Exploring perceptions of sex, gender, and gender identity in Australian sport

Abstract

Western society has stereotypical expectations of how men and women should behave, think, and act. Women are expected to be gentle, sensitive, emotional, and talkative; men to be competitive, independent, unemotional, and objective (Fiebert & Meyer, 1997). Women who violate these cultural norms may be punished or threatened with psychological isolation, economic hardship, and social ostracism (Unger & Crawford, 1996). In the sporting context however such violations are encouraged and deemed necessary for athletic success to be achieved. For example to be a successful female athlete it is necessary to possess the same traits, characteristics, and behaviours as male athletes (Anshel, 1994; Cote & Salmela, 1996). Hence what is considered appropriate outside of sport may not be considered appropriate within sport, and vice-a-versa. Researchers of gender issues within sport psychology have assumed the existence of stereotypical notions of sex and gender in sport without first establishing if these stereotypical notions are context specific. They have not investigated the particular construction of sex, gender, and gender identity within sport. By not investigating the existence of stereotypical constructs, researchers risk propagating old myths in a new context. This paper addresses the questions of what is male and female, masculine and feminine in sport? How are these notions constructed? Furthermore how do these influence sporting performance? This paper critically explores sex, gender, and gender identity in sport. It examines sport in Australia as a separate and unique social context that may produce and reproduce engendered behaviour.