Good girl paperFINAL6.pdf (409.77 kB)
‘A good girl is worth their weight in gold’: Gender relations in British horseracing
Version 2 2020-04-16, 14:52
Version 1 2020-04-16, 11:10
journal contribution
posted on 2020-04-16, 14:52 authored by John Williams, Gavin HallThe culture of horseracing is rather under researched by social scientists. It may seem a highly progressive site for gender equality in sport because, unusually, men and women compete directly against each other as owners, trainers and jockeys. But gender inequalities are deeply rooted and persistent in British racing. Our interview-based study suggests that ingrained patterns of sexism, chauvinism and paternalism reproduce patriarchal assumptions among both males and females in racing which act as key barriers, especially for ambitious female jockeys. Conventional ideas about women’s embodiment and their intuitively caring and ‘loving’ nature towards horses may open up prospects for females as junior stable staff, but they also dialectically reduce opportunities elsewhere. Obstacles to advancement on merit mean that family connections and influential networks shape female prospects in racing rather more than is the case for men. New equality strategies pursued from within British racing are welcome, but they are unlikely to challenge existing structures and ideologies or challenge core gender inequalities.
History
Citation
International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 1-18Author affiliation
School of Media, Communication and SociologyVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Published in
International Review for the Sociology of SportPagination
101269021881215 - 101269021881215Publisher
SAGE Publicationsissn
1012-6902eissn
1461-7218Acceptance date
2018-11-17Copyright date
2018Publisher DOI
Publisher version
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1012690218812153Language
enUsage metrics
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