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The advent of the second wave of the feminist movement in the second half of the 20th century indicated enormous changes in the social order and intellectual discourse of the Western world. The issue of gender inequality in sport has suddenly gained a lot of relevance and importance as a subject of sociological analysis.

Research in this field has been substantially pushed forward by the publication of Michel Foucault’s Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison which identified the notion of normalizing power and demonstrated the involvement of social institutions in the construction of gender roles and cultural norms. By adopting this perspective, sociologists have started to recognize patriarchal structures that prevailed in male-dominated sports associations which over the years have been extensively contributing to the marginalisation of women in athletics.

Feminist scholarships proved to be especially consistent and efficient in identifying instances of power abuse and gender discrimination in sport. The conducted studies have shown that predominantly masculine imagery of sports in marketing and education alongside with a high negative discrepancy of women’s sports in global media coverage (with only 6-8% of all sports news being devoted to women ) have been playing a significant role in the propagation of asymmetrical ideologies of gender that legitimise the perceived natural superiority of men.

With established theoretical framework, sociologists have continued to analyse power structures that reinforce oppressive gender stereotypes. Mackinnon (1987) argued that culture, by the means of normalizing processes, has evolved to perceive masculine identity to be a personification of strength, resilience, speed, physical dominance, aggression, competitiveness, and confrontational spirit, while feminine identity to be a representation of weakness, passiveness, sensitivity, and grace. Further research provides evidence that adopting these characteristics and conforming to traditional gender roles might have a ripple effect on individual sporting experiences of both women and men. EIGE’s Gender Equality Index clearly shows that women who comply with the conventional paradigm of femininity that expects them to devote more time to caring activities, often find themselves participating less in other social activities such as sports and leisure.

When compared to business, sociology offers radically different way of looking at power arrangements in sport. It provides a more critical stance towards culture and social institutions which, as it is argued, fortify oppressive behaviours and undermine women’s capability to make choices about their lives.