The Role Of Gender Stereotypes In Synchronised Swimming

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As my role of honorary secretary apart of Synchro Australia we would like to lobby for the addition of a category for male synchronised swimmers at the Olympic level, to accompany the female competitions that have been part of the Olympic games since 1984. There are many influences on the attitudes of society towards Synchronised Swimming and the issue of gender equality associated with the sport itself. Synchronised swimming is the only exclusively female sport introduced in the Olympic Games, restricting the rise of the major concern of gender equality in the sporting industry. Using Figueroa’s Framework, equity and access, Synchronised Swimming will be explored to point out the clear gender stereotypes and lack of enthusiasm towards Synchronised …show more content…

History is a predominant influence on the sporting culture of Australia. Throughout history sport has been viewed mainly as a manly pursuit, it was believed that competing in physical activity displayed masculine qualities (Hede, C 2010). Despite it being a woman’s right to compete in these “masculine” sporting activities they were restricted, just like men are today with competing in the “female” sports due to the social construction that the Australian culture has built for our community. Since the introduction of synchronised swimming it was promoted as a more feminist sport and still continues to be the current perception today. The media encourages the concern of gender equality regarding this sport by promoting the sport with more feminine branding. In today's sports culture, the integration of traditionally male-dominated sports seems a usual move in the …show more content…

In Australia, men are socially constructed to endorse a dominant version of masculinity. Therefore because of these aspects of our society and the concerns with gender equality when it comes to synchronised swimming it influences the men of our Australian community in competing in the sport as it is socially constructed and culturally accepted that their values and beliefs in the participation of sport revolve around the “aggressive” and more “violent” aspects of a sport. However sports such as Synchronised swimming are not exposed to society as an actual sport but more as a joke, and if men were to compete it would be seen more of a “homophobic” action rather than taking it seriously as a sport (Irene Monroe, 2012) For this reason the numbers of participation continue to depreciate in synchronised

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