Female athletes and leaders are undeniably more visible and increasingly successful in sport 鈥� putting in both . But these achievements still occur in a male defined sport sector 鈥� where female stars have to tackle marginalisation and sexualisation of their sporting performance and leadership skills.
Recent research also suggests that coverage of women鈥檚 sports has actually become more sexist over the past four years 鈥� making it clear that in the current age, characterises the culture of sport.
Elite sportswomen who gain public visibility and acceptance that appeals to white, male heterosexual audiences (and TV producers). This means that women and girls can be subjects of unparalleled achievements in sport, but at the same time, they will be looked at as sex objects 鈥� and often applauded for their commitment to heterosexual domestic mothering roles.
Take Jessica Ennis-Hill, undoubtedly one of the world-leading heptathletes of all time, yet reports and pictures claiming her 鈥済olden girl鈥� status are based more on her looks, model poses and domestic relationships than her .
In surfing, women have increased recognition by the via media coverage of women鈥檚 events and . Yet imagery of the female surfer is still highly . Professional female surfers highlight that the in favour of model looks. Many struggle to find sponsorship and report to 鈥渟how their arse鈥� rather than 鈥渒ick arse鈥�.
Alana Blanchard, for example, remains the via sponsorship and endorsements. She is a darling of social media and for being the 鈥渕ost popular athlete鈥�, or 鈥渂est photo鈥� among male and female surfers. But she did not make it into the world top 30 in 2016.
Female athletes, including the boxer Nicola Adams, have for sporting equality. Adams has called for boxing to have more female ambassadors 鈥� like herself. Casey Stoney, a footballer who plays for Liverpool in the English FA Super League has also spoken about the difficulty of being female and being a sports star. She has openly identified the and being a mother in sport. Meanwhile Heather Rabbatts 鈥� the FA鈥檚 first female non-executive director and board member 鈥� has been for women in the male culture of sport.
A man鈥檚 world
So it鈥檚 good news then that some governments and international organisations are beginning to address the inequalities that female coaches and administrators face in sport. The recent also recognises the scale of the problem.
The International Olympic Committee has additionally claimed that the 鈥渞eal鈥� problem for gender equality in sport is not simply fewer numbers of female athletes and events, but the roles more generally.
In our forthcoming book, we highlight how , discrimination, sexism and misogyny. Yet throughout history, feminist work has helped to challenge the sexualisation of female athletes 鈥� helping to open up the sporting world for females, while at the same time and athlete welfare.
It is in this way that men and women across the sporting sector can continue to help to challenge and change the everyday sexism in the culture of elite sport. This is something that is vitally important 鈥� because, for women, pathways to power are invariably littered with reminders that sport is still very much a man鈥檚 world.
, Senior Lecturer in Sport, Health and Social Sciences, ; , Associate Professor in Sport and Leisure Studies, ; , Associate Professor Leisure Cultures, , and , Reader in Sport and Leisure and Studies,
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