Gender equality in sport

Aims of the tool

Main themes:
- Equality between women and men in sport.
- Representation of women's sport / men's sport.
- The impact of media and pictures
Goals:
- To become aware of the social construction of representations, especially with regard to the female sports.
- To Learn to decode the standards conveyed through the image.

Description of the tool

Preparation / material :
- Chose different posters / picture of women in sport
- Divide the children into several groups
- Provide paper version of the images (one for each group)

Instruction:
1. Make a pinted copy of the selected posters.
2. Arrange the set of images on a table (one table = one group), face up.
3. After reflection between them, each group has to choose two posters according to the following criteria:
a. The poster which corresponds most to their conception of the sportswoman.
B. The poster whixch corresponds least to their conception of the sportswoman.
4. Ask each group to present with a few key words their choice.

Evaluation Report:
Through the analysis of the arguments delivered by the participants, this exercise enables us to identify in sport what constitutes the attributes of masculinity and the attributes of femininity ...

The coordinator has to :
- Explain that the choice of photographs is based on the collective representation of the sportswoman.
- Define precisely the concept of collective representation.

Definition of the collective representation:
It is a common way of perception and knowledge of individual representations. It is to see and understand together, without being reduced, like animals, to living according to the individual perceptions alone.

The coordinator has to initiate a debate:
Is it possible to modify the representation of the sports woman? What can we do?

Debriefing:
The representation of women's sport is already integrated into us ... It is the product of our education. So it can vary according to the population.
The presence of the image participates in the construction of representations. The media disseminate information about a great responsibility in the construction of collective representation.
The representation that one has of a social choice or a fact (like the female sport) is thus changed.

Suggested follow-up:
- Retain this framing "Everything that is socially constructed can be deconstructed".
- Be more alert to the use of images in newspapers, in advertisements and reports ... And the message maintains service.