Kin 2250 Sport & Society

Why should we study sport critically?

•Sports are given special meaning

•Sports are tied to ideology, important ideas, and beliefs in many cultures  (gender, social class, race, sexuality, dis/ability)

•Sports are connected to with major spheres of social life

Lia Thomas

trans swimmer in USA

Imane Khelif

Algerian boxer accused of being a man

Angel Reese

WMBA spoken about differently than white teammates

Brent Lakatos

Paralympian

•How does economic inequality impact sport?

•Sport participation can be very expensive (certain more than others)

•How much does it cost to play/watch sports?

•Access to internet, computer/phone/TV, cost for tickets

Hockey in residential schools

Hockey used as an assimilation tool

Kids were forced to smile, given new equipment for photos to hide the bruises from being abused at the schools

Berlin summer Olympics during the Nazi regime

During the nazi regime sport was used to train Nazi youth

Olympics used as a way to show the world how strong Germany was

Certain people weren’t allowed to play (only Arian race)

sociology of sport studies….

•humans/agents involved in sport

•The institutions and social institutions that affect the sporting experience (government, media etc.)

•Social processes (violence, inequality)

why is sport a social construct

•Sports are given form and meaning

•The values and meanings of sport have been created and recreated

•Sport is shaped by and is the result of our social interactions

•Sport can be changed

•This means that sport is part of culture

explain The Sociological Imagination

•C. Wright Mills (1959)

•The ability to see the connection between personal troubles (individual experiences) and public issues (social structures, social factors)

•Personal troubles pertain to…

•Individuals

•networks of people one associates with on a regular basis

Public issues pertain to

•matters beyond an individual’s control

•caused by problems originating at societal level

explain Functionalism and its view of sport

How different parts of society work together to function

•Key theorist in sociology: Emile Durkheim

Argues that all aspects of society must work together to create society, If something exists in society its because it allows society to operate (Because sport exists as an institution, it helps society operate)

Functionalism says sport exists and is good for everyone (equally beneficial for all groups in society)

critique of functionalism

Sport under functionalism can be used to justify the status quo (race/class/gender issues are not issues because society is still operating) basically ignores inequality

explain Conflict Theory and its view of sport

Karl Marx and Marxists

•Class conflict: the struggle between classes to resist and overcome the opposition of other classes

•Conflict is due to economic inequalities built into capitalist system

economic exploitation in sport (athletes, attending events, memorabilia)

class inequality in sport

explain Symbolic Interactionism and its view of sport

•Focuses on interpersonal communication

•Emphasizes social life is possible only because people attach meanings to things

•How they are created and given meaning by people

•How people experience sports

•How identities are related to sport participation and sport cultures

explain Feminist Theory and its view of sport

•Argue that the patriarchy and gender roles is not based on biological necessity, but by structures of power and social convention.

•Sport is connected to the values and experience of men

•Sport upholds patriarchy

•the gendered dimensions of sports and sport organizations

•Homophobia and transphobia in sport

explain Critical Race Theory and its view of sport

•Racism is systemic and is embedded in social institutions

•How sport plays a role in the development of cultural beliefs and heritage

•How ethnic traditions are privileged at the expense of others

•How sport reinforces ideas, norms, and beliefs about race

what does “Sport is believed to be a meritocracy” mean?

•Winners are those who are dedicated, sacrifice, and make a concerted effort

•Success is determined by an athletes talent, hard work and performance

social stratification

•the way in which society is organized into a hierarchy based on wealth, power, and status

*someones interest and access to sport is highly influenced by their social class

social class

division of a society based on social and economic status that indicates one’s relationship to the production of economic goods and rewards

*Class inequality is a public issue

socio-economic status

your social position relative to others based on income, education, occupation

•Inequality of Wealth

Some people have greater and fewer liabilities

Ex. more cash, property, saving (no car loans, bank loans, mortgages)

Inequality of income

How unevenly income is distributed across a population

Ex, pensions, salary etc.

Sport participation is a luxury. examples of this include:

•Those with high income, high education levels, high status jobs most likely to participate

•(highest attendance rates in sporting events, most likely to watch sports on TV, athletes are more likely to come from privileged groups)

Ex. Equipment, training, food etc.

upper class relation to sport

•Sports as part of their lifestyle

•More control over work

•Sports in exclusive clubs ex. Golf, tennis, sailing

•Larger networks connected to sport

middle/working class relation to sport

•Free sports or sports through school

•Financial sacrifices for sports

lower class relation to sport

•Participation in sport is limited if at all

•Fewer resources (Food insecurity, living situation etc.)

Sport often occurs in public places

how does sport reaffirm the dominance of meritocracy?

•People who have the most money are most successful in sport, and this success reinforces meritocracy because these individuals are assumed to have the best abilities and characteristics

•Sports also reaffirm the class ideology because sport is related to ones class position and their identity within a particular class - that’s partly why upper class people are willing to spend sometimes a ridiculous amount for tickets to sporting events

how is sport participation different for those with disabilities

Higher rate of unemployment

Average income is 1/3 of non-disabled people

•equipment cost, travel costs, league/facility availability

Career opportunities in sport

•Career opportunities are limited and, for athletes, they are short term

•

•Opportunities for women are growing but remain limited (lower pay, fewer coaching opportunities)

•

•Opportunities for racialized athletes are growing but remain limited (sports are still segregated, success in professional sport hasn’t trickled down to youth/amateur sport)

who holds the power in sport?

coaches, leagues, media, sports organizations, those who own those organizations (rich white men)

exploitation in sport means:

•Athlete's skills and bodies are used to financially benefit others

•Coaches, organizations, schools, leagues financially benefit from the talent and hard work of athletes

what does the term “student-athlete” mean

•The term ‘student-athlete’ was coined by Walter Byers in the 1950s in order to avoid classifying college athletes as employees

•Athletes are students participating in a non-commercial, educational endeavor

•They are high-performance athletes it means that they can be forgiven for not meeting the academic standards

•They are students meant they did not have to be compensated, ever, for anything more than the cost of their studies

what is race

a social construct that doesn’t have real existence out side of the society we are looking at

usually based on a physical difference i.e. skin colour

what is ethnicity

•aspects of a person’s identity that is associated with common cultural or social traits of a group

ex. languages, traditions, political beliefs

what does the term “racialized” mean

•the process by which society imposes a racial identity on an individual or a group of people (external classification)

what is racism

•the ideology and practice based on the belief that certain racial groups are inherently superior or inferior to others

Interpersonal racism

• racism on the individual level (microaggressions, hate crimes etc.)

Structural/systemic racism

•racism embedded in society (inequal access to resources or rights in a society) *not as visible

how the achievements of white vs black athletes are described

The achievements of white athletes are due to:

•Character

•Culture

•Organization

The achievements of Black athletes are due to:

•Biology

Natural physical abilities

White supremacy

the overarching system of power that disproportionately benefits white citizens

Colonialism 

•The domination of people, territory, and/or an area by an outside nation or state

•Includes the political, economic, social control, and governing

•Settler-colonialism

a form of colonization where settlers claim Indigenous lands as their own and attempt to replace Indigenous societies with settler societies

•Coloniality

the existence of ideas, beliefs, and narratives that help legitimize and sustain colonial hierarchies and that shape social systems

•Decolonization

the unravelling of broader systems of oppression

sex

The classification of people as either male, female, or intersex. 

Gender

can refer to the individual and/or social experience of being a man, a woman, or neither. 

how is sport a gendered activity

•Men dominate and hold more power

•More boys/men participate in organized competitive sports

•Men dominate sport administration and coaching

•Sport celebrates and rewards a particular type of masculinity

(Physical dominance, aggression, competitiveness)

how is sport gendering

•Sport as an institution constructs gender and the social meanings of gender

ex. what femineity is, what masculinity is

Hegemonic masculinity

the ideal masculinity in society

emphasizes strength, competitiveness,  toughness, and occupational success

what sports are associated with men

•Football

•Hockey

•Basketball

•Soccer

•Baseball

what sports are associated with women

•Volleyball

•Softball

•Tennis

•Gymnastics

•Swimming

•Dance

why were women discouraged/excluded from participating in sport 

•Women were understood as to fragile for sport

•Sport was too dangerous for women’s health (affects child bearing)

•’Real’ sports were modified for women with ‘girl’s rules’

why has participation by girls/women in sport increased?

•New opportunities

•Legislation

•Global women’s rights movement

ex. Women’s liberation movement in the 1960s, United States legislation: Title IX

•Increased media coverage of women’s sports

what is heteronormativity ?

the belief system that treats heterosexuality as the default, natural, and preferred form of sexuality

In sport, it is the expectation that all athletes will conform to heterosexual norms

how is Heteronormativity part of women’s sport

acting feminine is used to gain viewers for women’s sports

Sports media consistently pays more attention to heterosexually attractive women athletes

shows them with their husband, boyfriend and children

Intersex

A person born with reproductive systems, chromosomes and/or hormones that do fall into female or male according to norms

around 4% of births

how are atypical characteristics in women treated in sport compared to men

Atypical male bodies are celebrated

Atypical characteristics in women are only support if they uphold feminine ideals

•Targeting female athletes with intersex variations is sexist, racist, and upholds nationalism

Transgender

an umbrella term that can mean transcending beyond, existing between, or crossing over the gender spectrum