Family Sport and the Sport Widow

Abstract

The final empirical chapter will specifically address the perceived ‘absence’ of fathers as brought about by their involvement in sport. There is a popular saying in the world of sport that during the season, partners and spouses are effectively widowed as men spend more time playing sport than they do with their family. That men, husbands and fathers spend more time playing sport than women, wives and mothers is not new and is fairly well covered in the literature (cf. Trussell and Shaw, 2007; Shaw, 2008; Trussell et al., 2017). However, although the literature on gender and free time offers important insights into the different individual entitlements that women and men experience, they place less emphasis on the negotiations that occur within relationships to create opportunities for sport (Craig and Mullan, 2013). Undoubtedly, fathers are expected to be engaged and nurturing parents, but society affords them more flexibility (and forgiveness) in comparison to mothers if they fall short of their responsibilities. As a result, when sport and everyday life conflict, fathers arguably have greater agency to choose how they spend their time. This is because dominant societal discourses still depict mothers as the most responsible parent.