Author:
Pilyushenko Alexandra V.,
Abstract
The problem of clarifying the content of social roles in conditions of high dynamics of the transformation of society necessarily raises the question of revising the content of gender differences as a set of social indicators of gender. A particularly controversial problem field in the context of gender relations is sports, which is an important institution of socialization and an instrument of social success. The masculine nature of sports activity leaves an imprint on their social status in the context of gender guidelines and raises questions about the gender status of sports and the problems of gender identity of athletes. The aim of the article is to study the gender factor in sports and to study the gender orientation of the values of sports as a social institution. The methodology of the study is determined by its problem field. When considering subjectobject relations in the system of gender identification, the methods of a dialectical approach were applied, where gender was studied as a unity of subjective-personal and objective-cultural factors of thinking and behavior. When considering the problem of masculinization of female athletes, a structural approach was employed, where gender is considered as a cultural and historical code, as a special case of an episteme in gender-role discourse. In the study of the initial masculinity of sports values, a biosocial approach was used, where the phenomenon of sports was considered from both biological and social positions. The development of the problem of gender factor research in sports included consideration of the following issues: masculinity of sports as their typical feature, the impossibility of their feminization; the problem of masculinization of female athletes; sport as an area of female emancipation. As a result, the historical and physiological reasons for the masculinity of sports are considered. The archaic criteria for assessing gender identity and the inclusion of gender-specific personality traits characteristic of modern people in masculinity indicators are substantiated. The role of sports in the phenomenon of women’s emancipation is considered: the role of infrastructural and cultural factors of women’s inclusion in sports. The ambiguity of the phenomenon of masculinization of female athletes, the symbolic nature of the criteria, and the formulation of this problem are revealed. The role of the historical development of sports in the direction of universal needs and opportunities is shown, where the differentiation of sports disciplines and its qualitative diversity play a special role. This evolution has ensured an equal participation of women and men in sports activities.