Sport and Gender in Canada

Gender is proving an important key for understanding the culture of sports. Here, Canadian scholars from a number of fields, including sociology, kinesiology/physical education, women's studies, men's studies, cultural studies, and gay studies, examine a wide range of gender-related issues linked to how sports are played, organized, and funded.

The readings emphasize the usefulness of distributive and relational perspectives on sports and gender. They move beyond recognition of biological differences between men and women to more significant questions of equality, power, meaning, and change both between and within males and females. The first group of essays places sports and gender in an historical and conceptual framework and includes work on the historical intersections of gender, class, and sport. The second section, which focuses on contemporary issues and research, includes essays on race, sports injury, eating disorders and the athlete, sexual harassment and sexual abuse, sexuality and homophobia in sport, marketing and advertising, disabled athletes, and hazing.