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1 Chapter One: Sports Feminism

Section One: The Fundamentals

A) What do we know about sport? What are common assumptions we make about sport and society? 

Exercise 1: Before we go any further, I want you to take a moment and complete the phrases below:

Sport builds

character

Sport provides opportunities for

social mobility

Sport encourages

teamwork and unity

Sport reflects

values and social…

Sport transcends

politics

Sport speaks

a universal language

Sport is a measure of

individual merit
While these statements might be true on one level, on another, they do not align with many people’s experience of sport, which brings us to our first class discussion forum.
 Exercise 2: Padlet response
 Speculate on why some of the statements/assumptions above might be untrue for some people or from a certain perspective. Is there anything your peers noted that surprised you? Comment on this as well.
 [type below or paste in a screenshot of your padlet participation] 
the statement “sports promote teamwork and unity” might be untrue for some people because for example: for professional female and male athletes in the same sport, the female athletes often have much less media coverage, much lower pay, and I’ve even seen fan discrimination against female athletes (ufc fighters) based on their physical appearance, which can lead to female athletes feeling much less united than/with their male counterparts. another example of someone who may not feel that sports promote teamwork and unity could be a LGBTQ+ athlete on a team with homophobic members, which wouldn’t make the LGBTQ+ member feel welcomed or united. one perspective a peer pointed out that i didn’t even think about is how in highly competitive sports, some athletes focus on individual success rather than success of the team, which can lead to them becoming a “ball/puck hog” and not promoting teamwork or unity.

Exercise 3: Notebook prompt

What are some other metanarratives about sport that you are familiar with? Find an image or video clip or draw something yourself that captures this idea…

So what? Why does any of this matter?  Does it matter? As something we grow up with – live with – play through – we don’t often interrogate the meanings of sport, and perhaps we don’t want to.

But being aware of these assumptions and metanarratives is especially important, I would argue, because of the centrality of sport to our everyday lives, the role that sport plays in shaping our childhood and worldviews and….. [finish that thought] 

Meritocracy: the great delusion that ingrains inequality | Jo Littler | The Guardian

another metanarrative about sports is that success is based on ability and talent. “If you train really hard and eat all your food to grow big and strong like ____ you can be an athlete like them too!”. but this isn’t true, as an athlete may be overlooked or unable to have the same access to training based solely off their race. Also, some athletes have an advantage in obtaining training or opportunities because of their race or socioeconomic state. growing up this can lead to minorities feeling like they’re not as talented as other athletes, but its not that, its discrimination that’s engrained in our society.

But being aware of these assumptions and metanarratives is especially important, I would argue, because of the centrality of sport to our everyday lives, the role that sport plays in shaping our childhood and worldviews and…. it also reinforces some negative social structures, like power dynamics based on gender, race, class, and ability (or disability). critically analyzing these assumptions and metanarratives allows us to reflect on who is included and excluded, and how sports can improve or make these inequalities worse.

 

 

 

B) What is social justice?

Exercise 4: Padlet Prompt 

Think back to the last section and try to look at some of the ideas we discussed differently. How might sport and social justice actually co-exist?

Record any images, video clips, or gifs you added to the padlet and identify a point of intersection between sport and social justice (can be an issue or a barrier or a debate or something you would like to explore in more depth in this course) . Screenshot or paste in your response below.

a point of intersection between sport and social justice could be access and opportunity, like what i was discussing in the last prompt. access and opportunity in sports are not equal to individuals with the same talent but different socioeconomic status or race. social justice could help to address this issue in access and opportunity by having subsidized or free community sports so low income households have the same access, also investing more to expand sport opportunities for people with disabilities, and investing in sport facilities in underprivileged and/or low-income communities.

 

 

 

 

C) Social Justice Reading 

  (note: this activity is optional!)

D) KINESIOLOGY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Exercise 5: 

Social justice is a difficult concept to identify because of its:

 

  • dynamic nature and meaning
  • potential for dilution because of multitude of definitions
  • conflation with other concerns like multicultural education, critical pedagogy, postmodernism, post colonialism, and queer theory
  • it is a process as well as a goal

    How does mainstream discourse construct marginalized populations as “being-at-risk” for health and fitness issues?

     

    • It suggests they lack the capacity for self-compliance in health and physical education.
    • It suggests they lack the capacity for self-management skills.
    • It suggests they lack the capacity for self-discipline.
      Healthism constructs members of marginalized populations as defective, not responsible citizens, and as “problem to be fixed” and blamed when government-mandated programs fail to meet their goals.

    According to the authors of this article, by making health and fitness a matter of personal

    responsibility

    , individual choice, and

    moralized

    practices, healthism

    obscures

    and glosses over issues of privilege,

    discrimination

    , and social inequalities. (paraphrased)

     

Exercise 6:

What are the implications of bodies-at-risk discourse and the refusal to understand the health gap from a social justice perspective, according to the authors of this article?

there are several implications of the bodies-at-risk discourse and the refusal to understand the health gap from a social justice perspective outlined by the authors in the article. one of which is blaming individuals instead of addressing the structural inequalities, where marginalized individuals are seen as personally responsible for their health outcomes, instead of recognizing the systemic barriers they face that play a role in the outcomes (racism, poverty, gender discrimination). and this also shifts the attention away from solutions involving structural determinants of health like housing, food access, access to healthcare, and education, because it’s simply the individuals fault (as they see it).

 

 

 

Section Two: Sport Feminism

Exercise 7: Notebook Prompt

What is feminism?  What does it mean to you? Choose one of the images below and explain how it captures your understanding of feminism (or find one that does speak to you and paste this into your pressbook with an explanation of why it matters to you.

 

for some reason this section won’t let me paste the image, but i really liked the image with the women and a man linking arms at what appears to be a protest, as i feel like it captures what feminism is to me. Obviously the most biggest  part of feminism is that men and women and treated and viewed as equals, however to me it goes deeper. I believe that as women we have to look out and stand up for each other in the faces of injustice, and it’s not just for women, as men are important in the way to equality, and i think the picture does a good job of showing this, as the woman and men come together and stand up for what they believe in, even if it doesn’t directly benefit them (for the case of the man, or with white women protesting for minorities, as i dont know the context of the picture).

 

 

Exercise 8: Notes Prompt (optional)

NB: Cornell notes is a great resource that teaches effective notetaking. Unfortunately, our system can’t save notes taken in the H5P app, so this is fully optional.

Exercise 9: Crossword Activity 

Across
3
What word do the authors use to describe dominant sociological approaches to sport (from a gendered perspective)?(10)
6
One of the aspects of radical feminist thought that is regularly criticized.(12)
8
This is seen as the main focus of liberal feminism(6)
9
The last name of a prominent radical feminist named in the article.(4)
10
One of the criticisms leveled against poststructural and queer theory for tendencies to emphasize “difference and thus los[e] the notion of women’s shared experiences in relation to gender” (103)(10)
11
This is seen as the result of taking whiteness as a taken-for-granted central position that relegates blackness to “otherness” (101)(12)
13
One of the central theories of gender developed by poststructuralist feminist philosopher, Judith Butler.(14)
Down
1
A central concern of both Marxist and socialist feminism.(10)
2
Also a concern of liberal feminist sport research in respect to decision-making and leadership positions.(19)
4
Radical feminists argue that “women’s involvement in sport is controlled and restricted through their clothing” and the expectation they will present this kind of image (98)(10)
5
Identified by the authors as a central concern of postcolonial theorizing about identity.(8)
7
Differences in female sports participation is a product of this practice.(13)
12
First name of major Black woman tennis star.(6)

Exercise 10:  Padlet Prompt

Create your own word cloud including all of the important terms and concepts covered in the article that were not included in the crossword activity! (Record or screenshot your response below).

 

i’m still not able to paste or insert pictures, so heres the words from my word cloud: Patriarchy, intersectionality, embodiment, empowerment, resistance, privilege, commodification, disability, heteronormativity, identity, homophobia, sexualization, marginalization, racism

 

 
Exercise 11: Padlet Discussion Prompt (optional) 
The illustration featured in this padlet (of a basketball with the word “women’s” eclipsing a basketball bearing the word “men’s” at the time of the solar eclipse) ran last year in a Philadelphia newspaper piece about how athletes like Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark were generating unprecedented enthusiasm for women’s sport. Do you feel the landscape is changing? Do people care about women’s sport?
 

 

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This work (Gender, Sport, and Social Justice by Kelly McGuire) is free of known copyright restrictions.

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