The women inclusion on rugby: perceptions of Brazilian national team players

Flavia Volta Cortes De Oliveira,Helena Altmann,Renato Francisco Rodrigues Marques

doi:10.1590/s1980-6574201900030005

Flavia Volta Cortes De Oliveira, Helena Altmann + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/s1980-6574201900030005

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Abstract

Abstract Aims: Women participation in sport is historically permeated by manifestations of discrimination, especially in male preserve practices. This study aimed to investigate and describe the processes of entry and performance of women athletes in rugby, as well as socio-cultural components of this field in relation to gender differences from the perspective of Brazilian women national senior team players. Methods: Semi-structured interviews with five athletes were performed and data analyzed based on the Grounded Theory method. Results: It was found that there are social barriers for women practice in rugby. By the other hand, better opportunities for the development of an athletic career are more available than in the past. Besides that, it has been perceived that the women players need to constantly prove that they can play hard to legitimize their athletic skills among men players. Conclusions: Even if the women participation in rugby is in a changing process of acceptance, barriers still need to be broken for a full social legitimation of these players’ practice.

Highlights

IntroductionThe naturalized representation that men and women stand out as masculine or feminine regarding different body characteristics, sustained unequal relations and justified different social insertions for both[1]
Gender issues historically permeate women participation in sports
When athletes were asked about practicing a male preserve sport, they generally reported that considered it more virile than others. They believe that in Brazil, rugby does not represent as a ‘men sport that women practice’, but as a sport of strength and hard body contact that has been practiced by men and women

Summary

Introduction

The naturalized representation that men and women stand out as masculine or feminine regarding different body characteristics, sustained unequal relations and justified different social insertions for both[1]. During the end of the twentieth century and beginning of the twenty-first, the word ‘gender’ has been used as social relations between biological sexes. Gender can be understood as a way of classifying a socially agreed phenomenon, and not just as an objective description of innate characteristics[2]. The word ‘gender’ is commonly used related to the masculine/ feminine distinction as well as the constructions that separate both bodies. This is because society helps to structure personality and behavior and how bodies manifest themselves. Sex and gender are not independent elements[3]

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