Under-represented group within the media

Gender is the socially constructed roles of and relationships between men and women, there are conceptions of femininity and masculinity. The difference between gender and sex is that the latter is only biological. Gender focuses on the inequalities between males and females, not focused with feminism or women’s studies. Analyses often shows a disadvantaged and weaker position of women and girls in social, political, economic, legal, educational and physical issues. reason for gender discussions and interventions to focus on correcting these imbalances by specifically targeting women and girls.

In recent years, a significant shift from advocating for ‘gender equity in sport’ towards using ‘sport for gender equity and personal development’. The concept of self-esteem suggests that girls and women who participate in sport and physical activity demonstrate higher self-esteem as well as improved self-perception and self-worth. ‘Gender norms’ refers to the responsibilities and privileges assigned to men and women. Participation remains largely imbalanced when compared to participation amongst males. most researchers remain in agreement that consistent participation in sport has had major impact on achieving gender equality in certain contexts.

Evidence from developing countries indicates that some sports programmes provide women and girls with opportunities to develop leadership skills. The provision of possibilities to develop specialised skills in coaching, refereeing, training, league organisations as well as access to information on health and peer education is of great value to the participants. Exposure to competing internationally is seen to add the boost of public recognition of the skills that females can develop through sport. There is a need to involve and engage with gender issues through sport in the context of developing countries.

Major highlights in policy development in sport, gender and development:

1949: – International Association of Physical Education and Sport for Girls and Women (IAPESGW) is formed

1968: – a female athlete lights the Olympic fire for the first time at the Olympic Games in Mexico city

1975: – UN Women’s World Conference in Mexico City leads to the creation of the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)

1979: – UN General Assembly adopts the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)

1981: – Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS) is formed

two female members are elected to join the International Olympic Committee (IOC)

1984: – Women’s Sports Foundation is founded in Great Britain

1994: – the first World Conference on Women and Sport and the signing of the Brighton Declaration, signals the ‘women in sport’ movement taking on an international dimension.

1995: – The International Working Group on Women and Sport is formed and receives the status of official IOC commission

The fourth UN Women’s World Conference takes place in Beijing, signalling the shift in discourse from ‘Women in Development’ (WID) to ‘Gender and Development’ (GAD)

1996: – the promotion of females sport is added to the Olympic Charter

2004: – the third IOC World Conference on Women and Sports is held in Morocco, entitled: ‘Sport as a Vehicle for Social Change’

In many of today’s developing countries, everyday tasks to meet basic needs (food, shelter, etc.) require most time, leaving few to think of ‘luxury’ of recreational activities. In most cases, work conducted by women and girls in the home as providers of food and carers of the family is not considered as productive because it is not a directly income-generating activity, which implies the assumption that females may not require recreational or free time as much as men. In such contexts, it is important to determine the extent to which women and girls can access time and resources to participate in sport.

The sociocultural context of established gender norms must be considered when conducting sport programmes that aim to address gender norms. It may be considered a provocation for women and girls in some contexts, to be seen in public. wearing sports attire that may not cover all parts of the body. Not behaving according to established gender norms can have significant negative consequences for those who deviate from these norms. Sport and physical activity deal with the body and physical activity. The lack of appropriate facilities (e.g. changing rooms, water and sanitation facilities, etc.) and sports equipment can deter females from participating in sport activities. The risk of injury can be particularly restrictive.

Sport is often perceived to express heterosexuality and male excellence. Experience shows that in most contexts, women who would like to be successful in sport competition have to demonstrate some ‘typically male attributes (such as: ambition, self-confidence, aggressiveness and power). Females who ‘trespass’ on these socially and culturally defined boundaries, ares seen to challenge and perhaps transform well-protected gender norms. Research has shown that most girls learn ‘culturally appropriate styles of movement’ by imitating their older female counterparts. But communicating the achievements of those exceptional women to others remains a challenge.

Having designated spaces for women’s and girls sport activities can have practical benefits but also a symbolic character, especially if these areas are public. Generally, access to community ares is primarily granted to males. In some cases, should females use these community spaces, they are usually allowed to do so under the specific condition that they are accompanied by a male family member. Experience shows that by females claiming public space, the community may become slowly accustomed to seeing them sharing public space with males. Besides infrastructure, sports programmes for females have shown to require organisational structure as well. Sports programmes that assure females active membership in leading positions, equity, financial means, participation in decision-making and strategic planning are likely to be more successful in producing lasting change in the self-perception and self-confidence of female participants in such programmes.

Successful sport programmes for women and girls have shown to have paid careful attention to categories of sports, such as: sport vs. games; contact vs. low-contact vs. non-contact sports; mixed vs single-sex sports, team vs double vs single sports; etc. Careful consideration of these aspects can help to establish female sports participation and its integration into everyday life. An understanding of the community’s perception of different sport is required. have shown to be useful in promoting gender equity, an approach which does not focus heavily on mainstream sport; This can help to avoid potential issues with promoting competitive sports. Experiences show that modifying existing games, changing certain rules and focusing participation and fun rather than on competition and performance,  is more effective in achieving an inclusive approach to promoting gender equity.

 

Information found @ www.sportanddev.org

Media activity week – Reflection

Once our group were given the brief, to produce a media object based on the theme “the thing we have always wanted to make!”; we essentially had a group who’s specialised area of studies were advertising, communication and production. With the wide range of skills our group possessed,we decided that it would be a good practice to merge the qualities we had to produce a product that reflected this. Video was the first thought of production as we established through discussion that we would be able to portray our ‘message’ most thoroughly this way.
Once deciding that it was a video we wanted to produce, the focus of discussion directly turned towards making an advert. We went into deliberation over what sort of advert we would like to make. We spoke of providing material such as a billboard to support the product or message we were beginning to create. Ideas such a journal or magazine article were also discussed, as our group felt that we had a vast array of talents and skills that would be useful in contributing to the project ; Although we believed each member of the group was capable of producing each medium discussed, we decided that due to the timing constraints placed upon us we would stick to one medium, which we agreed was video.

During group discussion, within our group we discussed what the central theme to the video would be. I thought along with others that it would be a good idea if the piece we were to create was student orientated or an emotional one with a message, as those observing the final product would be students. I was relatively comfortable with the group dynamic we had established, so matters of debate were quickly put to asunder; problems or disagreements dissolved with ease. I thought that to base the piece completely on student life would be something expected and come across as a repeated cliché video, typical of student productions. As the conversation continued, members of the group would say ideas they were considering; things such as “to sell nothing”, “life’s too short”, the idea of “advertising life, as a product” and things such as “selling things people didn’t understand” or to “advertise everything”. The ideas were helpful in allowing us to progress to more interesting ones that we believed would be more exciting to produce.

After continuing to discuss ideas that we thought would make for a good video, the concept of “Without vs nothing exists”; a concept that expressed the idea that without the media nothing else can become significant. In our development of the concept I started to speak of how we would see this idea; I thought that we should have a symbolic person as the main focal point in the video, representing the media consumer. The idea continued to progress as we decided upon camera techniques and angles, we came to agreement that stop-frame would be the way to shoot our video. I felt quite confident with my technical capabilities and enjoyed the idea of being on the camera during the shooting of our video.

The planning of the video was arranged with minimal hesitance as it was essential for us to ensure that we would stick to the time limit proposed. From being able to successfully meet and decide upon a concept on day one of our challenge, through planning we were geared towards the shooting on day two of our production. The group did not consist of many members, it was crucial that we all understood how important each of our contributions was and that we recognised that everyone’s participation would be very useful if were to complete the task. We arrived on the next day for filming where we seemed to only be greeted by misfortune; it seemed like the beginning of a ‘very long day’. The first obstacle we came across was the acquiring of equipment and the irremovable fact that the loan shop had ‘ran out of tripods’; this was something that left the group feeling altogether a bit defeated. By remaining level-headed and considering options we could take to ensure we had the means to make our artefact, the group were able to agree that we’d be able to complete the filming of our video using the freehand technique.

Creating the set was probably the most enjoyable part of the challenge, we worked vigorously to complete it and tried to have fun along the way. Within the team, we were able to make use of the time we had. We worked together on computer, set and design to produce our artefact; as each member of the group felt capable of doing any task required, this allowed us to rotate roles during the project. The shooting aspect of the video was quite an incredible task to say the least. It would not be possible to re-shoot footage with the timing limitations so it was essential that the content we captured was at a good quality. By the end of the day, I felt more optimistic than I did the start. The only thing left to consider was how we would share the pizza we had ordered!

The editing phase of production was satisfying and easy; we had taken the images in the order we intended to show them in the video, uploading them on to a timeline was simple. Using my editorial judgement, we were able to compose the video and apply the chosen soundtrack. Applying the finishing touches only added to the pleasure of drawing closer to a final product. I was pleased with the feedback we received for this piece and enjoyed the experience. Working on this 72-hour challenge allowed me to realise how frantic the media industry can be; the task highlighted the significance of being adaptable and versatile, traits I feel I possess and will continue to develop upon..

The Cabinet of Curiosities

I have produced a ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ over a length of time; through going to events and the things i have collected through my day to day ongoings. The things i have collected bear a significance to defining what i am interested in and inevitably define who i am. The contents of my Cabinet are as follows:

• Cinema tickets * -  Concert tickets*  -  Bottle lids  -  Wristbands*  -  Bus/Train tickets  -  Old wallet  -  Clothing tags*  -  Badges  -  Stickers  -  Halloween pieces  -  Sculptured hand  -  Key rings  -  Oyster card  -  Glowsticks  -  Hospital band  -  Watch straps*  -  Writings/Drawings  -  Praise card  -  Headphones*  -  Perfume bottle*  -  Pens  -  Games*  -  Chopsticks*  -  Sweets/Wrappers  -  Foreign Currency  -

The items that i have placed a * beside are the ones i consider more ‘media-specific’; the collection i have come across shows quite an extensive variety, each item with a purpose and reason behind how i came to it’s ownership. The items draw upon memories of mine which i can use to remember important moments of time in my life.

The Letter to self

Letter to self

Dear Future-Kelvin,

I see it took a long time for you to get this, but hope you’ve been fine since you initially thought about writing this letter to myself, but enough of the ‘chitchat’ let’s get to what matters. The academic year proved to be rather challenging but you got through it. You should know that I am quite a confident person, I’m proud to see that nothing has changed and also happy to see you have been able to transfer that energetic spunk of yours into a consistent and progressive work ethic.

I recently took a look at your years work and was impressed with the creativity you showed in your productions, especially those that involved moving images.  Time seemed to be recurring motif for you Kelvin; although it took you ‘time’ to adjust to your schedules and deadline arrangements it was a pleasure to see how comfortably you were able to match those challenges and overcome them.  Distractions, you were one of the lucky ones able to use those to your advantage. By creatively adding a twist on the situations you encountered during your time at Coventry so far you were able to provide a unique edge to the quality of your work. So is that one year down two to go or shall we say the timeless classic ‘take every day as it comes’, either way I know you’ll be coming out of all this a man, focused on success.

Reading, I wonder how you were able to endure it, unlike myself; maybe it was the people you were around that helped you become more open minded, maybe it was your realisation that you were at University, you know and you’ll have to tell me sometime. Progress and development have also remained consistent with you, it must be those strong words mum always drilled into you, and I can already see that aspects of her positivity have rubbed off on you, let’s hope that continues.

Well Kelvin, I wouldn’t want to keep you reading this forever but hope you enjoyed that I kept it short and sweet. You haven’t got much taller but that beard of yours will need a shaving, please continue your success in the years to come as things will get harder, but it is always about how you get through such trials which measures what you have become, good luck although I know you won’t need it, from your current self or shall I say ‘past-self’.

All the best, Kelvin