Women+-+Equality+in+Sport

Name: Jesse McDonnell Student number: n8326134 Tutor/Time: Katie Page. Friday 10-11am

ARTEFACT: media type="youtube" key="G1nkGWbS9_0" height="283" width="504" align="center"

**Artefact Analysis **  This artefact is a YouTube film promoting women's rights through their participation in sport. It depicts a number of women across a variety of ages, races and socio-economic backgrounds. They all propose different mental, physical and emotional benefits which they will accrue through their participation in sport.  Viewers of the short film should note the fact that it highlights some mental and emotional benefits of involvement in sport, such as, improved confidence, strength and assertiveness. The women in this film are portrayed as being outspoken, strong and confident. These traits have only become socially acceptable for females in recent years, however, there is still much to be achieved before sport is equitable. This is in contrast to the traditional physical benefit of improved appearance which has historically been utilised as the main rationale behind women’s sport.

**The Social and Public Health Issue **  Sports participation as a component of health enhancing physical activity is an important public health issue, and the beneﬁts of an active and sporting lifestyle in relation to well-being and health have been strongly emphasized (Van Tuyckom, Scheerder & Bracke, 2010, p. 1077). Although gender equality is not a prioritised health issue; women’s lack of participation in sport has been known to lead to a range health issues such as low self-esteem, poor body image, depression, anxiety and a number of chronic diseases such as heart disease ( //Sport for Women’s Rights //, 2010). Participation in sport can be life-changing for women of any age due to its ability to help form friendships, support networks and decrease social isolation, which will then result in women having a voice and regaining self-esteem and increased health ( //Sport for Development and Peace International Working Group, // 2008). Through increasing women’s participate in sport many health issues will be minimised in today’s society. This is due to the fact that females who participate in regular sport and physical activity are more likely to gain increased self confidence, learn to be strong and confident, be less likely to suffer from depression and more likely to challenge life and push their boundaries and goals. There is a huge public health and financial benefit to be gained by simply engaging more women in sport and physical activity.

**Literature Review **  Centuries of discrimination has shaped the cultures and beliefs of a number of societies, deeming it ‘unladylike’ for women to partake in a number of sports (Daniels, 2009). Women’s rate of participation in sport has been gradually increasing (Acosta and Carpenter, 2006). However, recent research has shown that there has been very little change in the participation rate of women in sports ( //Australian Sports Commission //, 2003). This could be due to the lack of acknowledgement and recognition that women receive in both leadership and participation as athletes. Participation in sport on a regular basis is known to have positive effects on one’s health. Sport has been proved to relieve stress, increase mental wellbeing like depression and anxiety and can have a positive impact on one’s body image, confidence and enhance self-esteem and individual strength ( //Sport Participation //, 1999). Women have earned their places working mostly as equals alongside their male colleagues in the halls of parliament, on the front line and in the boardrooms, however there is still a major equality difference and discrimination in sport. One of the big problems with gender equality in sport is the media coverage. Only 8.7% of TV news coverage is devoted to women whereas men have 81.1% ( //Towards a Level Playing Field, //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> 2009). This male dominance in sports media portrays the message that male sports are more important on Australian television. Even mixed sports are missing out on equal viewing time on Australian televisions as only 2.8% of mixed sport shown at appropriate times (//Towards a Level Playing Field,// 2009). To improve TV news coverage there has to be an increase in journalists covering female sports, as at the moment there are only 82 journalists covering the female sports compared to the 250 covering male dominated sports (//Towards a Level Playing Field,// 2009). <span style="background-color: white; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">The reality of gender inequality not only within our society and media, but also throughout the sporting realm, places emphasis on the importance of the issue and the need to resolve the problem. As the years have progressed and sports have evolved, so have the opportunities available to men and women throughout all aspects of sport. The number of women in roles such as sports commentary, journalism, coaching and umpiring, has increased but they still form a significant minority compared to their male counterparts. Thus, sport has tended to celebrate the achievements of men while marginalizing the status of women by placing them in expressive, supportive roles such as cheerleaders, or relegating participation by women to a secondary status (Frey & Eitzen, 1991). Even with the common insight that sport leads to an increase in self-esteem, confidence, poise, and self-assurance, a number of researchers suggest that the positive outcomes of participating in sport are not universally experienced (Wolff & Kaufman, 2010). This in particularly occurs in female participants, thus highlighting the evidence of gender inequality within sport. Despite the fact that athletic activism is no normative behaviour, there is still a long, albeit small tradition of individuals who use the playing field to advocate for political and social justice (Wolff & Kaufman, 2010). Greater strength and size causes males to be able to perform at higher levels with a lot more ease (Thibault, et al. 2010). Consequently, male sport is seen through the public eye as superior to that of female competition. When considering the gender differences one can appreciate the skills and abilities of female athletes, however, if this differentiation in not made women’s sport can just be seen as slower and weaker. In 2002 Stevenson studied various sporting events predominantly focusing on the female competition at the Australian Open Tennis Championships. This study concluded that sports spectators are drawn to exhibitions of masculinity or femininity. By studying the more popular athletes including Anna Kournakova, Martina Hingis and Amelie Mouresmo, she argues that these athletes aren’t drawing their attention for the right reasons. As an example, Anna Kournikova, an extremely popular women’s tennis player, had also previously been involved in modelling. From this study it could be concluded that the majority of media attention is drawn to women’s sporting events for reasons that undermine, demoralise and insult the athleticism and skill of the players (Stevenson, 2002).

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Cultural and Social Analysis **  <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Inequity in sport is not only a recent problem, it a problem that has existed for many years and is a part of our social and cultural history <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> (Flanagan, 2008). Although the role of women in sport has changed greatly over the years, gender inequality is still quite prominent in all aspects of sport. Women find themselves far more associated with stereotypes than men which is strongly reinforced by today’s media. These stereotypes foster the belief that a woman's role in sport is inferior to that of a male's and that men have a major influence on women’s sport. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Involvement seems to become an issue when females reach adolescence. Studies show that aspects such as lack of time, involvement in technology-related activities, influence of peers, concern about safety, inaccessibility of facilities and cost of using them, and body-centred issues are all problems which affect women of this age (Dwyer, Allison, Goldenberg, Fein, Yoshida, Boutilier, 2006). Currently across the world females are forced to wear revealing clothes whilst playing sport. This is an intrusion not forced upon males and potentially one drastic reason as to why adolescent girls cease to participate. In some cultures it is unfeminine to play sports and females that are involved in sport are frowned upon and can become outcasts in their society. This idea that sport makes a women or girl masculine or manly is not just in a couple cultures, however, it is spread throughout societies around the world leading to a significant decrease in female involvement in sport and physical activities. This idea of sport being masculine is developed during the teen years. Historical this is due to male figures playing the dominate role in sport and has been carried on into today’s society. Also this is the time in a female’s life when they begin to want the attention of men and they think that sport is unfeminine and less attractive. Studies completed by the Australian Government in 2007 show that 33% of girls aged 9-13 meet the national physical activity guidelines, compared to a greatly reduced 13% of 14 to 16 year olds (CSIRO, 2007). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Consider this quote from a 13 year old girl about a physical education class, “ I can't do the endurance run. I tried but I threw up. I could only do 8 laps out of 12. Now the teacher is trying to make me do it again. I know I'll just fail it again. I won't go to PE again” (Olafson, 2002). This quote portrays the lack of competence which also can be interpreted as self efficacy leading to a direct impact on a girl's desire to engage or continue in sports and physical activity <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Across the globe there are many organisations which are attempting to promote the idea of continued physical activity, particularly to adolescent girls who often become sedentary. One organisation that is particularly attempting to increase involvement of women in sport is an American based organisation the Women’s Sport Foundation (//Women’s Sport Foundation,// 2011). The Women’s Sports Foundation was established in 1974 to advance the lives of women and girls through sports and physical activity. They fund groundbreaking research and public awareness campaigns, educate, advocate, and organize programs in cities across the country. The organisation runs programs such as GoGirlGo, which is aimed specifically at improving the health of sedentary girls, and getting, and keeping girls of all ages active (//Women’s Sport Foundation,// 2011). Although this is primarily an American based program, the same principles should be applied to more Australian based programs. Australia is currently deprived of such specific high profile programs as this and the programs that do exist are not widely promoted and specific to gaining more involvement for women in sport. Sport has been known to increase one’s self-esteem, confidence, voice, poise and self-assurance and there comes a positive outcome of participating in sport (Wolff & Kaufman, 2010).

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Analysis of the Artefact and Learning Reflections **  <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The YouTube film chosen as the artefact promotes women’s rights through their participation in sport <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">. It highlights the numerous health benefits as well as placing emphasis on the empowerment that women receive within society through participation in sport. The film promotes sport to be a social practice that changes the lives of women and emphasise the need for the termination of present gender inequalities. This film and my analysis highlight the notion that gender equality has progressed in many areas, but sport is still subject to male domination with undertones of sexism. Upon reflection, this assignment has enabled me to critically analyse the relations between the socio-cultural environment and the inequality in sport throughout society. Max Grubb once said, “Sport is the nectar that nurtures the masculine self. It is a culture; the dominant culture where men rule and women are marginalized and objectified” (Grubb, 2010). He could not be more correct in saying this. In conclusion although at present there is a focus on eliminating gender inequality within sport, the issue is still far from being resolved and has currently come to a standstill.

Page 1: Women Deserve a Sporting Chance in the Media
__Comment:__ Caitlin! Great choice of artefact. This Nike Athlete Campaign Commercial was extremely relevant to your topic and effectively reinforced your wiki. The use of many women from different cultural backgrounds and sports all combined into the one video further emphasises the idea of equity in sport and that “It’s not a girl thing, it’s not a boy thing, it’s a skills thing.” Your wiki page gives great insight into the topic of women’s inequity in sport. You very successfully support your idea through the use of wonderful references and statistics. Overall your page was very insightful to read and you have done a great job on it.

Page 2: Alcohol-drinking-badass
__Comment:__ Amanda, this was a very interesting read on your topic about Genetration Y alcohol uses in Australia. You have done a great job on your wiki. It is well written and give good insight into alcohol consumption of Gen Y. You also used very effective references and statistic to highlight your points made. Your artefact of the Buddhism image is extremely interesting as it different to all the others I have seen and read. This use of a different cultures ideas on the topic gave great depth to your wiki page and significantly increased my interest in it. Great Job.

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">References: > //Studies,19//(1), 87-93. doi:10.1080/09589230903525460
 * <span style="color: #141314; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Acosta, R. V., & Carpenter, L. J. (2006). Women in intercollegiate sport: A longitudinal study-twenty nine year update-1977–2006. Unpublished manuscript, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Constantinou, P. Manson, M., Silverman, S. (2009). Female Students’ Perceptions About Gender- Role Stereotypes and Their Influence on Attitude Toward Physical Education. //Physical Educator,// 66(2), 85
 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Daniels, E. A., (2009). Sex Objects, Athletes, and Sexy Athletes: How Media Representations of Women Athletes can Impact Adolescent girls and college women. //<span style="color: #141314; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Journal of adolescent research, 24, 399-422. doi: 10.1177/0743558409336748 //
 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Flanagan, K. (2008). Gender Barriers in Sport. Retrieved 23rd October 2011 from <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">[]
 * <span style="color: #141314; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Grubb, M. V., & Billiot, T. (2010). Women sportscasters: Navigating a masculine domain. //Journal of Gender//
 * <span style="color: #141314; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Wolff, E. A., & Kaufman, P. (2010). Playing and protesting: Sport as a vehicle for social change.Journal of Sport & Social Issues,34 (2), 154-175. doi:10.1177/0193723509360218
 * <span style="color: #141314; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Australian Bureau of Statistics (2007). Australian Social Trends. Retrieved from: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/0/0F4B69DDFF667646CA25732C00207F44?opendocument