The Subtlety of Sexism in Judo

Before I begin this post, I want to establish the way I am using the term “sexism” here. I’ll expand on this more in Wednesday’s post, but I want to make sure everyone who reads this is on the same page as I am writing it.

I am defining sexism as a system of barriers that disproportionately affect women joining, staying, and succeeding in Judo, and the unintentional perceptions it causes in instructors and students regardless of gender when working with women students.

The definition I am NOT using is one of intentional, overt misogyny characterized by an attitude of superiority over women. This does exist in Judo, I am sure, but it is not the type of sexism I have experienced.

Again, this will be discussed more in depth in a later post, but right now I wanted to talk about the difficulties of identifying sexism in Judo, though statistics regarding women students in Judo as well as the experiences of high level women Judoka support the existence of it.

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The first time I considered that someone in Judo might be treating me differently because I was a woman, I was an orange belt. The boy in question was a level below me, a yellow belt. This was not my home dojo; we were at a kata seminar of mostly brown and black belts. The three lower level students, me, and two yellow belts, were in the corner with one of the black belts hovering near by to help.

We were working on a particular technique within this kata. A kata is a set of techniques done in a certain form. It is a cooperative partner activity, rather than an opposing partner activity like sparring. It is expected that uke, the person being thrown, will set themselves in the position needed to complete the throw.

My yellow belt partner was not putting himself in the correct position for me. I couldn’t do the throw.

He looked at me and asked, “Oh, do you know seoi nage?” I felt he was clearly offering to teach me a throw when I was a higher level than him.

For those of you that don’t know Judo, seoi nage is a beginner level throw. Most dojos will teach it within the first three weeks of classes, and then will continue teaching it once every three months after that. It’s a popular competition throw, so it and its variations are taught quite often.

Orange belts are typically achieved within 6 months to one year of training, yellow belts within 3-6 months of training, sometimes less.

So someone who reasonably had a third to a half of my experience was asking me if I knew a beginner level throw, when he could safely assume I knew what I was doing.

I wondered if he wouldn’t have asked if I were a guy.

It was awhile later that the black belt nearby finally corrected his posture so I could actually throw. The black belt never corrected his question, though. Again, I wondered if the black belt would’ve handled it differently had I been a man.

It was then I started to pay more attention to how I was treated compared to the men. Up until then, I would’ve happily said I’d never experienced sexism in Judo. I wasn’t looking for it, rather I was suddenly noticing and trying to justify away the slightly off things men said and did towards me, that I didn’t see them do to men students.

At least in America, you will be hard pressed to find someone who will outright say that they don’t take women seriously or that women don’t belong in Judo. No, sexism is subtle. It’s the question that yellow belt asked me. It’s when I offer feedback to a man of a lower level than me, and he responds with “Oh yeah I knew that I just forgot” instead of “thank you” like he does the men. It’s when the men push past me in warmups then “offers” me my spot back in line when we move to the next activity.

It’s that black belts rightly discuss the need for respect based on time and experience in Judo, but never correct the behavior of lower belts towards me when they see it.

It’s not being taken seriously as a Judoka. It’s men getting pushed and encouraged to compete, but no one ever asks me. I realize that I show a clear apprehension towards randori (sparring), and regularly take myself out of randori rounds. But no instructor has ever tried to talk to me, encourage me, or show an interest in why I don’t like randori, or help me overcome my barriers to doing randori.

Sexism in Judo is an atmosphere. I’ve been ignored, talked down to, interrupted; at times, I have had the feeling of “being put in my place,” so to speak by being ignored, talked down to, and interrupted. I will go entire seminars without personal instruction while every other male student in the room gets feedback. I’ve had my coaching of other students micromanaged and hovered over, when men of the same belt level are coaching as well. Men that may share my belt color, but instructors have specified are less skilled than me. I have black belts watch me do a technique a certain way, then give me a suggestion by telling me to do it exactly the way they just watched me do it.

Because the men don’t actually pay attention to me. They watch, but they don’t notice, don’t really pay attention to what I’m doing. It is as if they don’t care if I’m already doing it well, they don’t care if I’m teaching well, or what, even, I’m teaching. They care to teach me, but not recognize my skills for what they are.

Because they don’t take me seriously as a Judoka.

And perhaps it’s not sexism. Perhaps it is the product of some sort of vibe I give off. Or my attitude that warrants this behavior.

But you see, I can’t compare. I’m the only woman in the dojo. All I can tell you is that the way they treat me is different than the other students. The fact that there are no other women should say something, though.

Sexism in Judo is subtle. It’s hard to identify, easy to justify away as something else, such as, “I’m just not that good at Judo.” “I do things differently than them.” “This instructor is just very particular.” “It’s not because I’m a woman.”

But the reality is, there is a difference in how I am treated compared to other students. All the other students are male. I can tell you that there is something off about my Judo experience. I can tell you that sexism in sports isn’t uncommon by any means. I can tell you that sexism in any arena is not uncommon. I can tell you that other women have faced sexism in Judo. I can tell you that is a severe lack of women in Judo, especially American Judo.

Which leads me to believe that the not-quite-right feeling I get when I’m interrupted, or ignored, or get a suggestion I’m already clearly doing, that it’s more than just “how training is.”

The reality is, subtle sexism is hard to spot. It’s hard to spot for women experiencing it, let alone for well-intentioned men trying to keep an eye out for it, let alone men that are just training and don’t worry about it. So, it’s not surprising to me that when we talk about it, it’s met with suspicion. It’s not surprising to me that when I ask if anyone has experienced sexism, there aren’t many answers. The women probably have, they just haven’t identified it. The men have probably seen it, they just haven’t identified it.

And the hardest reality? Subtle sexism isn’t by “sexist” people. Yes, we all have a little internalized sexism from the way our society is set up. But the subtle sexism I encounter is not done by people that consciously think less of women, believe women have a “place” in society, or any of the things that stereotypically go along with sexism. They are good, kind people that are engaging and nice and even excited to see women in the dojo. They are people that want women to stay in the dojo.

It’s hard to want to say these people show sexism. It’s hard to confront them with the sexism they show. It’s not intentional by any means, but it’s there. Whether they intend to or not, they treat women in the dojo differently than they do men.

This is an intricate issue, one we cannot take on separately. It’s not enough for men to just listen to and do whatever women say. Most instructors are men. There may not be enough high level women in Judo equipped to help teach what needs to be done. It’s too complicated for that.

It’s not enough for women to not address it. There aren’t women in Judo; I believe sexism is part of the reason. Men need to be listening, they need to be paying attention to us.

The nuances of subtle sexism must be tackled together. It’s something men and women in the dojo need to work on together, not on opposing sides. There are dialogues and conversations that need to be had, an openness that needs to be encouraged, for things to get better. It’s going to be hard, and it’ll take bravery on everyone’s part. But for the future of Judo in America, which is declining, we have to address the problems in Judo. The sexism, and the causes of sexism in Judo, I think would address a lot of the struggles Judo faces in the American Martial Arts world, even outside of the lack of women.

I have many theories of causes, ones that I think are important to subtle sexism of American Judo. They can be read in the next post, which will be posted on Wednesday.

For now, I leave the men reading this post, especially the instructors, with a challenge. Pay attention to your women students. Not to correct, not to judge, just really focus on what she’s doing, how she’s doing it, and just make an intentional decision to pay real attention to her. See if you notice anything different about her as a Judoka, or if it changes how you think about her. You might just be surprised.

Part 2: https://roseyhorse12.wixsite.com/mysite/post/subtlety-of-sexism

Part 3: https://roseyhorse12.wixsite.com/mysite/post/the-subtlety-of-sexism-a-way-forward