Deborah Ann Butler’s “Achieving Against the Odds: Gender, Chance and Contradiction in the Horse Racing Industry”, an article featured in The Sociology of Sport Journal, analyzes the gender inequality along with class and race in the horse racing industry. Butler considers the difference in difficulty between woman and men when it comes to achieving success through interviews, statistical support, and Bourdieu’s concept of “thinking tools”. When it comes to sports, men have shown more dominance in achieving success and have become the models for the industry.
In most sports men and woman are separated when it comes to competing. When dealing with interspecies sports like horse racing, wherein both the horses and people participate, women are …show more content…
She concludes that a women’s ability to race is dependent on if owners and trainers can ignore the values held by most in the industry, that women are weaker than men and should stay away from the “dangerous” sport. Butler also includes that women can actually be at an advantage with the lighter and smaller bodies, but in the horse racing business this is contradictory. Jockeys, no matter what gender that are, need to have smaller bodies, yet when women are smaller they are seen as weak and unable to carry out a good performance. Though Butler refers back to Bourdieu’s concepts. While men take for granted that they can race, women need to prove that they are strong, determined and fully capable of anything thrown at them, like Anne. She has not only handled everything thrown at her, she took it above and beyond. Butler even shows another key component to the challenges women face in this industry. There is also class inequality that shows how some women may have the physical standards but if they don’t have the cultural and economic status of people working with them they become an apprentice rather than a jockey. This is exactly what Anne went through in the beginning of her career with horse racing. Through hard work or as Anne says,” it was sheer grit and determination” she was able to become a …show more content…
I cannot think of any limitations in this study. I think Butler took everyone’s opinion during the interviews and then did a participant study and saw everything first hand by experiencing it herself. My view is that when women do something of significance and cause a needed change, they are made into jokes. People ignore the amazing accomplishments they make and focus on what they may be doing in their personal lives, watching every move they make looking for a slip up. They talk about what she may be wearing, how much makeup she has on, or how her hair may be styled. Though if a man does something just as life changing they are seen as strong and no one second guesses what may be gong on in their personal lives. Even if these men are caught doing things that are wrong or maybe just a little weird most people would defend the man and say we should pay attention to their accomplishments alone. In Butler’s interview with Anne, Anne says,” we had lots of young lads thought then they would be jockeys if a ‘girl’ can.” Doing something “like a girl” can be an amazing thing, women are strong, independent, and fully capable of doing something bigger than themselves and be just as accomplished as a
In most sports men and woman are separated when it comes to competing. When dealing with interspecies sports like horse racing, wherein both the horses and people participate, women are …show more content…
She concludes that a women’s ability to race is dependent on if owners and trainers can ignore the values held by most in the industry, that women are weaker than men and should stay away from the “dangerous” sport. Butler also includes that women can actually be at an advantage with the lighter and smaller bodies, but in the horse racing business this is contradictory. Jockeys, no matter what gender that are, need to have smaller bodies, yet when women are smaller they are seen as weak and unable to carry out a good performance. Though Butler refers back to Bourdieu’s concepts. While men take for granted that they can race, women need to prove that they are strong, determined and fully capable of anything thrown at them, like Anne. She has not only handled everything thrown at her, she took it above and beyond. Butler even shows another key component to the challenges women face in this industry. There is also class inequality that shows how some women may have the physical standards but if they don’t have the cultural and economic status of people working with them they become an apprentice rather than a jockey. This is exactly what Anne went through in the beginning of her career with horse racing. Through hard work or as Anne says,” it was sheer grit and determination” she was able to become a …show more content…
I cannot think of any limitations in this study. I think Butler took everyone’s opinion during the interviews and then did a participant study and saw everything first hand by experiencing it herself. My view is that when women do something of significance and cause a needed change, they are made into jokes. People ignore the amazing accomplishments they make and focus on what they may be doing in their personal lives, watching every move they make looking for a slip up. They talk about what she may be wearing, how much makeup she has on, or how her hair may be styled. Though if a man does something just as life changing they are seen as strong and no one second guesses what may be gong on in their personal lives. Even if these men are caught doing things that are wrong or maybe just a little weird most people would defend the man and say we should pay attention to their accomplishments alone. In Butler’s interview with Anne, Anne says,” we had lots of young lads thought then they would be jockeys if a ‘girl’ can.” Doing something “like a girl” can be an amazing thing, women are strong, independent, and fully capable of doing something bigger than themselves and be just as accomplished as a