Successful excavation for gender issues in snowboarding

Greta Bladh
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Mid Sweden University

In her book Women in Snowboarding, Mari Kristin Sisjord excavates the organisation of snowboarding in terms of its history, the facilities, the competitions, coaching, injuries, and training, all through the perspective of gender. Although its heritage of alterity, snowboarding shares one of the most historical common traits within the world of sports, that is, the dominance of men and the privileging of masculinity. This topic introduces the book as such, and thus frames the need for taking a gendered perspective, which is further argued for as research within this area is still seen as scarce, according to the author.

This is the impetus for Sisjord to analyse the position of women within snowboarding, aided by an “understanding of gender as a social construct, embedded in power relations that impact the individual’s social life and participation in various different fields” (pp. 3–4). In other words, what Sisjord has set out to do is to put on display the gendered power relations that both enables and disables agency, on an individual as well as an institutional level. This demasking of power relations is exemplified by references to previous research, by Sisjord herself as well as others, complemented by empirical data retrieved specifically for this publication. The material is then presented within differently themed chapters, such as the history of the sport, structure and gender inequality within organisations, disciplines, facilities, and injuries, training and coaching, female athletes in different contexts, and female elite athletes.

However, although more girls and women tend to hit the slopes and snowboard parks as time passes by, governing bodies and coaching positions are still much of a male privilege.

The two chapters concerning the history of snowboarding and its structure is, as mentioned, in congruence with the overall literature on organised sports, by means of being historically male dominated in terms of the presentation of athletes. However, although more girls and women tend to hit the slopes and snowboard parks as time passes by, governing bodies and coaching positions are still much of a male privilege. By referencing to Rosabeth Moss Kanter (1977), Sisjord highlights the ways in which numeric representation is much more than a numbers game, in that it in effect has implications on how access to opportunities and power impact the behaviours and interactions of the organisation’s members (p. 22). As an interesting input, these results are put in relation to the fact that snowboarding emerged from a counterculture and anti-establishment philosophy, which opposes traditional power structures, and that this might make for a sport more open to gender diversity than other more conventional organisations.

With the result of male dominance in hand, this in turn amplifies the rigidity of gendered power structures and that gender inequality must be countered with more than mere numeric representation, especially the very perceptions of femininity and masculinity, as the “assumptions of men’s superiority in these sports will naturally lead to men’s dominance in the organisation, as well as prevailing perceptions of women as being less qualified” (p. 24). This becomes even more evident in chapter 4 regarding disciplines, facilities, and injuries, as even the structured environment, that is, the snowboard parks, are constructed according to a male bodied norm, resulting in a higher risk of injury for female athletes, as well as by generally carrying less bodyweight, constricted from doing tricks which are on par with the heavier male counterparts.

Most of the strengths of Sisjord’s book is mentioned above, in that she really does what she has set out to do, that is, putting forth a gendered perspective on snowboarding, and thus illuminating how gendered power relations indeed both enables and disables agency in terms of actual corporeal performance, as well as within organisational power. However, I have some instances of hesitancy in terms of critical praise, when putting aside the content as such, and instead focusing on its delivery. While perhaps being an effect of writing for a broader audience, including the academic community as well as people merely interested in snowboarding or gender issues within sports, I cannot help but noticing the introduction of some theoretical terms that often lacks both explanation and a reference. As an example, the perspective of gender being a social construct, which is mentioned in one of the first pages of the book, is left without any sort of explanation of its meaning until several pages later, and in addition an explanation probably only understandable for those already theoretically informed; and this again without any reference. By now, gender studies have been an academic discipline for upwards three decades, so surely, finding a text and author to reference should be quite feasible. Of course, one could argue that the book as such is an explanation of the social construct of gender; nonetheless, this does not take away the need for explicit references.

In conclusion, as a book accommodating anyone interested in snowboarding and gender issues, and albeit a smallish tome of 89 pages, it still accomplishes what it set out to do, at least for the general public.

Copyright © Greta Bladh 2024