Macro-level Gender Equality and Gender Differences in Book Reading and Sport Spectatorship

• In Event: 035 - Section on Sex and Gender Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 13. Leisure Groups and Gender

Abstract

Macro-level gender equality and gender differences in book reading and sport spectatorship: A feminine and a masculine practice in the European context -
Cultural participation research indicates that gender is actively produced or ‘done’ through leisure activities such as book reading and sport spectatorship, which are respectively a feminine and a masculine cultural practice associated with feminine and masculine attributes. We argue that gender gaps may be more pronounced in some contexts than others, depending on the (un)equal position women and men have in the society in which one does one’s gender. Thus, rather than only looking at attributes of the individual, we contribute to the existing research by incorporating characteristics of the context in order to understand gender inequalities in cultural consumption. Using multilevel analyses on Eurobarometer 67.1 data (2007) and the Gender Equality Index as macro-level indicator, we relate the structural position of women in European societies to gender gaps in book reading and sport spectatorship. Our results indicate that European women are more likely to read books but less likely to attend sport events. For both practices, women are more likely to participate in countries with high levels of macro-level equality, meaning that in gender equal contexts gender gaps in sport spectatorship are smaller, but gender differences in book reading are larger. Thus, we find that -even when women and men have more equal positions in society- they do not necessarily participate more equally, which goes against intuitive assumptions about macro-level gender equality.

Authors

• Susan Lagaert, Ghent University

• Henk Roose, Ghent University