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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.
| The term “aging habitus” refers to the ways in which societal and cultural norms influence people’s beliefs, actions, and self-assurance toward aging. The word is derived from Bourdieu’s concept of habitus, which refers to the unconscious behavioural patterns we pick up from society about how to behave or view ourselves. In the context of aging, it implies that individuals frequently absorb signals about what is “normal” or “appropriate” for senior citizens, particularly in contexts like sports. Even when they are physically capable, these messages can make older people, especially women, feel as though they don’t belong in competitive or physical environments. As noted by Pike (2015), such messages can lead to older women shunning sports not because of physical limitations but rather because they feel uncomfortable. The aging habitus explains why aging is a highly social process as well as a biological one, with gender norms and ageism influencing how older people view their bodies and chances.
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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.
| In the media, old age is often shown as a time of decline, weakness, or not mattering anymore. Images of the old often show them as lonely, dependent, or not interested in living a busy life. These kinds of portrayals feed into ageist ideas that getting older means losing your energy and sense of purpose. These images can hurt how people think about older people, making them feel less important and less appreciated for their accomplishments.
An example of a company that is against this is the Centre for Ageing Better. Their action is “The Centre for Ageing Better is tackling inequalities in aging. We are working to make our workplaces, homes and communities inclusive of older people, as well as building an Age-friendly Movement so that society sees ageing in a more positive and realistic way.”
Centre for Ageing Better. (n.d.). Age-positive image library. https://www.ageing-better.org.uk/resources/age-positive-image-library |
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.
| Elizabeth Pike’s (2015) piece talks about how sports affect the way older people feel about getting older. Pike talks about Dionigi’s study and says that sports can help older people both accept and fight getting older. On the one hand, older people may learn to accept their physical limits and start playing sports that are good for their health, movement, and overall well-being. They can deal with getting older in a healthy and busy way because they accept it.
Being active in sports, on the other hand, helps older people fight the aging process by going against the idea that getting older means being weak or boring. Older people who stay busy, compete, or take on new physical tasks fight back against the idea that getting older means you have to slow down or withdraw from society. This resistance can give them a new sense of purpose, courage, and identity, which can be powerful. Acceptance and resistance are both parts of sports. This gives people a more complicated and good way to age, where they have control over how they age and are not limited by their limitations. An example could be physical activity such as yoga for seniors, specifically yoga that is catered to help those with mobility issues, like chair yoga!
Better5. (n.d.). Free chair yoga for seniors to lose weight—Easy & gentle! Better5. Retrieved April 17, 2025, from https://better5.com/free-chair-yoga-for-seniors-to-lose-weight/ |
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)
| In Pike’s words, wealth is a big part of who gets to age “successfully” through sports. People who are better off financially, educationally, socially, and physically are much more likely to be able to access sports centres, planned programs, and safe places to be active. On the other hand, people from marginalized communities have trouble because of things like cost, lack of time, and even feeling like they don’t fit in some sports places because of ageist or elitist views.
A lot of the time, active aging is shown through the bodies of white, middle-class, fit people. This leaves out a lot of people from the story of what “healthy aging” looks like. This makes things more unequal by making it seem like all you have to do to age well is work at it, instead of fixing the social systems that make it hard for many older people to get to sports and health care. |
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!
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Age discrimination frequently receives more reporting than any other form of prejudice. This is due to the widespread nature of age discrimination, which often goes unnoticed by most people. Especially in the West, young people are seen as the most beautiful, productive, and creative. People think that older people are past their best, out of touch, or a drag, especially when it comes to work, health care, and how they are portrayed in the media. People think that older people aren’t helpful or important anymore because they have jobs, need care, or don’t want to change. They’re “holding back” social progress. This situation is made worse by the fact that older people are rarely shown in the media or ads as busy, independent, or energetic, unless it’s in a “wow, look at them go!” way that still makes them seem different. The concept that elderly people pose a risk to the values and interests of society originates from the same source: the dread of deterioration, dependence, and the expense of providing care for individuals. People who live in a world that is focused on making money and being productive see getting older as a problem instead of a normal and important part of life. This shame makes it harder for older people to make friends and improve their mental and physical health. |
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 two ads show different ideas about getting older and sports. In the first ad, most of the women shown are younger, slim, active, and playing intense or competitive sports. The ad wants to encourage women to be strong and independent, but it leaves out older women by promoting narrow ideas of what it means to be “sporty.” A lot of attention is paid to physical performance and looks, which shows that society values youth, speed, and looks more than health, happiness, or ease. This hides age, and bodies that are getting older are subtly shown as unwanted or not able to participate in sports.
A lot more people are included in the second ad. It shows older women with a range of body types and levels of health doing different kinds of exercise, such as walks, swimming, chair yoga, dancing, and more. These women are shown as real and sure of themselves, with a focus on happiness, movement, and community over competition or beauty. The ad shows that sports can be fun, social, and fit into different stages of life. Here, getting older isn’t hidden; it’s celebrated. This helps people see older women as fully competent, active, and worthy of being seen in sports and public life. This portrayal fights ageism and supports a more realistic, powerful, and welcoming view of getting older. |
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 agree with Elizabeth Pike that getting older has become more “feminine” in recent years. Women tend to live longer than men, so getting older is becoming more and more linked to femininity in both population statistics and cultural stories. Anti-aging messages are often aimed at older women in the media, in ads, and in public health discussions. These messages can come from beauty products, healthy living choices, or “wellness” trends. This feminization produces a complicated double standard: older women are expected to age “gracefully,” which means they should keep their looks and energy young and still be caring, humble, and socially “appropriate.”
This pressure is often linked to race and class, which means that powerful women have easier chances of having the time, money, and tools they need to meet these standards. On the other hand, women who don’t have as much may be unfairly judged for “aging badly” or for being less fit or responsible. Therefore, the feminization of aging includes more than just women living longer; it also includes how older women are perceived, treated, and expected to act, particularly in contexts like sports where performance and freshness are frequently valued. This making women more like men has effects in sports in particular. Women over 50 are not as likely to be pushed or helped to be physically active. In clubs or community sports groups that are mostly for younger people, they might feel like they don’t belong. Additionally, they are underrepresented in the media, which hinders their ability to identify as movers or athletes at any age. Ads like the second one that include everyone are very important because they show that sports are for everyone, not just kids or people who are naturally strong. |
Section Three: Module Mini Assignment
| The Great Peterborough Pickleball Debacle is mostly about the conflict between older people who love to play pickleball and the city’s choice to make it harder for them to use public places. Based on what I read, the City of Peterborough shut down some of Bonnerworth Park’s outdoor pickleball courts because of noise complaints. They then made the indoor courts less numerous and easier to control. There were a lot of older tennis players who were upset about this because the game had become dear to them. The issue is that the city didn’t prepare well for how popular the sport would become, even though it was becoming more popular, especially among older people. This caused anger, disagreement, and public pushback.
It does seem like there is a lot of subtle ageism going on when you look at how older people are portrayed in the media and on social media. It sounds like some of the stories and comments thought the players were “too loud,” “entitled,” or “unwilling to compromise,” which is rude. A lot of the attention was on complaints and problems instead of praising the fact that older people are staying busy and making new friends. This entire circumstance is a reflection of the Pike discusses the common perception of aging as a deterioration and the expectation for older people to discreetly leave public settings. What strikes me about the argument is how it shows a bigger problem with how we deal with getting older as a society. The tone of some media makes older people seem like a bother instead of praising them for staying busy and making friends through pickleball. In a way, being busy is only okay if it follows certain rules or doesn’t get in the way of other people. Newer people are thought to be able to handle getting older on their own, without help from others, which is connected to this idea. Instead of putting money into places where people of all ages can be healthy and connect with each other, the focus moves to rules, complaints, and keeping things “under control.” These actions suggest that getting older should take place away from public view, and public spaces aren’t really for everyone. |
