Women in Sport: The Synthesis Begins

• Date: 01 September 1979
• DOI: 10.1177/000271627944500110
• Published date: 01 September 1979
• Author: Carole Oglesby,Judith R. Holland
• Subject Matter: Articles

Women in Sport: The Synthesis Begins
By JUDITH R. HOLLAND AND CAROLE OGLESBY
ABSTRACT: Sports have emerged as a primary area of
controversy about men’s and women’s roles. The authors ar-
gue that women’s sport has changed dramatically in recent
years while men’s sport has changed little. An additional level
of change in sport, synthesizing elements of the traditional
men’s and women’s sport experience, would be socially
beneficial. Essential elements of play, game, sport, and ath-
letics, are identified as defined in the emerging sport sciences.
Selective socialization of males and females via sport was
accomplished through the shaping of "masculine" and "femi-
nine" sport experiences. The effect of the women’s movement
has been to adopt traditional sport as instrumentality, rather
than masculinity, training. This requires little restructuring
of sport by men. A new conception of sport is presented in
which the elements of traditional men’s and women’s sport
are theoretically synthesized. Because of the past emphasis
on the masculine-instrumental elements of sport, it is hy-
pothesized that a temporal focus on the feminine-expressive
elements is necessary to the occurrence of a synthesis. The
paper concludes with a full description of the Association for
Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), which aids in
the accomplishment of the synthesis. The history, present
issues, and future trends of the AIAW are discussed.
Judith R. Holland is the director of Women’s Intercollegiate Athletics at the
University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Holland was president of the Association
for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women 1976-1979 and has lectured and taught
on the subject of the expanding program for women athletes at various universities
throughout the United States.
Carole Oglesby is an associate professor at Temple University and head of the
newly formed Psycho-social Interactions and Movement Laboratory in the Physical
Education Department. She was president of the Association for Intercollegiate
Athletics for Women during its inaugural year and was president of the National
Association for Girls and Women in Sports in 1976-1979. She was sport consultant
for the International Women’s Year Commission.
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81
VARIOUS authors have vividly other dimension of our lives and the
described the exponential ac-
public world ... it is a revolution
celeration of change in our society.
of values, institutions, individuals.&dquo;’
It is doubtful if any social context is
The sport context has become a pri-
more agonized and polarized over
mary
jousting ground for what Heide
this radical transformation than that
calls the &dquo;(so far) bloodless revolu-
of sport and men’s and women’s roles
tion. &dquo;6 When a few parents wanted
within it. The behavior of public of-
their girls to be able to play Little
ficials illustrates the shift. In 1971,
League, swim on the boys team (us-
a Connecticut
judge decided against
ually the only team), or when Title
a girl who was suing for the right to
IX was interpreted to include equal
participate on an all-boy school team.
opportunity for women in sport, the
The judge asserted, &dquo;sports builds
flap and furor created was amazing.
character ... we don’t need that
This apparently aberrant fear and
kind of character in girls.&dquo;’ In 1978,
fury could only be understood when
the Secretary of the Department of
viewed against the context of what
Health Education, and Welfare firmly
sport had become: the manhood
stated the complete opposite view
maker.
in announcing proposed Title IX
Some seem to believe that sport
regulations.2
2
and the military are the last strong-
Change can also be measured by
holds of the dichotomous traditional
statistics: 1) the increase in sport par-
sex role definitions of
masculine and
ticipation of high school girls from 7
feminine.’ Thus sport becomes a
percent of all high school athletes
treasured bastion to some and the
in 1970-71 (pre-Title IX) to 28 per-
essence of the enemy to others. It
cent in 1976-77;3 2) the increase in
seems a very good time to look again
colleges offering athletic scholar-
at basic premises concerning what
ships for women rose from 60 in 1974
sport must be and can be. Following
to 500 in 1978.4
4
is a brief review of: 1) the essential
It would be naive to believe that
nature of play, game, sport, and ath-
these qualitative and quantitative
letics ; 2) the social-historical factors
changes could take place through
leading to the development of a
evolutionary drift. Heide claims that
&dquo;feminine&dquo; and &dquo;masculine&dquo; sport
feminism is the catalyst for change
with the &dquo;feminine aspect&dquo; as sports’
in stating it seeks &dquo;... to redefine
hidden dimension; 3) a theoretical
and reassign power in sport, in every
future for sport as a constructive cul-
tural product; and a pragmatic dis-
cussion of the institutionalized as-
1. Hollander v. Connecticut Interstate
pect of women and sport including
Athletic Conference, (Super. Ct. of New
issues in governance of sport today.
Haven CO. CT, 29 March 1971).
2. Joseph A. Califano, "Title IX State-
ment," HEW News, U.S. Department of
5. Wilma Heide, "Feminism for a sporting
Health, Education, Welfare, (6 Dec. 1978),
future," Women and Sport: From Myth to
p. 11.
Reality, Ed. Carole A. Oglesby (Philadelphia:
3. Wayne Grett, "More Sports", Des Moines
Lea &
Febiger, 1978), p. 196.
Tribune, Des Moines, Iowa, (5 April 1978),
6. Heide, p. 195.
p. 34.
7. John Schimel, "The Sporting and Gam-
4. Mariann Pogge, "From cheerleader to
ing Aspects of Love and War," Contemporary
competitor", Update, American Bar Associa-
Issues in Psychology of Sport (Chicago:
tion, (Fall 1978), p. 18.
Athletic Institute, 1940).

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82
FIGURE 1
SPORT ON A WORK-PLAY CONTINUUM
THE NATURE OF PLAY, GAME,
taneous, unproductive of material
SPORT, AND ATHLETICS
gain and governed by rules and
make-believe.&dquo;1o
0
In a recent publication, Loy, Mc-
Callois defined games as aspects
Pherson and Kenyon have summar-
of play differing on the basis of which
ized a great deal of material concerned
of the four elements was dominant:
with construct formation in sport
studies.&dquo; The authors identify sport
as a subset of games and games as
a subset of play. Further, they sug-
gest athletics be viewed as a subset
of occupations and occupations as a
subset of work. If the two configura-
tions work and play are juxtaposed
Webb built on Callois’ work in
(see fig. 1), the relationships of the
sug-
gesting that each of the four
terms play,
game
game, sport, athletics are
clarified.
categories incorporates yet another
continuum of activities
&dquo;We acknowledge that modern
along the di-
mension of extreme spontaneity-
sport may
be best conceived as being
located
informality ( paida ) to high rigor and
on a continuum between
play and work ... (where)
formality (ludus). Webb described
some
for
degree of play
example, how the child’s
permeates work and
game
of &dquo;Scissors, Rock, Paper&dquo; would be
some elements of work are found in
classified as a paidic chance game
many forms of play.&dquo;9
while Las
Synthesizing the work of Huizinga
Vegas crap tables would
be classified as ludic chance
and Callois,
games.&dquo;
Loy et al. charac-
terize play as &dquo;any activity that
Loy defined sport as institutional-
is voluntary, separate in time and
ized games demanding physical
space, uncertain in outcome, spon-
10. Loy, p. 21.
11. Harry Webb, "Sport as a Form of Play,"
8. John Loy, Barry McPherson, and Gerald
invited paper, Sport Sociology...