An Intersectional Analysis on Violence

Trigger warning: Profane language + Descriptions and extensive discussion regarding abuse and violence

Finding a non-violent movie is an incredibly difficult task. The top five box office hits of 2012 all contained parental advisories for violence, gore, and frightening/intense scenes. This cultural obsession isn’t new – four of the top five films 50 years ago contained the same warnings (according to IMDb). It seems we are obsessed with violence and it isn’t confined to the media we consume. The number of deaths attributed to violence was 1.6 million people worldwide in 2000. However,  closer analysis reveals that individuals aren’t at equal risk. Violence is more likely to occur to individuals with poor socioeconomic status and women are at greater risk than men (regardless of income level) (Aulette and Wittner, 2012, p.  258). The prevalence of suicide, homicide, warfare, and abuse varies according to cultural and religious influences. Individuals who have witnessed or suffered abuse in the past are more likely to propagate violence.

Violence is a leading cause of death in young- to middle-aged adults worldwide, yet conventional explanations fail to provide adequate reasoning for violent behaviour (Aulette and Wittner, 2012, p. 259). For example, the psychological approach explains violence by focusing on the mental state of the abuser, such as emotional needs to exert power, inability to connect with others, or past experiences with abuse. However, this information is based on samples of predominantly low and middle class racial minorities who are more likely to be charged and prosecuted for their crimes. Furthermore, it often disregards the social contexts and complex personal histories that influence behavior. Lastly, it does not explain why violence is predominantly a male activity; women who are abused or cannot relate to others resort to violence far less frequently than their male counterparts (Aulette and Wittner, 2012, p. 272). The best way to view acts of violence might be as products of strained and asymmetrical power relationships. Power inequality creates positions of dominance and submission. These roles are maintained by oppressing others, often through violence (Aulette and Wittner, 2012, p. 273). This helps to explain why domestic abuse can occur in same-sex relationships and why people in low socioeconomic classes often face more violence.

Viewing violence as an imbalance of power also helps to explain the gendered differences in violence.  Although Western society is progressing toward equal treatment of women and men, men still hold a disproportionate amount of power. This leads to distinct social roles for men and women and contributes to the social construction of gender. If we take this perspective and look at gender as the result of inequality (as opposed to the cause of inequality), it is more apparent why men might resort to violence to preserve their dominant position (Aulette and Wittner, 2012, p. 273).

The gendered differences in violence permeate our everyday interactions. Young boys are encouraged to affirm masculinity through violent sports like football and hockey. Conversely, girls are directed toward less confrontational activities like dance or cheerleading. Banter is sexualized and mockery like “you suck”, “blow me”, or “fuck you” perpetuates the connection between submission and women (Aulette and Wittner, 2012, p. 268). Other social circumstances can also be seen to exacerbate the harm violence can cause within society. Lower class citizens have financial complications and require inexpensive lodging, affordable child care services, and employment to escape violence. Immigrants might require bilingual assistance or language training, and individuals with strong religious conviction may have special dietary needs or require specific living accommodations (Aulette and Wittner, 2012, p. 283).

The judicial system creates further social issues. Immigrants and other non-Anglophones do not always call the police fearing issues or concerns with their citizenship or immigration status. Those involved with gangs or living in areas with low socioeconomic status may fear labels such as “snitch” or “rat” that could put themselves directly in harm’s way (Aulette and Wittner, 2012, p. 283). Furthermore, money spent on prisons and police forces diverts money from shelters, safe-houses, child-care services, welfare, health care, and other services victims of violence need to escape (Aulette and Wittner, 2012, p. 284).

Correctional facilities are a particularly fruitful site for the study of violence and its relationship to our judicial system. Fluffykitty123 has already outlined many issues within the penal system. Men are more likely to be arrested and incarcerated and more likely to serve a sentence at the state or federal level. Women are less likely to be arrested or incarcerated, but this means fewer women’s prisons. This means women are more likely to be incarcerated far from home, making visitations difficult, and often have less (if any) access to libraries, medical care, work out facilities, and more (Aulette and Wittner, 2012, p. 374). Age also plays a role in the justice system. For example, girls are more likely to be arrested for activities that are legal for adults but illegal for minors, such as being out after curfew or drinking underage (Aulette and Wittner, 2012, p. 375).

To begin to fix society’s problem, we need to increase awareness about violence and educate individuals about the intricate issues violence creates. Recently, there has been a slow shift away from incarceration and towards rehabilitation. Programs like “Just Detention” and “HollaBack” are working to bring awareness to issues like sexual abuse in detention and street harassment. After school programs are helping to keep youth away from the streets and the violence they might otherwise be exposed to. Until citizens are prepared to mount a more comprehensive stand against violence– rather than merely acknowledging violence as an issue—violence will continue to propagate.

How aware are you of the violence you are exposed to every day? How does exposure to violence affect your views, beliefs, and behaviours? What type of biases or stereotypes do you see propagated in the media about violence and violent offenders? To challenge your awareness of these issues, critically analyze a media report or newscast regarding an incident of violence. What questions are being asked about the perpetrator? Are socially constructed identities such as race, gender, sexuality, culture, age, ability, or socioeconomic status discussed? Are these characteristics discussed if the offender is not part of a minority, such as if they are white, cisgender, heterosexual, or able? Are comments about the offender positive or negative? How are the victims described? Are victims blamed for the crimes committed against them, and is this blame (or lack thereof) justified?

References:

Aulette, J. R., Wittner, J. (2012). Gendered Worlds. New York: Oxford University Press.

(All other references are linked directly in blog post)

Islamaphobia in the Media

Islamaphobia in the media has become a big issue in recent years, particularly since the events of 9/11. The negative depiction of muslims by the media began in the 1970’s with the Arab Oil Embargo, and the Iranian revolution that led to the beginnings of Islamaphobia. It of course became a much bigger issue after 9/11. Now the word terrorist has become a synonym for muslim. Any act of violence by a muslim is highly publicised by the media, particularly the Western news media, while hiding the horrible things they are doing themselves. The problem is not with the everyday person who believes every muslim is a terrorist, the problem is the biased, misconstrued news media we are exposed to everyday. If all people see is muslims blowing up other muslims, then they will believe that’s the way they all are, they know no better. I live in a small city called Waterdown 45 minutes from Toronto, but the views on culture and religion are drastically different. Waterdown is almost entirely white, while Toronto is extremely multi cultural, so they have been exposed to all different kinds of people. People in Waterdown can only relate to muslims they see on TV, while a person in Toronto will run into 5 different muslims before they get to work in the morning. And with exposure, people in Toronto are a lot more socially aware and conscious of these things.

Do you notice a difference in the attitudes and beliefs of people in Kingston, a predominantly white city, and people in Toronto?

The Muslim religion has 1.6 billion followers worldwide, that’s second to Christianity. Amongst these people are a number of different identities, gays, straights, blacks, whites, former Christians, former Jews, and yet they’ve been all captured under one umbrella by the media. They’ve been denoted as “the Other” and most people in North America have become scared of muslims. Here is a quote from a Canadian Muslim woman that helps capture the things Muslim people have to deal with, “if i’m quiet they say all muslim women are passive, if I’m rude they call me and ungrateful immigrant and if they see me walking behind a man they say she must have an overbearing muslim husband” (Hassan, Big responsibilities small acts of faith, par.5). Here we see that multiple levels of oppression are working against this woman, it is not just religion based bigotry, but racism, sexism and a hatred of immigrants that leads to this social inequality.

Do you think of Muslims as the Other?

The racialization of Muslims by the media is done through the way in which they are described. After the events of 9/11, Muslims were described as monolothic, static, and inferior to the west. The most popular adjectives used to describe Muslims were, barbaric, aggressive, irrational, primitive, and clashing with western civilization(Lendman, Islamaphobia in Western Media, par 2.). By speaking about Muslims like this the media creates the impression that they are lesser form of human being than we are, and we are more important than them. Once this happens it is easy to justify the horrible way Muslims are treated, most people think of them as second class citizens. They have become the Other, and now our governments, particularly the US government, can justify the horrible things they have done in Iraq and Afghanistan because they are Islamic states and Islam is the enemy, right?

Bullying: More Detrimental than it appears to be

A topic that I believe is becoming more prominent within the world is the issue of bullying.  Within the Western society there are issues of bullying related to judging people on their appearance and labeling them because of the way they look. This plays into the hegemonic Western society because the norms of society emphasize a specific image. Two examples of this kind of bullying that I believe are detrimental to individuals are when women are labeled as sluts and when Muslims are labeled as terrorists. These forms of bullying based on appearance also play into victimizing these individuals, which has negative implications such as suicide or the fear of these individuals.

What is a slut?  The definition of a slut has been altered and socially constructed to portray the views of the norms within society; thus making a slut a girl who dresses provocatively with intentions of receiving attention, especially from the male sex.

This picture is a meme of what people think a slut is and there were more photos. If you want to see what society labels a slut, type it into Google and look at the pictures; this is one of many. The majority of the photos were girls dressed in provocative clothing.

In high school, the phenomenon of labeling other girls as sluts has created a form of bullying known as slutbashing. Slutbashing occurs when a female is harassed for their perceived sexual behavior and is done with the intention of harming, degrading and dehumanizing the victim (Gender Studies: Gender, Race and Popular Culture: lecture slides 7). The use of the word ‘slut’ to harm individuals has negative implications on how individuals feel about themselves and can make it hard for them to have a high self-esteem.  This can become a bigger problem when the slutbashing is persistent and the individual cannot escape the bullying they are facing.

I always wonder if girls label other girls ‘sluts’ because they have been labeled a ‘slut’ themselves or because they know the harmful effects it can have on an individual and they want to inflict pain on these individuals?  Do these individuals think of the consequences of their actions before they persistently bully another person or is it fun for some people? Is there a possibility that slutbashing is so common in the media and television that people do not think anything of calling someone a slut?  I can admit I do not know the answers to these questions but I believe that some people want to hurt other individuals but they do not fully realize the consequences and they do not realize that they are victimizing someone.

 

This type of bullying can cause a person to feel victimized, as if it was their fault and that they did something wrong.  One example of a young girl who was victimized was Amanda Todd. She was a beautiful girl who was constantly bullied because she made on a webcam chat room with her friends and a man took a picture of her chest when she did not consent to it. Amanda was labeled a slut and was bullied at three different schools because this guy, who screen-shotted the photo, had followed her and sent this picture around her schools.  She had been told to kill herself by many different people, at many different schools and after her cries for  help, she killed herself.  Suicide has become a popular way for teenagers to escape their problems and many teenagers feel like it is the only solution to the harassment that they are facing.

This is Amanda Todd’s story, she was bullied no matter where she went and she felt like she had no escape. This is just one of many stories about young girls who commit suicide or attempt to because they are victims of slutbashing.

This sickens me to think that people can bully other people and harm them based on actions or their looks without even realizing the negative effects it has on people.  I have begun to wonder if judging a person based on the way they dress or an action they made is just one way the norms can keep their superiority? I also wonder if slutbashing has become so popular because we live in a patriarchal society?

 

Another example of bullying that is seen in Western society is labeling Muslims as terrorists, which has widely been influenced by their race being deemed as bad. Muslims have been judged and bullied by the world because of their race but after the attack of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, they were  hated and bullied even more(Reel Bad Arabs).

Muslims in Western society have been excluded and deemed as the ‘other’ because of their race.  People within the Western culture have become afraid of Muslims because of the stereotypical view that all Muslims are terrorists. This fear comes from discriminatory comments that are made from the white hegemonic people of society. The comments are usually pertaining to the outfits or appearance of Muslims and bombs and terrorism.

This is just on of the many jokes I have heard about Muslims being terrorists.

Have you ever heard any comments that relate Muslims to terrorism? Is this fair to attach the title of terrorists to all Muslims just because Huessin made a choice to hijack the planes and crash them into the World Trade Center? 

These comments have a negative impact on these individuals because it makes them a target for exclusion, harassment and oppression.  Islamaphobia is the irrational fear of people who are Muslim and from Islam. This concept has negative implications because people begin to disassociate themselves from Muslims and all Muslims face discrimination for no reason. This plays into the victimization of individuals that are Muslim because they are treated differently and treated as the ‘other’ for being born as a certain race and into a certain religion.

After 9/11 occurred, the airports’ security was increased and the people who were working in the airports were told to do random searches on individuals. This played into Islamaphobia because people who are Muslims were constantly being ‘randomly’ searched whenever they wanted to board the plane. People who were a different race, had long beard and who wore a turban were also searched more than people who were white because they resembled people who were Muslim. This created a negative implication for society because the stereotype was reinforced that all Muslims were terrorists, even when they were not terrorists.

This is another photo I found while looking on the internet, it plays into the stereotype that all Muslims will bomb planes because they are terrorists.   Do people not realize how wrong this is?

Do you believe the governments and individuals who are part of the hegemonic society created the irrational fear that people have against Muslims? Do you think that people will ever realize the amount of obstacles and oppression that the government caused with the discriminatory actions against the Muslim community? 

 

I think the hegemony within the Western culture plays a big part in why people are categorized by labels, because these individuals do not conform to the norms within society. I believe to stop the bullying and  the labeling that is occurring, individuals must recognize who holds the power in their society and who creates the messages they listen to. Maybe when people realize this, the world may be more equal?

Resources:

Google Images

Reel Bad Arabs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Kz2TJNE1V4

Gender Studies: Gender, Race and Popular Culture: lecture slides 7- Consent and Commodification

Some content on this page was disabled on September 11, 2015 as a result of a DMCA takedown notice from Frank Bruno Esq. You can learn more about the DMCA here:

https://wordpress.com/support/copyright-and-the-dmca/

A Crisis of Globalization

Some believe that globalization sweeps away cultural and political differences and allows for economic growth, assuring freedom and democracy. Many argue that globalization is in fact a process brought about by capitalist corporate power that echoes around the world, increasing inequalities between the wealthiest nations and the poorest nations, and enlarges the gaps between the rich and poor within those nations (Aulette, Wittner 474).  Popular culture today breeds this capitalistic consumerism. The development of capitalism was the first great economic transformation, which began post world war two. Around the 1970’s began the second great transformation, which pulled women from the domestic circle and into the realm of wage labour (Aulette, Wittner 475). For the global South, this involved women – mostly women of colour – travelling from poor to rich nations to become nannies, maids, or sex workers. These women, in order to support their families back home, had to leave their children behind and become a part of the corporate stratum in global cities, due to economic pressures (Aulette, Wittner 476). Currently, the need for care giving in the developed world is growing, yet its value is declining. Just as the market price of primary produce keeps developing countries in the lower community nations, the declining market value of care giving (child care) holds the status of the women who do it, and ultimately all women (Aulette, Wittner 477).

Case Study: Hurricane Katrina

An obvious case that brought to light the blatant inequalities within America was the 2005 hurricane Katrina disaster. Hurricane Katrina made it evident that only the government holds the power, resources and authority to address the very complex issues of the economic, environmental, cultural, and social destruction that impacted the Gulf Coast (Herbert, 2005). Before the storm occurred, 68% of New Orleans’ population was African American, and of that, 45% of them were unemployed (Giroux, 2006). The people worst affected by the Hurricane were those living and distributed in the most low-lying areas, with the weakest community infrastructure (the poorer communities). Almost all of these people were coloured, others elderly, disabled, or ill (Oiakangas, 2005). The levees that were intended to protect the people of New Orleans from the potential flooding from a hurricane were found to be poorly designed, and built shorter than code standards required, due to lack of government funding (Legum, 2005). Within the first 24 hours of the storm, 28 levees had failed. Even though the White House was alerted within hours of the first failure, the information was withheld from the public for nearly two days. Aid was offered by the Red Cross and was turned down by FEMA, Cuba offered to send 150 medical professionals and the White House turned them away, reporters and other freelance aid workers offered to help search for struggling victims and were forbidden to accompany any rescue boats (Herbert, 2005). The decisions made by those in powerful positions for reasons of “saving face” politically or other unknown agendas cost thousands of people their lives. The structure of communication and control in the United States ultimately lead to the catastrophic results experienced by Hurricane Katrina victims, and could have easily been avoided with a proper democratic government and justice system (Neal, 2005).

The tragedy and suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is symptomatic of a crisis in the United States that travels far beyond elements of governance and the incompetence of the Bush administration. Instead of simply representing a crisis of leadership, Katrina is analyzed as part of a biopolitics of disposability. This means that “entire populations [are] marginalized by race and class [and] are now considered redundant, and an unnecessary burden on state leaders and are left to fend for themselves” (Giroux, 2006). Many scholars who have studied the events of Hurricane Katrina would argue that the government used Katrina as an excuse to rebuild the city of New Orleans with a wealthy and white demographic, forcing the poor, ill, and coloured out of the region (Giroux, 2004). This new biopolitics is marked by deeply existential and material questions regarding who is to live, and who is to die, and represents forces that have given up on the sacredness of human life for those populations classified ‘at risk’ by global neoliberal economies; and as Katrina makes clear, works in diverse ways to render some groups as disposable while privileging others (Giroux, 2004).

The video below explains and analyzes the controversies that have come about due to the horrendous governmental response to the Katrina disaster. Survivors are interviewed and tell their stories…

Inside USA – The politics of race – 23 Feb 2008

Link to Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeD1Jz4j6yk

Video description: Hurricane Katrina brought disaster to the front rooms of the Western world. However, it was not the hurricane that caused the greatest human damage on America’s Gulf coast, but the overwhelmed public services.

 The inability of the richest nation in the world to evacuate the poorest in the affected communities was highlighted to the world. What was also on display were the US’s inequalities, racism and broken political system.

A photo of stranded survivors who’s homes in the lower lying areas were destroyed.

Displaced peoples, told that they can never go home and must relocate to a new city. Some of their homes still completely in tact and have very little to no damage.

After watching this video, do you think that if the lower lying regions of New Orleans had been populated by a wealthy, white demographic, the same response times and outcomes from the hurricane would have taken place?

As seen by this example, capitalism, which currently dominates the globe, promotes racial, cultural, and gender discrimination and inequalities. It is difficult to realize that a country with the most powerful resources available was able to let a hurricane kill and destroy so many thousands of people and their homes, and many years later, have them still feel the effects.

Many scholars believe that much of our environmental and social inequalities and injustices around the world stem from neoliberal capitalism, which has emerged from globalization. Do you agree with this? If so, do you see the potential for a restructuring of this system in the future, converting back to more small scale local businesses models rather than vast corporations and large corporate control?

References

Aulette, J. R., Wittner, J. (2012). Gendered Worlds: Gender and Golbalization. New

York, New York: Oxford University Press (2012). Print. 473-496.

Herbert, B. (September 2005). A Failure of Leadership. NewYork Times. Retrieved

from: http:// www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090505X.shtml

Giroux, H. A. (2006). Reading Hurricane Katrina: Race, Class, and the Biopolitics of

Disposability. College Literature 33(3), 171-196. West Chester University.

Retrieved October 26, 2012, from Project MUSE database.

Giroux, H. A. (2004) The Terror of Neoliberalism. Boulder: Paradigm Publishers.
Winnipeg: Arheiter  Ring Publishing (2005).

Neal, T. M. (September 8, 2005). Hiding Bodies Won’t Hide the Truth. Washington Post.

Retrieved from: http://www.washingtonpost.com.

Legum, J. (2005). Budget: After Katrina, More of The Same. Think Progress.Org.

Retrieved 21 October, from: http://www.americanprogressaction.org/

site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c= klLWJcP7H&b=914257&ct= 1520271.)

Ojakangas, M. (2005). Impossible Dialogue on Bio-Power: Agamben and

Foucault. Foucault Studies. 6(1): 221.

 

Playing the Blame Game

WARNING: This post discusses rape and rape culture, aspects of prison rape, and information about the treatment and death of teenager Ashley Smith. Please leave the post if the topics make you uncomfortable.

The Case of Ashley Smith

On October 19th, 2007, nineteen year-old Ashley Smith strangled herself to death in a Kitchener prison while guards watched. The incident, along with several other recordings of attempts to restrain Ashley by injecting her with sedatives and duct taping her to a chair, went viral. Ashley’s family filed a lawsuit against the correctional service of Canada, and settled out of court. At fifteen she was sentenced to 30 days for throwing crab apples at a postal worker. Incidents inside prison extended her incarceration until her death at nineteen. She was transferred a total of 17 times between 9 prisons, moving to an adult penitentiary at eighteen; a majority of the time spent in segregation (solitary confinement). News of the life of Ashley began to surface, raising questions about the prison system, and seeming unethical and negligent treatment of its inmates. If Ashley was mentally ill, as has been speculated but not confirmed, should she have been in prison in the first place? What are the effects of protracted solitary confinement? How did the endless transfers affect her mental well being? We may never have all the answers but the case should make us question prison ethics, and the use of prisons as method of social control of certain groups of people.

Prisons, Mental Health, and Solitary Confinement

The deinstitutionalization of the mental health system has meant that increasingly prisons are becoming the new living quarters of people with mental health issues. Not all people who go to prison have a mental health issue; however, there is evidence that prison conditions are damaging to mental health. Studies have shown that solitary confinement can be as stressful as physical torture, with suicide rates highest in segregation units.  The negative environment can create or worsen any existing mental health problems.  Despite such evidence, why do you think we still use solitary confinement in prisons?

Guards described Ashley Smith as manipulative, and difficult to handle. However, it seems rational to me that she would act out as it was her only method of interacting with others. The attention and blame is focused on the victim, rather than issues with the prison and social support systems.

Thus, we arrive at my first example of victim blaming. I strongly believe that Ashley was a victim of a problematic prison system, unethical treatment, and negligence which caused her death. The videos below illustrate my point.

WARNING: Both videos are extremely graphic and may be disturbing. The first shows the death of Ashley Smith. The second shows troubling treatment involving her being duct taped to a chair, during one of her many transfers. 

Prisons show Systemic Oppression: Race and Gender

The prison creates victims of and oppresses the mentally ill, but it is also surrounds issues of race and gender. It does not take a magnifying glass to see that crime discriminates against race. The war on drugs is directed at the black population even though the rate of drug use is similar among whites (Aulette and Wittner 377). African Americans make up 13% of the population of the United States but 51% for men (50 % for women) of the prison population (377).  Aboriginals in Canada are well represented in prisons but make up a very small percent of the general population. This is problematic because certain groups of people are blamed for crime in general, while the fact that they are also victims of systemic racism is ignored.

Gender too, is an area of oppression. Women face increased difficulties in prisons. These include special health needs such as pregnancy, and fewer prisons resulting in inmates being moved far from home. Men make up half of the population but are 80 % of the prison population (374). Some will try to use biology as an excuse, saying that increased testosterone is the culprit. However, I challenge this theory.  We value “manly” men, those who are tough, strong, and aggressive. If you behave otherwise, your value as a man is questioned. Could this not contribute to the higher rate of violence among men? Could this cause the justice system to be harsher on men than women?

Finally, the prison system reinforces the gender dichotomy. Your genitals or birth gender (not gender identity) determine whether you are incarcerated with other males or females. This means transgendered persons may be placed into solitary confinement because of the negative attention their gender brings after being placed in the wrong prison. This, along with lack of proper medical care such as hormone therapy, results in an extremely harsh environment. More disturbing is often the transgendered end up in prison because of gender discrimination. In the film Cruel and Unusual: Transgender Women in Prison (2006, USA), one inmate is unable to find a job because she cannot “pass” as a woman so steals to survive. Another person resorts to stealing to pay for sex reassignment surgery.

Social constructions of oppression and stereotyping often “create” criminals by punishing minorities. Thus entire groups of people oppressed and victimized by society, and are blamed for crime.

Rape as Punishment

Prison rape jokes and references give the idea that rape is not as serious in prison. Rape is viewed as just another part of punishment for committing a crime. Most people would not condone rape in any circumstance, yet when considered in the prison system it seems to be more acceptable. Our culture seems to view prisoners as losing some aspect of personhood. However, the whole concept of rape culture is a dangerous downward spiral. If rape is joked about in one instance, we will eventually find humour in it in another circumstance. Where do we draw the line? Rape is never acceptable or funny. The effect of rape culture can be seen in the Steubenville rape case, when it was implied that rape by an entire football team can be dismissed since the victim may have slept around, or was drinking. Furthermore, in news broadcasts, many reports sided with the rapists and mourned over the loss of their futures, again implying that the victim is to blame.

Conclusion: Rehabilitation or Criminalization?

In conclusion, I believe that the attempted blaming of the Steubenville rape victim, the blame placed on Ashley Smiths mental illness, the blame placed on certain racial or gender groups for crime, and the ignorant acceptance of prison rape are all related. In all cases, the victims (whether they be victimized individually, institutionally, or systemically) are blamed.  Not all criminals are “victims”, nor can we dismiss the crimes committed by the marginalized in our society. However, it is a mistake to look at a criminal or groups of criminals only as criminals. This is not a conclusive answer, and will lead us nowhere. Money spent to house criminals should be put into social programs to prevent putting people in the situations that are conducive to crime. We need to rehabilitate rather than criminalize, and question before we think to blame victims of failing aspects of society.

~fluffykitty123

References:

Aulette, J. R., Wittner, J. (2012). Gendered Worlds: Politics, Prison, and the Military. New York, New York: Oxford University Press (2012). Print. 359-394

Article on Solitary Confinement and Mental Health: http://www.hrw.org/news/2010/03/22/solitary-confinement-and-mental-illness-us-prisons

Women in Athletics

Which would you prefer: finding five dollars or having your hometown WNBA team win the national championship? According to a poll recently posted to my Facebook newsfeed, the consensus is a 97% to 3% split in favour of the money.  A 97% majority is almost unheard of in statistics: only 94% of Americans believe full time employees should be able to make enough money to support their families, and only 96% of Canadians believe access to water should be a human right.

Sorry kid – the question is women’s basketball vs. a Starbucks grande soy latte.

There is almost no issue the population agrees on with a 94 point margin, so why is there such a resounding aversion to women’s sports? The answer stems from the athletic world’s foundation in hegemonic masculinity. Historically, athletics have been reserved exclusively for men. Women did not participate in the Olympic Games until the introduction of lawn tennis and golf in 1900, and it wasn’t until seven more Olympic Games had passed in 1928 that more female events were introduced. As female athleticism became more acceptable, women were directed into sports that didn’t already feature a strong male presence such as diving and equestrian. Women have had more opportunities for competition as time has progressed, although as mentioned in an earlier blog post there are still clearly defined differences between “male” and “female” competition such as race distances and judgement criteria. This gender dichotomy is not superficially contained to the competitions and competitors. The entire industry is male dominated – commentators, coaches, owners, and referees are roles almost exclusively filled by men.

Unfortunately, athletics are often not expressions of athleticism and competition but are used as a tool to reinforce social constructions of the male gender. Actions in male dominated sports are described with aggressive and combative terms like “shoot”, “explosive”, “fight”, “reload”, and “buried”. The media often emphasizes team conflicts and trash talking (check out Muhammad Ali’s string of famous trash talk moments) and post-game highlights constantly focus on fights or injuries. Androcentrism runs so deep in the world of athletics that poor performances are characterized as feminine: throwing like a girl, running like a girl, or shooting like a girl.

Many men wish they could throw like this girl.

These inequalities add up. When men lose games it is often attributed to the strength of their opponents as opposed to a question of their own athleticism, but when a female fails to perform it is frequently blamed on nerves or focus. Female dominated sports are often those that involve flexibility or lighter weight, such as dance or equestrian, which generally gives women a biological advantage. Instead of speed or strength, evaluations in these sports are often based on aesthetic appraisal and costumes. Uniforms tend to be tight and small and certain sports demand skirts be worn in place of shorts or pants.

Or, in some cases, uniform eligibility requires bare butt cheeks.

What might be most telling of the sports world’s views on female athletics are sportscasters’ descriptions of female competition. Women are infantilized with terms like “young woman” and “girls” in ways their “boy” counterparts aren’t. Instead of focusing on their skills, talk centers on husbands and children in the spectator’s stands or on the “lucky men” are who have dated them. After the game winning kick of the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup, female soccer player Brandi Chastain pulled off her shirt and swung it in the air in celebration. What should have been the team’s gold winning celebration in the media was hugely overshadowed by talk and replays of the shirtless Brandi’s “strip tease” celebrating on the field.

 

Try as they might, male athletes can’t seem to receive this sort of fame.

The reason this cycle is so difficult to overcome is because it is self-propagating. Coverage of men’s sports in the media translates into more male competitions viewed and discussed, feeding back into formal coverage and so on. In addition, this male-dominated sector promotes homosocial relationships between men that females are excluded from, creating another barrier for women. In an earlier blog post, another author discusses her own experience with ridicule and dissuasion in hockey.

A question was posed to me recently asked if it was possible to imagine a world without gender. To extend from this thought, I propose a question to you: Can you imagine what the athletic world would be like without gender?

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References:

Shirtless Athlete Collage

http://i4.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article1234685.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/Olympics+Day+11+-+Athletics

http://i4.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article1235039.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/***BESTPIX***+Olympics+Day+11+-+Athletics

http://www.kickette.com/files/2011/07/Yoann-Gourcuff-abs-flat-stomach-shirtless-hot.jpg

http://sin.stb.s-msn.com/i/68/9B575DE7F8F773528B87428A78D119.jpg

http://outsports.com/jocktalkblog/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/72.jpg

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/06/29/article-0-13D8E79F000005DC-152_468x286.jpg

http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/39/2010/06/0628landon.jpg

http://www.corbisimages.com/images/Corbis-PE-018-0168.jpg?size=67&uid=73b2334f-a470-45ae-98d4-ec4a61352c4f

Disclaimer

All references are directly linked in the blog if not posted above.

The state of women’s sports; Can women play in the same leagues as men?

The general attitude of people, men in particular, towards women’s sports is that they are a joke. And quite frankly, as a man, I find women’s sports excruciantly boring, especially in comparison with men’s. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t think women shouldn’t play sports, but I don’t think that time and economic resources should be wasted on an industry that isn’t making money. I don’t think it is sexist that women can’t play in men’s leagues and I certainly do not think it is sexist that all men’s major sports are televised and women’s aren’t, I will explain in more detail as I go on.
To begin, there are 5 major sports in North America. These 5 sports bring in more money and have more fans than any other sport in the world besides Cricket. They are Basketball, Soccer, Hockey, Football and Baseball. I will illustrate my point by talking about women’s basketball as I figured it was the most appropriate, it being the only of the major sports that has a league for women that is broadcasted on national television.

Should every women’s sport be broadcasted on national television? Why or why not?

The WNBA games shown on national television are few and far between during the regular season but then it starts to pick up during the playoffs, which conveniently begin right after the MLB playoffs are over but right before the NHL and NBA regular seasons begin. If you want to regularly watch the WNBA you need to get specialty channels such as ESPN2 or TSN2, and if you want to watch every game, even if it’s just every game that your local team plays, you would need to go to the games because they do not televise all regular season games. This doesn’t seem fair, especially when every regular season game that the NBA team in your area plays is on basic cable. However, the NBA is multibillion dollar organization with fans all across the globe, and while the WNBA enjoyed success at first, has significantly lost its popularity and is on the decline, with many in the sports industry believing it only has a few years left before the league will have to fold. Meanwhile millions of dollars are being put into the league, money that could be used for much better things, and that is essentially going down the drain.

Do you think it’s fair that men’s sports take precedence over women’s?

I think that women feel as if they are somehow cheated or unequal to a man because they do not have a major professional league for their sport. But physically, they are at an extreme disadvantage. The anatomy of their bodies and their physical abilities and capabilities are not as well suited towards a sport like basketball and the major sports in general. I’m not saying that all men are better than all women at every sport, but the best males are better than the best females in the 5 major sports discussed above, and even the best female athletes couldn’t argue that. A little fact that helps to illustrate my point, there is not a single woman in the WNBA today that has performed an in-game dunk (and there are some as tall as 7 feet) and there are virtually no players in the NBA who can’t dunk a basketball. Not being able to run as fast or jump as high takes away from the excitement of the game. I am a huge basketball fan, so I enjoy women’s basketball, they play a much more fundamentally sound game than any NBA team, but they lack the size and athleticism to be able to put the same product on the floor as the NBA does. For the average person, you can imagine their dismay when they are watching a basketball game with no dunks.

All this being said, just because men’s major sports make a lot of money does that mean we should spend our time and resources on them? How are we bettering the world by having professional sports leagues broadcasted on national television?

I want to close by saying that I believe in Title 9, a law passed which says that the same kinds of scholarships available for men should be available for women. So I am not saying by any means that women should not be allowed to play sports, or have professional leagues. But when it is not profitable to broadcast women’s leagues on television, then we shouldn’t. And if women can’t play at the same level as men then it shouldn’t even be a question of whether or not they should play in the same league. For those of you who think I’m being sexist and that the best women can play at the same level as the best men in sports, Google Manon Rheaume, or see what Nancy Lieberman, a WNBA legend, had to say about men and their “size and physical advantage that makes it hard for women to compete with men” (Mcmanus, 2011). And it’s not like they haven’t had the opportunities, Lieberman participated in the Los Angeles Lakers Summer League camp a few years ago after being invited by Kobe Bryant who wanted to learn the secret to her longevity. However we come back to the physical difference between men and women. There are certain positions in certain sports that women could possibly play; former Packers president Andrew Brandt said he could see a woman kicker one day and former Red Sox manager Dan Duquette said he could see a woman pitcher in the MLB one day. To sum up my final point, I think it’s wrong to say that it’s sexist to not broadcast all women’s professional leagues or to not allow them to play in men’s professional leagues. If their leagues are not profitable we shouldn’t waste money and time on them, and as athletes if they cannot keep up with the level of play in men’s leagues then they should not be allowed to play with them.

References
Mcmanus, Jane. (2011). “Can women play with the men”. ESPN. http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-opinion/6495612/women-pro-sports-women-play-men (May 9th 2011)

Fighting the Stigma

The media today is full of messages of masculinity and femininity but what we do not realize is how much of these messages are present in our lives.  The media is a very influential mechanism, which people spend around 4 and a half hours paying attention to (Aulette 397). There are two types of images that are prominent in the media, these images are of hegemonic masculinity: “ the subordination of women, authority, aggression and technical competence”, and emphasized femininity: “ includes dependence, sexual receptivity, motherhood and subordination of men” (Aulette 397).  These images can be seen all over our world whether it is in the world of sports, music and movies, the stigmas of men and women are problematic and need to be critically analyzed.

Sports:

In the world of sports, there are stigmas of the sports men and women should play, which usually relates to stereotypical views of what men and women are able to do.  Men are seen as being able to perform and excel in physical sports because of their strength, meanwhile women are seen as more fragile and should perform in less physical sports so that they do not get hurt. I have heard so many times that women should be doing something else other than playing sports or that girls do not play sports.  This is problematic because phrases like these create stereotypes and makes it hard for women who do feel sports to feel feminine while playing them.

I had a bad experience when I first tried out for a body contact boys hockey team.  I was laughed at and told by multiple people that I would never make it because I was a girl and girls do not play sports.  This experience was the first time I felt like I was not good enough to do something because of my gender. At the tryouts, I had body checked some of the best players and made them fall and I was scoring tons of goals but at the end of the tryout I was cut from the team. I was devastated because I was better than a lot of boys; I decided to take the decision to a hearing at the district because I had all the skills to be on the team. At the hearing, I was told that I did not make the team because I was a girl and girls cannot handle playing on a boy’s hockey team.  The experience of not making a team because I was a girl made me think that I should be doing more feminine things and that I should look more feminine because I was playing a sport that was deemed masculine. I started trying to dress girlier with lace and pink and I wore more make up than I usually did. I felt like although my gender had hindered me a spot on the team, I still had to prove my femininity on a team filled with boys.  This made me question: why it was so important to prove my femininity because I played a sport usually boys play, is girls playing sports really that big of a deal?

As fluffykitty123 has stated many women face the same challenge I did with trying to prove their femininity to not only themselves but to the world. This is problematic because they have accomplished so much and yet their accomplishments are nothing compared to their gender and their appearance. Carol Huynh is a freestyle wrestler, who won a gold medal in the Olympics but when taking pictures she had to stand very feminine and in wore clothing that expressed her gender and femininity.

This is Carol Huynh when she is wrestling, her strength radiates from the picture and she should be credited as much as an male wrestler who won a Gold Medal for the Olympics yet she is still shown in other picture as fragile and feminine.

This is Carol Huynh, showing off her Gold Medal from the Olympics and dressed in a very feminine and traditional Chinese dress. Her gender has to be shown to the world more than her medal because of the stigma of women in the sports world.

This makes me wonder: Are men the only people who are able to excel in sports or is there room for women to be accepted and praised for their accomplishments too?

Music:

The music industry today is one of the biggest industries that teenagers, children and adults pay attention to.   The use of this type of media to portray specific images of gender and race reach a wide variety of people.

Within the music vides performed by men, women are always in skimpy clothing and they are seen as objects to satisfy the male performers. The women are usually dancing in a sexual way and used as objects of pleasure for the males in the videos.  For example, the video displayed below is “Rack City” by Tyga, while watching the video pay attention to the use of women as sexual objects, how they are dressed in the skimpiest of clothing and how their faces are almost never present.  The songs lyrics are also about a woman’s chest and strippers, which is degrading to women because there is more to women than just their body parts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMe27a4gGaw

 

In female music videos the women are usually trying to use their sex appeal to sell their song; they dance, look and appeal to be sexy, which makes women who sing to send a message less appealing to entertain us.  It also send the message that being sexy will get you the attention you want from men when the attention women really need is love and passion.  For example, Christina Aguilera’s video “ Dirty” is a very sexual video. In the video she is half – dressed and is dancing in a very sexual way using her body to attract attention. The song lyrics are also about being dirty, sexual and a party animal, this lands her the attention of the men in the room. This is problematic because young girls attempt to imitate her and dance like her hoping to receive attention from men.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-O7zlrpIBo

Music videos also display a certain stigma of races because in many music videos, people with darker skin are portrayed in a negative way.  They are seen as thugs, gangsters, trouble- makers and law-breakers, there are also a lot of videos, which show men of darker skin as drug users or dealers. These images are damaging because people begin to believe that all people of colour represent these stereotypical views.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVu7WFcS8UQ

In the above video, “ Bad Bitches & Good Weed” by Young lace is one video that shows the lifestyle of a black person who smokes and sells weed. This video is just one of the many videos that generalize people of colour. This is problematic because many people begin to believe that what is posted in the media is the truth, which leads people to believe that all people of colour are represented by the people on television and in music videos.

This leads me to question the messages we are receiving from the music videos. Is the media really the driving force for what makes us who we are because it is displayed on television or in music videos?   For women, is being displayed as sexual objects to men really how we want to be seen?

Movies:

Movies are another form of media that also portrays women and men in a certain way based on their gender. Disney movies are one type of movies that create stereotypical views of the ways women and men should be. Disney movies are the primary basis of where children learn their roles and expectations in society; these are usually defined by the characteristics that the princesses and princes express in throughout the films.

In Disney movies there are some general characteristics that are attributed to men and women, which young children learn to identify themselves as. The male characters in the movies are portrayed as brave, strong, adventurous, emotionless, independent, leaders, physically attractive, intellectual and the heroes.  The female characters in the films are portrayed as weak, emotional, sensitive, nurturing, fearful, physically attractive or always tending to their appearance, affectionate and the damsels in distress (England 2011: 559). These characteristics are entrenched in children’s mind because they want to grow up and be like the princesses and princes they watch on television.

This is Prince Eric who attracted Ariel from the ocean due to his beautiful looks; she seems desperate to receive his attention in this photo as well as in the movie.  Eric also seems attracted to Ariel because of her beauty, which is a characteristic that all Disney princesses have.

The gender stereotypical image of a man is always present in the back of young male’s minds because they have been taught by their observations that men do not show emotions and they must always be strong and assertive. Young boys always see the princesses as beautiful and perfect. Young girls on the other hand always define the princes as handsome, charming, and dreamy. Young females have become so adapt to the idea of princes saving the princess and being dreamy that none of their other characteristics matter.  This is problematic because these movies teach young children that men and women have specific characteristics that they believe they must have in order to be desired. They believe that there is specific gender roles that they must follow based on these characteristics and these movies do not show that men and women have different qualities, which should also be valued.

Cinderella in this photo is performing her usual domestic tasks, which seems to be a common theme among Disney movies. The women in these movies performing domestic duties always display the gender roles of women.

The world of sports and these forms of media have a big impact on how people view themselves, which leads me to wonder whether these parts of people’s life are ever looked at further or just brushed over.

References:

Aulette, J. R., Wittner, J. (2012). Gendered Worlds: Popular Culture, Media, and the Spectacle of Sports. New York, New York: Oxford University Press (2012). Print. 416-432.

http://media.winnipegfreepress.com/images/648*483/fng121047725_high.jpg

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/multiculturalism/asian/images/Carol-Huyn.jpg

How far have we really come?

Going along with the issues and topics that fluffykitty123 and hockeygurl11 have previously addressed on how women are portrayed in sports and in the media, I would like to discuss how these portrayals contribute and relate to the common belief that true equality has been reached between men and women. 

To be a woman in the 21^st century in the developed world is thought to be a blessing when comparing the current rights of woman to those in past decades and centuries. It is well displayed in popular culture that the war for equality has finally been won – women are now liberated and are free. Women can vote, can work, can apply for credit, and can attend any university; they can play professional sports, and carry professional careers. However, when looking a little deeper into the actual statistical discrepancies between males and females in all aspects of life, a lot can be seen indicating that there are very large, and in some cases newly forming and growing inequalities at play.

In America, nearly 75 percent of full-time working women make less than $20,000 a year, which is almost double the male rate (Faludi 51). The average female college graduate earns less than a male with only a high school diploma, the average female high school graduate earns less than a male high school drop out, and 80 percent of working women are still stuck in traditional female jobs such as secretaries and sales clerks (Faludi 52). Additionally, the U.S. government does not have family-leave and child care programs, and over 99 percent of American private employers do not offer this service (Faludi 52). In a 1990 national poll of chief executives, over 80 percent indicated that discrimination impedes female employees progress – yet less than one percent of the same companies surveyed had improving sex discrimination as a goal or priority for improvement (Faludi 52). In a survey conducted by the New York Times on the most important problem facing women today, job discrimination was the indisputable winner (Falundi 55). Further, women’s reproduction/birth control rights are decreasing, as well as education rights in regards to grants for research and funding for athletics. Even equality in home life is lacking progress. In thirty states it is generally legal for husbands to rape their wives, and only 10 states have laws mandating arrest for domestic violence (Faludi 53). For women who have no other option but to leave, federal funding is so limited that one third end up on the streets. It may be thought that women have been liberated, but if asked many women would most definitely disagree.

So, what exactly has contributed to this general North American consensus that the female gender has finally achieved true equality? That the need for legislation, such as the Equal Rights Amendment, is boded unnecessary? Perhaps the answer lies within the media. Women are told over and over again how wonderful it is that they can vote, work, own a house, have any career etc. That there are increasing numbers of women on television shows, television advertisements, as news broadcasters, in high political positions, and even as sports broadcasters for male athletics. However, does a growing number truly mean equality? Quite rarely do we see an older, overweight, African American woman as a news broadcaster, but quite often we see an older, white, overweight males. Not just any woman can be on television; a young, attractive, Caucasian looking woman can be on television because they can be sexualized and enjoyed by male viewers. A woman may be allowed to become the CEO of a company or the President of the United States, but how often does this actually occur for women when compared to men? A woman must work twice as hard, and prove herself twice as much in order to achieve her goal and be taken seriously. Below is two photographs displaying what comes up when a google image search is conducted with “women in the media” versus, “men in the media.”

Take notice to the contrast in age, attire, and body language between both sets of images. Not one photo shows a woman in a professional outfit, yet nearly half of the photos in the ‘men’ search display the men in suits.

Since the 1990’s much of the media have begun to over-represent how far women have made it, in regards to professions, as having gained sexual equality with men, and in achieving financial success. At the same time women have become a constant and continual sexual media display, through the creation of programs such as Girls Gone Wild and The Jersey Shore (Douglas 75). Even these programs, which tell women that they should dress like strippers and act like bimbos, is presented as empowering, for even though the women seem to have been objectified, they are actually winning because they have chosen to become sex objects, and men are the helpless ones, drooling over them (Douglas 75). The media assures girls and women repeatedly that they are stronger, more fearless, more successful, and more in control of their sexuality than they actually are.

Do you think that if the media altered the ways in which they displayed women, further equality could be reached? Do you think this task of altering the display of women is realistic, or is this a completely impractical goal?

 

References

Faludi, S. (1991). Gender, Race, and Popular Culture: Book 1. Introduction: Blame it on
Feminism. Canada. 47-62. Print.

Douglas, S. (2010). Gender, Race, and Popular Culture: Book 1. Fantasies of Power.
Canada. 71-94. Print.

Wrestling With Gender: Challenges of Women in Sports

In high school, I participated actively in several sports, including rowing and soccer. However my favourite by far was wrestling. The adrenaline of winning a match, the physical exertion in such a short time, and individualism it allowed when developing and learning new techniques and skills made it addictive to me. Underlying my love of the sport, however, were underlying fears of seeming too manly, being called a lesbian or butch. After cutting my hair short because it got in the way during wrestling matches, I was judged based on my appearance rather than my skill at the sport. Worried about these comments, I ordered a custom pink singlet, instead of the traditional red and blue uniform. I felt that because of my “masculine” participation in the sport and my “masculine” short hair, I had to overemphasize my femininity but wearing hot pink at all time. During high school, I had the opportunity to meet 3 time World Champion Canadian wrestler Martine Dugrenier. I wondered if her accomplishments and skill were ever undermined by the fact that she could dominate arm wrestling matches against most men I know, or by her appearance. Was her gender or sexuality ever questioned because of her appearance and participation in sport? I would argue that my experience is not an uncommon one.

Martine Dugrenier

Martine and I

Me with short hair at a wrestling tournament

My ridiculously pink singlet

This is because sports and events like the Olympics are structured around gender ideologies that ultimately support a patriarchal system of power.

Gender Ideals: Real Men and Real Women

Why are men’s races longer than women’s? For example cross country skiers in the women’s event race 10 km, while men race 15 km. Why are there set “girl” and “boy” sports? For example, there is no male synchronized swimming or female ski jump in the Olympics. I argue that the Olympics along with most sporting events support the gender dichotomy that is so problematic in our society. The Olympics allow for only two genders, and do not acknowledge that there is a spectrum of sex and gender. Women, who are more muscular or athletic go against the female ideal and are labelled as not “real women”. Similar to how I faced heterosexism around being called a lesbian for being a wrestler, women in sports are increasingly taking more measures to assert their status as “real women”, by emphasising their femininity. Take the following image of Maria Sharapova: she is half naked, sexualized, and has been made less of a threat to the female ideal. This also connects with the differences in branding power of men and women. Businessweek’s list of most powerful athletes featured only two women (Serena and Venus Williams). Women who do have branding power are limited to conforming to the ideals of sexy and feminine for the male eye.

Maria Sharapova

 Sporting events like the Olympics also make apparent the issue of policing gender. Who defines what is male and female? What does male and female even mean? Where do transgender or intersex people fit into this dichotomy? A prominent example of the consequences of this is the forced gender testing of Caster Semenya. Her appearance and deep voice led to her being submitted to gender testing. After finding that she had naturally higher levels of male hormones, and was forced to receive hormone therapy is she wanted to continue to compete.

Caster Semenya

Apparently hormone levels and policing gender are important, but differences in resources between wealthy and poor athletes, are not. How can natural hormone levels be any different than other natural differences in bodies structure that like height or arm length that can give people advantages? What do you think the real purpose of policing gender is? To discourage those from challenging the dichotomy based on biology? I argue that by defining Caster as something other than a “real woman” and her success is less supportive of arguments that women and men are not so different in their capabilities. Policing gender, therefore, serves to uphold the gender dichotomy where men are dominant and women are subordinate.

Why is it that women are judged more on their appearance than their actual athletic ability? Take for example some comments made about female athletes during the 2012 Summer Olympics: 4 time Olympian swimmer Liesel Jones was criticized for being too fat to swim. 16 year old gold medal gymnastics winner was criticized for her hairstyle. Have people in our society internalized the idea that success is based on appearance? By focusing the attention on women’s appearance rather than their athletic ability, the successes of women are undermined and made to seem like less of an accomplishment.

Do you think men are subject to the same pressures as women to conform to ideals of masculinity?

Some would argue that separating competition into male and female events serves to protect women from being disadvantaged by males who are naturally stronger. Do you think this is fair? Or should we continue to question what women could really accomplish given the opportunity. Yes some men are stronger than some women, but Martine Dugrenier could certainly outperform many men I know. Does being women really put us at that much of a disadvantage?

Racial Equality?

There has been a push for racial and gender equality in the Olympics. This has been shown by inviting people like 16 year-old Wojdan Shaherkani from Saudi Arabia to compete. However is this really accomplishing anything, or just making it appear more equal? After all, the Olympics are dominated by only 6 countries (US, UK, Russia, China, Germany and Australia) that make up 25% of all athletes at the games. In this sense, are the Olympics really that multicultural?

To help answer this question, consider the controversy surrounding Wojdan Shaherkani on wanting to wear her hijab for religious reasons during her competition in judo. Questions were raised about advantages over other opponents, and safety. At one point it appeared that Shakerkani would have to choose between her religion and her sport. Though she did eventually compete with a modified hijaab, the fact that this caused so much controversy, suggests that the goal of racial and ethnic equality is still only a superficial one.   

Wojdan Shaherkani fights in white

 I am not saying that the Olympics aren’t taking a step in the right direction by inviting people like Wojdan to compete. However given the following discussion, we must be wary of images of equality that actually overshadow gross inequalities.

Who Really Holds the Power? The Removal of Wrestling from the Olympics

Consider that of the 101 International Olympic Committee members, 80 are men, and only 21 are women.

Recently, the IOC announced the removal of wrestling from the 2020 Olympics, in part perhaps because no one involved in the decision was actually involved in wrestling, and were proponents for their own sports. This has caused a lot of outrage, with many Facebook pages and wrestling teams across the globe expressing their disbelief. Even Russian wrestler Sagid Murtazaliyev has announced that he will be returning his Olympic gold medal in protest. It should also be noted that Canada’s first gold medal of the 2008 Beijing Olympics was won by wrestler Carol Huynh. Take this example of the results of biased representation, and apply it to issues of gender, race and ethnicity. Do you see the potential problems here? If wrestling doesn’t have a voice and it gets excluded from the Olympics, what does this mean for the unequal representation of women? What does this mean for the over-representation of Western culture by the “big 6” countries?

Carol Huynh winning Canada’s first gold medal in 2008

In summary, sporting events like the Olympics support the gender dichotomy, while giving an illusion of gender and ethnic equality and international co-operation. In reality, these just gloss over the inequalities presented to women, people of different backgrounds, and people who don’t fit the male and female ideals. Going back to my original story, would I wear a pink singlet now if I wanted to wrestle? No, because my identity as a woman cannot be challenged based on my appearance, my choice of sport, or even my biology. It is MY identity.

Until next time, stay true ❤

fluffykitty123

For further information on some topics discussed, please visit the following:

Aulette, J. R., Wittner, J. (2012). Gendered Worlds: Popular Culture, Media, and the Spectacle of  Sports. New York, New York: Oxford University Press (2012). Print. 416-432.

Article on Caster Semenya:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/26/caster-semenya-and-the-ioc-s-olympics-gender-bender.html

Article on Liesel Jones:

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/07/29/a-weighty-issue-at-olympics-swimmer-leisel-jones-is-fit-not-fat/

Article on Gabby Douglas:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2189317/Gabby-Douglas-bows-pressure-books-celebrity-hair-stylist.html

Article on Wojdan Shaherkani:

http://www.thestar.com/sports/olympics/2012/07/31/london_2012_special_hijab_allowed_for_saudi_woman_in_judo_event.html

Save Olympic Wrestling Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Olympic-Wrestling/127829090722184?fref=ts

Article on Sagid Murtazaliyev:

http://www.upi.com/Sports_News/2013/02/26/Wrestler-returns-Olympic-gold-in-protest/UPI-45341361893949/

IOC Members list:

http://www.olympic.org/content/the-ioc/the-ioc-institution/ioc-members-list/