PhD M.V. Aranson¹
PhD, Associate Professor E.S. Ozolin¹
PhD O.V. Tuponogova^1
1

Keywords: women’s boxing, research publications, gender limitations.

Background. Gender limitations of the modern women’s martial arts are ranked among the most relevant topics in sports psychology and sociology. Despite the fact that these issues often fall under heavy political pressures and, therefore, some publications may be biased and not scientific enough, the issues are still highly relevant and, when neglected or underexplored, may be of hampering effect on the competitive performance [1]. We believe that these issues deserve special attention of the sport science, particularly in the context of the growing popularity of the women’s Olympic sports on the whole and women’s boxing in particular.

Objective of the study was to theoretically analyze coverage of gender limitations in modern women’s boxing sport by the sports science.

Methods and structure of the study. We used, for the purposes of the study, some materials of the relevant Research Project Progress Report, and analyzed the gender limitations coverage by the research publications (scientific articles, abstracts, books and dissertations) in the Google Scholar database for the period of 2016-2020. We found and analyzed the relevant materials by a few keywords including “female”, “boxing”, “gender” etc. Of special interest were the studies with concern to the women's boxing training specifics, their socialization and self-awareness and assertion issues, gender equality, attitudes to female athletes and other key topics. We screened out of the database for analysis the women’s training issues as such since they will be covered by our upcoming study of the women’s training system improvement methods.

Results and discussion. We first selected 182 study reports related to the women’s boxing sport, and found 62 (75.6%) addressing the gender limitations issues. Of special interest for the sport specialists are self-identification issues of women in sports and gender equality issues in the context of the progress opportunities. We found the discussions often dictated by the political biases and using rather popular sociological than purely scientific terms and meanings. We should also mention the high degree of conservatism in the relevant sports organizations and their policies when it comes to support and expansion of the women’s Olympic sports; although recently the global sports have made good progress in this area. Some analysts [7] are concerned by the shortage of the relevant studies. Having surveyed and interviewed the female boxers, we found the key barriers for progress of the modern women’s boxing, i.e. a wide range of conflicting motivations for the athlete’s progress agenda (including the self-assertion and growth ones) on the one hand, and the gender limitations with gender identity insults on the other hand.

Thus Jennings G., Velázquez B.C. (2015) remind that the women’s boxing has a long history, although the major women’s boxing competitions were subject to multiple bans and restrictions prior to the 2012 Olympic Games [6]. It should be mentioned in this context that the women’s boxing weight classes and qualifications are still shorter than in the men's boxing. The issues of gender equality in sports are being discussed and defended by many movements including some specialized online communities, and it is not improbable that this active advocacy will sooner or later urge the relevant global organizations (IOC and AIBA) to take necessary efforts.

It should be emphasized, however, that expansion of weight classes in boxing may require extra funding for the Olympic Games. A solution is still to be found, and one of the potential options is to cut down the men’s weight classes to give room for the women; although this solution is actively opposed by conservatives in the key international sports organizations. However, the IOC has still decided to change the gender shares in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo (IOC, 2020). Male boxers will compete in 8 weight classes (52 kg, 57 kg, 63 kg, 69 kg, 75 kg, 81 kg, 91 kg, and 91+ kg); and female boxers in 5 weight classes (51 kg, 57 kg, 60 kg, 69 kg, and 75 kg).

A dissertation of a Chinese graduate student from Laurentien University, Canada (Ge, Y., 2018) analyzes psychological profiles of the Canada women’s boxing team members [4]. The author used a social structuring method to highlight the personality factors most typical for the top-ranking female boxers, including: versatility, strong socializing skills, well-balanced character, some contradiction between the identity and behavior, devotion to the sporting subculture etc.

Graham M.R., Gu Y. and Baker J.S. (2017) analyzed studies of the attitudes to female boxers [3]. They found the attitudes being mostly positive, although the existing prejudices still create multiple psychological limitations for women. The female martial artists are often perceived as “unfeminine”, “transvestites”, “mutants” etc., and have to oppose these biases in sports and private lives. They report facing multiple insults and all kinds of violence (including sexual), plus serious barriers for progress and financial support.

Canadian researchers Schinke R.J., et al. (2019) analyzed influences of the individual identities of the national women’s boxing team members on their wellbeing and performance [8]. They found a range of specific challenges faced by the sample including: pressure from the genuinely men’s sport on the women’s identity; prejudices with associating negativism from the social environment; "otherness" much similar to the one reported by the racial and sexual minorities, etc. The analysts recommend a culturally inclusive environment being cultivated for the athletes by cooperative efforts of the coaches, physicians, psychologists and other specialists serving the team.

And a research team from the Netherlands [2] discussed the gender equality assurance challenges in the amateur boxing clubs, with a special analysis of the positive experiences in this domain reported by a few Dutch sports clubs. The authors recommend the club management taking decisions on these sensitive issues so as to remove contradictions between the individual sporting agendas of the trainees and limitations of the valid requirements for sporting services to different population groups.

Conclusion. Discussions of the gender equality issues in sports are often influenced by other than purely scientific aspects and reasoning. It should be acknowledged, however, that women still face a wide range of problems in the attempts to progress in the traditionally men’s sports. First of all, these problems are due to the sport management conservatism, shortage of funding, plus certain prejudices against female martial artists still perceived as “deviations from the norm” by some population groups. Solutions to these problems may be facilitated by the efforts to create theoretically grounded training and competitive environments for women with highest sensitivity to their natural physiological and psychological limitations, needs and specifics.

References

1. Damadaeva A.S. Psychology of gender development of athlete's personality. Doct. Diss. Abstr. (Psychology). Moscow, 2013. 54 p.
2. Dortants M., Knoppers A. (2016) The organization of diversity in a boxing club: Governmentality and entangled rationalities, Culture and Organization, 22:3, 245-261, DOI: 10.1080/14759551.2016.1157804
3. Graham M.R., Gu Y., Baker J.S. (2017) Women, Boxing & Prejudice, the Fact. Dual Diagn Open Acc 2:31. DOI: 10.21767/2472-5048.100031
4. Ge Y. The intersecting social identities of Canadian national team female boxers. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PHD) in Human Studies. Laurentian University, 2018. – 260 p.
5. IOC news.Women gaining ground on the field of play and at the top table [Electronic resource]. Available at:  https://www.olympic.org/news/women-gaining-ground-on-the-field-of-play-and-at-the-top-table, accessed  17.03.2020
6. Jennings G., Velázquez B.C. Gender Inequality in Olympic Boxing: Exploring Structuration through Online Resistance against Weight Category Restrictions. Global Perspectives on Women in Combat Sports: Women Warriors around the World. Springer, 2015, pp.89-103
7. Mcgannon K.R., Schinke R.J., Ge Y., Blodgett A.T. Negotiating Gender and Sexuality: A Qualitative Study of Elite Women Boxer Intersecting Identities and Sport Psychology Implications. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 2018: 1–19
8. Schinke R.J., Ge Y., Petersen B., Blodgett A.T., Dupuis-Latour J., Coholic D. Building a national team context based upon the identity challenges and intervention strategies of elite female boxers in their home training environments. Journal of Sport Psychology in Action, 2019, Volume 10, Issue 2, Pp.94-105

Corresponding author: aranson@yandex.ru

Abstract

Objective of the study was to theoretically analyze coverage of gender limitations in modern women’s boxing sport by the sports science.

Methods and structure of the study. We used, for the purposes of the study, some materials of the relevant Research Project Progress Report, and analyzed the gender limitations coverage by the research publications (scientific articles, abstracts, books and dissertations) in the Google Scholar database for the period of 2016-2020. We found and analyzed the relevant materials by a few keywords including “female”, “boxing”, “gender”. Of special interest were the studies with concern to the women's boxing training specifics, their socialization and self-awareness issues, gender equality, attitudes to women athletes and other relevant topics. We screened out of the database for analysis the women’s training issues as such since they will be covered by our upcoming study of the women’s training system improvement methods.

Results and discussion. Having analyzed the mostly foreign study report on the issue, we found the key barriers for progress of the modern women’s boxing, including the self-identification disorders, gender inequality in progress opportunities; environmental pressure, prejudice and biased perceptions; and shortages of the women-needs-sensitive training and competitive models. We have demonstrated that, despite the large-scale and often politically biased contradictions in these issues, there are a few objective problems that need to be solved to facilitate progress of the women’s boxing sport – including the traditional conservatism of the sport management policies and multiple social prejudices against women athletes.