Allyship in Elite Women's Sport Teetzel, Sarah
Sport, ethics and philosophy,
10/2020, Letnik:
14, Številka:
4
Journal Article
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Throughout 2019, retired athletes Martina Navratilova (tennis), Sharron Davies (swimming), Kelly Holmes (athletics) and Paula Radcliffe (marathon) all spoke publically about what they perceive to be ...the unfairness of trans women competing in women's elite sport. These successful athletes, all with a history of growing and promoting women's sport, were simultaneously celebrated for sharing their thoughts on a complex issue, and labelled transphobic for expressing anti-inclusive and transphobic views. Navratilova, particularly, despite her long history of fighting for inclusion and to end homophobia in sport, faced a severe backlash for expressing anti-trans rhetoric. This paper examines the concept of allyship in the context of inclusion and fairness in sport. Conceptual clarification of what allyship involves and requires precedes an examination of whether athletes should be obliged to promote inclusive sport. I argue that elite women athletes have an obligation to promote women's sport, but not one that extends as far as a requirement to actively act as allies. To support this conclusion, I argue that: 1) past and present trans athlete eligibility rules endorsed by the IOC are problematic; 2) the typical arguments from unfairness and performance advantages fail to demonstrate why trans athletes should not be welcome to compete; but 3) a requirement of allyship requires more from women athletes than we can reasonably expect. Being mandated to act as an ally, without full commitment, does more harm than good. Athletes thus are entitled to express their views, but sports organizations should be responsible for providing education to all athletes on the science and ethics of trans athlete inclusion.
Through an examination and clarification of the philosophy of Olympism, this paper analyses the appropriateness of using Olympism as a mechanism of teaching values and intercultural respect through ...sport to students. From a review of the literature on Olympism, three themes emerged as common to most conceptions: 1) fairness, 2) equality, and 3) ethical behaviour. These three components of Olympism are analysed in turn to show that each one has had problematic associations throughout its application in sport. Consequently, when educators employ Olympic education programmes that focus on the philosophy of Olympism as a means of teaching ethics and values in sport, they are advised to avoid perpetuating the belief that all aspects of the Olympic Games are going to be equitable, fair, and ethical; instead they are cautioned to introduce and engage in discussions with students about Olympism and the Olympic values in more critical and nuanced ways.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
BFBNIB, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
With recent controversies surrounding the eligibility of athletes with disorders of sex development (DSD) and hyperandrogenism, as well as continued discussion of the conditions transgender athletes ...must meet to compete in high-performance sport, a wide array of scholars representing a diverse range of disciplines have weighed in on both the appropriateness of classifying athletes into the female and male categories and the best practices of doing so. In response to cases of high-profile athletes' sex (and gender) being called into question, the International Olympic Committee, the International Association of Athletics Federations, and the National Collegiate Athletics Association, among others, published or updated policies addressing who is eligible to compete in the women's sport category and under what conditions. This paper addresses the areas in which philosophical reasoning and ethical analysis can contribute to reopened debates about the surveillance of the women's category in sport. Emphasis is placed on determining where the onus of responsibility should fall for ensuring the new policies are followed.
Since the beginning of the modern Olympic Games, women have struggled to participate as equals. One important aspect of women's struggle for inclusion involves the rules of eligibility to compete in ...the Olympic Games. This article examines the current status of women in the 'reformed' Olympic Movement by considering the number of events in which women participate, the nature or duration of those events, the number of competitive opportunities available to women and the language used by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Federations (IFs) to refer to men and women. A content analysis of the eligibility rules of participation found that the Olympic Charter and the rulebooks of eight IFs stipulate differential treatment of women. The article argues that these rules mandate and normalize inequitable treatment, and thus create inequitable opportunities for female athletes. The inequality that these rules perpetuate demonstrates that the IOC's reform process is not yet complete.
Legacy research has grown in the last decade, particularly within the field of sport studies, with numerous books and articles examining the physical, social, and environmental legacies of ...mega-events, including the Olympic Winter Games. As a result, an increasing amount of research on the Olympic movement can fall under the category of Olympic legacy research, despite the boundaries remaining blurry of what exactly Olympic legacy research includes and excludes. The broad themes of bidding, hosting, and reflecting on the Olympic Winter Games appear through the rigorous historical examination of issues impacting a specific winter Olympics, or multiple games hosted by the same nation. New research abounds on the multiple and emerging legacies of the Olympic Winter Games.
This article examines the role of young athletes in the development of the anti-doping movement in sport. In the law and ethics literature, children are considered a vulnerable population in need of ...special consideration and protection. Yet historically they have not always been treated as such, and in sport many rules apply universally to all competitors regardless of the participants' ages. This article provides a historical examination of drug testing policies created by the International Olympic Committee and World Anti-Doping Agency as they relate to minors as a means to uncover the ways in which anti-doping organisations have included age as a variable warranting special consideration. Challenges to anti-doping sanctions based on athletes' ages demonstrate that sport organisations, including the Court of Arbitration for Sport, have not placed much emphasis on the protected status of child athletes. This article situates children and youth in the history of drug testing policies and demonstrates how the unique rights of child athletes have been both managed and neglected.
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