'Jumping like a girl': Discursive silences, exclusionary practices, and the controversy over women's ski jumping

Laurendeau, Jason; Adams, Carly

'Jumping like a girl': Discursive silences, exclusionary practices, and the controversy over women's ski jumping

dc.contributor.author	Laurendeau, Jason
dc.contributor.author	Adams, Carly
dc.date.accessioned	2012-10-02T18:08:57Z
dc.date.available	2012-10-02T18:08:57Z
dc.date.issued	2010
dc.description	Sherpa Romeo green journal. Permission to archive accepted author manuscript
dc.description.abstract	This paper considers the recent International Olympic Committee (IOC) decision to deny women the opportunity to compete in ski jumping at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. Drawing on a feminist Foucauldian framework, we suggest that the Olympics is a discourse that constructs excellence and fairness as “within the true,” with the IOC protesting that this recent decision is not about gender, but about the upholding of Olympic ideals. We interrogate three conspicuous absences in this discourse, each of which trouble the IOC’s claim that this decision is not evidence of gender discrimination. In particular, we contextualize this decision within the risk discourses upon which the IOC has historically drawn on denying women’s participation in particular Olympic events, arguing that the discursive silence around the issue of risk points to “old wine in new bottles” as the IOC dresses up the same paternalistic practices in new garb. We conclude with a consideration of these discursive structures as more than simply oppressive of women. Instead, they may also be understood as indicative of the ‘problem’ posed by women, especially those who threaten the gender binary that pervades many sporting structures. Finally, these structures signal opportunities for resistance and subversion as women act to shed light on the discursive silences upon which structures of domination rest.	en_US
dc.description.peer-review	Yes	en_US
dc.description.sponsorship	A portion of this paper was presented at the the 9th International Symposium for Olympic Research, Beijing, China, in August, 2008. Thanks to those attending this session for their helpful observations and suggestions. Our thanks as well to Mary Louise Adams, Dayna Daniels, Michelle Helstein, Claudia Malacrida, and the Sport in Society reviewers for their insightful comments throughout the development of this paper. We would also like to acknowledge the Revelstoke Museum and Archives for their assistance with this project.	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Laurendeau, J. and C. Adams. (2010). 'Jumping like a girl’: Discursive silences, exclusionary practices and the controversy over women’s ski jumping. Sport in Society, 13(3), 431-447. DOI: 10.1080/17430431003588051	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10133/3139
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US
dc.publisher	Taylor and Francis	en_US
dc.publisher.department	Sociology Department
dc.publisher.faculty	Arts and Science	en_US
dc.publisher.institution	University of Lethbridge	en_US
dc.publisher.url	https://doi.org/10.1080/17430431003588051
dc.subject	Ski jumping	en_US
dc.subject	Women's ski jumping	en_US
dc.subject	International Olympic Committee	en_US
dc.title	'Jumping like a girl': Discursive silences, exclusionary practices, and the controversy over women's ski jumping	en_US
dc.type	Article	en_US