TORONTO, February 23, 2001 – Noted expert on male athletes and masculinity issues, Professor Donald F. Sabo, a sports sociologist at D’Youville College in Buffalo, NY, will deliver a talk entitled Sports, Masculinity, and Men’s Sexual Violence Against Women, at York University, Tuesday, February 27.
Sabo, whose address is part of the Michael Smith Seminars on Violence and Sport, will assess whether male athletes are more or less likely to commit sexual violence against women than non athletes, the factors that are associated with male athlete sexual violence, and the steps that can be taken to prevent male athlete violence and raise awareness.
"The majority of males athletes do not rape women or advocate sexual violence against women," says Sabo. "And yet, the research shows that certain men's sports subcultures can and do foster rape-supportive attitudes and exploitative behaviour. The crucial question is whether sport leaders are willing to face up to the problem of men's violence where it exists in sport and do something about it."
Sabo’s address comes amidst heightened public awareness and scrutiny over several high profile court cases including: the sex-assault trial of boxer David Hilton Jr. in Montreal; the recent conviction and 18-year sentencing of former NFL wide receiver Rae Carruth for conspiring to murder his pregnant girlfriend; the recent acquittal of Green Bay Packers tight end Mark Chmura for the alleged sexual assault of his 17-year-old baby sitter; and the controversy that continues to plague convicted rapist, boxer Mike Tyson -- women's groups recently wanted him banned from entering Britain.
Sabo is a former NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Division I defensive football captain. He has co-edited and written numerous books and articles on male athletes and masculinity including: Prison Masculinities (Temple University Press, 2001); Masculinities, Gender Relations, and Sport (Sage, 2000); Men's Health and Illness: Gender, Power, and the Body (Sage, 1995); Sex, Violence, and Power in Sports: Rethinking Masculinity (Crossing Press, 1994); Sport, Men, and the Gender Order: Critical Feminist Perspectives (Human Kinetics, 1990); and Jock: Sports and Male Identity (Prentice Hall, 1980).
Sabo’s talk will take place Noon to 2 p.m., in the Stong College Senior Common Room (Room 201), York University Campus, 4700 Keele Street.
The Michael Smith Seminar series commemorates the work and research of York Prof. Michael Smith, a sport sociologist and one of the founding members of York’s LaMarsh Centre for Research on Violence and Conflict Resolution, who died in 1994. Smith's book Violence and Sport (1988) is a standard text on the subject. The seminar series will conclude with a full-day round-table discussion in May 2001.
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For more information, please call:
Julia Grant
LaMarsh Centre
York University
(416) 736-5528
lamarsh@yorku.ca
Prof. Greg Malszecki
Kinesiology and Health Science
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 77480
gregm@yorku.ca
Ken Turriff
Media Relations
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22086
kturriff@yorku.ca
YU/015/01
