“It’s not banter, it’s called sexual harassment!” Symbolic violence and gender relations in UK horseracing

Following equalities legislation in the 1970s, many young women have undertaken employment as stable ‘lads’ at horseracing yards. Similar to their male colleagues, many do so in the hope of becoming professional jockeys. The truth is this is unlikely to happen. Latest statistics show that women make up over half the workforce in racing yards; however, women only take 9% of rides in competitive races (Wilson, 2018; Grissell, 2021). Previous work in this area has outlined how the cultures and practices within racing on a day to day basis are damaging to the aspirations of female riders (Butler, 2014). This thesis employs the social theories of Pierre Bourdieu to explain how the intricacies of day-to-day life in racing affect the aspirations and opportunities of women. Consideration is given to Bourdieu’s (1986, 2003, 2017) work around forms of capital, habitus, and field, and, in particular, symbolic violence. It is argued that the engrained culture in racing is one that is symbolically violent towards women, and therefore hinders their opportunities within the industry. Research was carried out through a multidimensional approach. Firstly, a media analysis was conducted analysing the way in which female jockeys are portrayed in The Racing Post, the most popular horseracing newspaper in the United Kingdom. Secondly, semi-structured interviews were conducted with various people operating within the racing industry. From the data collected, key themes emerged that explain the systematic symbolic violence towards women in the racing industry, before conclusions are drawn on proposals to combat this violence in order to bridge the gender gap in competitive UK horseracing.

Grantor dc:publisher

Oxford Brookes University

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• Pill, Thomas

Contributors dc:contributor

• Whigham, Stuart
• Jakeman, John

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved

Language dc:language

en

DOI dc:identifier

https://doi.org/10.24384/vkc7-q134

OAI identifier oai:identifier

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