The Influence of Gender-role Socializatioii, Media Use...

The Influence of Gender-role Socializatioii, Media Useand Sports Participation on Perceptions of

Gender-Appropriate Sports

Marie HardinPenn l^te University

Jennifer D.GreerUniversity of Alabama

This study seeks to update understanding of how sports in U.S. society are viewed inlight ofgender norms. A survey of 340 college students found that even youth who havegrown up with Title IXstill rate most sports as masculine, including the newer action sportseven though these sports incorporate elements considered generally feminine. The studyalso examined the relationship between media use, sports participation, and gender rolesocialization with the typing of sports as masculine or feminine; although these factorsseemed to impact typing for some sports by degrees, overall findings suggest that traditionalgender-typing of sports is resilient. Using Bandura's (¡986) social learning theory, theauthors suggest that until mediated images are more inclusive of women in a variety ofsports, rising participation rates by women in sports and fitness activities will do little tochange traditional gender-typing.

Address Correspondence To: Marie Hardin, Penn State University, 222 Carnegie,University Park, PA, 16801, Phone: 814-865-1395, E-mail: [email protected]

207

208 / Journal of Sport Behavior. Vol. 32, No. 2

Although the experiences of millions of girls and women in the United States indicate thecontrary, research demonstrates that media consistently, and across all platforms, presentsports as the purview of men (Duncan & Sayaovong, 1990; Hardin, Lynn, Walsdorf, & Hardin,2002; Pedersen, 2002). Numerous studies have demonstrated that female athletes have beenvastly underrepresented in media coverage (Bernstein, 2002; Pedersen, 2002). The reason forthis could be that the most popular spectator sports in the United States are those consideredmasculine (Messner, 2002). Yet, since the passage of Title IX in 1972, the movement of girls andwomen into many sports that are not considered "feminine" has been phenomenal. Girls andwomen participate in virtually every type of sport, even those used to showcase the ultimatein hegemonic masculinity; several professional women's football leagues have operated in theUnited States since 2000 (About NWFA, n.d.; Associated Press, 2007).

Inclusion of more women than ever reflects changing values about their athletic apti-tude. It seems logical to ask: Have perceptions of sports progressed in ways that mirrorparticipation? In addition, participation in and media coverage of action sports has growndramatically since earlier studies have examined attitudes toward gender-appropriate' sports.Men and women alike are competing in sports such as snowboarding, wakeboarding, andskateboarding - and sports broadcasters are there to capture the action.

Because of these trends, this study updates research on how U.S. sports are viewed inlight of gender norms. Attitudes toward the masculinity of 14 sports were collected through amass Internet survey of college-age men and women. Further, the study examined how theseattitudes were related to sports participation, media consumption, and gender socialization.

Although gender-role differences as biological and "natural" exist in popular conscious-ness, research has long dehionstrated that, instead, many are socially constructed (Bandura,1986; Messner, 2002). Gender stereotyping is a ubiquitous, invisible regulator of relationshipsand opportunities. Hargreaves (1994) argues that individuals understand their gender becausethey are given names and treated in particular ways, such as dressed in pink for girls or blue forboys, that refiect social constructions of gender. Bandura's social cognitive theory is a key inunderstanding the factors in socialization. He argues that behavior, environmental events, andcognitive factors operate to shape attitudes and action. Individuals ponder action and itsoutcome, projecting consequences and adjusting accordingly. Thus, action is not a result of"imprinted histories" as much as it is a result of "cognized futures" (Bandura, 1986, p. 19).

'The term "sex-appropriate" is also sometimes used in literature about masculinity, femininity, andsports. We choose the term "gender" to recognize the distinction between sex as referring to that whichis within the biological realm, and gender, referring to identification, behaviors and characteristicsoutside the biological realm ascribed to men and women (Caudwell, 1999).

Gender-Appropriate Sports... /209

Bandura emphasizes the role of media in social leaming, so much that, he argues, televisioninfiuence has "dethroned" the primacy of interpersonal experience. As a consequence, lifemodels the media (Bandura, 1986, p. 20).

Bandura leaves open the possibility for evolution in how activities are typed in terms ofgender. Multiple models of men or women exhibiting consistent activity is the basis ofthegender typing process; over time, "concordance gender-linked modeling can confer masculin-ity or femininity to previously neutral activities" (1986, p. 95). Thus, previously gender-typedactivities, if modeled often enough by men and women, could eventually confer neutrality onthem.

Perceptions of Sports as Gender-appropriateAs children are introduced to sports, their experiences are based on gender roles and

expectations (Hargreaves, 1994; Nilges, 1998). The construction of sports as appropriate rep-licates gender-typed toys: rough-and-tumble symbols for boys, domestically oriented sym-bols for girls. Messner (2002) writes that day-to-day interactions of children with each otherand with adults still privilege boys and men in the athletic status system and marginalize girlsand women.

Early v/otk on how sports are typed in regard to gender was done by Metheny (1965),who proposed a set of attributes used to categorize a sport as feminine or masculine; sportsrecognized as masculine involve contact and the use of force or heavy obj ects (Koivula, 2001 ).Later, Postow (1980) argued that sports-related attitudes such as devotion to a team, stamina,and competitive spirit also are perceived as masculine. Thus, team sports are considered moremasculine than individual sports. Sports in which aggressiveness is considered an essentialpart ofthe game, including ice hockey and football, have been regarded as masculine (Koivula,2001). Sports that have historically been perceived as feminine, such as figure skating orgymnastics, are those that allow women to exhibit gender-role attributes such as grace andbeauty while participating (Koivula, 2001). These typologies reinforce ideas of difference;they showcase constmctions of men as stronger and faster, thus deserving a higher rank in theoverall social order, than women. Generally, men and women type sports similarly; exceptionssometimes occur with basketball, which may be categorized as a more masculine sport by boysthan by girls (Riemer & Feltz, 1995).

Although Cashmore (2005) argues that the typologies developed by Metheny (1965)and others are "about as fresh as disco music and mullets" (p. 157), research indicates thateven in recent years, sports have been gender-typed in traditional ways (Koivula, 2001 ; Matteo,1986; Riemer & Feltz, 1995; Solmon, Lee, Belcher, Harrison, & Wells, 2003). More recent stud-ies, however, have identified that some sports are perceived as more neutral - indicating a

210 /Journal of Sport Behavior. Vol. 32. No. 2

slight shift in perception that sports must be either masculine or feminine. A recent study(Koivula, 2001) involving 400 university students found that participants categorized sportsas feminine, masculine, or gender-neutral based on their perceptions ofthe sports' aesthetics,speed, and risk. Sports such as tennis, volleyball, and swimming were r ^ e d as neutral,gymnastics and aerobics were ranked as feminine, and baseball, soccer, and football weretyped as masculine. Respondents incorporated the perceived purpose of a sport and its riskwhen assigning labels. Koivula (2001) points out that definitions of a gender-appropriate sportcan change because gender is constmcted based on historically and culturally specific condi-tions. Action sports, which have attracted more participants and more attention fi-om media inrecent years, have not been examined in past studies related to gender-typing.

The Infiuence of Sports ParticipationSince passage of Title DC, sports participation by girls and women has grown exponen-

tially. In 1972,1 in 27 girls played high school sports; in 1998, one in three did {Sports Illus-trated for Women, 2002). Sports participation by boys also has increased, although not at thesame rate (Carpenter & Acosta, 2005). Most growth in participation by girls and women hasbeen in sports that have been typed neutral or masculine, sucii as soccer. The most fi-equentcollege varsity sports for women are basketball, volleyball, cross country, soccer, softball,tennis, track and field, golf, swimming, and lacrosse - none of which is aesthetically oriented(Acosta & Carpenter, 2004).

The expanding role of sports in the lives of girls (and boys) in the United States couldlead to more progressive ideas about what constitutes a gender-approprïate sport, but re-search has not supported that possibility. Several studies have revealed that male athleteshave more conservative, traditional attitudes toward gender roles than do male non-athletes(Andre & Holland, 1995; Boyle, 1997; Houseworth, Peplow, & Thirer, 1989). Studies in the1980s and 1990s demonstrated that high school and college students judged participation ingender-appropriate sports as socially more desirable than participation in sports deemed gen-der-inappropriate; for instance, girls who participated in gymnastics were deemed more desir-able as a date (for boys) and as a friend (for girls) than were girls who played golf or softball(Holland & Thomas, 1994).

Matteo ( 1986) found that the more strongly a male college student adhered to traditionalgender roles, the less likely he was to participate in sports not considered masculine. Youngwomen, even if they strongly adhered to gender roles, were more likely to try masculine sports,perhaps because masculine sports are considered more valuable in U.S. culture (Matteo, 1986).Perceptions of a sport as masculine, feminine, or neutral also may impact perceptions of ability.Solmon et al. (2003) foimd that college-aged women who perceive a sport as gender-neutral aremore confident about participating than are women who identify a sport as masculine.

Gender-Appropriate Sports.. ./21¡

Impact of Media MessagesResearch indicates that the U.S. sports/media complex has positioned sports as male

terrain; its "masculinist cultural center" has been a site for boys and men to leam hegemonicmasculinity (Messner, 2002, p. 92). Messner has outlined lessons of tiie "televised sportsmanhood formula:" sports belong to men; aggression is integral to sports and to masculinity;and violence is natural and oftentimes necessary. Lessons from tiie televised sports manhoodformula "are evident, in varying degrees, in tiie football, basketball, extreme sports, andSportsCenter programs and their accompanying commercials" (p. 124).

Media emphasize tiie "sports manhood formula" and overwhelmingly feature core men'ssports (Bernstein, 2002; Bishop, 2003; Messner, 2002; Pedersen, 2002). Sports media generaUydedicate only 5% to 8% of coverage to women's sports even tiiough 40% of sports participa-tion is by women (Adams & Tuggle, 2004; Kane, Griffin, & Messner, 2002). Furtiier, networkcoverage emphasizes women's sports considered traditionally gender-appropriate. For in-stance, NBC's Olympic coverage showcases women's figure skating (winter) or gymnastics(summer) while Olympic sports such as women's shot put or discus are virtually invisible, andwomen's team sports receive less prime-time coverage tiian individual sports (Tuggle, Huffinan,& Rosengard, 2002). Adams & Tuggle (2004) found tiiat women's team sports such as basket-ball, soccer, and softball received less coverage in more recent years than in the early-to-mid1990s.

U.S. sports media outlets enjoy great popularity. In the late 1990s, 94% of childrensurveyed said they consumed sports media, and many said they did so daily (Messner, 2002)."Sports media are tiius likely to be one of tiie major infiuences on children's views of gender,race, commercialism, and otiier key issues" (2002, p. xix). Messner argues tiiat children aresocialized into traditional views of gender and sport even by tiie new genre of "action" sports(also called alternative or extreme sports) such as skateboarding and snowboarding. Suchsports are so popular that teenage sports fans in 2002 voted skateboarder Tony Hawk "coolestbig-time athlete" (Wheaton, 2004). Action sports have moved into tiie mainstream tiiroughheavily commercialized coverage of tiie "X Games" on television and tiie integration ofsnowboarding into tiie Winter Olympics in 2006. These sports are mostly individual activitiestiiat emphasize botii risk (masculine) and aestiietics (feminine); tiiey are also non-contact.Wheaton argues tiiat action sports offer possibilities for more progressive ideas about gender.

Research Questions

A number of studies since tiie 1960s tiiat have examined sex-typing of sports; however,none found in tiiis exhaustive review sought to reassess tiie notion of gender-appropriatenessof sports in light of increased female participation in recent years. Furtiier, although tiie rela-

212/Journal of Sport Behavior, Vol. 32, No. 2

tionship between participation and sex-typing of sports has been explored, recent researchhas not accounted for media consumption, a key factor in social learning about gender roles.The goals of this study were two-fold: 1. To assess the gender-typing of sports in the wake ofincreased female participation in non-aesthetic, team sports such as soccer and basketball andin regard to newer action sports that are, because of their features (risk + aesthetic qualities),harder to classify; and 2. To assess the impact of lived experience (i.e., sports participation),gender-role socialization, and media consumption on gender-typing of sports. The followingresearch questions were posed:

Where do certain sports, including newer action sports, fall on the masculine/femininecontinuum, as rated by young adults reared in an environment with increased female presencein team sports? Are clear distinctions between masculine, feminhie, and neutral sports stillmade in the current sports environment?

Do men and women differ in their gender-typing of these sports?What role do media consumption (television viewing, sports viewing, and attention to

coverage of specific types of sports), sports participation (participation in organized sports,personal fitness, and playing specific types of sports), gender role socialization (as measuredby attitudes toward masculinity) and demographics (gender and ethnicity) play in the gender-typing of sports?

Does gender interact with sports participation, media consumption, gender role social-ization, and ethnicity attitudes toward the masculinity of certain types of sports are examined?

Mediod

OverviewTo examine the relationship between demographics, attitudes, and behavior and the sex-

typing of sports, researchers developed a Web survey and received approval from the humansubjects committee at a large. Research I imiversity in the Northeast.' The university's footballprogram is extremely popular among students; its men's and women's basketball programsalso draw many spectators although neither team was nationally ranked last year. Because of

'Sports offered at the university for intercollegiate compteition and for fans to attend are as follows: Men'sintercollegiate sports are baseball, basketball, cross country, football, gymnastics, indoor track, soccer,swimming, tennis, outdoor track, and wrestling. Women's sports are basketball, cross country, field hockey,golf, gymnastics, indoor track, rowing, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, outdoor track, and volleyball.


cool weather, baseball, softball, and other outdoor spring sports are not large draws. Althoughthe university offers volleyball as an intercollegiate sport for only women, it also offers volley-ball as a club sport for men, and the men's matches are also popular among spectators.

A convenience sample of 370 students enrolled hi a Web-based introductory grammarclass at that university was selected. Students were given the option of completing this Websurvey or an online grammar assignment for extra credit. While this sample is problematic forany descriptive data, only the first research question includes a descriptive aspect. The rest ofthe study seeks to explain the relationship among variables rather than to describe attitudes,mitigating some of problems associated with convenience samples.

In 12 days of data collection in April 2006,365 responses were collected online. Afterduplicate submissions and partially completed surveys were excluded, the number of usableresponses dropped to 340, a response rate of 91.9%. Because the non-response rate was solow (8.1%), researchers do not believe there was any systematic bias created by the non-participation. However, it must be noted that this sample cannot be considered representativeofthe university population from which it was drawn or ofthe broader population of U.S.college students.

Sample CharacteristicsOf those 340 who returned usable surveys, 108 (31.8%) were men, 230 (67.6%) were

women, and 2 did not answer the question. The average age was 19.07 (SD = 1.32). Ages rangedfrom 18 to 34, with 97.9% of respondents 21 or younger. The vast majority (83.8%, 285) identi-fied themselves as Caucasian, 18 (5.3%) as African-American, 14 (4.1%) Asian, 9 (2.6%) His-panic/Latino, 9 (2.6%) "other," 2 (0.6%) Pacific Islander, 1 (0.3%) Native American, and 2 (0.6%)did not answer the question.^

The Questionnaire

To assess the gender-typing of 14 sports of interest in this study, respondents wereasked to rate each sport from 1 (feminine) to 5 (masculine) with 3 marked neutral. The followingprompt was given: "Please rate the following sports on a gender-appropriateness scale. Whichsports do you believe are more feminine or masculine!" The 14 sports chosen (see Table 1) didnot include some popular sports such as baseball, auto racing or figure skating. The list was

'For analyses, ethinicity was coded as Caucasians vs. other groups. This was done because of the smallnumber of respondnets in each group other than Caucasian. However, post hoc analyses were performed onany significant finding for ethnicity to help better understand the idea.


compiled to get a range of sports that included several that were theoretically very masculine(football and mgby) and very feminine (gymnastics) based on research by Metíieny (1965),Koivula (2001) and others. Other sports chosen were added for one of two reasons: a) theywere new-genre action sports that had not been sex-typed in previous studies; or b) they weresports with potential to be coded neutral because of healthy participation rates among menand women in recent years whether for personal fitness or for competition, especially among,those of college age. As Koivula (2001) and Bandura (1986) both suggest, repetitive participa-tion (or images of) by men or women in a particular sport could impact perceptions of itsappropriateness.

To assess their experience with sports, subjects answered questions about their timespent on organized sports and personal fitness activities each week (both measured on a 1 to4 scale with 1 equaling 0 hours and 4 equaling 10 or more hours). Then they indicated whetherthey had participated recreationally or competitively or had not participated in each the 14sports.

Gender role socialization was assessed on Brarmon's Masculinity Scale (BMS, Brannon& Juni, 1984). Brannon's original scale contained 58 items; 12 items were selected for thisstudy. These items were scored on a 1 = strongly disagree to 4 = strongly agree responsefoimat with no neutral midpoint.

Media use was measured by asking subjects how many hours they watched televisioneach week and how many hours of sports media (including Intemet, magazines, newspapers,etc. as well as television) they consimied each week. Each of these measures was collectedwith a 1 to 5 response format, with 1 equaling none and 5 equaling 20 or more hours a week. Inaddition, respondents were asked to rate from 1 to 5 the amount of attention they paid to mediacoverage ofthe 14 sports of interest in the study.

Results

The first research question asked where the 14 sports of interest in this study fell on themasculine/feminine continuum with the goal of examining whether, at least for this conve-nience sample, respondents still made fum distinctions between masculine, feminine, andneutral sports in the wake of changes in team sports, women's participation, and action sportsin recent years. First, the sports attitudes were investigated through a principal componentfactor analysis, using a Promax oblique rotation with Kaiser normalization. This was done toexamine whether groupings emerged and whether these were consistent with previous stud-ies. Four distinct factors emerged, as noted in Table 1 : Hyper masculine sports (Football,Weightliñing, Rugby, and Basketball); Action sports (Motocross, Skateboarding,


Snowboarding, Wakeboarding, and Surfing); Neutral sports (Soccer, Swimming, and Tennis);and Feminine sports (Volleyball, Gymnastics)." This analysis indicates that as a whole, respon-dents do group sports into clear categories. Some ofthe categories that emerged were consis-tent with previous studies; action sports, however, emerged as a separate category.

To investigate how these groupings relate to the perceived masculinity of a sport, thefactors were examined in terms of overall means on the attitude scores. The fu^t data column ofTable 2 lists the average scores by sport from most masculine (5) to most feminine ( 1 ). Footballto surfmg fell on the masculine side ofthe scale (above 3); Soccer, swimming, and tennis hovernear the neutral midpoint (around 3); and volleyball and gymnastics are viewed as femininesports (below 3). Looking more closely at the overall means in Table 2, clear breaks occurbetween the groups suggested by the factor analyses. Together with the Principal Compo-nents Factor Analysis, these means suggest gender-typing of sports into masculine, neutral,and feminine areas. The means of action sports indicated that these were seen as in betweenmasculine and neutral sports identified in this study and in previous studies.

Table 1. Oblique Promax rotation of 4 factors of 14 masculinity attitude variables.

Sport

WakeboardingSurfmgSnowboardingSkateboardingMotocross

FootballBasketbaUWeightliftingRugby

SwimmingTennisSoccer

VolleybaUGymnastics

Factor 1Action

.818

.790

.761

.668

.653

.229

.304

.366

.398

-.018-.057.134

-.186-.193

Factor 2Hypo- Masculine

.303

.330

.297

.555

.560

.763

.665

.659

.637

-.160-.015.050

-.231-.638

Factor 3Neutral

.056-.017.046.118.058

.088-.135-.147.078

.798

.683

.432

.050

.329

Factor 4Hyper Feminine

-.047-.095-.271-.411-.334

-.262.122-.258-.114

.050

.457-.091

.844

.430

'The names of the factors were chosen based on previous research that identified the sports in these factorsas masculine, feminine, or neuUal. In addition, the researchers looked at the means of these sports on themasculine-feminine continuum to ensure that the names were appropriate. Action sports, because theyemerged as distinct factor, were named as such without reference to where they fell on the masculine-feminine continuum.


Table 2. Attitudes toward masculinity af sport.

Sport

FootballWeightliftingRugbyBasketball*Hyper masculine avg.

MotocrossSkateboardingSnowboardingWakeboardingSurfing

* Action average

SoccerSwimmingTennis

^Neutral average

VolleyballGymnastics

^Feminine avaráge

Avg. attitude, allsports

Overallmean4.814.544.213.654.08

4.194.093.483.453.323.70

3.082.892.782.92

2.381.932.16

3.49

Moi

4.874.644.373.954.22

4.104.003.503.363.413.68

3.062.762.802.87

2.441.832il4

3.51

Womai

4.784.504.133.514.02

4.234.133.463.493.283.72

3.092.942.782.94

2.351.982.Í6

3.48

Difference byGender (F)

3.0123.7885.%3*

29.991 •••19.106***

1.7302.796.3162.7293.574.495

.81611.138*»*

.0022.991

1.22Í3.107.117

Effect size. Gender(R^ Adjusted R*)

.009 (.006)

.011 (.008)

.018 (.015)084 (.081).054 (.051)

.005 (.002)008 (.005).001 (-.002)008 (.005).011 (.008).001 (-002)

.002 (-.001).033 (.030).000 (-.003)009 (.006)

004 (.001).009 (.006)000 (-.003)

Note. = Separate MANO VA for these four averages. • p <. 05; • **p < 001 based on acomparisons of all sports by gender in a Multiple Analyas of Variance (MANOVA). Effect sizesfor Gender on DVs.

The second research question examined whether men and women differed in typingthese 14 sports. Based on the factor analysis from RQl, averages were created for each cat-egory of sport and a Multiple Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was run on these four depen-dent measures (Hyper masculine. Action, Neutral, and Feminine) by sex of respondent. Over-all, attitudes were related to whether the respondent was male or female (/̂ = 11.88, p < .001 ).The effect of gender was significant for the Hyper masculine sports, as Table 2 shows. Toinvestigate the specific sports that male and female respondents evaluated differently, means

Gender-Appropriate Sports.. ./217

by gender were compared on the 14 individual sports investigated in the first research ques-tion through a second MANOVA. As Table 2 shows, men and women did not vary in theirassessment the masculinity of most sports. However, significant gender differences did emergefor three sports. Women saw weightlifting and basketball as significantly less masculine thandid the men. In contrast, women rated swimming as significantly less feminine than did men. Itis interesting to note that each time men and women differed significantly, women were morelikely to place the sport closer to the neutral mid-point on the scale.

Table 3. Global MANOVA, Variables related to attitudes toward categories of sports

Sources of vanatian

Part in organized sports (1-4)

Part, in personal fitness (1-4)

Part, in H>per masculine sports (0-4)

Part in X sports ( 0 4 )

Part in neutral sports (0-4)

Part in feminine sports (0-4)

Time watching TV (1-5)

Time using sport media (1-5)

Watch Hyper masculine sports (1-5)Watch Action sports (1-5)Watch Neutral sports (1-5)

Watch Feminine sports (1-5)

BMS average (1-4)Sex (1 = male; 2=female)

Ethnicity (l=white, 2=minority)Conected model: F & sig.

Modd summary: R̂ (Adjusted R )̂

Note. *D<.r*D<.05:**D< .01: ***

Hypermasculine

TypeinSS

.06(39)

1.09(7.52**)

.32(2.2)

.31 (115)

.12 (.80)

.09 (.63)

.06 (.42)

.18(1.25)

.63(4.33*).39(2.66).000 (.00)

.000 (.00)

.003 (.02).14 (.99)

1.11(7.64**)i.iy**

.209 (.133)^o < 001

ActionTypefflSS

.16 (.66)

1.79(7.19**)

.14 (.54)

.003 (.01)

.05 (.20)

.11 (.43)

.01 (.05)

.19 (.78)

.10 (.42)

.15 (.62)

.19 (.75)

.39(1.57)

.69 (2.75*).66 (2.69).52 (2.08)

i.4r.121 (.035)

NeutralTypemSS

.04 (.43)

.17 (¡.9)

.05 (.52)

.01 (.12)

.29(3.31*)

.39 (4.38*)

.15(1.68).69 (7.85**)

.08 (.93)

.01 (.15)3.59

(40.75***)1.32

(15.04***).44 (4.98*)

.08 (.87).22 (2.49)4.24* ••

.291 (.223)

Pillai'sTrace(F^)

1.227

2.690*

.798

1.119

1.020

1134*

.778

2.541*

1.741.948

10.804***

5.229***

3.000*.923

2.666*

218 /Journal of Sport Behavior. Vol. 32. No. 2 i

The third research question asked when all factors were considered (sports participa-tion, media consumption, gender socialization, and demographics), which factors were mostrelated to the typing of sports. To answer this research question, all the variables of interestdescribed above were examined through a global MANOVA (Multiple Analysis of Variance)that examined main effects on attitudes toward the four categories of sports that emerged inthe analysis for research question one (Hyper masculine. Action, Neutral, and Feininine). Thistest was run because it can be used to consider the main effects of multiple categorical andcontinuous independent variables on several continuous dependent variables, while control-ling for Type 1 error infiation. For the 15 independent variables entered into the analysis multi-colinearity diagnostics were performed. None were correlated above .48, so the diagnosticsdidn't suggest a problem; therefore, all were retained. Significant models were found for atti-tudes toward Hyper masculine and Neutral sports, as Table 3 shows. A model atp< .1) wasfound for Action sports, which also is included in Table 3. As the model for Feminine sportswas not significant, it is excluded from the table.

Distinct patterns emerged on the sotirces of variation related to different types of sports.For Hyper masculine sports, main effects emerged for participation in personal fitness, atten-tion paid to Hyper masculine sports media, and ethnicity. Those who spent the greatest timeon personal fitness weekly had the lowest masculinity ratings for the Hyper masculine sports.In contrast, those who paid greater attention to Hyper masculine sports media rated the sportsas the most masculine. So doing, in the form of personal fitness, was related to attitudesviewing these sports as less masculine, while media consumption of these types of sports waslinked to heightened views of the masculinity. Respondents who identified themselves asbelonging to an ethnic minority group also saw the sports as significantly less masculine thandid whites. Examining ethnicity by group revealed a significant difference between Cauca-sians, who gave Hyper masculine sports the highest masculinity rating by ethnic group (4.11),and all other ethnic groups, which had mean scores for Hyper masculine sports ranging from3.75 to 3.94.

A weak model emerged for attitudes toward Action sports. Because study of attitudestoward these sports is largely exploratory, that model is detailed here. Amain effect again wasfound for participation in personal fitness, and a weak effect emerged for the BMS score(attitudes toward masculinity). As with attitudes toward Hyper masculine sports, those whospent the most time in personal fitness activities rated these Action sports as the least mascu-line. The same trend was foimd for BMS average - those who held the most traditional viewstoward masculinity saw Action sports as less masculine than those with more egalitarian viewstoward gender. However, caution should be used in drawing firm conclusions, as the effects ofBMS average were weak.

Gender-Appropriate Sports... /2¡9

The most robust model emerged for attitudes ofthe masculinity of Neutral sports (R' =.223). Interestingly, the sources of variation in this model were quite different than found in themodels for Hyper masculine and Action sports. Here, participating in and following coverageof feminine and neutral sports were key. For each, the rating of these sports' masculinityclimbed with more action (participation in neutral and feminine sports) and attention to sportsmedia (coverage of neutral and feminine sports). In addition, those with more traditional viewstoward masculinity saw Neutral sports as being the most masculine.

The final research question examined whether these variables interacted with gender ofrespondent - in short, whether men and women varied in their assessment ofthe masculinityof sports depending on their sports participation, their sports media consumption, and othercharacteristics. The global MANOVA run for the previous question also examined the interac-tion ofgender of respondent and all other independent variables to see how men's and women'sattitudes differed in light of these other variables. As Table 4 shows, five significant interac-tions with gender of respondent emerged: two participation variables, two sports media vari-ables, and attitudes toward masculinity (BMS). Interestingly, no significant interactions emergedin the model for attitudes toward Hyper masculine sports, indicating that men and women holdsimilar attitudes toward these sports, even when examined through participation, media con-sumption, and other variables.

Where gender of respondent did make a difference was for attitudes toward Action andNeutral sports, as Table 4 shows. For participation in personal fitness, women held fairlysimilar attitudes across the board, with those women who spent the most time in personalfitness seeing Action and Neutral sports as slightly more masculine than women who workedout less. In contrast, men who spent the most time on personal fitness saw both of these sportsgroups as significantly less masculine than men who spent fewer hours on personal fitnessand than women. The same pattem was found for the other variables in the model for attitudestoward neutral sports. While women held roughly similar attitudes toward the masculinity ofNeutral sports regardless of their participation in feminine sports, attention to Neutral sports,or attention to Feminine sports, men viewed the sports as significantly more masculine as theirparticipation in Feminine sports and attention to Feminine and Neutral sports coverage in-creased. In short, men saw Neutral sports as more masculine when they participated in Femi-nine sports or consumed sports media about Feminine and Neutral sports. Finally, for attitudestoward masculinity (BMS), women again were fairly consistent in their ratings regardless ofmasculinity scores; for men, the ratings ofthe masculinity of Action and Neutral sports rosewith their BMS scores. However, in both cases these were relatively small but significantdifferences.

220 / Journal of Sport Behavior. Vol 32. No. 2

Table 4. Significant interactions with sex corespondent from Global MANOVA.

Interaction Sex and....

Part, in personal fitness (1-4)

Part, in foninine sports (0-4)Watch neutral sports (1-5)

Watdi feminine sports (1-5)BMS average (1-4)

Note.><./*p<.05; ••/?<

Hypo- masculineType m SS

{r<^.12 (.82)

.39(2.69)

.22(1.49).03 (.24).07 (.50)

ActionType m SS

.81 (3.25")

.56(226).05 (.18).35 (1.40)

1.32 (5.28*)

01;*^<.001

Discussion

NeutralType HISS

.59(6.65*")

.98(11.14***)2.58(29.34***)1.16(13.20***)

.44 (4.99*)

Pillai's Trace

2586*

3.680**7.635***4.479**3.000*

The results of this study must be viewed in light of its limitations. The study involvedcollege students, who are not representative ofthe larger U.S. population and who may havedifferent media consumption habits. Further, the study involved college students in a particu-lar region ofthe country, where some sports are both less available for participation and lesspopular for spectatorship than others. Another limitation of this study was in the sports itused; sports such as weightlifting, which can be interpreted in different ways (for instance, asa "power" sport or as a fitness activity designed to tone the body) must be taken into accoimtin interpreting the results. It also could be argued that other sports, such as lacrosse, couldhave been added because of their growing participation rates in the United States. Further, itmust be acknowledged that this research may have forced respondents to think of sports inways that were not natural to them; in other words, would respondents have chosen, withoutprompting, to describe any ofthe sports in this research as masculine or feminine? Thus, therating scale itself is limiting.

Even so, the results of this survey clearly indicate that, when asked, youths who havegrown up with Title IX and who have had real-life experience with a wider array of sports thanany previous American generation are almost as likely to use traditional gender roles to typesports as previous generations. Metheny's typology of gendered sports, formulated in 1965,seems as valid today as it was 40 years ago, although attitudes seem to have slightly shiftedinto acceptance of some sports as neither entirely masculine or feminine.


Overall, men and women see sports similarly; tiiey make clear distinctions among sportstiiey rate as masculine and feminine. Clear differences emerged based on means, and certainsports clearly grouped togetiier in factor analysis. For tiie most part, tiiese findings wereconsistent witii past studies tiiat found respondents typing certain sports as masculine, femi-nine, and neutral. Action sports emerged as a separate category in factor analysis (discussedbelow), altiiough tiie means for tiiese sports were on tiie masculine end of tiie response formatused to measure gender typing. Based on tiie means, respondents categorized far more sportsas masculine on tiie l-to-5 scale tiian neutral, demonstrating an orientation toward sports ingeneral as a masculine endeavor. Predictably (according to traditional gender-typing), sportstiiat emphasized overt displays of aggression or strengtii were typed as masculine, and non-contact sports tiiat are eitiier traditionally dominated by women (volleyball) or emphasizeaestiietics (gyrnnastics) were typed as feminine. It seems tiiat little has changed, even in tiielight of more liberal attitudes about women's sports participation in general. Furtiier, Postow's(1980) assertion about tiie masculinity of team sports also still has relevance, despite tiie facttiiat team sports are a part of tiie sporting lives of millions of girls and women. The only twoteam sports tiiat did not skew masculine were soccer and volleyball. Competitive volleyball isplayed by far more girls tiian boys in tiie United States; furtiier, it is a non-contact sport.Soccer, altiiough it may be considered a contact sport (in tiie same vein as basketball), may betyped as feminine for a couple of reasons: It has been positioned in U.S. society as an accept-able sport for girls, especially since tiie U.S. women's World Cup championship in 1999, whichmade Mia Hamm and Brandi Chastain household names; and, unlike in otiier nations, U.S.soccer is not a popular spectator sport. Scholars speculate on tiie reasons for tiiis, includingtiie fact tiiat it is not seen as "American" as are other sports such as football (Markovits &HeUennan,2001).

As in previous studies, men and women did view tiie masculinity of the sports studiedhere similarly, altiiough tiiere were some differences. For instance, women saw basketball asless masculine tiian did men. This could be because basketball is one of tiie fastest-growingteam sports for women and is one of tiie only team sports for women in the United States tiiatgets even minimal media attention. Research suggests tiiat if women perceive tiiemselves asbeing able to participate in such a sport, they would tend to see it as neutral (as opposed tomasculine). Otiier factors may have been at work in tiie assessment by men of swimming asmore feminine tiian by women, such as tiie fact tiiat swimming does not involve contact and isnot a team sport and tiiat it does not receive tiie same levels of media coverage as otiier sportsrated as more masculine, for instance.


Action SportsSports commonly seen on ESPN's annual "X Games" and perceived as action sports

were included on this survey because of their recent emergence as popular spectator sportsand because of their combination of masculine (risk) and feminine (aesthetic) elements. Allaction sports in the survey loaded together in factor analysis, and all were rated as masculineon the measure ofthat construct, to varying degrees, by both men and women. It is importantto note, however, that they clearly were not correlated with the masculine, neutral, or femininesports; they emerged as their own group. This suggests that four decades after Metheny(1965) found evidence of gender-typing of sports as masculine and feminine, attitudes towardsports and gender roles may now be more nuanced. In addition to a clear neutral category ofsports in people's minds, yoimg adults see action sports as a different ballgame altogether.

These results provide reason to speculate that perhaps, as some scholars have argued,action sports are expanding definitions of masculinity because these sports are not contact orteam sports and are judged on the look of the participant, much as figure skating or gymnas-tics. However, it is difficult to know how much less these sports would have been ratedmasculine if it were not for the risk factor, which is heavily touted in ESPN coverage throughfeatures such as on-screen graphics that report the number of broken bones and accidentsthat each competitor has had. Also, ESPN coverage generally excludes female competitors,which is also a factor (as discussed below). Unfortunately, results indicating that viewers seethese sports as masculine provide encouragement for ESPN to continue excluding women,creating a circular relationship that reinforces these sports as niasculine.

Intervening Factors in Gender-lopingParticipation. Previous studies have addressed the interaction of participation and

attitudes about gender and sports; this research found interesting relationships not coveredin previous research. For instance, participation in personal fitness activities seems to neutral-ize, to a certain degree, perceptions of Hyper masculine and action sports. One reason for thiscould be that these sports are highly performance/spectator oriented; those who pursuefitness and participate in sports-related activity may feel more connected to these sports, morelikely seeing them as participation opportunities than as purely all-male, power/risk spectacles.

On the other hand, sports that were generally typed as neutral and feminine were typedas more masculine by individuals who also reported fitness and sports peirticipation. Wespeculate that a reason for this could be that sports participation informs individuals about thenecessity for the strength, power and stamina required for a broad range of sports, even thosethat may not overtly display these attributes; for instance, consider the power behind a hitacross the net in a volleyball game or the force behind moving a ball downfield during a soccer


match. Because sporting attributes such as strength are considered masculine, those whohave participated are more likely to type even sports that don't "look" masculine as, indeed,more masculine.

Media consumption. Following sports through media coverage also seems to impact thesex typing of sports, and in intriguing ways. It seems here that Messner's (2002) "manhoodfonnula" is relevant; he postulates that sports media coverage reinforces traditional masculin-ity through an emphasis on toughness and dominance in depictions. Thus, masculinity andsports are confiated. It is not surprising, then, that those who consume mediated sports wouldrate them as more masculine.

The findings here, however, suggest that adherence to traditional masculinity (as mea-sured by the abbreviated BMS scale) makes little significant difference in the gender-typing ofsports. We wonder, then, if it is not so much the emphasis on traditional masculine values insports depictions, but simply the ubiquitous images of men, that ultimately confiate sportswith men/masculinity. An example of this possibility is action sports; the sports themselves,with the exception of motocross, are centered on aesthetics. In other words, it is the way theathlete looks (grace, coordination: feminine) that determines excellence. Yet, these sports werestill typed as masculine, likely because the majority of images are of men. Certainly, ESPN'sframing of these sports as high-risk endeavors cannot be overlooked; even so, they are aboutperformance, they are individual sports, and they do not involve demonstrations of force,which means they should, by Metheny's (1965) and Postow's (1980) arguments, be typed asneutral-to-feminine.

Social Learning and the Stagnation of Gender-'typingThus, it seems that traditional views of masculinity become less important than the

overwhelming proportion of mediated sports images that depict men jumping, running, hitting,throwing, kicking, lifting, riding, and skating. Although factors such as participation and mediause interact with gender to problematize this conclusion under some circumstances for somesports, sports continue to be conceptualized as a generally masculine endeavor with theexception of a few activities. Even individuals who do not follow sports coverage cannotescape the presentation of sports on television, in magazines and in newspapers as an activityfor and by men. Is it too far a reach to consider that if enough depictions of men performinggymnastics were presented, that gymnastics would eventually become gender masculine byvirtue ofthe images themselves? Conversely, consistent, repetitive images of women playingfootball could increase acceptance ofthat sport as gender neutral.

This is what Bandura (1986) suggests. With enough repetition ofan activity by a men orwomen, the "gendering" ofthat activity can be changed. However, he adds that media infiu-

224 /Journal of Sport Behavior, Vol. 32, No. 2

ence may be more powerful than even lived experience in the gendering of activities. Theresults of this study seem to support that assertion. The problem, then, becomes changing theimages, as they seem to be more powerful than even participation rates in many sports. Untilthis happens, we predict that participation rates will do relatively little more than providedegrees of difference in the way men and women conceptualize sports as gender-appropriate.

The consequences of the stagnation of gender-typing in sports are not insignificant.First, as Witt (1997) points out, ideas about what is appropriate and not appropriate limits thepotential of both men and women. The social pressure to conform is great, as demonstrated inresearch about sport participation and perceived desirability as a Mend or date (Holland &Andre, 1994). The price is higher for women than for men; as they ponder their futures andmake decisions about appropriate gendered activity, teenage girls drop out of sports at á ratethat is six times higher than that of boys (Benefits, 2000). In doing so, they miss out on thebenefits of sports participation.

The questions raised by the results of this research provide opportunities for explora-tion. For instance, survey responses indicate some interaction between ethnicity and gender-typing of sports. Research could explore how race interacts with perceptions of sports asgendered. Further, qualitative research involving younger participants and a wider array ofsports would also help illuminate the interaction of television consumption with other types ofsocialization in attitudes about sports and gender.

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