Fifteenth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

Sport, like any social institution, plays a key role in shaping society. One of the ways we see this is through the language used in and around sporting contexts. Applying the concept of Big ‘D’, little ‘d’ discourses (Gee, 2015), this project examines how wider social Discourses related to gender and sexuality are reproduced in everyday talk within a sports organisation. Sports organisations are increasingly expected to adopt a wider social role as it is believed they foster social inclusion and strengthen social cohesion in local communities (Raw et al., 2022). By analysing language use within this setting, we gain a deeper understanding of how, and potentially why, Discourses of transphobia, homophobia, and sexism are still prevalent within sporting contexts. Working with a regional sports organisation in New Zealand over a period of three months, analysis draws on a dataset comprised of ethnographic fieldnotes, workplace documents, and ca. 25 hours of audio-visual recordings of naturally occurring workplace interactions (e.g. office small talk and team meetings) and follow-up interviews. Initial findings indicate that while various policies and guidelines are designed to foster inclusion within their workplace, at a micro level there are recurring discourses of exclusion on the basis of gender, age, and status, each indexing and reinforcing wider societal discourses of discrimination. Despite talking the talk, this particular organisation is taking a few stumbles when trying to walk the walk.