ABSTRACT
Growing attention has been focused on sport and gender identities in the 1980s and 1990s. Because of its physical nature, sport can reveal much about cultural assumptions surrounding what have been considered appropriate roles for the sexes. The emphasis in so many sports on physical strength has helped to butress beliefs that physical differences justify distinct spheres of social activity for men and women. The far greater number of men who play and watch sport, often dependent on the cooperation or exploitation of women, reflects the greater social power of men in deciding how time and money should be spent.
