International Olympic Committee and gender equality in sports

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Early women Olympic athletes

It is rumoured that when the Olympic Games first started in 1896, not a single woman was allowed to compete.[1] The International Olympic Committee did not promote gender equality in sports for its first fifty years, but it gradually began changing its views on the topic and followed the lead of many progressive countries that were starting to view women as equal in almost all spheres of life.[2] This attitude has led to a positive trend in which women are becoming more involved in sports, especially evident at the Olympic level. Over time, as women gained more rights in other areas of their lives, this followed with more rights in areas regarding participation in sports. Not all countries have the same policies regarding women’s participation, but it can be said that women participation in sport has significantly increased over time. A country’s view on if women should be allowed to participate in sport involves the country’s culture and society.[1] Sometimes culture and society do not move in lockstep with each other, though, which is what causes some women to be discriminated against for their desire to participate in sport. In some more traditional countries, sport is still considered a manly activity and not suitable for women participation. The IOC is very involved in issues regarding gender equality in sports and is trying to set an example for countries and other organizations to follow in regards to sports participation.

Ski jumping and Canoeing (both sprint and slalom disciplines) are two Olympic sports that feature fewer events for women. In Canoeing, women are still entirely excluded from the Canoe sub-discipline (as opposed to the Kayak sub-discipline).[3] At the 2012 Summer Olympics 30 fewer gold medals were available for female competitors.[4] In the meanwhile, men are excluded from competing in synchronised swimming and rhythmic gymnastics at the summer Olympics.[4]

History of IOC with gender equality in sports

The International Olympic Committee

International Olympic Committee logo

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was created by Pierre, Baron de Coubertin, in 1894 and is now considered “the supreme authority of the Olympic movement”.[5] Its headquarters are located in Lausanne, Switzerland. The title of supreme authority of the Olympic movement consists of many different duties, which include promoting Olympic values, maintaining the regular celebration of the Olympic Games, and supporting any organization that is connected with the Olympic movement.[5]

Some of the Olympic values that the IOC promotes are practicing sport ethically, eliminating discrimination from sports, encouraging women’s involvement in sport, fighting the use of drugs in sport, and blending sport, culture, and education.[5] The IOC supports these values by creating different commissions that focus on a particular area. These commissions hold conferences throughout the year where different people around the world discuss ideas and ways to implement the Olympic values into the lives of people internationally.[5] The commissions also have the responsibility of reporting their findings to the President of the IOC and its Executive Board.[5] The President has the authority to assign members to different commissions based on the person’s interests and specialties.

The first two female IOC members were the Venezuelan Flor Isava-Fonseca and the Norwegian Pirjo Häggman and were co-opted as IOC members in 1981.

The IOC can contain up to 115 members, and currently, the members of the IOC come from 79 different countries.[5] The IOC is considered a powerful authority throughout the world as it creates policies that become standards for other countries to follow in the sporting arena.[6]

Only 20 of the current 106 members of the IOC are women.[7]

Women in Sport Commission

A goal of the IOC is to encourage these traditional countries to support women’s participation in sport because two of the IOC’s Olympic values that it must uphold are ensuring the lack of discrimination in sports and promoting women’s involvement in sport. The commission that was created to promote the combination of these values was the Women in Sport Commission.[1] This commission declares its role as “advis[ing] the IOC Executive Board on the policy to deploy in the area of promoting women in sport”.[1] This commission did not become fully promoted to its status until 2004, and it meets once a year to discuss its goals and implementations.[1] This commission also presents a Women and Sport Trophy annually which recognizes a woman internationally who has embodied the values of the IOC and who has supported efforts to increase women’s participation in sport at all levels.[6] This trophy is supposed to symbolize the IOC’s commitment to honoring those who are beneficial to gender equality in sports.

Another way that the IOC tried to support women’s participation in sport was allowing women to become members. In 1990 Flor Isava Fonseca became the first woman elected to the executive board of the IOC. The first American women member of the IOC was Anita DeFrantz, who became a member in 1986.[8] DeFrantz not only worked towards promoting gender equality in sports, but she also wanted to move toward gender equality in the IOC so women could be equally represented. She believed that without equal representation in the IOC that women’s voices would not get an equal chance to be heard. She was instrumental in creating a new IOC policy that required the IOC membership to be composed of at least 20 percent women by 2005.[8] She also commissioned a study conducted in 1989 and again in 1994 that focused on the difference between televised coverage of men’s and women’s sports.[8] Inequality still exists in this area, but her study was deemed to be eye opening to how substantial the problem was and suggested ways to increase reporting on women’s sporting events. DeFrantz is now head of the Women in Sport Commission.

The IOC failed in its policy requiring 20 percent of IOC members to be women by 2005.[7] By June 2012 the policy had still not been achieved, with only 20 out of 106 IOC members women, an 18.8 percent ratio. Only 4 percent of National Olympic Committees have female presidents.[7]

Sports with different rules by gender

Men are excluded from two sports at the summer Olympics; synchronised swimming and rhythmic gymnastics.[4]

Males are portrayed in the media as having to have strong, muscular, chiseled bodies in order to be successful in life.[citation needed] Competitive sports have also taken on this depiction by building a sense of masculinity within each male sporting event, as well as providing a venue for violence and aggression that is not frowned upon as it would be in the public eye.[citation needed] The magnitude of success a man has is what measures their amount of masculinity, which is then glorified in the media.[citation needed]

Gymnastics for males is tailored only towards those that are muscular and defined, rather than the boys that are thin and lean, due to the equipment that is used.[citation needed] These boys could compete with the women, but are not permitted to participate with the other sex, and males have different events that require a greater amount of strength to women. The men that do compete in gymnastics at a competitive level are defined as 'men' because of their build.

Figure skating in competition varies between men and women. In 1992, men were required to complete three triple jumps within their program or routine, whereas women were prohibited to do more than one. The male figure skaters that were more of the artistic type were at a disadvantage when this rule was in place, as well as the powerful women that were unable to show their strength.[9]

Recent accomplishments of the IOC in gender equality

The 2012 Summer Olympics marked the first time that every participating country in the Olympics had at least one woman competing.[10] This fact shows the IOC’s progress when considering that at the 1996 Summer Olympics 26 countries did not send any women athletes.[10] DeFrantz was instrumental in this accomplishment as she and the IOC pressed the countries of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Brunei (the only countries that had never sent a woman athlete up to this point) to include women athletes from their countries in the 2012 games.[10]

If new sports wish to be added to the Olympic Games, the sport must include both male and female equivalents.[1] This policy was evidenced in the fact that women’s boxing became an Olympic sport in 2012, which made it the last summer sport to gain a women equivalent at the Games.[11] Thus the 2012 Summer Olympics were the first Olympics in which women competed in all sports in the program.[12]

The last sport to gain a female equivalent, ski jumping, will see equal participation at the 2014 Winter Olympics, but women will still compete in two fewer ski jumping events than men.[13] Female ski jumpers had petitioned to join every winter games since the 1998 Winter Olympics, but were denied each time by the IOC.[14]

At the 2012 Summer Olympics 30 fewer gold medals were available for female competitors.[4]

Controversies surrounding the IOC and its role in gender equality

Participation but not equality

Wojdan Shaherkani, Saudi Arabian Olympic judoka.

Many critics argue that even if the IOC presses countries to allow women’s participation in sports, especially at the Olympic level, that this does not mean that the women athletes are treated equally.[citation needed] Much controversy surrounded the participation of two women athletes from Saudi Arabia in the 2012 Olympic Games. These two athletes were allowed to compete in the Olympics but were not allowed to train inside their country and were chastised by many in their Islamic communities for their “disgraceful” actions.[15] In a country where women can not drive a vehicle or leave the house without a male escort, the thought of women competing in sport was very controversial. More controversy surrounding these women athletes followed when they were required to participate in hijabs (traditional Muslim head covering). Critics said that the IOC was requiring the countries to send women athletes but then forgot about the countries’ cultures after the fact.[16]

The IOC was stuck in a lose-lose situation in which they could either allow the women to participate in hijabs, which symbolized for many people the subordinate position of women, or they could force the countries to allow their women to compete without the hijabs and then receive criticism from people who believe that they were stepping on the traditional culture of the countries. They ended up allowing the women to participate in hijabs in order to keep the countries from removing their women athletes, which some people thought was a very hypocritical move by the IOC.[16]

Even in other countries that are not known for their conservatism towards female activity showed some discrimination towards their women athletes in the 2012 Olympic Games. It was discovered that the Japanese women’s soccer team and the Australian women’s basketball team flew to London in economy seats while the male squads of their countries flew in business class.[15] For many people this symbolized that women’s participation in sports did not exactly lead to equality because it might be possible to change society (the actions), but it is harder to change the more static culture (people’s beliefs).

Even though 2012 marked the first Olympic Games in which every country sent women athletes to compete, many people believe that the Olympic Games are far from reaching gender equality.[citation needed] This belief is evidenced by the fact that the number of women participating in the Olympics is still significantly less than the number of men competing.[2] The 2012 Olympic Games did mark the highest percentage of women athletes ever, though, at 45%.[16]

Another example of possible inequality was the removal of women’s softball from the summer Olympics for 2012, which was considered one of the most popular women’s sports in the summer Olympics.[11] Critics have argued that reinstating women’s softball in the 2016 Olympic Games would be a huge step towards gender equality, and they also suggest requiring each event at the Games to have a women equivalent, not just each sport.[11] For example, if there are 10 men’s boxing events, there should also be 10 women’s boxing events. They believe that this is necessary because the Olympic Games need to set a high standard for sports programs and countries around the world to follow.[11]

High testosterone levels in women Olympic athletes

Caster Semenya

The controversy of high testosterone levels in women Olympic athletes became a major issue when Caster Semenya, a woman from South Africa, won the 800 meter run in the 2009 Field and Track Championships with a time that was faster than the men’s winner in the same event.[16] After the contest, she had to undergo a series of tests in which doctors were to determine if she was actually a woman, and she was not allowed to compete for 11 months’ time.[16]

This circumstance led to the creation of a new policy by the IOC to begin in June 2012 which stated that if a woman athlete had an abnormal amount of testosterone in her body that she would be given an unfair advantage over other women and should not be allowed to compete in women’s sporting events.[16] The policy does not give a certain amount that a woman can not exceed.[16] A study conducted in 2000 of approximately 650 Olympic athletes showed that 6% of female athletes had a male range of testosterone and 5% of male athletes had a female range of testosterone.[16] Critics believe that this new policy by the IOC is discriminatory and that femaleness or maleness cannot be determined solely on levels of testosterone in the body.[16]

It has also been discovered that there is no scientific research that directly links naturally high testosterone levels to women’s success in sports.[17] Most people assume that women with high levels of testosterone will be more athletic because they know that men have higher levels of testosterone and are usually seen to have more athletic prowess than their female counterparts.[17] Even though testosterone can be a factor in athletic ability, so can a number of other factors, like “physique, thermoregulation, biomechanics, oxygen uptake, training, and genetics, as well as the psychological and the social”.[17] The policy also does not distinguish between natural and enhanced testosterone, and many believe that only doping on testosterone should be regulated against because regulating anything else is just another form of covert discrimination.[17]

Gender anomalies by Olympic sport

Boxing

At the summer olympics men's boxing competitions take place over three three-minute rounds and women's over four rounds of two minutes each. Women also compete in three weight categories against 10 for men.[18]

Canoeing

Canoeing excludes women at the Olympics for both the sprint and slalom disciplines.

Shooting

Women are excluded from the 25m rapid fire pistol, the 50m pistol and the 50m rifle prone events.[19] Men are excluded from the 25m pistol event.[19] From 1996 to 2004, women were allowed to participate the double trap competition. The women's event was taken off the Olympic program after the 2004 Summer Olympics.[20] Final shooting for women was discontinued in international competition as a result.

Synchronised swimming and rhythmic gymnastics

Men are presently excluded from synchronised swimming and rhythmic gymnastics at the summer Olympic games.[4]

For the first time mixed duet synchronised swimming events were added to the program at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships with governing body FINA considering them for inclusion at future Olympic Games if they proved to be a success.[21] The move was met with criticism by some administrators and competitors, Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said it should be a purely feminine sport, four time Olympic champion Anastasia Ermakova said "My attitude to male synchronised swimming is very negative," and three-time champion Svetlana Romashina said "I am categorically against men in our type of sport".[22]

Combined event athletics

Women compete in the seven-event heptathlon but men compete in three more events in the decathlon at the summer Olympics.[18]

Sprint hurdles

At the summer Olympics men compete in the 110 m hurdles, while women do 100 m.[18] Women previously ran 80 m, this was extended to 100 m in 1961, albeit on a trial basis, the new distance of 100 m became official in 1969. No date has been given for the addition of the 10 m.[18]

Road racing

Since 1984 the women's road race has been 140 km to the men's 250 km. The time trials are 29 km and 44 km respectively. Each country is limited to sending five men but only four women to the summer games.[18]

Tennis

In common with the Grand Slams women compete in three set matches at the Olympics as opposed to five sets for men.[18]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 16.6 16.7 16.8 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 http://www.olympic.org/shooting
  20. ↑ https://www.issf-sports.org/theissf/championships/olympic_games.ashx
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  • “IOC: The Organisation.” Olympic.org. N.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2012.
  • Division for the Advancement of Women of the United Nations Secretariat. “Women, Gender Equality and Sport.” Women 2000 and Beyond (Dec. 2007): 2-40. Web. 15 Oct. 2012.
  • “Women and Sport Commission.” Olympic.org. N.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2012.
  • Cleary, Jennifer Ann. "Notes: A Need to Align the Modern Games with the Modern Times: The International Olympic Committee's Commitment to Fairness, Equality, and Sex Discrimination." Case Western Reserve Law Review 61.4 (2011): 1285-1313.
  • Sharp, Kathleen. "Unsung Heroes." Women's Sports & Fitness 18.5 (1996): 64. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Oct. 2012.
  • Longman, Jere. "A Giant Leap for Women, but Hurdles Remain." New York Times (2012): 2. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 Oct. 2012.
  • Goldsmith, Belinda. “Woman Athletes Aim to Keep the Spotlight Post-Games.” Chicago Tribune (31 July 2012): n. pag. Web. 14 Oct. 2012.
  • Winchester, Anne. "Women's Participation in the 2012 Summer Olympics." Lesbian News 36.11 (2011): 8. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Oct. 2012.
  • Winchester, Anne. "Headscarves and Hormones: Reflections on the 2012 Olympics." Lesbian News 38.2 (2012): 10. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Oct. 2012.
  • Karkazis, Katrina and Rebecca Jordan-Young. "Stop Policing Testosterone in Female Athletes." Discover 33.9 (2012): 16. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Oct. 2012.
Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=International_Olympic_Committee_and_gender_equality_in_sports&oldid=721882558"