Designing Diana: Female Sports Entrepreneurs and Equestrian Innovation

Abstract

Throughout the late nineteenth century, many women turned their talents to improving horse sports as authors, equipment inventors, clothing designers, and trainers. Although these were male-dominated domains, many women quickly realized that there was a demand for their expertise and innovation as men did not ride side-saddle nor understand it. Thus, women became writers of sporting manuals (non-fiction) and sporting novels (fiction), which aided other women in improving and understanding riding and hunting. They also made significant innovations in equipment construction, such as saddles and stirrups, and clothing design, in fashioning specialized sporting garments. Finally, they also became riding instructors, training other women to ride and hunt well. Though some women forged ahead for their own benefit, seeking profit out of writing or teaching, there were also many other women who pursued new ideas to improve horse sports as a whole and encourage greater, safer, and better participation for other women. In these ways, female equestrians consciously acted as sporting entrepreneurs and are significant but underappreciated agents of change not only for equestrianism but for larger social, sartorial, and sporting transformations.     

The role of the referee in physical education lessons: student experience and motivation

Introduction: Social roles in physical education (PE) classes have been much studied, especially mentoring and coaching roles. The studies have shown that mentoring and coaching are beneficial not only for motor learning, but also for methodological and social learning. To our knowledge, the role of the student referee in PE lessons has never been specifically studied. Yet refereeing is essential in many sports, including team sports, and provides an experience of responsibility that many teachers want to offer their students. Encouraging students to take on this role can nevertheless be difficult.

Objective: The objective of the present study was to gain access to students’ lived experiences as referees in order to determine their strategies for being effective. We particularly wanted to determine which concerns organized their activity so that we could identify a refereeing typology that would be useful for PE teaching. Our study is original in that we did not rely exclusively on experiential data to understand student refereeing activity. We also collected data on the students’ motivation in order to better understand their experiences. For this purpose, the study was conducted within the methodological framework of course-of-action theory and self-determination theory.

Method: Seventy-four students from three classes in the third year of middle school (about 13 years old) participated in the study. Among them, four (two girls and two boys and not experts in the sports in which they were going to referee) had volunteered to be filmed and to participate in self-confrontation interviews. The other students completed two questionnaires to provide information on their motivation for refereeing. The situations studied were basketball and handball matches held at the end of the lessons.

Two categories of data were collected: qualitative and quantitative. The qualitative data were based on audiovisual recordings of the students as they refereed matches and verbalization data from self-confrontation interviews; these data were used to document the students’ courses of experience during the activity period under study. The quantitative data were collected using two questionnaires, one to assess the determinants of motivation and the other to assess self-determined motivation.

Results and discussion: The qualitative analysis highlighted three typical student involvements: fulfilling the role of referee, getting help, and occasionally dropping out of the role. The quantitative analysis revealed that the students in the social role of referee mainly expressed amotivation, external regulation, and intrinsic motivation toward knowledge and accomplishment.

The results are discussed around two major points: (1) the students’ strategies of alternation from which their refereeing activity emerged and (2) proposals for PE teacher interventions.     

Strength Peddlers: Eddie O’Callaghan and the selling of Irish strength

Building on Geraldine Biddle-Perry's 2014 discussion of Gamage's department store, and seeking to address the still existent historical dearth on sporting retail, the following article highlights the case of Eddie O’Callaghan, an Irish bicycle and physical culture retailer operating in fin de siècle Ireland. Focused exclusively on O’Callaghan's trade in ‘Sandow Developers’, an elastic workout device sold by famed physical culturist Eugen Sandow, the article examines three distinct marketing approaches taken by O’Callaghan's company from 1898 to roughly 1906. To do so, the article begins with a brief discussion of cycling and physical culture in Ireland, so as to provide a background to O’Callaghan's situation. Following this, the article explores three distinct marketing approaches taken by O’Callaghan and his associates at the dawn of the twentieth-century. The article concludes by exploring the possible reasons for O’Callaghan's retreat from physical culture commerce by 1906. In doing so, it is argued that O’Callaghan and his affiliates called upon ideas of gender, strength and health in their bid to attract Irish consumers. The article thus sheds light on the then nascent physical culture market alongside larger questions of gender and sporting retail in the Irish sphere.     

Youth enterprise: the role of gender and life stage in motivations,aspirations and measures of success

‘Enterprise’ has increasingly become part of the United Kingdom’s political grammar and efforts to develop entrepreneurial traits and activities in young people have been a key strand of this policy focus. As the 2008 economic recession saw a curtailed youth labour market, enterprise emerged as an appealing policy ‘solution’ to youth unemployment. Traditional measures of enterprise chart the numbers of new businesses and their survival rates. This article argues these measures tell us little about new business owners: who they are, their motivations, experiences or, own definitions of success. Further, and crucially, such measures ignore the structural constraints surrounding enterprise and the range of social factors that may determine the extent of ambition, and willingness or capacity to take risks. This article argues that although gender and life stage were contributing factors, the young people’s structurally disadvantaged positions emerge as the most significant feature of why the move into self-employment did not tend to increase their economic stability as promised. This provides an important insight into the real-life experiences of young people who are engaging in enterprise activities in the contemporary economic context, as well as the role of third sector organisations in overseeing the transition from education to work.     

MenCare+ in South Africa: findings from a gender transformative young men’s group education on sexual and reproductive health and rights

This paper details findings from an evaluation of a gender-transformative sexual and reproductive health and rights group education programme facilitated with young men aged 15–24 years in South Africa. A total of 475 young men participated in the group education programme. A self-administered pre- and post-questionnaire survey was conducted with a sample of the participants, and focus group discussions were facilitated. A total of 265 young men completed both the pre and post-questionnaires. Findings from the surveys as well as the focus group discussions showed positive changes in gender equitable attitudes, contraception and condom use. Results indicate that the young men who participated in the group education learned to identify harmful gender norms and actively questioned these constructs both within their personal lives and in the broader community. The intervention enabled some participants to envision alternative versions of masculinity and femininity, thus enabling them to adopt a new way of being, with transformed attitudes concerning household and gender roles.     

基于性别视角的社交媒体用户造谣传谣和举报谣言行为研究

研究男性与女性用户在社交媒体中造谣（传谣）和举报谣言行为上的差异性,有助于制定针对性的谣言消解措施。以新浪微博中已被证实为谣言的微博内容为数据源。采用列联卡方检验（Chi-squared test）检验了男性和女性用户在造谣（传谣）和举报谣言行为上的差异,同时通过隐含狄利克雷分布（Latent Dirichlet Allocation）对男女用户生成和举报的谣言内容进行了主题分类。结合列联卡方检验结果和主题分类结果,对社交媒体男女用户在造谣传谣和举报谣言行为上的差异进行了讨论。主要研究发现如下：造谣（传谣）行为方面,女性用户中造谣（传谣）的比率显著高于男性用户;举报谣言行为方面,男性用户中举报谣言的比率显著高于女性用户（x²=169.426,P<0.001）。两性用户均关注国际关系话题,但也存在差异性：男性用户造谣传谣的内容重点聚焦于国际关系方面,而女性造谣传谣的内容还体现在社会安全、食药安全和突发事件方面。在研究结果基础上,为社交媒体运营商提出了谣言消解措施。     

民族地区旅游业对当地女性性别观念的影响——以丽江古城为例

发展民族地区旅游业,不仅为当地女性提供了很多就业机会,增加了经济收入,也使她们的性别观念发生了显著变化。她们对自己能力的认可度明显提高,性别角色观念上传统思想与现代意识并存,自立意识在总体上有所加强。     

政策是发展职业教育的根本动力与保证

学报学报,学术报道,理应主要刊发各科学术研究的成果;但因学报的服务对象主要是高等院校的广大教师,因此探讨教育教学工作经验、体会的文章,也不能不适当刊发若干。但是,近年此类经验体会之类的来稿实在太多,而本刊版面又有限制,故编辑部作出以下决定:一、此类稿件的采用率严格控制在二十分之一以下;二、此类稿件不再附加"摘要"、"关键词"、"作者简介"等等内容。恳切希望广大作者和读者理解并配合我们的工作。     

男女交际中语用失误的认知语用阐释

男女在语言使用中存在一定差异。文章认为最容易导致语用失误的男女语言使用差异主要包括：词汇使用差异、表达方式差异、语用策略差异等等。文章进一步结合关联理论,对日常生活中男女交际失败的现象进行阐释,认为男女交际中语用失误的主要原因在于：（1）男女双方认知语境存在一定的差异;（2）男女交谈中没有照顾到交际对象的需要,使用了不恰当的语用策略。在此基础上提出了两点促进男女交际的相关建议。     

高校信息化建设中的CIO角色研究及启示

在高校信息化建设中,如何统一战略规划,实现资源共建共享,建立与完善部门协调工作机制,并进一步推动高校管理体制的数字化、高效能重组,不仅已成为越来越多大学领导者的共识,而且成为大学改革深化发展的一种新趋势.本文对CIO体制的历史演变和CIO角色、职责、能力特征进行了较为深入的考察,并提出对我国高校信息化建设的启示.