The Pinkification of women's sport

[Janik]

The Pinkification of women's sport

laverte wrote: The story linked by ad hoc is the logical conclusion of the commercialised, bums-on-seats-at-any-cost approach to developing women's sport. Sod the people who already support it, we want more fans; and if those extra fans will only watch when the women are in their pants, then so be it.

I'm not sure that is quite true. The LFL and I'm assuming this (I can't bring myself to actually read the article) are not really about selling Women's sports. They are an extension of the sex industry, nothing more. The people behind them don't give a shit either way about developing sport, but they know sex sells and they can turn a profit that way.

The Pinkification comes from another place. It is an attempt to sell sport to Women. An attempt by Men to sell sport to Women, though, coming with various assumptions, and, well mansplainin' [that word really is useful, isn't it?] that Women are less interested than Men because it isn't feminised.

[Incandenza]

The Pinkification of women's sport

It's like the Lego Friends. The assumption being that girls wouldn't like plain regular Legos. So they need ponies and little minifigs with smiles and lots of pink and purple.

[ursus arctos]

The Pinkification of women's sport

We now have two professional women's ice hockey leagues in North America

That situation isn't ideal, but it is cheering to note that neither have seen any reason to pinkify their players.

[seand]

The Pinkification of women's sport

Janik wrote:
The Pinkification comes from another place. It is an attempt to sell sport to Women. An attempt by Men to sell sport to Women, though, coming with various assumptions, and, well mansplainin' [that word really is useful, isn't it?] that Women are less interested than Men because it isn't feminised.

What's wrong with selling sport to women, in italics, anyway?

Is making pink merchandise available based on the assumption that female fans would only be interested in the mearchandise was feminised or is it simply a case of offering more choice to consumers? Some female fans and players might actually like both sport and pink clothes. If they don't like pink they can buy the blue version, or neither.

[Janik]

The Pinkification of women's sport

Women are not a homogenous group. Those that already like sport may do so because of it's lack of girlishness, so reaching for new interest in this fashion alienates those who were already engaged.
If a strategy attempts to target Women it can't hope to be anything other than a massive generalisation. There is an obvious trap for those who does this, however well meaning they might be, of making patronising and sexist generalisations.

[MsD]

The Pinkification of women's sport

Maybe the pink is to reach out to those who dropped sport as teenagers because they felt it was unfeminine or not cool, I dunno (although pink isn't really cool). I thought the "get your freak on" ads were quite good, and they weren't in the least girlie.

I was put off sport, not because it wasn't feminine, but because it was brutal (hockey), boring, uncomfortable, and I am not a team player. If it had been about achieving and improving my personal performance, unrelated to what others were doing, I would have liked it. Crucially, if I had been able to wear what I wanted rather than ridiculous short skirts and unflattering polo shirts, I might have been interested. I like my current "sports kit" and love going to the gym. I've always liked swimming but hated school swimming sessions.

Women don't do sport for many reasons - self-consciousness about their bodies and how their faces look under strain is quite a strong one.

[Janik]

The Pinkification of women's sport

Interesting thoughts.

Not really of the greatest importance to the general thrust of this thread, but in relation to this:-

MsD wrote: achieving and improving my personal performance, unrelated to what others were doing

there are only so many sports where this isn't a contradiction in terms. How does one judge how good a forehand is beyond the effect it has on the opponents ability to get it back? Or how good a shot at goal is if there isn't a 'keeper there trying to stop it?

[MsD]

The Pinkification of women's sport

I mean running, cycling, swimming etc. What would you call them, activities, if they're not in competition?

My gym runs loads of classes, none of them are competitive.

Body pump, Pilates, step, dance-based classes like Zumba .. In all of these, you are encouraged to make progress at your own pace.

All of these are popular with women, it's not "sport", no.

[Kevin S]

The Pinkification of women's sport

Three of the top five participation sports in the UK are swimming, health and fitness, and cycling. This is true for both men and women.

For men, though these are three of the most popular, sports participation is generally spread out over a wide range of activities, including team sports.

But for women, participation is much more heavily concentrated in the first two of those three.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/137986/tp-adult-participation-sport-analysis.pdf

(edit - or, what MsD said!)

[Janik]

The Pinkification of women's sport

Offered without comment:- http://www.thebighit.net/squashercise/about-squashercise
Oh, OK then, just the one. The website is quite purple and pink, isn't it?

[seand]

The Pinkification of women's sport

Janik wrote: Women are not a homogenous group. Those that already like sport may do so because of it's lack of girlishness, so reaching for new interest in this fashion alienates those who were already engaged.
If a strategy attempts to target Women it can't hope to be anything other than a massive generalisation. There is an obvious trap for those who does this, however well meaning they might be, of making patronising and sexist generalisations.

Men are not a homogeous group either, but things are sometimes aimed at a predominantly male demographic too. Am I the victim of patronising and sexist generalisation when a product is created with some bullshit macho theme?

Creating a pink kit does not treat women as a homogenous group. It offers some women (and men) the opportunity to wear a pink kit. If they want.

[Kevin S]

The Pinkification of women's sport

Men are not a homogeous group either, but things are sometimes aimed at a predominantly male demographic too. Am I the victim of patronising and sexist generalisation when a product is created with some bullshit macho theme?

[laverte]

The Pinkification of women's sport

seand wrote: Creating a pink kit does not treat women as a homogenous group. It offers some women (and men) the opportunity to wear a pink kit. If they want.

But that leads us back to Amor's point upthread. Where the pink kit is not worn by the team, it reinforces the idea that women's role in sport is as something other – and, by extension, less – than a player. If, on the other hand, the pink kit is worn by the women's team – well, the players don't have a choice, do they?

Pink isn't a neutral colour for women. When the marketing department suddenly asks you to play in pink, it is saying: we need you to be more feminine (in order to sell more tickets/replica kits). At present, therefore, you must be too masculine. There's already a stigma attached to women who play sports, that they are tomboys, lesbians, too aggressive, too butch. Those who play at a high level have made a (sometimes uneasy) peace with this. In order to play the sports they love, they've had to overcome the ideology that tells them they should be more feminine. Now the marketing department is asking them to submit to it.

And at root is this idea that, in order for women's sport to grow (ie, to become profitable), it needs to attract a different kind of woman: the girly girl, the non-tomboy, the majority. Which is a kick in the teeth to those who already do play. So long as team sports are dominated by women like you, those sports will remain marginal and unattractive. But that would magically change if you started playing in pink (or in lingerie).

There are much better ways to encourage women to take up sports than through marketing. The focus on clothes is a hindrance, whichever direction it takes. We should start by prioritising the needs of women who already play the game. Celebrate them, provide them with better facilities, sponsor them, go out and support them. Pay them. Let them choose their own kits.

[ad hoc]

The Pinkification of women's sport

Kevchenko wrote: Three of the top five participation sports in the UK are swimming, health and fitness, and cycling. This is true for both men and women.

What's health and fitness? Going to the gym?

[MsD]

The Pinkification of women's sport

I think so ... That's where most women's physical exercise focus is, on what used to be called "keep-fit".

There are (probably) sociological reasons for women choosing that over competitive sport, it's certainly not that women are less competitive overall.

Women who do play competitive sport deserve better than My Little Sports Kit, agree totally with laverte's blinding analysis here.

[laverte]

The Pinkification of women's sport

My Little Sports Kit

Like!! I'll be nicking that.

If you don't know her already, there's a prof called Jo Paoletti who has written extensively about pinkification. She describes pink as a "spokescolour" for women (or, rather, for a certain ideal of womanhood), which is a great way of putting it. Her latest blog is about when and why buttons moved to the opposite side of women's shirts. She might be up your street, MsD!

I agree with you that there are probably sociological reasons why women tend to do indoor, individual, 'fitness'-oriented activities. Of course these are denigrated as non-sports, and certainly part of the impetus for encouraging women to play team sports stems from the lower status of activities like yoga and aquadance compared with football – a hierarchy which is baseless and needs challenging. Men seem to make up only 20-25% of yoga practitioners: is there a movement to blueify it?

[Bored Of Education]

The Pinkification of women's sport

Is it me or does that pink Argentinian have skirts and the other one they wear have shorts?

[MsD]

The Pinkification of women's sport

laverte wrote:
If you don't know her already, there's a prof called Jo Paoletti who has written extensively about pinkification. She describes pink as a "spokescolour" for women (or, rather, for a certain ideal of womanhood), which is a great way of putting it. Her latest blog is about when and why buttons moved to the opposite side of women's shirts. She might be up your street, MsD!

I didn't know of her, although I read a lot of the anti-pink (pink stinks?) campaign, which seemed to me to be extreme. It's not pink's fault! Pink clothing for small babies makes it easier to know what to say when presented with them - isn't she lovely/sweet/[strike]interesting looking[/strike].

That said, I think I only own one piece of pink clothing, my Too Beautiful to Fuck tshirt, and in all my years going to gyms and yoga/Pilates etc. have managed to avoid anything pink there. (Oh, there's a pair of shoes.)

I did like that article, though, ta.

[seand]

The Pinkification of women's sport

laverte wrote:

Creating a pink kit does not treat women as a homogenous group. It offers some women (and men) the opportunity to wear a pink kit. If they want.

But that leads us back to Amor's point upthread. Where the pink kit is not worn by the team, it reinforces the idea that women's role in sport is as something other – and, by extension, less – than a player. If, on the other hand, the pink kit is worn by the women's team – well, the players don't have a choice, do they?

Pink isn't a neutral colour for women. When the marketing department suddenly asks you to play in pink, it is saying: we need you to be more feminine (in order to sell more tickets/replica kits). At present, therefore, you must be too masculine. There's already a stigma attached to women who play sports, that they are tomboys, lesbians, too aggressive, too butch. Those who play at a high level have made a (sometimes uneasy) peace with this. In order to play the sports they love, they've had to overcome the ideology that tells them they should be more feminine. Now the marketing department is asking them to submit to it.

And at root is this idea that, in order for women's sport to grow (ie, to become profitable), it needs to attract a different kind of woman: the girly girl, the non-tomboy, the majority. Which is a kick in the teeth to those who already do play. So long as team sports are dominated by women like you, those sports will remain marginal and unattractive. But that would magically change if you started playing in pink (or in lingerie).

There are much better ways to encourage women to take up sports than through marketing. The focus on clothes is a hindrance, whichever direction it takes. We should start by prioritising the needs of women who already play the game. Celebrate them, provide them with better facilities, sponsor them, go out and support them. Pay them. Let them choose their own kits.

Thanks for this very interesting post laverte. I do think too much is made in this thread of a team playing in one particular colour.
Perhaps in some cases the use of pink is a cynical, condescending tactic to appeal to 'the wekaer sex' but more often than not adding pink gear to, say, the Man Utd catalogue just offers more choice to the consumer rather than pigeon-holing half the world's population.
I don't see anything problematic with magenta-touting handball team in the original post though.

[ursus arctos]

The Pinkification of women's sport



Interesting article on the broader phenomenon.

[laverte]

The Pinkification of women's sport

How to get girls playing football: the FA brainstorms.

Suggestions: pink whistles, pink shinpads, pink gloves, pink headbands, 'colourful' bibs (I wonder which colour exactly).

Red faces:

[Levin]

The Pinkification of women's sport

That's a brilliant letter Laverte (a bit slow to reply I know)

Guess what colour the match ball of the LFH is?

[IMG]/converted_files/media/kunena/attachments/2064/ultimate_handball_france_lnh_yellow_pink_final.jpg[/IMG]

Now I quite like that pink, though it doesn't go with the yellow, but the men's league ball is navy and yellow.

[Janik]

The Pinkification of women's sport

One little anecdote from the coalface. Hockey astro boots gain approval of cat, owner less sure. n.b. opening paragraph and end photo only.

[Levin]

The Pinkification of women's sport

Wow, Janik. Any colour you like so long as it's pink

[Various Artist]

The Pinkification of women's sport

Amazing. Only one shade of Grays for women, then.