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7 The Gendered Dimension of Competitive Sports in a Multicultural Context: The Mauritian Scenario Ramola Ramtohul Introduction: Sport as a Masculine Endeavour Sport has been a historically male dominated preserve that epitomized masculinity and barred women from participating. When the Olympic Games were revived in Athens in 1896, activities were reserved for men only and according to the founder, Baron Pierre de Courbertin, ‘women have but one task, that of crowning the winner with garlands’ (Howe 1978).1 The feminist and radical critiques of sport both emphasize the essentially masculine and patriarchal nature that it shares with society (Hoch 1972; Theberge 1981). Indeed, qualities associated with sport such as competitiveness, aggression and instrumentality are qualities that are associated with contemporary notions of the ‘masculine’ (Sabo and Runfola 1980; Theberge 1981). It was only very gradually that women’s presence in sporting events and competitions became accepted. Yet, despite the space for women to participate in sports, globally, women’s participation in competitive sports is much lower than that of men. Cortis (2009) attributes this discrepancy to the fact that women perform more domestic work and care throughout their life course and as such, have less time and money for sport and leisure than men. In the Australian context, Cortis (2009) notes that smaller proportions of women than men participate in sport and recreation overall, and women choose activities that provide flexible timings which would minimize clashes with household schedules – for instance as walking or attending fitness classes rather than organized team sport. Women are also under-represented in decision-making bodies of sporting institutions (Sever 2005). Consequently, sport policies are often constructed without awareness of structural gender inequalities (Hall 1996; Hargreaves 1994). Gender, Sport and Development in Africa 96 The view of sport as a male endeavour is largely fostered through the educational system, governing bodies of sport, government agencies, sports promoters and most significantly, the media (Graydon 1983:8). Graydon (1983:8) also notes that 90 per cent of sport reporting in the media consists of men’s sports; and even when women’s sporting successes are reported, it is done in a superficially positive manner, highlighting the women’s physical desirability. Other media reports of women’s sporting success have placed the women in their domestic roles, viewing them in the family context, surrounded by their spouse and children (Scott & Derry 2005; Koivula 1999; Myers 1978).2 Hence, such views either focus on women’s sexuality or on their domestic roles, expecting them to conform to male-defined societal values. The dominant view here is that sport is a masculine activity which emphasizes male values and is therefore no place for a ‘real’ woman. Media reports of the Caster Senmeya saga highlight this issue very pertinently, as attempts were made to prove that a strong and powerful woman athlete was not a ‘real’ woman. Throughout history, women’s entrance into the masculine domain of sports has been counteracted by claims that the athletic female body is a gender-deviant body (Cahn 1994). In this context, Hall (1988:333) critiques the work of Western sport researchers exploring the conflicting relationship between femininity (but never masculinity) and sport, to ‘prove’ that female athletic involvement has positive psychological benefits without producing a loss of femininity. In recent years, sports and physical education have begun to appear on the development agenda of many countries and international bodies and the focus on women and sport has consequently been enhanced. The First World Conference on Women and Sport was held in Brighton, UK, in 1994, leading to the Brighton Declaration and the establishment of the International Working Group on Women and Sport. In 1995, sport was included in the Beijing Platform for Action (paragraphs 83, 107, 290) and subsequently in the Beijing+5 resolution five years later (Sever 2005). The Second World Conference on Women and Sport took place in Windhoek, Namibia in 1998 and the Windhoek Call for Action goes beyond lobbying for women’s participation in sport to promoting sport as a means of realizing broader goals in health, education and women’s human rights (Sever 2005). These issues were further promoted at the Third World Conference on Women and Sport in Montreal, Canada in 2002. Sport is now incorporated as part of development by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (UNDP 2003). The UN General Assembly recognized sport as an important tool to promote education, health, development and peace3 and the United Nations proclaimed the year 2005 as the International Year...

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