Gender equality in the Olympic Movement: not a simple question, not a simple answer

Abstract

This article explores the strategies followed by the International Olympic Committee for the achievement of gender equality. It is argued that this international body can go beyond simply adopting an equality of opportunities approach to gender equality. It suggests which other strategies can be incorporated for which it draws on the different ways of understanding gender equality in gender political theory.

Keywords:

• Gender equality
• equality of opportunities
• politics of difference
• gender theory

Acknowledgment

I am thankful to the two anonymous reviewers who made important comments to this paper, I am especially thankful to Paul Gaffney for his support and commitment. I wish to thank Karlos Castilla, Alberto Carrió, and Carla Maenza for discussing these topics with me and, finally, Gloria Koenigsberger for her help while writing this paper.

Notes

1. All the data presented in this section was obtained in the website of the Women in Sports Commission. Available at: https://www.olympic.org/women-in-sport.

2. See, for instance, ‘Rio Olympics 2016: Mexican gymnast Alexa Moreno cruelly subjected to vile body-shaming taunts on Twitter’ in The Sun, 10th August 2016. Available at: https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/rio-2016/1586912/rio-olympics-2016-mexican-gymnast-alexa-moreno-cruelly-subjected-to-vile-body-shaming-taunts-on-twitter/.