LD
Peer Attitudes towards Adolescent Participants in Male- and Femaleoriented Sports
Thomas R. Alley (summer, 2005)
1. Our society has many stereotypes about participants in sports, including gender
stereotypes. Despite legal and social changes, sexist ideology still pervades sport, i.e.
some participants in certain sports are associated with being masculine while others
are associated with femininity. Following what psychologists call "one of the oldest and
most persistent folk myths”, athletic achievement has been equated with a loss of
femininity.
Sports participation is seen as a masculine activity. Sports are a
traditionally male domain: male sporting events receive far more media coverage,
cash prizes for males are higher than those for females in the same sport, and
participation in competitive sports violates traditional sex-roles of females.
2. The belief that participation in competitive sports tends to masculinize females has
been found in research using a variety of subject populations. This is to be expected
given that the stereotypic beliefs about females sharply contrast with the traits
associated with successful athletes. The widespread tendency to regard female
athletes as more masculine, (e.g., large and strong) comes from the popular
contention that those are the types of women who are more apt to pursue sports.
Questions:
1. According to “folk myths”, participating in male sports makes girls
____________________. (2 words)
2. What do the examples in the last sentence of paragraph 1 illustrate?
___________________________________________________________________
3. In paragraph 2 the writer says, “This is to be expected.” What is to be expected?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
3. When examining these issues, it is important to keep in mind that some sports are
seen as more masculine than others and many sports attract disproportionate
numbers of male (e.g., football) or female (e.g., ballet) participants. It has been
suggested that sports such as golf and swimming, as well as sports such as
gymnastics that emphasize beauty of line, are believed to be acceptable for female
participation, whereas sports associated with high levels of contact, such as softball
and football, and others such as baseball and basketball are thought of as appropriate
for males but not for "ladies". Other reports indicate that the most appropriate sports
for women are individual rather than team sports and sports emphasizing lean bodies.
4. Through socialization individuals learn which sports are considered masculine,
neutral, or feminine. Gender stereotypes for certain sports appear to be learned by the
time a child is in elementary school. Researchers found that elementary school girls
and boys both considered a competitive task that requires power, speed, and strength
to be a "male" activity. Even female athletes see sports such as soccer and rugby as
very unfeminine compared to tennis or volleyball.
Questions
4. In what way are feminine and masculine sports contrasted? Many feminine sports
involve ___________________(3 words), while many masculine sports involved
__________________________ (4 words).
5. Apply the criteria of the text, in order to identify the following sports as either
female appropriate (FA) or male appropriate (MA):
(a) handball
______
(c) ice skating __________
(b) floor gymnastics________
(d) ice hockey ________
6. Elementary school children believe that in order to participate in a male sport
activity, a person must have _________________, _______________ and
____________________.
5. These gender-based stereotypes probably influence sports participation. For those
who do participate, these stereotypes may lead to role conflict and distinct attitudes
about athletes that depend on whether they participate in gender "appropriate" or
"inappropriate" sports. These stereotypes may lead to perceptions of males and
females as more or less masculine or feminine depending on the sport(s) in which they
participate. While there is some evidence for this, surprisingly little research has been
reported on these issues. Research has found that although women competing in
more gender-inappropriate sports may not themselves perceive more role conflict,
there is evidence that they will experience more role conflict.
6.
Masculinity and femininity are often viewed as bipolar opposites, yet many
theorists now view masculinity and femininity as separate traits rather than as opposite
ends of a continuum. From this more contemporary perspective, female athletes may
retain their femininity even if they are "masculinized" by participation in competitive
sports. Unfortunately, most research has taken a uni-dimensional view of masculinity
and femininity, perhaps obscuring independent variation of these traits. Indeed, there
is evidence that female athletes are more likely to possess both masculine and
feminine characteristics.
Questions:
7. Women may suffer from gender role conflict by playing in gender appropriate/
gender inappropriate sports. (circle one)
8. True/False
8. True/False (circle one)
Female athletes have exclusively male traits.
Quote from the text to justify your answer.
_____________________________________________________________
The Study
7.
The following study was designed to examine how males and females are seen in
terms of femininity and masculinity by their peers according to their participation in
female- or male-oriented sports. Consistent with the conceptualization of masculinity
and femininity as (at least partially) independent traits, raters were asked to provide
ratings of both. For this study, teenagers were presented with descriptions of male and
female participants in one of three sports and asked to judge the femininity and
masculinity of each of the participants.
The Method
8.
To decide which specific sports would be chosen for our research, twenty-three
college students were asked to rank eight sports on their masculinity/femininity: figure
skating, swimming, baseball/softball, tennis, gymnastics, volleyball, karate, and ballet.
These eight sports were selected to fit the categories of highly masculine (karate and
baseball/softball), neutral (tennis and swimming), or highly feminine (figure skating and
ballet). Each student ranked these sports on a 5-point scale ranging from masculine
(1), through neutral (3), to feminine (5). The means of each sport were computed,
revealing that karate was perceived as highest in masculinity, tennis was perceived as
most neutral, and ballet was perceived as highest in femininity. Thus, these three
sports were chosen for our study.
The Participants
9.
Sixty-nine volunteers between the ages of 14 and 18, participated in the study. All
were recruited from Physical Education and Biology classes in Greenville, South
Carolina, USA. 33 were male and 36 were female. Based on self reports, 52 were
white, 9 were black, and 1 was Hispanic (7 participants did not report their race).
The Materials
10.
Each subject was given a one page survey form containing three paragraphs.
Each paragraph described a target individual who participated in karate (highly
masculine), ballet (highly feminine) or tennis (neutral). In addition to identifying a sport,
each paragraph specified the age, race, and sex of the individual. Below each
paragraph were two 5-point rating scales, one for femininity and one for masculinity.
The scales were labeled at the extremes (1 being "Not at all feminine/masculine" and
5 being "Very feminine/ masculine"). Each of these paragraphs, although short,
ascribed a variety of traits that could be seen by raters as the independent variables:
name (initials only), age, race, gender, hours of practice per week, number of
competitions/performances per year, sport, and self- confidence. Separate masculinity
and femininity scales were used rather than a single scale, since people can have both
feminine and masculine characteristics. This is also in keeping with evidence that
female athletes often do have both feminine and masculine traits.
The Procedure
11.
All participants were given one survey form containing three different
paragraphs describing athletes who they did not know but were their age. They were
then asked to rate the individual on two 5-point scales concerning the femininity and
masculinity of the athlete in the paragraph. To ensure anonymity, the subjects were
not asked to provide their name or other identification. After completing their
responses to all three descriptive paragraphs, data was collected and the subjects
were debriefed.
Questions:
9. What was the method of studying the 3 sports chosen by the researchers?
(a) By ranking sports according to difficulty
(b) By ranking sports according to favorites
(c) At random
(d) By classifying sports according to gender
The Results
12.
The data from all of the 5-point scales was coded so that high scores signified
high femininity or high masculinity. As expected, women athletes were perceived as
more feminine and male athletes were perceived as more masculine. This pattern held
for participants in all three sports considered individually.
13.
To determine if males and females would be perceived as more or less feminine
or masculine depending upon the sport in which they participated, the mean scores for
each sport (ballet, tennis, and karate) for each sex were calculated. The mean ratings
for each sport reveal a consistent decrease in femininity and increase in masculinity as
one goes from participating in female- to male-oriented sports: i.e., from ballet to
tennis to karate. There were significant effects for both traits and both sexes. Both
females and males were seen as more feminine when described as participants in
ballet as opposed to participants in karate.
DISCUSSION
14.
Common stereotypes and previous research suggest that sports participation
may have a significant effect on the attitudes of peers and others, and vice versa. Our
results showed that the specific sport in which males and females participate may alter
how they are perceived by others. Although we found that women were perceived as
more feminine than men and vice versa regardless of the sport in which they
participated, our data demonstrates that females may be perceived as more masculine
and males as more feminine if they frequently participate in a "sex-inappropriate"
athletic activity. This finding indicates that our society maintains gender stereotypes
pertaining to participation in some sports, at least for dedicated athletes. This
stereotyping of athletes may have an important impact on the willingness of athletes to
participate in certain sports. Likewise, these stereotypes may tend to filter out certain
types of potential participants--e.g., macho males, individuals with a high need for
social approval or those high in self-monitoring ---in athletic activities which are
"inappropriate" for one's gender.
Questions:
10. Paragraph 13: What can be inferred from the results of the study?
The results of the study indicate that there is a consistent ___________________ in
femininity and _________________ in masculinity as one moves from participating in
karate to participating in ballet.
11. When the writer says “vice versa” in the first sentence of paragraph 14, he means
that ____________________________ may influence ________________________
12. What are the two possible results of athlete stereotyping?
a. ___________________________________________________________
b. ___________________________________________________________
15.
There is evidence that elementary school and teenage boys have less
favorable attitudes than girls about female participation in sports. Likewise, women are
more accepting than men of female participation in "male" sports. Sports participation
may be more acceptable for females before puberty since femininity probably
becomes more important about this time. Research suggests that women participating
in very macho-type sports such as karate might be seen as even more masculine than
men who do not do karate. Our results, however, indicate that the masculizing effect of
competing in karate is not sufficient to overpower the perceived masculinity that
accompanies being male or female. Whatever the strength of this effect on the
perception of others, the self-perceptions of athletes may be less affected by sports
participation. Nonetheless, our results add support to the belief that participation in
"masculine" versus "feminine" sports may have significant effects on the social
interactions of adolescents.
Questions:
13. The research results suggest that
(a)
sex stereotypes for certain sports is not a factor in deciding whether to
participate in the sport or not.
(b)
sex stereotypes for certain sports may influence peer attitudes and participation
in these sports
(c)
young people tend to participate in sports according to gender
(d)
sex stereotypes in sports are more important in adulthood than in
adolescence.
14. This article discusses research that examines:
a. the differences between male and female dominated sports
b. adolescent females playing male type sports
c. high contact sports between young males and females
d. gender stereotypes and sport participants among young people
Grammar Practice:
I. Read the following compound/ complex sentences. Find the main clause. Then
answer the questions that follow.
1. Despite legal and social changes, sexist ideology still pervades sport, i.e. some
participants in certain sports are associated with being masculine, while others are
associated with femininity. (para. 1)
a. Complete the sentence
We would expect that _________________________ due to _______________
__________________.
b. What does the writer mean by "sexist ideology" in sport?
________________________________________________________________
2. The widespread tendency to regard female athletes as more masculine comes
from the popular contention that those are the types of women who are more apt to
pursue sports. (para. 2)
a. What common view causes people to consider female athletes as more
masculine?
________________________________________________________________
3. It has been suggested that sports such as golf and swimming, as well as sports
such as gymnastics that emphasize the beauty of line, are believed to be acceptable
for female participation, whereas sports associated with high levels of contact, such
as softball and football, and others such as baseball and basketball are thought of as
appropriate for males but not for "ladies". (para. 3)
a. Fill in the chart:
Female sports
Male sports
b. How does the writer define some of male and female sports?
Complete the sentence:
While male sports ____________________________, female sports
___________________________.
4. Research has found that although women competing in more gender-inappropriate
sports may not themselves perceive more role conflict, there is evidence that they will
experience more role conflict. (para. 5)
a. Whereas women will/ will not encounter more role conflict if they compete in
masculine sports, they recognize/ don't necessarily recognize it.
5. To determine if males and females would be perceived as more or less feminine or
masculine depending upon the sport in which they participated, the mean scores for
each sport (ballet, tennis and karate) for each sex were calculated.
a. What was the method of finding out whether the sportsman/sportswoman would be
regarded as masculine or feminine?
________________________________________________________________
II. Use your knowledge of suffixes/ prefixes to translate the following words:
1. masculinize (para. 2) _____________________
2. disproportionate (para. 3) _____________________
3. unfeminine (para. 4) ______________________
4. bipolar (para. 6) _________________________
5. uni-dimensional (para. 6) ____________________
6. masculinity (para. 8) ______________________
7. regardless (para. 14) _______________________
8. sex-inappropriate (para. 14) _________________
9. willingness (para. 14) ____________________
10. self-perceptions (para. 15) ___________________
Vocabulary exercises:
I. Study the meanings of the following words:
1.
peer (title)
2.
attitude (title)
3.
adolescent (title)
4.
participant (title)
5.
domain (paragraph 1)
6.
violate (paragraph 1)
7.
subject (paragraph 2)
8.
population (paragraph 2)
9.
appropriate (paragraph 3)
10.
perception (paragraph 5)
perceive
11.
trait (paragraph 6)
12.
likely (paragraph 6)
13.
reveal (paragraph 8)
14.
variable (paragraph 10)
15.
pattern (paragraph 12)
16.
alter (paragraph 14)
17.
vice versa (paragraph 14)
18.
impact (paragraph 14)
19.
approval (paragraph 15)
approve
II. Complete the following sentences:
1.
People who violate the law, ____________________________________.
2.
The subjects of the study ______________________________________.
3.
Different people perceive _____________________ differently.
4.
What is your attitude towards __________________________________?
5.
This __________________ is inappropriate for a formal party.
6.
Adolescents ________________________________________________.
7.
It is likely that _______________________________________________.
8.
Several variables were examined _______________________________.
9.
Do you think she may alter her _________________________________?
10.
Social approval _____________________________________________.
III. Translate the following noun phrases:
1.
peer attitudes (title) ______________________________
2.
adolescent participants (title) _________________________
3.
athletic achievement (para. 1) ______________________
4.
male domain (para. 1) ________________________
5.
male sporting events (para. 1) _______________________
6.
gender-based stereotypes (para. 5) _____________________
7.
role conflict (para. 5) ___________________________
8.
gender-inappropriate sports (para. 5) ________________________
9.
mean ratings/ mean scores (para. 13) ________________________