Indo-Canadina woman

Essay by danman38University, Bachelor'sA+, March 2003

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1) In their article, Racism in Motion: Sport, Physical Activity and the Indo-Canadian Female, authors Patricia Vertinsky, Indy Batth, and Mita Naidu, strive to understand the struggles faced by Indian women in Canada in the field of sports participation. However, little research has been focused in this area. Few Indo-Canadian women participate in physical activities, thus insufficient material existed to formulate a study. The authors then formulated their second, and more important, objective: In addition to being treated unfairly because of their gender, Indo-Canadian women are discriminated against in physical activities due to their ethnic identity, appearance and traditional values. As a result of these problems, few participate in the sport activities provided for them by schools and communities.

2)The authors have organized their reasoning into two major categories. Reasons why these females don't participate stemming from stereotypical beliefs of other cultures, and reasons they don't participate stemming from imbedded cultural beliefs and values of their own.

I will discuss them in such an order.

A common portrayal of Indian women is the fact that they are both fragile and inactive, and as a result have no formal interest in sports. Due to this stereotypical typecast, women of Indian descent are often associated together in a homogenous group of frailty and teachers and sport organizers alike seem to consistantly overlook these girls when organizing their activities. They rely on the belief that these girls have no desire to participate, or are not permitted to do so as a direct result of a domineering male figure in their homes.

A second reason given by the authors for the absence of Indo-Canadian females from the sports scene is the result of the girl's own traditional values. Modesty is firmly stressed in the Indian culture as well as in Indo-Canadian families. If they...