2
Section One: The Fundamentals
A) History and Context
Exercise 1: Notebook Prompt
| After watching the video “Pride In Sports History: Renee Richards’ Right to Play” I learned several aspects. Something new that I learned was the controversy surround transgender athletes competing in sport. Specifically looking at Renee Richards, it was interesting to hear the story surrounding her tennis career and the challenges she was put through due to her decision to transition. One aspect that was particularly interesting was the fact that she sued the U.S Open and won the right to compete as a woman. Although it is amazing to hear that she was able to win this lawsuit, it is concerning that she had to go to this extent and fight for her rights. Transgender athletes deserve equal rights and should not have to go through these hard challenges. |
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.
| Referring back to the fundamentals, I learned that women only made up 2% of the total athletes in the 1896 Olympics and it was not until 2012 that woman competed in all Olympic sports. Looking at the timeline, I would add this milestone because it is a very important step that was made in history. It is evident that for a tremendous amount of years woman in sport have had unequal opportunities and have had to fight for their rights to compete. However, issues participating in sport is not the only issue. Woman have also had unequal coaching opportunities as well which is why I believe it is so important to highlight the 2024 accomplishment of Jessica Campbell. She was the first female coach in NHL history to coach men’s hockey where she began her career with Seattle Kraken. I believe this this is a huge milestone that should be incorporated in the timeline because Campbell has made significant history and is a true representation that woman are capable of being powerful leaders. |
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?
| As a multisport female athlete who has competed in sports all her life, I have experienced many instances of gender discrimination during my involvement. One example I have took place many years ago. In elementary school, majority of the sports are co-ed meaning girls and boys are playing on the same team. One experience I remember was when I played on my school soccer team that consisted of mostly boys and 2 girls, including myself. I remember playing in games and the boys would not pass to me even when I was open or they would make comments like “you’re not good enough to be playing with us.” Keeping in mind that I played a high level of soccer and was able to compete just as much as they could. Looking back I never truly realized the gender discrimination that was occurring. Even if I was not very good at soccer, it still does not make it okay for these issues to occur. Overall, the inequalities I faced at this time were definitely a constraint on my involvement as it lead to many struggles and me not wanting to participate anymore. |
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?
| After adding my response to the polls and viewing the percentages along with each sport, this mainly confirms my assumptions about gender-coding and sports. Something that surprised me was the amount of people who voted hockey was a male gendered sport. There were 77.5% of people who voted for male and 22.5% voted for neutral. This is interesting because I feel our world has come such a long way with our equality for women and hockey. It is evident that more change needs to be made but as female who grew up playing hockey, I feel as if the gender based assumptions are a lot less common then they were before. Additionally, I felt the numbers for female would have been higher because we can see that female hockey has been televised much more often than it was before and a lot of light is being shed on female hockey players. |
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.
| In the interview when 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,” I agree with this statement. The reason I agree with this is because there is a very small percentage of woman athletes who are transgender. I could see why some sort of change would have to be made if there were a larger group of transgender woman in the total population however, they are not many as of this moment. However, I do wonder why if there were a larger group of transgender women in sport that it would “threaten” women sports? If I were to make any additional comments surrounding this statement, I would not make it seem like transgender women are a threat to sports as this can lead to conflicts arising and gender inequality assumptions. |
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?
|
After listening to the Podcast “Unfair Advantage” by Rose Evereth, she deeply explains the issue of unfair advantage. It was demonstrated that World Athletics implemented policies for Difference of Sex Development (DSD) athletes and how these individuals apparently have unfair advantages due to having higher testosterone levels from DSDs. Evereth explained this unfair advantage on the track because of their testosterone and without this testosterone, the advantage would be gone. One example of a unique biological advantage from an athlete would be Erling Haaland, who is a soccer star who plays for Manchester City. Haaland is a striker who relies on his physically dominate stature to score many goals. He is 6 foot 4, and weighs around 200lbs, which is a very standout body type in soccer. Haaland has benefitted immensely based on this biological advantage he was born with. He has the ability to muscle, pace and jump over any opponent in his way. |
Again, let’s turn to Katie Barnes who points out that we tend to forget amidst all the debate that “sports, by design, are not fair” (235), that “the reality of sports is that we accept unfairness all the time” (235).
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.
|
Yes, I agree with Katie Barnes’ point that sports are unfair and that we accept unfairness all the time. However, I feel like this is what sports are about and without unfairness, we would not have things like entertainment and fame. Looking at Lebron James for example, one of the most popular basketball players in the world, a lot of the times he is favored over his opponents. I am not talking about by fans, I am talking by referees. To me, a lot of basketball is unfair and works in favour of the greatest athletes, but this is the game. Thinking about the recruit process in basketball, height plays a major role and athletes who are tall do get a lot of fame and opportunities over others. Teams want athletes who are tall and mobile over people who are shorter and mobile. Yes, this is unfair, but it contributes to the game and is all part of the process. A different aspect that I look at in response to this point is the unfairness of sport in terms of socioeconomic status (SES). Individuals who show talent from a young age and are wanting to take the next step in their sport are often at a disadvantage compared to individuals with a higher SES. This is because sports, by design, does not do enough to support and provide opportunities for athletes who experience financial struggles. Instead, they favour those who are wealthy and able to pay to get somewhere even if they are not as good of an athlete as the individual with a low SES. Overall, this demonstrates the unfairness of sport in various aspects. My response to a classmate: I agree with your points. However, when you said that “sports are fair because the rules are the same for everyone” I slightly disagree with this point. Yes, rules are the same for everyone but due to privilege not everyone has to abide or will abide to these rules and while doing this they receive no consequences. Which relates back to how sport is unfair because although some aspects may seem fair, they still can be unfair. -Tianna Wilson |
B) The Paris Olympics
Optional Response:
What does Robins mean when she argues that:
“The aims of transvestigating an Olympic athlete are not, in any meaningful sense, anything to do with sports, or fairness, or even with women (cis women, at least) as a social category. Rather, they have everything to do with transness, and the public expression of transfemininity.
For my money this has never been about sport.
What it has always been is an excuse to publicly relitigate the existence of trans women.”
Make a note in your Notebook.
|
In this argument, Robins is discussing the little focus on fairness of sport and the majority of it being on transgender athletes. Although it is not generally stated in investigations, much of it has to do with transgender people as a whole and sheds a lot of negative light on them. When Robins stated “this has never been about sport” this demonstrates how nobody is actually focusing on sport instead they are rejecting and discriminating against transgender people in sport. Overall, I believe the main goal people are trying to reach is making it more challenging for transgender people and transgender people in sport. |
Feedback/Errata