Indo-Fijian women as subversive bodies in Fiji's sporting arena : an arts-based study

Abstract

Whilst other sporting stories of women from the Global North and Black vs. White binary are well known, the local (Fijian) context (privileged Brown native vs. marginalised Brown (Indo-Fijian) settlers), is not. In Fiji, physicality is highly racialised and gendered, and Indo-Fijian women are most invisible in Fiji's sporting arenas. Thus, the following research questions shape my dissertation: How do Indo-Fijian women perceive and make meaning about their physicality and gender in sport; How do local and global social constructs of gender impact young Indo-Fijian women's sports participation in Fiji; How the attitudes, barriers/challenges, pleasures, and histories of resistance and opportunities of Indo-Fijian girls/women, influence their sports participation in Fiji, and how equitable, inclusive/exclusive and in/effective are Fiji schools' Physical Education (PE) lessons in understanding, aiding and responding to Indo-Fijian girls' cultural needs and perceptions of physical activity and sports? I have collected empirical data using arts-based methods, and drawn upon critical, intersectional and poststructuralist theories to study the sporting experiences of young Indo-Fijian women in Fiji. These theories and methods illuminated the multifaceted nuances that impact their sporting participation. The main findings challenge the previous stereotypes of Indo-Fijian women - lacking physicality and interest and being difficult to engage in sports. The findings disclose that athletic Indo-Fijian women disrupt the Fijian gender, racial and class orders by consistently exercising their sporting agency, and also actively negotiating PE and physical activity opportunities by pushing for innovative (team) sports despite their requests failing to penetrate the racial, gendered and orthodox perceptions of (PE) teachers and rigid practices within the legitimised curriculum. The dissertation provides suggestions for policy makers and relevant Fijian stakeholders such as schools, tertiary institutions, PE teachers/sports coaches and parents in valuing and acting on the requests and passions of Indo-Fijian women. It also emphasises the urgent need for inclusive and innovative pathways for girls and women in Fiji's sporting arenas, thus fulfilling the country's ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Date of Award	2022
Original language	English