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This article was downloaded by: [79.176.112.67] On: 10 July 2014, At: 13:35 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK The International Journal of the History of Sport Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/fhsp20 Losing is Not an Option! Women's Basketball in Israel and its Struggle for Equality (1985–2002) Yair Galilya & Moran Betzer-Tayarbc a The Interdisciplinary Centre, Herzliya, Israel b Ruppin Academic Center, Israel c Wingate Institute, Netanya, Israel Published online: 08 Jul 2014. To cite this article: Yair Galily & Moran Betzer-Tayar (2014): Losing is Not an Option! Women's Basketball in Israel and its Struggle for Equality (1985–2002), The International Journal of the History of Sport, DOI: 10.1080/09523367.2014.933508 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09523367.2014.933508 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms- and-conditions Downloaded by [79.176.112.67] at 13:35 10 July 2014 The International Journal of the History of Sport, 2014 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09523367.2014.933508 Losing is Not an Option! Women’s Basketball in Israel and its Struggle for Equality (1985–2002) Yair Galilya* and Moran Betzer-Tayarb,c aThe Interdisciplinary Centre, Herzliya, Israel; bRuppin Academic Center, Israel; cWingate Institute, Netanya, Israel The current paper sheds light on a process that has changed Israeli sport between the years 1981 and 2002. The paper traces, conceptually and historically, the multiphase nature and struggle for equality of the Israeli women’s basketball team. Through examining interrelated processes, this paper illustrates that although women have gained some ground as far as visibility and awareness is concerned, it is far too early for a ‘victory lap’. The rapid increase in women’s participation in sports in Israel over the last decades expresses the change in the status of women in sports itself and in many other social areas, but in parallel also exposes staunch thought patterns in regard to women’s and men’s involvement in sports. Keywords: Israel; sport; women’s basketball; gender; equality Introduction The aim of the current paper is to shed light on a significant process that has changed Israeli sport between the years 1981 and 2002. The paper will trace, conceptually and historically, the multiphase nature and struggle for equality of the Israeli women’s basketball team. Throughout this paper, a developmental approach, one that Elias and Dunning1 describe as ‘indispensable for advances in the study of human society’, has been used to describe the process, in which women basketball was developed and flourished in the state of Israel. Elias further explains that, ‘every variety of sport ... has a relative autonomy in relation not only to the individuals who play at a given time, but also to the Downloaded by [79.176.112.67] at 13:35 10 July 2014 society where it developed’.2 Elias, in discussing the approach taken by himself and his collaborator Dunning, has suggested that: Sociological enquiries into sport have the task of bringing to light aspects of sport which were not known before or which, if known, were known only vaguely. In such cases, the task is to give knowledge greater certainty. We were very conscious that knowledge about sport was knowledge about society. And as Dunning3 puts it: Sport is something people tend to take for granted. They may like it or dislike it but they do not usually question it or see it as posing problems, which require an explanation. In particular, they rarely ask questions concerning its development or its role in society as a whole ... It [Sociology of sport] seeks to understand the part played by sports in society and to unravel the complex social forces which have helped to shape and which are currently leading to transformations in their character. *Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] q 2014 Taylor & Francis 2 Y. Galily and M. Betzer-Tayar Thus, in seeking to comprehend such a process and to accomplish the task of better understanding women’s basketball in Israel, one has to be aware of one process, state formation, which Israel as a very young state is undergoing. The state of Israel is home to a widely diverse population from many different ethnic, religious, cultural and social backgrounds – a new society with ancient roots, it is still coalescing and developing today.4 At the same time, however, other processes were also intertwined with Israel’s process of state formation: the processes of secularisation, population growth, urbanisation and militarisation and, most germane for present purposes, the development of sport. We would argue throughout this paper that these processes are not isolated but rather interdependent processes and, therefore, of importance when discussing the development of sport equity and equality. Theoretical Framework: Sport, Feminism and Equality In order to discuss the matter in hand further, a baseline definition of what we understand as feminism is required: feminism, as perceived in this study, is an approach which recognises the existence of gender inequity in society, recognises also that this situation is not fair/appropriate/ethical and, therefore, also recognises a moral imperative to strive to rectify this. In that sense, in earlier literature, discussion of gender emancipation tended to focus primarily on equality between male and female athletes, in other words ‘women having the same opportunities as men to do things’.5 This approach reflected liberal feminists’ understanding of goals for gender emancipation. The aspiration of (liberal) feminists that women be ‘equal’ to men had led, on the one hand, to progressive legislation, 6 and to the promotion of women in specific countries to high-level positions, for example, within the IOC, or in a Canadian interuniversity sport organisation.7 However, on the other hand, these ‘success stories’ were relatively isolated, and many women still struggle to have access to middle and upper managerial positions, and may face more barriers to employment than their male counterparts.8 This concern with equality assumes girls and women are essentially the same as boys and men and thus should be provided with the same opportunities and treated in the same way.9 Feminist researchers and feminist advocacy organisations in sport, such as the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS), have challenged the equality approach to gender, since the underlying Downloaded by [79.176.112.67] at 13:35 10 July 2014 assumption is that women are expected to assimilate the dominant masculine norms in sport.10 In response, other understandings based on gender ‘equity’ have been developed and espoused. For example, CAAWS adopts a definition of gender equity based on Kent and Robertson.11 The principle and practice of fair allocation of resources, programs and decision-making to both women and men, and includes the redressing of identified imbalances in the benefits available. On the whole, sport organisations consistently demonstrate that they are far from being equitable. One reason noted by Hovden12 might be that the tightly protected white male networking circles exclude women from high-ranking roles. Furthermore, Hoeber and Frisby13 indicate that competing values in sport organisations have led to the marginalisation of gender equity as an organisational priority. Acker14 suggests that there is a disjuncture between the development of gender equity policies and programmes and how gender relations or socially constructed ideas of what it is to be a man or a woman are actually expressed and played out. The International Journal of the History of Sport 3 Gender equity has been conventionally conceived as a women’s-only issue. It follows that if gender equity is a women’s issue, then it is the women’s responsibility to address it, rather than the responsibility of all members of an organization.15 This approach also ignores the inequities that men who are visible minorities (e.g. gay or disabled men) face in the workplace. Some researchers have suggested, therefore, that in order for gender equity to be more meaningfully supported, there must be a shift in its conceptualisation. Aitchison16 argues that post-structural feminist theory challenges ‘binary divides and dualistic thinking’, such as viewing gender as a women’s issue, which dominates much of social theory and particularly liberal feminism. Rao, Stuart and Kelleher17 argue that gender equity should be the product of deconstructing the socio-historical gendered discourse, and that post-structural feminist theory provides an appropriate lens through which to identify the substantial changes required.

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