a need for Maximila to change her body in order to compete in the races. Within sports there is a lot of conversy nowadays about people being trans and being able to compete in professional sports. However it is okay to force someone to change their body in order to be “normal”. If this is seen as right why can’t someone who is trans compete in professional sports after changing their bodies to be what they feel is “normal” .The whole world of professional sports will very confusing and seems to do what best benefits them. |
B) Timeline of History
Exercise 2: Notebook Prompt
What other significant case/milestone would you add to this timeline? Note it in your notebook along with a brief (one or two sentences) explanation of why you feel it is important.
| The one big significant case or milestone that I feel should be added to the timeline is when mass amounts of players were suspended or lost contracts for kneeling during the national anthem. After the BLM movement started many players in different sports who are black individuals showed their support by kneeling during the anthem and showing that the bias against black individuals need to come to an end. I feel like this was a very important moment for many different people across sports. |
C) Gender coding in Sports
Exercise 3: Notebook Prompt
Has the gendering of sport ever been a constraint on your involvement? How?
Or, if not, why do you think this is?
| Growing up playing soccer was my favorite way to pass time and I loved every second of it. However there were sometimes it was challenging being a girl and trying to play sports. There were limited amounts of teams we could play for as most of them were for the boys. Many people where I grew up believed that soccer was a male sport and there was not a need for many girls teams. This was upsetting to me as a kid because it meant I had to travel further to play the sport I loved. The lack of teams were girls also meant the cost of playing was higher making it harder for my family to pay for these sports compared to my brother. I think that everyone should be allowed to play the sport they would like and their gender should not matter. |
D) How is sport gendered in the popular imagination?
Exercise 4: Padlet/Notebook Prompt
While most sports are in fact unisex, gender coding remains pervasive, particularly at the professional level, although with a foundation established in youth competition. Participate in the poll below to share your views on how popular sports are gendered in the popular imagination. Also feel welcome to add or suggest sports that you feel strongly conform to the gender binary!
After you contribute to the padlet prompt, record your response in your notebook AND briefly discuss in two or three sentences how these responses and the polling figures in general confirm or contradict your assumptions about gender-coding and sports. Did anything surprise you?
| Figure Skating: Female
Rugby: Neutral Tennis: Neutral Swimming: Neutral Cheerleading: Female Baseball: Male Gymnastics: Female Hockey: Neutral Softball: Female Basketball: Neutral Power lighting: Neutral Volleyball: Neutral Soccer: Neutral Football: Male Many of the responses to these questions were the same as mine. This did not shock me because as a society we learn from a young age what is meant for girls and what is meant for boys. When we go outside of this it is not normal and people question us. |
Section Two: Breaking it down
A) Title IX
Exercise 5: Notebook Prompt
In a longer version of the interview excerpted in the video above, Leah Thomas states “Trans women competing in women’s sports does not threaten women’s sports as a whole because trans women are a very small minority of all athletes and the NCAA rules around trans women competing in women’s sports have been around for 10+ years and we haven’t seen any massive wave of trans women dominating”?
Do you agree with this statement? See also the image above suggesting that the issue may be overblown by politicians and influencers who don’t actually care that much about women’s sports.
Please share any thoughts you have in your Notebook by clicking on the audio button above or writing a few sentences.
| I completely agree with Leah Thomas and her statement on trans women competing in women’s sports. First off these women are taking medicine to suppress what makes them a “man” meaning there is no threat of them being stronger than anyone else. Secondly like she said there are not mass amounts of them taking over the sports or “stealing” spots from other athletes. They should all be allowed to compete in the gendered category they believe they fit in with. |
B) Unfair Advantage?
Exercise 6: Notebook Prompt
What does the host and writer, Rose Eveleth, have to say on the issue of unfair advantage?
Can you think of other examples of unique biological or circumstantial advantages from which athletes have benefitted enormously that have nothing to do with gender?
| In the podcast Rose Eveleth discusses the issue of unfair advantages that are seen in sports. She discusses how these advantages are viewed by the officials of sports. She starts off talking about how advantages connected to sex are considered fair game as long as they match up with your sex. These advantages are considered normal and have no effect on the athlete competing even if they do give some sort of advantage. However, they say any genetic advantages outside of ones that are connected to your sex are seen as unfair and not normal. A female having more testosterone is seen as an unfair advantage even if they were born with it because it is not normally connected to their sex.
One example of unique biological advantages that I can think of would be Simone Biles. Although many would not look at her and see an advantage she does have one over other gymnasts. Her smaller size makes it easier to perform certain skills on the different events and gives her advantages when it comes to flips. She can use this to her advantage which has been seen in her winning many medals yet it is not seen as an advantage because women are expected to have smaller bodies. |
Do you agree? Why? In your experience, how fair are sports? Feel welcome to add a video response in the padlet and provide an example if you’re willing. Make sure you include a screenshot of your response in your notebook.
| In favour:
I agree that we accept unfairness within sports all the time and it is so common that sometimes we do not even realize that it is unfair. Within elite sports the unfairness can be seen more often and that is something I learned throughout my life playing elite soccer. In a perfect world the referees are there to make sure the sport stays fair and there are rules to help this. However, this is not the case as you get older and play more elite sports. Growing up soccer was my favorite way to pass the time and playing recreational soccer was fun. As I got older and started to play elite soccer the levels of unfairness started to show more. Making the best team was no longer about your level of skill but based on how much money your parents had. The rules started to fade more leading to many girls getting hurt and no longer wanting to play. All of these systems set in place to make sure the sport was fair seemed to be disappearing as we got older showing how unfair elite sports can be. |
