Abstract des Autors

Research about sport and gender equity has taken various forms in different historical and scientific contexts but a general conclusion is that sport still is male-dominated terrain. Why is this, despite decades of gender equity work and initiatives? Here, answers were sought through interviews with 47 male power holders – leaders and coaches – in Swedish sport. Men from seven sports were interviewed. The aim was to, by means of a Foucauldian discourse analysis, explore how ‘gender equity’ was interpreted and valued: how do the leaders and coaches position themselves, and how are they positioned, in relation to gender equity? The findings show that four subject positions are articulated: the sceptic, the cynic, the women’s rights advocate and the constructionist. The sceptic raises doubts about the reasonableness and fairness of gender equity, the cynic constructs gender equity as something unrealistic or impossible, the women’s rights advocate articulates a semi-essential and quantitatively oriented support for gender equity, and the constructionist voice a norm-critical approach. We conclude that the constructionist probably is more aligned with the gender equity objectives of both Swedish and international sport organising bodies than the women’s rights advocate, but that more distinct and detailed norm-critical approaches to gender equity are required ahead. A more successful implementation of gender equity initiatives is related to changed interpretations of and attitudes towards the fundamentals of gender equity work among those who are to realise it, but also to clarifications of what ‘gender equity’ means and why it is important.