Gender
is a social construct that defines the roles, behaviour and activities of men
and women. Social perception plays an important role in deciding the behaviour
of social beings in various situations and in various activities. Sport is not
an exception. The participation in sport is also determined by the social
norms. Sport is a field where the demonstration of strength, aggression and
power is a must. According to the social norms, these are the characteristics
of male and therefore the participation of male in sporting activities is
considered to be ‘natural’. On the contrary, the female participation in sports
is not encouraged due to the social definition of ‘femininity’. The physical
and psychological attributes, which are essential to attain success in sports,
may conflict with the society’s sanctioned definition of ‘femininity’. Thus, if
a woman tries to achieve excellence in sports, she may risk an exclusion from
the social definition of being ‘normal’. This perception of the society
discourages women from participating in sports.
The
‘gender- divide’ in sport directs the sporting organizations to allocate
majority of the resources for the development of male sports. The gender
division in sports can be observed in the Olympic Games, where the
participation of women was not encouraged for a long time.
In
the ancient Olympic Games, Hera Games was the only event in which married women
could participate. There was no such event available for the unmarried girls.
This trend was followed during the initial years of the modern Olympic Games.
The dominance of male athletes in the Olympic Games during this period acted as
a deterrent to equity of access and opportunity.
Hergeaves
divided the women’s participation in the modern Olympic Games in three
different phases. The first phase was between 1896 and 1928, which was the
period of exclusion of women from sports. The second phase was between 1928 and
1952 when the socially acceptable events were included for the participation of
women. The last phase was between 1952 till present when the women athletes
constantly challenge the ‘masculine hegemony’ of the games.
The
entry of the Soviet Block into the Olympic Games, with their political medal
agenda, triggered the female participation in the games. It was irrelevant to
the governments of the Soviet Block whether their medals were won by the male
athletes or female athletes.
Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern
Olympic Games, opposed the participation of women athletes in the games and
thus in the initial years the games were exclusive to the male athletes.
However, the exclusivity did not survive long.
According to Philips, the women athletes during
the initial period of the modern Olympic Games tried to achieve two different
objectives. First, was to avoid exclusion and second, was to ensure meaningful
presence. In 1924, de Coubertin suggested that the female athletes should not
be allowed in the Olympic Games. However, the IOC did not accept this proposal.
In 1925, at the Olympic Congress, which was held in Prague, he again claimed
that the participation of women in the Olympic Games was illegal.
From the above discussion, it is clear that the
female athletes, in the early days of the modern Olympic Games faced resistance
from a part of the officials of the IOC, which was due to the negative
perception of the society on the participation of women in sporting activities.
The result was lack of organizational support. Women faced similar resistance
in their attempt to take part in sports administration.
The ‘Stats Pack for
Media’ report, which was last updated in June 2015, indicates the lack of media
coverage for women’s sports in the UK by stating the following:
i) Only 7% of all sports media in the UK is
dedicated to women’s sports
ii)
Just over 10% of televised sports
coverage in the UK is dedicated to women’s sports
iii)
Only 2% of national newspapers sports
coverage is given to the women’s sports
iv)
Radio coverage for women’s sports is
only 5%
v)
Only 4% of online sports coverage is
given to the women’s sports
The above figures
represent that the women’s sport is still not as valuable as men’s sports both
in terms of commercial dealing and media coverage.
It is perceived that the women athletes are
inferior in terms of their athletic abilities and are less intense than men in
sports. This leads to lack of commercialization and lack of resource allocation
for the development of women’s sports.
