ABSTRACT
As has been noted in the Prologue, gender relations have been a focus of feminist studies since the 1970s.1 It is widely accepted that gender inequality is a common feature of international contemporary social and cultural life. As also mentioned in the Prologue, some western scholars assume, based on analysis of western societies, that sport is a predominantly male preserve2 and that male domination of sports institutions at all levels, from participation to coaching to administration, is widespread. Thus, for them, ‘the female/male distinction will always be an irreducible organising principle in any symbolic system’.3
