Addressing gender equality: enactments of gender and hegemony in the educational textbooks used in Swedish sports coaching and educational programmes

Abstract

ABSTRACTSport is often described as a field containing competitive and hierarchy shaping activities. However, in Sweden and elsewhere, this field is also permeated by democratic principles where, for example, everybody has the right to participate in children’s and youth sports regardless of gender, ethnicity or physical ability. In Sweden, there are distinct objectives for gender equality, where women/girls and men/boys should ideally be treated and recognised equally. The aim of this paper is twofold: to examine how gender is enacted in the textbooks used in Swedish sports coaching and educational programmes and to identify whether any of the enactments reflect a hegemonic masculinity. The textbooks used in two of the most extensive courses arranged by the Swedish Sports Confederation, ‘The Platform’ [Plattformen] and ‘Basic Coach Education’ [Grundtränarutbildning] are in focus. The theoretical framework and methodological approach are inspired by research on sport, gender and the hegemonic masculinity thesis. In the process of analysis, the hegemonic perspective is central. During the analysis, four themes are identified as expressions of a hegemonic masculinity and, thus, as obstacles to gender equality. Firstly, the binary sex norm poses a real challenge for the implementation of gender equality because it helps to shape a hierarchy that privileges men and masculinities. Secondly and thirdly, the themes ‘puberty’ and ‘the coach’ appear to be important, in that they support and contest a gendered hierarchy. Finally, there are examples of men, like sport coaches, appearing as genderless, which is interpreted as a hegemonic acceptance of the category of men (as universal and genderless subjects). By critically illuminating these themes, the paper adds to the wider research field of sport, coaching and education programmes and the complexity of gender mainstreaming in sport.