Critically discuss the extent to which social class influences involvement in sport and physical activity in contemporary society.
Popular recreational activities were pre-industrial pastimes that were mostly related to the lower classes. The 18th century, in which popular recreation was prominent, had a two tiered society, consisting of the upper and lower classes, this reflected the feudal system at the time. The lower classes would participate in violent sports that had very simple, unrecorded rules, mostly due to illiteracy within the lower classes. However, the upper classes would often participate in sports that had more organised characteristics, such as ‘real tennis’. The upper class gentry often wagered on lower class peasant events, …show more content…
The peasants would also sometimes wager if they had some spare money, in order to try and gain a profit. Betting is an activity that can still be seen in modern contemporary society. The peasant class had very little time to participate in sports and pastimes due to the hard laboured nature of their working lifestyles. They would often only participate on holy days which were annual holidays. Blood sports emerged during this time, however, society began to embark on a civilising process and law and order started to come through, this has impacted on the discouragement and illegality of blood sports in modern contemporary Britain. The RSPCA is an organisation that still exists today and was set up in the 19th century to reduce animal brutality.
During the 19th century, public schools emerged for fee paying boys. These boys would be sons of the gentry and upper classes because only they could afford to pay the fees. As stated, the games from local villages would be violent and cruel in nature. The boys would bring versions of these games from their home towns to their respective schools, resulting in the institutionalisation of popular recreation. Games were organised by the boys, for the boys and boy culture and bullying was the …show more content…
This effected the living standards of the working population and also resulted in the emergence of a new middle class. The population increased drastically, resulting in poor living conditions for the lower classes and the reduction of wide open spaces. This meant people had less time to participate in sports and pastimes. Sewage would fill the streets due to poor sanitation and resulted in a decrease in public health for Great Britain, particularly amongst the working classes. Factory owners realised that the ill health of their employees caused problems with productivity and prosperity and thus, helped with the promotion of physical activity. The workers were finally rewarded more free time to allow for participation. For example, reduced working hours and the ‘half day Saturday’ laws came into effect later in the century. The half day Saturday law also aided the expansion of spectatorism. Technological advancements, such as trains, also helped people travel to various sporting events, particularly to football matches. However, working class employees could not afford to have unpaid time off work and so the factory owners decided to set up football teams such as Manchester united and west ham united and paid their workers to play (Baker, 1979). This is known as professionalism. Church teams also formed,
Popular recreational activities were pre-industrial pastimes that were mostly related to the lower classes. The 18th century, in which popular recreation was prominent, had a two tiered society, consisting of the upper and lower classes, this reflected the feudal system at the time. The lower classes would participate in violent sports that had very simple, unrecorded rules, mostly due to illiteracy within the lower classes. However, the upper classes would often participate in sports that had more organised characteristics, such as ‘real tennis’. The upper class gentry often wagered on lower class peasant events, …show more content…
The peasants would also sometimes wager if they had some spare money, in order to try and gain a profit. Betting is an activity that can still be seen in modern contemporary society. The peasant class had very little time to participate in sports and pastimes due to the hard laboured nature of their working lifestyles. They would often only participate on holy days which were annual holidays. Blood sports emerged during this time, however, society began to embark on a civilising process and law and order started to come through, this has impacted on the discouragement and illegality of blood sports in modern contemporary Britain. The RSPCA is an organisation that still exists today and was set up in the 19th century to reduce animal brutality.
During the 19th century, public schools emerged for fee paying boys. These boys would be sons of the gentry and upper classes because only they could afford to pay the fees. As stated, the games from local villages would be violent and cruel in nature. The boys would bring versions of these games from their home towns to their respective schools, resulting in the institutionalisation of popular recreation. Games were organised by the boys, for the boys and boy culture and bullying was the …show more content…
This effected the living standards of the working population and also resulted in the emergence of a new middle class. The population increased drastically, resulting in poor living conditions for the lower classes and the reduction of wide open spaces. This meant people had less time to participate in sports and pastimes. Sewage would fill the streets due to poor sanitation and resulted in a decrease in public health for Great Britain, particularly amongst the working classes. Factory owners realised that the ill health of their employees caused problems with productivity and prosperity and thus, helped with the promotion of physical activity. The workers were finally rewarded more free time to allow for participation. For example, reduced working hours and the ‘half day Saturday’ laws came into effect later in the century. The half day Saturday law also aided the expansion of spectatorism. Technological advancements, such as trains, also helped people travel to various sporting events, particularly to football matches. However, working class employees could not afford to have unpaid time off work and so the factory owners decided to set up football teams such as Manchester united and west ham united and paid their workers to play (Baker, 1979). This is known as professionalism. Church teams also formed,