From equality to equity: Gender perspective of sport in Serbia

Abstract

Gender equality means giving equal opportunities to all people, when it comes to some human activity. According to the Law of Sport's Republic of Serbia, both sexes have equal rights to participate in sport. But, if all have equal chances, why do we have fare more man than woman? One explanation are available opportunities: in equality case, all have the same treatment (the same position), while in equity case all have justful treatment (resources for success are compatible with needs of one specific person or group). Equality insists of equal possibilities and conditions on the start line, while equity comes as result, in the end, when all have ensured justful and equal possibilities not at the beginning, but for reaching the goal and success. So, the aim of this study is to investigate relationship between gender equality and gender equity in sport in Serbia. The sample consisted of 1013 athletes: 62.88 % man and 37.12 % woman. The questionnaire consisted of sociodemographic data and gender classification of sports. The results show that there are big differences in representation of woman in some sports, and that 58.33 % of sports are perceived as gender neutral - 62.5 %. There were egal presence of man in neutral and masculine sports, while they were absent from feminine typed sports. So, it might be concluded that the process of sex typing in both sexes is moved toward neutral sports, which supports thesis about equality, but not equity, since the process of sex typing of sports is still more present in men.