Gendered performances in sport: an embodied approach

Abstract

Despite significant advances in recent years, gender inequalities remain apparent within the context of sport participation and engagement. One of the problems, however, when addressing gender issues in sport is the continued assumption by many sport practitioners that the experiences of women and men will always be different because of perceived physiological characteristics. Adopting a focus based solely on perceived gendered differences often overlooks the importance of recognizing individual experience and the prevailing social influences that impact on participation such as age, class, race and ability. An embodied approach, as well as seeking to move beyond mind/body dualisms, incorporates the physiological with the social and psychological. Therefore, it is suggested that, although considerations of gender remain important, they need to be interpreted alongside other interconnecting and influential (at varying times and occasions) social and physical factors. It is argued that taking the body as a starting point opens up more possibilities to manoeuvre through the mine field that is gender and sport participation. The appeal of an embodied approach to the study of gender and sport is in its accommodation of a wider multidisciplinary lens. Particularly, by acknowledging the subjective, corporeal, lived experiences of sport engagement, an embodied approach offers a more flexible starting point to negotiate the theoretical and methodological challenges created by restrictive discourses of difference.

Skills capital and inclusivity in men’s roller derby

“…Within SYRD, skills capital was gained through successful performances of hegemonic masculinity. Whether characterised as 'exclusive' (Wellard, 2002) or 'expected' (Wellard, 2016), this capital was seemingly denied to those who failed to measure up. Therefore, although the risk of deviating from masculine norms might have been worth it in creating a more equitable training environment (Risman et al, 2012), it seems that overt displays of masculinity could still marginalise those who did not perform it 'correctly' (Burdsey, 2008).…”

“…Wellard later refigured this concept to discuss instead ‘expected sporting masculinity’ (2016: 3), suggesting that, rather than excluding, these bodily displays compelled a specific performance of accepted forms of masculinity. Critiquing Anderson’s (2009) concept of inclusive masculinity, Wellard (2016) maintains that although there is slippage in the meanings associated with ‘real’ and ‘authentic’ masculinity, his research demonstrates continued beliefs and ideas that there is an authentic version of masculinity, which in turn reinforces gender binaries. Both ‘exclusive’ and ‘expected’ concepts of masculinities suggest that Wellard’s call for a determination of ‘whether there are forms of competition which are more inclusive’ (2002: 245) remains unanswered.…”

Can mobile methods bridge psychology and place-based research?

“…Therefore, understanding environments aids the interpretation of human behavior that occurs within those environments. (Giardina & Newman, 2011a, 2011b; Sparkes, 2015; Sparkes & Smith, 2012; Wellard, 2016). Research that captures this complexity, the ways in which the physical and social environment are imprinted on the mind and body, may uncover different types of knowledges.…”

“…This process, embodiment , occurs when the physical and social world becomes embedded into minds and bodies (Krieger, 2005). Literature focused on embodiment, explains that embodied approaches extend beyond mind/body dualisms to integrate the physiological with social and psychological worlds (Petteway et al, 2019; Wellard, 2016). While “embodied cognition” has received recent attention within the field of cognitive science, this paper focuses broadly on embodiment as bodies producing knowledge (Michel, 2015).…”

Facebook e a difusão das temáticas

“…Ao focar a questão igualitária no contexto esportivo, o corfebol preconiza a participação de ambos os gêneros, pois traduz uma realidade diferenciada de outras modalidades esportivas, haja vista que os times são formados por homens e mulheres, a marcação dos atletas se dá por gênero, enfraquecendo as prerrogativas tradicionais do esporte e promovendo um equilíbrio nas performances, como força, altura, velocidade (Gubby;Wellard, 2016). De acordo com os autores, estas são características únicas do corfebol e podem romper com o pensamento binário de masculinidade e de feminilidade hegemônica no campo das práticas corporais, tornando-as mais inclusivas e possivelmente alcançáveis, no que tange a igualdade de oportunidades entre os gêneros no esporte.…”