Transcript CHAPTER 9 OVERVIEW - Home

Cultural influences on equity and
sports participation
Chapter overview
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A brief history of sport in Australia
Australia’s sporting identity
Socialisation
Gender roles and stereotypes
Ethnic identity
Now that you’ve finished … answers
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A brief history of sport in Australia
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A brief history of sport in Australia
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Heavily influenced by our history as a British colony.
Popular sports included cricket
Sport viewed as a manly pursuit
Building manliness and character
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Belief that sport was for developing attributes of the upper class.
These included:
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Leadership
Courage
Discipline
Belief in encouraging working-class boys to play sport –
a “muscular Christianity” to develop Christian values
Participation by women was for health reasons only
Colonial sportsmanship
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Success at sport was seen to be important to the new colony
First international cricket match in 1877
International victories fostered national pride
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Cricket
Football
Rowing
Athletics
(foot racing)
Amateurs and professionals
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British social class system reflected in Australia
Sporting opportunities and access based on wealth and social
status
Athletes divided by social status
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Amateurs
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Professionals
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Wealthy with spare time to engage in sports
Were considered morally superior
Working class, could only afford to take time from work if their sport
offered a prize or payment
Media reinforced class divide. Example in cricket:
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Amateurs were referred to as ‘gentlemen’
Professionals were referred to as ‘players’
Women’s sporting history
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In 19th century, participation based on social class — mainly
upper class women who had time for sport
Late 19th century, opportunity to participate in organised sport:
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Golf (with restrictions on club memberships and access)
Archery
Rowing
Croquet
Sailing
Tennis
Focus was on social contact,
recreation and graceful movement
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Bathing seen as an acceptable pastime as sexes
were segregated.
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Bathing machines at beaches ensured privacy
from onlookers
In 1912, Fanny Durack and Mina Wylie won
medals in freestyle swimming—at the first
Olympics with female competitors
Working-class women more likely to participate
in athletics, as there were no associated costs.
Other acceptable physical activities for women:
drills, calisthenics, dancing
Competitive women in sport were trivialised by
the media
Australia’s sporting identity
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Australia’s sporting identity
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Sport is a central feature of Australian culture
Public recognises and supports winners
International success generates national pride
Sporting success reinforces culturally dominant sports
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Swimming
Cricket
Rugby League
AFL
Netball
Socialisation
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Socialisation
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Process by which individual beliefs, opinions and values are
shaped by society
Factors influencing socialisation are known as social
determinants:
Family
Peers
Schools
Government
Media
Religion
Ethnicity
Gender
Socio-economic status
Age
Gender roles and stereotypes
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Stereotypes are oversimplified characteristics of groups of
people.
Stereotypes are often used to foster discrimination.
Ballet dancers are some
of the fittest athletes in
the world, as can be seen
from this photograph of
Shane Weatherby as
Puck in the Queensland
Ballet’s production of A
Midsummer Night’s
Dream
Gender stereotypes in sport
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Qualities associated with male athletes
Competitive
Courageous
Determined
Muscular
Powerful
Strong
Qualities associated with female athletes
Passive
Nurturing
Not ideally
suited to sport
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Gender stereotypes are reinforced in all levels of society
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Stereotypical attitudes are changing
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Offered different sports
Teachers coach gender-based teams
Slow process
Societal beliefs and attitudes relating to “gender-appropriate”
sports still exist
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Women discouraged from playing sports requiring aggression
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Boxing
Rugby league
Men discouraged from participating in aesthetic activities (e.g.
dance)
Media continue to reinforce these social stigmas
Personal reflection
Does your school offer you an
opportunity to play sports that
have traditionally been considered
appropriate for the opposite sex?
If so, have you taken up the
opportunity? Why?
Hegemonic masculinity
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Hegemonic: ruling
Hegemony: leadership
Hegemonic masculinity:
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Men have held the power and authority to influence society and set
the rules that govern behaviour
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Sport reinforces hegemonic masculinity:
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Cultural level:
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Celebrating masculine activities
Reinforcing masculine attributes
Structural level:
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Less government funding for women’s sports
Less media coverage for women’s sports
Less prize money for women’s sports
Identifying women’s competitions by their gender (compare WNBL and
NBL)
Majority of Chief Executive Officers for sporting organisations are men
Restricting women’s membership of sporting organisations, such as golf
clubs.
Ethnic identity
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Ethnic identity
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Indigenous sporting culture traditionally very strong
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Promoted interaction amongst tribes
Encouraged participation
Solved intertribal disputes
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Elders organised competitions that mirrored their daily activities:
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Throwing spears and boomerangs
Running
Jumping
Wrestling
Fighting
Dancing
Sport and Indigenous cultural identity
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1962 saw the formation of the Yuendumu Games for indigenous
Australian communities
Sports which have provided an avenue for indigenous
Australians to excel are:
Boxing
Lionel Rose
AFL
Adam Goodes
Athletics
Cathy Freeman
Rugby League
Preston Campbell
Multicultural influences
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Almost 25% of Australians are born overseas
Sport is an effective vehicle to break down cultural barriers
Examples:
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Football
Bocce
Table tennis
Badminton
Martial arts
Participation rates of children ages 5–14 years
Males
Females
Main sports participated in
Number
%
Number
%
Swimming
240 100
17.2
262 800
19.8
Football (outdoor soccer)
277 800
19.9
82 700
6.2
Netball
3500
.03
225 000
17
Australian rules football
223 700
16
11 400
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Tennis
131 600
8
83 200
6.3
Basketball
118 700
7.4
83 200
6.3
Gymnastics
23 700
1.7
101 200
7.6
Rugby league
97 200
7
Athletics (track and field)
42 400
3
47 000
3.5
Futsal (indoor soccer)
59 400
4.3
17 500
1.3
Hockey
25 600
1.8
31 800
2.4
Other
221 200
15.8
160 900
12.1
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 2009.
Now that you have finished ...
Answers
1 Explain why Australia has been identified and identifies
itself as a sporting nation.
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Sport has long been a central feature of Australian culture.
Sport was used as a means of establishing an identity through
victories against international teams.
Australian working class sportsmen were admired for their
physical strength, toughness and resilience.
These qualities were highly valued in an emerging nation.
Australia has a smaller population than many other “sporting
powers”.
2 Describe how sport has been used to establish
Australian pride.
Australians take pride in continued international success across many
sports.
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International sporting successes (past and present)
 Davis Cup
 America’s Cup: Australian II
 Olympic success (especially in the 1950s – 60s)
 Various swimming competitions
Sporting identities
 Don Bradman
 Phar Lap (even though the horse was born in New Zealand)
World champions in various sports
 Hockey
 Netball
 Rugby League and Union
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Outline the types of sports that were deemed suitable for women during the
late nineteenth century and explain why women’s sporting choices were limited.
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Sports available:
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Golf
Archery
Croquet
Tennis
Athletics (running)
Rowing
Sailing
Reason why sport was limited:
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Sport seen as a “manly pursuit”.
Sports that gained early acceptance involved little physical strain.
Access mostly available to upper-class women.
Restricted membership (associate members only).
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a Define socialisation
b List the factors that influence the socialisation process.
Socialisation can be defined as “the process by which individual
beliefs, opinions and values are shaped by society”.
Factors which affect socialisation or social determinants are:
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Family
Peers
Schools
Government
Media
Religion
Ethnic background
Gender
Socio-economic status
Age
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a List qualities that are associated with stereotypically
male and female gender roles in Australian society.
MALE
FEMALE
Competitive
Muscular
Quiet
Courageous
Powerful
Passive
Determined
Strong
Nurturing
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b Explain how these gender roles and stereotypes are reinforced, using at
least one example from each of the five levels of Figueroa’s framework.
Figueroa’s levels
Examples of reinforcing stereotypical views
1. CULTURAL
• Views associated with sport characteristics
• Aesthetic activities (dance)
• Dominant sports
• Masculine hegemony
2. STRUCTURAL
• Media and inequitable coverage of sports
• Inequitable financial rewards
• Careers
• Prize money
3. INSTITUTIONAL
• Sports offered at schools
• Recognition of sport success
4. INTERPERSONAL
•Teachers coaching specific teams
• Role models: fathers have greater influence on
participation rates
5. INDIVIDUAL
• Opportunities
• Experiences from above
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b Continued
The selection of physical activities within physical education classes at school can
contribute to traditional notions of masculinity and femininity and is an excellent
example of how different levels from Figueroa’s framework can be linked to
personal experiences in senior physical education. The cultural level can analyse
to what extent the range of sports offered to the class. Are the four selected
physical activities biased towards a particular sex or are they gender neutral? The
link to the personal level is shown by discussing the relationship between
stereotypical choices and preferred choices for males and females. The
interpersonal level can focus on how physical education teachers might reinforce
typical stereotypical roles; for example, a woman teaches dance but a man
teaches rugby league. These experiences can reinforce social stereotypes.
At a school level and beyond there has been an increase in the variety of sports
offered to both girls and boys that would normally have been reserved for one
gender. It is becoming more common, for example for girls to participate in rugby
league and AFL or for boys to play netball. In doing so, however, they challenge
the notions of what it means to be masculine and feminine and subsequently, a
new set of stereotypes has emerged.
c Briefly describe how society’s perceptions of gender affect
individuals’ sporting and physical activity choices.
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Aggressive sports involving contact are seen as predominantly male
 Boxing
 Rugby League / Union
 AFL
Aggressive sports with less contact are acceptable for both sexes
 Football (soccer)
 Waterpolo
 Basketball
 Martial Arts (judo)
Non-contact sports acceptable to both sexes
 Tennis
 Swimming
 Athletics
Non-contact sport mainly acceptable to females
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Dance
6 a Define hegemonic masculinity.
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Hegemonic masculinity can be defined as males holding the
power and authority to influence society and set the rules that
govern behaviour.
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b Briefly explain how the cultural, structural and institutional levels of
Figueroa’s framework reinforce hegemonic masculinity in Australian sport.
Cultural
Men in positions of power
Media reinforce values
Institutional
Men in positions of power
CEOs of business
Structural
Male executives control media
Promote dominant sports
6 b Continued
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In the cultural chapter, we discussed the need for Australian men’s success in
sport being of paramount importance, leading to increased national pride,
recognition and status. This train of thought has survived the past century and
can still be seen today.
As women were latecomers to competitive and representative sport, their
success today is often considered to be a bonus on top of men’s achievements.
The media perpetuates this and a good example of this can be seen with the
reporting around the swimming achievements from the 2004 Athens and 2008
Beijing Olympics. These events should have cemented Australia’s female swim
team as a superpower in the pool; instead, their achievement was devalued by
the focus by the media on the men’s performance. Initially their success was
celebrated widely in both print and electronic media giving them their muchneeded and sought-after coverage. This coverage was short lived, however,
and the focus soon turned to the deemed ‘failure’ of the men’s swim team who,
in comparison, achieved a limited medal haul. This apparent failure of the men
was more newsworthy as it threatened the identity of Australia as a successful
sporting nation.
6 b Continued
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Hegemonic masculinity is constructed at all levels of Figueroa’s framework;
perhaps mostly at the institutional and structural levels. The passing and
prevention of laws by the government and the mandating of by-laws by
individual sporting institutions are possibly the two most influential contributors.
Furthermore, males have maintained control through their positions of power
within such sectors that make the rules. It is common, for example, for the chief
executive officers of sporting associations to be male. As of 2010, only two of
the 15 members of the executive board of the Australian Olympic
Committee are women despite an IOC recommendation of 1997 that
national Olympic committees achieve a 20 per cent target for women's
representation by the end of 2005.
The most visible tool in the maintenance of hegemonic masculinity in sport is
the media. The media serves to both persuade and reinforce society of
masculine dominance by reinforcing male power and by marginalising women
and their sporting activities. They limit the coverage of women’s sport and
coverage is mostly geared towards the male population by sexualising and
trivialising the female athletes.
7
Explain the link between sport and the promotion of Indigenous
Australians’ identity.
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Indigenous Australians have a strong link between sport and
their culture.
Developed through activities that reflect life skills:
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Physical skills
Communication
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Dance
Solving disputes
Sport has provided an avenue for Indigenous Australians to
demonstrate their sporting prowess and culture to be positive
role models to all Australians.
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Boxing
AFL
Rugby League
Athletics
7 Continued
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Increased recognition of outstanding contribution to Australian
sport:
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Lionel Rose: 1968 Australian of the Year
Adam Goodes: Brownlow Medallist
Cathy Freeman: Olympic Gold
Cathy Freeman wearing the Aboriginal flag at the 1994
Commonwealth Games and 2000 Sydney Olympics
Increased awareness of Indigenous culture:
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Formation of the Yuendumu Games (1962)
All Stars NRL games (2010)
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How are elite athletes able to use their status as role models to promote discussion
and change attitudes about culturally entrenched stereotypes within Australian society? Is
such change possible? Justify your response.
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Preston Campbell came up with the All Stars concept in the hope it would
encourage indigenous Australians to learn more about their identity.
Advantages of elite sportspeople:
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Media coverage through sponsorship is guaranteed due to their profile from sporting
achievements
Continued media exposure through careers in the media
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Wendell Sailor
Gordon Tallis
Liz Ellis
Are often asked for their views on a wide range of topics.
Wendell Sailor is working with the ARTIE program – Achieving Results Through
Indigenous Education, run by the Former Origin Greats and designed to
encourage academic, cultural and sporting achievements in indigenous
students. Through this forum he has spoken about the experience of being
bullied in support of Just Say No To Bullying, a campaign by The Courier-Mail
and radio station 97.3 FM.
Read the full article “Wendell Sailor wants to break the vicious cycle of bullying” online.
Image credits
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Slide 1, Photolibrary/Aflo Foto Agency
Slide 4, National Library of Australia
Slide 6, State Library of Queensland
Slide 8, Photolibrary/Mary Evans Picture Library
Slide 9, National Library of Australia
Slide 11, Getty Images/POOL/Dean Lewins
Slide 14, Queensland Ballet
Slide 17, Getty Images/Stefano Oppo
Slide 21, Newspix/Renee Nowytarger
Slide 23, AAP Image/Dean Lewins
Slide 24, AAP Image/Dave Hunt