Ellia Green backs captain’s call on sexist, homophobic language in sport
Despite many years of effort and resources, the traditionally masculine domain of sport continues to be plagued by homophobic and sexist language. While experts agree that the messaging is right, the fact that it does not seem to be getting through has led researchers to dig deeper. What they have found is that the solution may be less about tweaking the message and more about changing the messenger.
At the world’s first community rugby pride game, hosted by Melbourne Rugby Club last weekend, bystander training developed by Monash University in partnership with the Pride Cup charity was provided for team captains. The redesign is built on landmark research from Princeton University which found using peer role models to deliver education and call out harmful language is much more effective than the use of professional trainers. This training is also being launched in community Australian rules clubs in Melbourne in May.
Australian rugby sevens star Ellia Green, an ambassador for the event, was particularly impressed by this element.
“I definitely understand the importance of educating the captains about gender-related issues and diversity,” she says. “It’s all about creating a safe place for everyone.
“If we can attack it at the community level and not let it get to elite levels, I think that’s a really good way of doing it,” she said. “So many communities rely on sport as a way of gathering. I think it’s really important that these issues are highlighted in community sport, so that the word is spread around.”
Sam Larritt, captain of Melbourne Rugby Club’s Colts (under-20) team, said the training was eye-opening.
“I hadn’t thought about my role in stopping language like this,” he says. “I think the benefit of asking captains to help is that they have a relationship with the guys. It’s not some stranger coming in and telling them to stop using language and making them feel bad.
“It’s a lot easier for me to have a conversation with everyone about the kind of environment we want. I’m also with the guys a lot and so I can remind them of the language we decided is acceptable as a group.”
While pride games have become common in professional sport, Australia is unique in holding these events in community settings, where it is widely acknowledged that most harm is occurring. British sports are also beginning to adopt this method, with the first community pride game in Britain to be held in June.
Homophobic and sexist language are often viewed as distinct problems, yet are typically used together by men and boys as part of bullying to establish dominance over others who do not conform to gender norms, regardless of sexuality.
“It’s linked to a dominant masculine culture where there’s a belief in a particular form of masculinity that’s superior and better than other forms of masculinity and all forms of femininity,” says Monash professor Richard Pringle, the principal investigator on this research. “So in that sense it’s a discrimination caused by the privileging of masculinity.”
Prior studies have found a rigid belief in traditional gender norms is a major contributor to gender-based violence and suicide, and Pringle and his colleagues say programs which break down stereotypes and introduce a wide variety of gender expressions can play a key role in decreasing such devastating harm.
“It’s extremely important,” says Green. “Something that I spoke about on the day was that rugby needs to be seen as a sport for everybody, no matter what gender, race or cultural background you come from.”
Although this research and involvement in the pride game gave Green a greater understanding of the links between language and behaviour, she is well aware of the harm that homophobic and sexist language can cause in sport. The 2016 Olympic gold medallist’s passion for diversity and inclusion in sport has ensured that she has been across these issues throughout her career.
“I think people need to show more empathy and put themselves in other people’s shoes,” she says. “How would they like to be referred to if they’re on the other side of things? It might seem like a joke to some, but I think people need to put themselves on the other side of the story to see if it would offend them.”
Rugby Australia’s general manager of community rugby, James Selby agrees, believing events and programs like this are critical to the future of the sport.
“If you are true to what you’re talking about in terms of rugby values – discipline, respect, integrity, passion and teamwork – this is just a manifestation of what that looks like,” he says. “We have a huge responsibility as rugby organisations to benefit the communities we participate in – and those communities are diverse.”
I hadn’t thought about my role in stopping language like this
Sam Larritt