Fairness or Possibilities - Equal opportunities in Swedish sports
In this thesis I will study and analyze official policy documents from the Swedish Sports Confederation(RF). I will be performing a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) on these documents from a gender theory perspective, also influenced by queer theory. Sports remain one of the most gendered institutions in society. It is the purpose of this study to ascertain the way RF treats gender in its official policy documents. This is important because RF has a very powerful position within Swedish sports, in comparison to other countries, with the power to directly influence and coerce lower level sports organizations to adopt their philosophies. I find in my study that RF hold very naturalist views of gender, that are not in phase with current research being done in the area of gender constructions in sports. That RF is not accepting responsibility in constructing gender and adding to the sexualization of our public spaces. There is a great deal of work put into gender equality within RF, however this work is so far only being done on a very formal level focusing on fairness between groups rather than questioning the construction of these groups. I also try to provide ideas for how RF could try to weaken the strong gender structure of sports.
Women, Media and Sport: Challenging Gender Values
PART ONE: OVERVIEW AND DEFINITIONS Women, Media and Sport - Pamela J Creedon Creating and Reflecting Gender Values The Media's Role in Accomodating and Resisting Stereotyped Images of Women in Sport - Mary Jo Kane and Susan L Greendorfer Sportswomen in Black and White - Linda D Williams Sports History from an Afro-American Perspective Women in Toyland - Pamela J Creedon A Look at Women in American Newspaper Sports Journalism From Whalebone to Spandex - Pamela J Creedon Women and Sports Journalism in American Magazines, Photography and Broadcasting Conversations with Contemporary Women Sports Journalists - Judith A Cramer Pandering or Empowering? Economics and Promotion of Women's Sports - Pamela J Creedon, Judith A Cramer and Elizabeth A Granitz PART TWO: CULTURAL CONTEXTS AND GENDER VALUES Double Fault - Susan Birrell and Cheryl L Cole Renee Richards and the Construction and Naturalization of Difference Baseball and the Social Construction of Gender - Karlene Ferrante Global Games, Entertainment and Leisure - Anne Cooper-Chen Women as TV Spectators PART THREE: DEVELOPING A NEW SPORTS MODEL From the Feminine Mystique to the Female Physique - Pamela J Creedon Uncovering the Archetype of Artemis in Sport Gazing at Artemis - Molly Merryman The Active Female Archetype in Popular Film Reawakening to the Co-Essence Model of Sport - Pamela S Highlen Stanford's Tara VanDerVeer Leads the Way
New Sports
The life cycle of a new sport, and its cultural implications, is apparent in the sport of snowboarding. Snowboarding was born in youthful resistance to the popular sport of skiing and the values of sport it represents. The media has appropriated the image of youthful rebellion in snowboarding and commodified it. Snowboarding is now going through the process of becoming more mainstream, suffering from pains of growth and discipline.