Individuals experiencing disability and the ableist physical literacy narrative: critical considerations and recommendations for practice

Pushkarenko, Kyle; Howse, Elizabeth; Gosse, Nicholas

doi:10.3389/fspor.2023.1171290

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Since the present investigation was conducted also applying a sociological research approach, our findings must be discussed and framed specifically referring to the Western society to which the investigated sample belongs to. Modern society, strongly based on individuality, productivity, high performative standards, and conformity to the esthetic models imposed by media ( 50 – 52 ), has often considered and represented disabled people as without gender. It is well-known that gender plays a key role in cultural stereotypes of power and performance and, consequently, in discrimination perception/experience and social opportunities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Female blind baseball players against gender discrimination: the “red diamonds” experience

Carretti,

Russo,

Manetti

et al. 2024

Front. Sports Act. Living

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BackgroundSport has the well-known power of improving body awareness, self-esteem, and social interaction, thus promoting quality of life and psychophysical wellbeing. Specifically referring to adapted disciplines, habitual practice often becomes an effective integration and self-efficacy booster. Among disabilities, visual impairment deeply alters body image perception, autonomy, and environmental/social interaction heavily reducing sport or leisure involvement opportunities. In particular, visually impaired women represent one of the most vulnerable categories to gender and disability discrimination. Moreover, even when congenitally sightless, they perceive social pressure of mainstream beauty ideals, mostly spread by media, comparable to their sighted peers. On these premises and the previously demonstrated psychophysical benefits of Italian blind baseball practice on this target population, the present study aimed to deepen the social and educative potentialities of such adapted sport applying a more sociological research approach.MethodsThe “red diamonds” event, namely, the first ever female blind baseball match, was the setting for the administration of our structured online survey. In detail, our survey comprised different evaluation tools such as the 18-item Psychological Well-Being Scale, the 12-item Short Form questionnaire, the Dresden Body Image questionnaire, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and sociological model designed questions. Quality of life, psychological wellbeing, self-esteem, body image, and perceived female sport psychological violence were investigated in the whole women sample (n = 33) voluntarily adhering to the game.ResultsSurvey results revealed no statistically significant differences between visually impaired players (n = 13; mean age: 32.84 ± 12.05 years) and sighted on-field subjects (i.e., coaches, assistants, and referees; n = 20; mean age: 47.15 ± 12.31 years) in almost all the inquired variables, thus remarking the social and functional benefits of adapted sport through the “dual embodiment” and empowerment phenomenon.ConclusionsGiven that the event was inspired by and performed on the World Day against women violence, our study deepened not only the topic of disability discrimination but also the currently alarming gender-related one. In such a context, the present research might provide interesting cues for further investigations on disability and gender disparities in sports, hence spreading interest in this under-investigated field. In perspective, the “red diamonds” experience could also contribute to inspiring and progressively developing educative tools against any kind of discrimination by promoting integration and social growth through regular sports practice.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%