‘Their bottoms are the wrong shape’ and other sporting myths

Our Solent Virtual Professorial and Public Lecture Series for 2021 continues with this Professorial Lecture by Philippa Velija, Associate Professor in Sociology and Head of Social Sciences, presenting 'Their bottoms are the wrong shape' and other sporting myths - Invisible women and myths about women's bodies in sport.

On the 10th April 2021, Rachael Blackmore became the first female jockey to win the Grand National Steeplechase since its inception in 1839, an event which women were banned from riding in until 1977. In this talk, Philippa will discuss her 2010 and 2017 research on female jockeys revisiting the titles of the papers that draw on myths about women and their bodies, such as, ‘their bottoms are the wrong shape’ and ‘men fall like boiled eggs and women like raw eggs’. These are just two examples of the ‘myths’ about women’s bodies that exist in conjunction with a perception that women’s achievements in sport are new. These ‘myths’ and the ‘invisibility’ of sportswomen represent a social construction of women’s sport, which continues to influence gender relations in sport today. Drawing on research from cricket, female jockeys and the MMA Philippa will discuss sporting ‘myths’ and ‘invisible women’ from a sociological perspective to provide a critical understanding of contemporary gender inequities in sport today.