Susan Lagaert

Exploring the adequacy and validity of 'sport': reflections on a contested and open concept

In this paper we explore whether and how ‘sport’ can be an adequate and valid sociological concept considering the multitude of contested meanings and definitions attached to ‘sport’ by different stakeholders in the sports field. Firstly, we argue that essentialist definitions of ‘sport’ too often one-sidedly focus on physical exertion and neglect the socially distinguishing nature of sportive practices as part of a lifestyle. Secondly, survey questions reflect this physical definition of ‘sport’ and assume that ‘sport’ has an obviously similar meaning to respondents. However, reflecting the struggle to define ‘sport’ in the sports field, people with different socio-demographic backgrounds differ in their understanding of the concept. Because current measurement of ‘sport’ does not adequately deal with the open and contested nature of the concept, suggestions on how to collect survey data on sport participation are presented.

Gender and highbrow cultural participation in Europe: The effect of societal gender equality and development:

Existing individual-level research links women’s higher participation in high-status cultural activities to their position in work and family spheres. This article studies how cross-national variation in women’s and men’s cultural participation relates to societal care- and work-related gender equality and development. Multilevel analyses on Eurobarometer data (2013) indicate that male engagement in the feminine domain of care and societal development stimulates frequent participation in highbrow culture, but more for men than for women, thus partly explaining gender gap variation in highbrow cultural participation across European Union countries. We conclude that men play an important but underestimated role in the explanation of the gender gap.

The gender gap in sport event attendance in Europe: the impact of macro-level gender equality

This paper studies the gender gap in sport event attendance – characterized by higher male and lower female participation – using a macro-sociological and cross-national comparative approach. We argue that because gender is produced and justified in the realm of sport, gender gaps in sport event attendance may be more pronounced in some societies than others, depending on the position women and men have in the particular context in which someone ‘does’ his/her gender. So, in addition to individual attributes, one has to consider the societal, macro-level gender equality in order to understand the individual-level gender inequalities in sport event attendance. Using multilevel analyses on Eurobarometer data (2007), we evaluate whether the size of the gender gap in sport event attendance varies across European Union (EU) countries and how this variation relates to societal gender equality, as measured by the Gender Equality Index of the European Institute for Gender Equality. We find higher male than female attendance in all EU countries, but also conclude that higher levels of macro-level gender equality are associated with smaller gender gaps in sport event attendance.