Maskalan, Ana (2019) Sporting the glass jaw: views on women in sports. Synthesis philosophica, 34 (2). pp. 285-300. ISSN 0352-7875 (Print), ISSN 1848-2317 (Online)
|
Text
SP 2019_2 Maskalan.pdf Download (434kB) | Preview |
Abstract
IN ENGLISH: Sport is still understood as a traditional bastion of masculinity that exalts physical qualities such as strength and speed, and psychological traits such as aggression and perseverance, deeming women’s participation undesirable and unnecessary. Nevertheless, women for decades, in strict separation from men or within so-called “women’s sports”, were achieving results worthy of the attention of even the fiercest sceptics. Because of its nature founded in physicality, sport is still relatively seldom the area of political struggle for gender equality, although female athletes have occasionally done more for positive outcomes of that struggle than is acknowledged. In this paper, I discuss the ambivalent nature of sport contributing, on the one hand, to the essentialisation of genders in their differences and the petrification of power relations between them, and containing, on the other, indications of destruction or at least of corruption of the traditional, hierarchically established gender norms. The paper consists of four parts. In the first introductory part, I explain the reasons for concentrating my discussion on formalised competitive sports and approaches I am using. While emphasising the biopolitical aspects of the subject, I start my analysis with the description of a proclaimed guiding principles of contemporary sports contained in the spirit of Olympism. In the second part, I discuss the ontology of sport contained in the ideas of the founder of the modern Olympic Games Baron Pierre de Coubertin and the consequential factors influencing women ‘s participation in sports. These range from the perception of women’s allegedly debilitating physical and psychological traits, through hypersexualisation of female athletes’ body, or the attitude that it is not feminine enough, to the accusations that female athletes harm their health jeopardising, for example, the basic feminine duty – that of motherhood. In the third part, I put de Coubertin’s arguments in the contemporary context emphasising the relevance the concept of hegemonic masculinity has on the contemporary understanding of masculinity and the role of sport in maintaining it. In the last, fourth part, I discuss emancipatory aspects of sports, concluding on their ability to disrupt both essentialised femininity and essentialised masculinity. --------------- IN CROATIAN: Sport se još uvijek razumijeva kao tradicionalni bastion muškosti koji veliča fizičke kvalitete poput snage i brzine te psihološke kvalitete poput agresivnosti i izdržljivosti određujući sudjelovanje žena nepoželjnim i nepotrebnim. Bez obzira na to žene su desetljećima, u strogoj razdvojenosti od muškaraca ili u takozvanim »ženskim sportovima«, postizale rezultate dostojne pažnje i najvećih skeptika. Zbog svoje prirode zasnovane u tjelesnosti sport je još uvijek rijetko područje političke borbe za rodnu ravnopravnost, premda sportašice povremeno više doprinose pozitivnim ishodima te borbe no što im se pripisuje. U ovom radu raspravljam o ambivalentnoj prirodi sporta koji, s jedne strane, doprinosi esencijalizaciji rodova u njihovoj različitosti te petrifikaciji međusobnih odnosa moći, a s druge strane sadrži pokazatelje destrukcije ili barem kvarenja tradicionalnih, hijerarhijski uspostavljenih rodnih normi. Rad se sastoji od četiri dijela. U prvom, uvodnom dijelu objašnjavam razloge svoje usmjerenosti na formalizirane kompetitivne sportove te pristupe koje koristim. Naglašavajući biopolitičke aspekte teme analizu započinjem opisom proklamiranih vodećih principa suvremenog sporta sadržanih u duhu olimpizma. U drugom dijelu raspravljam o ontologiji sporta sadržanoj u idejama osnivača suvremenih Olimpijskih igara baruna Pierrea de Coubertina te o posljedičnim čimbenicima koji su utjecali na sudjelovanje žena u sportu. Raspon spomenutih čimbenika seže od percepcije ženskih fizičkih i psihičkih osobina kao manjkavih, preko hiperseksualizacije tijela sportašica ili pak tvrdnji da nisu dovoljno ženstvene, do optužbi da ugrožavaju vlastito zdravlje dovodeći u opasnost primarnu žensku dužnost – majčinstvo. U trećem dijelu de Coubertinove argumente smještam u suvremeni kontekst, naglašavajući važnost koju koncept hegemonijske muškosti ima u suvremenom razumijevanju muškosti i ulogu sporta u održavanju iste. U posljednjem, četvrtom dijelu, raspravljam o emancipatornim aspektima sporta, zaključujući o njegovoj sposobnosti destrukcije kako esencijalizirane ženskosti tako i esencijalizirane muškosti.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | Language: English. - Title in Croatian: Imati staklenu bradu: pogledi na žene u sportu. |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Sport, women, women’s sports, Olympic spirit, Pierre de Coubertin, gender, emancipation (sport, žene, ženski sport, olimpijski duh, Pierre de Coubertin, rod, emancipacija) |
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) |
| Depositing User: | Karolina |
| Date Deposited: | 17 Mar 2020 12:47 |
| Last Modified: | 16 Apr 2024 08:59 |
| URI: | http://idiprints.knjiznica.idi.hr/id/eprint/883 |
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
