Chapter 8: Acting your age?

Gender, Aging, and Physical

Activity
Some elderly are participating in vigorous sport and are
becoming quite successful (Western society)
Masters age categories of over 70, 80, and 90 exist and races
are very long and vigorous from a few hundred to a few thousand
meters
Majority of aging adults choose not to do physical activity in their
retirement years very low percentage of adults report doing
regular physical activity
Ageism and sexism is important to consider when trying to
understand why older adults do not want to engage in physical
activity
Older women are seen as a problem to society they live longer
and therefore their looks change and age more
Menopause = a woman has aged and their bodies are no longer
useful
Women experience a loss of feminity and media further
exacerbates this
Healthy aging women and frailty researchers focus on other
therapies such as hormone replacement, but often fail to include
exercise interventions
Retirement mentality: want to relax, afraid of getting into a
structured lifestyle making incorporating fitness into daily life
difficult
Important to create aw culture of positive aging in order to be
able to encourage the aging population to participate in sport

Chapter 9: Sexualities, Genders, and Bodies in Sport: Changing

Practices of Inequality
Gender and sexuality are complex social constructs that we
cannot shape into a binary (transgender, intersex, queering)
Heterosexuality (normal), homosexuality (deviant) notions of
acceptable behavior; degree of discrimination among based on
homophobia
Masculinity crisis during the war; myths of females being frail;
being labeled a lesbian create many barriers for female
participation in sport
Sport helps to reinforce the dominant masculinity in society by
providing an outlet for men to bond and an opportunity to
exclude all others
Female athletes receive less funding and coverage for greater
accomplishments very few out lesbian athletes and coaches
 Athletes often require support from sponsors and many shy away
from out athletes making it more difficult for them to succeed
Gay men are not welcome because they question the masculinity
of sport