(2018) a Study Investigating the Landscape of Sport, Health and ﬁtness and Its Impact on Society

Yianni, Chris (2018) A study investigating the landscape of sport, health and ﬁtness and its impact on society. Doctoral thesis (PhD), Manchester Metropolitan University. Downloaded from: https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/620807/ Usage rights: Creative Commons: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Deriva- tive Works 4.0 Please cite the published version https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk A Study Investigating the Landscape of Sport, Health and Fitness and its Impact on Society Chris Yianni A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Manchester Metropolitan University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Manchester Metropolitan University Faculty of Health, Psychology and Social Care Department of Social Care and Social Work 2018 ii Abstract This thesis offers an insight into the societal impact of the landscape of sport, health and fitness with an especial emphasis on running. It both highlights and assesses the nature of this impact and in doing so evaluates how the health and welfare discourse of contemporary western society affects, and is affected by, the landscape of sport, health and fitness. The concept of ‘identity’ and its importance for individuals and groups is highlighted in order to show how the shaping of identity is influenced for many by their relationship with sports, health and fitness. Particular emphasis is given to race and gender and through documentary and discourse analysis, in order to highlight ways in which the sport, health and fitness milieu can be both a vehicle for individual and societal progress and can also be used to reinforce existing power relations. A series of short interviews with runners was used as a springboard into further research which included analysis of Olympic legacy documents and glossy health and fitness magazines to ascertain the nature of health messages therein. In addition, the representation of women in the sport, health and fitness milieu via mobile phone sports news applications (apps) was analysed which found an imbalance in reporting that rendered women, if not invisible, certainly second to men in terms of perceived importance. This thesis draws from a range of theorists covering subjects that have been discussed throughout the development of classical and contemporary social theory. My position as a runner and cyclist is referred to within this thesis along with elements of my identity that influence my research and subsequent findings. Although this thesis is not presented as ethnographic research there are certainly elements of an ethnographic approach included. The civilizing process, gender transgression, nudge theory, self-regulation and self-help are areas of interest highlighted in this thesis to show how this seemingly disparate group of phenomena can be linked to the main area of research. In so doing the thesis considers a wide field but brings together themes that have not been previously considered in unison. The landscape of sport, health and fitness matters because it does have an impact on society and it can be a major contributor to both individual and societal change or the maintenance of the status quo. This thesis, by considering the nature of such an impact by linking sport, health, fitness, identity and discourse, adds to our knowledge by creating a tour of the landscape not previously presented. iii iv Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisory team of Ken McLaughlin and Martin King for their guidance and for challenging me to justify my work. Thanks also to Chris Wibberley and Claire Worley for supervision and guidance earlier in the process. Thank you to Gemma Yarwood, who offered a defining moment of clarity over coffee. A huge thank you goes to Debbie Thackray, Helen Ogilvie and Lucy Mort; the Pomodoro sessions offered an oasis of calm. Colleagues and friends have inspired me throughout the process with their interesting and insightful conversation and I would like to particularly thank Clive McGoun and Kieran Conlan. Thank you to Bill Campbell for invaluable advice and guidance pre-viva. Thanks to all the runners and cyclists I have enjoyed training and competing with and particularly those who offered their time in the interviews. Finally, I would like to thank Jane, Faith, Eve and May; a constant reminder of what is most important to me. v vi Contents Introduction: Sport, Health and Fitness and its Impact on Society: A Personal Reflection 1 Rationale 3 What did I do? What are my aims? 4 Chapter summaries 6 Chapter one: The Loneliness of the Philanthropic Runner 11 Preliminary research 17 Charity 23 The London Marathon 25 Charity for welfare 29 Conclusion 32 Chapter two: Methodology 34 Qualitative research 35 What did I do? 36 The interviews 37 Who should I interview? 39 What was the purpose? 40 Literature review 41 Ethnography in the literature review 43 Reflexivity in research 45 Bias in research 49 New research 51 Why research printed text? 53 The growing influence of online media 56 Research groups 57 Ethical considerations 59 vii Theoretical standpoints influencing methodology and learning 61 Structuralism and poststructuralism 61 What is social change? 67 What is representation? 74 What is society? 77 Conclusion 79 Chapter three: Sport and the Civilizing Process 81 The civilizing process and sporting instinct 81 Sport for social change 84 Social capital 90 Sports star as celebrity and role model 92 Exercise or sport: the growth of individualism 99 The quest for recognition and a critique of tolerance 101 What do sport and sports stars represent? 105 An obligation to health 108 Conclusion 117 Chapter four: Identity 119 The language of running 135 Community 142 Belonging 148 Tick the appropriate box 152 Conclusion 156 Chapter five: Sport, Fitness and Health in Print 158 Governmental documents 160 Health and fitness magazines 165 Discussion 180 viii Discourse 189 Commercialisation 194 Conclusion 196 Chapter six: Self-Help and Well Being: or is it Self-Regulation? 198 Health promotion 206 Back to self-help: or is it therapy? 212 Interdependence 214 Self-control 218 Regulation and Foucault 220 Social norms 223 Regulating the body beautiful 225 Conclusion 227 Chapter seven: Gender Transgression: The Changing Place of Women in Sport 229 Imagery 232 The reason for this research 237 Data collection – week one 238 Data collection – week two 241 Findings – the numbers 245 Findings – the language 247 Gender transgression 250 Performing gender 255 Is the sports world still a man’s world? 258 Conclusion 260 Chapter eight: Conclusion 261 Overall summary of research 263 Limitations of the study 267 ix Suggestions for further research 268 References 270 Appendices 296 x Introduction Sport, Health and Fitness and its Impact on Society: A Personal Reflection As a teenager I joined the burgeoning distance running craze that appeared to be gripping the country in the early 1980s with many people taking to the streets to train for what proved to be popular marathon events. I took part in two major marathon events in the North-West of England and they included several thousand runners tackling the courses in Manchester and Bolton. I was relatively fit as I worked in a manual job, played in a local basketball league, and regularly played football. This meant that I did not have to train with a great deal of commitment and indeed I did not actually enjoy the long training sessions that included many miles of running in preparation for the races. As time progressed the running all but stopped and my fitness levels waned. A defining moment for me came after carrying my three year-old daughter up the stairs; I was puffing and wheezing for breath. As a non-smoker I was concerned by this, especially as I still regularly played football, and concluded something had to be done in order to improve my fitness and health. Although I considered myself a generally healthy person, I felt my fitness levels had an impact on my health outlook. Soon after this, I was presented with the challenge of once again running the Manchester Marathon in the millennium year. I took up this challenge and threw myself into the training. This time around, something was different. I was a “responsible” adult with pressures of life that were different to those of the teenager that almost twenty years previously had taken part in marathons. Rather than being a chore, my training runs became something to enjoy. They gave me time away from the 1 daily pressures of a father / husband / social worker and in doing so offered me mental as well as physical benefits. Novelist Haruki Murakami states “Running is a sort of vague theme to begin with” (2009 :vii) however, in a conversation with my PhD supervisor in which I was outlining the various subjects that I was researching he made the comment that “there is more to running than meets the eye”. My research was touching on issues of personal and collective identity, battling oppression and the delivery of welfare in society. Therefore when we see someone “pounding the streets” it represents more than just slipping on a pair of training shoes and going for a run. Rather than being a vague theme, it transpired that the subject of running and sport in general offers much by way of concrete subject matter to discuss. Sport can effect change in individuals and it can effect change in society. Therefore, as a subject matter, sport offers fertile ground from which we can derive sociological, psychological and philosophical research. Sport is far more than simply an activity concerning individuals and teams competing against each other. Sport and exercise and their potentially health giving outcomes are very much locked into society, and are subject to its norms, values, cultures, structures and inequalities (Barry & Yuill, 2016:244). I began to explore the impact of running on society and found that this led to other areas within the sporting landscape therefore I widened my interest by not confining myself solely to running.

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