User:Leighblackall/The business and politics of adventure sport and recreation

This was a demonstration Wikiversity page, for people taking the Business, politics and sport course in 2011.

The box in the top right is a template that participants used for peer review of each others essays.

I was supposed to have completed this essay, along with all the other participants, but I couldn't afford the time in the end.

Here is the presentation that went with this essay.

Here was to go the abstract. It is about 250 words that summarises the essay completely, including findings, issues and questions, and conclusion.

Outline
This outline will dissolve into the introduction and/or abstract. It was essentially a pitch to the journal. They've "accepted it" so now I get on with it...

In the early 1980s, my mum sent me along to the local cub/scout troop for (what must have been to her) some positive male role modeling. My mum and dad where a part of that period's noticeable statistical spike in Australian divorce rates, and like most of the children in those times, my sister and I went with mum. Back then, women were asserting all sorts of independence from men, but they knew their boys still needed some sort of male role modelling, so cubs it was for me.

It seems that a lot of single mums like mine had the same ideas. Scouts Australia saw a peak in participation rates in the 1970s and 80s, seeing thousands of boys (and increasing numbers of girls) camping out, cooking meals on open fires, swimming down rivers, you-know, scouts stuff. Along with learning to be boys, we were getting a taste for a certain type of physical and mental activity.

In the mid 80s, product marketing started targeting those tastes. The soft drink called Solo, launched its Soloman campaign, calling out to us to all get thirsty over the idea of racing through some wild jungle in a kayak, and launching off a waterfall to paddle a river somewhere. What was until then, the taste of a minority of crazy folk, fizzy adventures like Soloman's started becoming the pursuits of the mainstream.

By tracking my own experiences growing up in the 70s and 80s, I'm looking at the converging politics and developing business interests that have helped shape the notion of adventure sport and recreation in Australia, and in many other countries today.

Introduction
See above

Fight Club






An argument that high divorce rates in the 1970s and 80s, resulting in mothers becoming sole parents, led to an increase in boys scouting and similar pursuits, for 'positive male role modeling'. Not yet sure of the validity of this argument. Looking for statistics on single parenting, and scouting participation rates.. finish with the clip from 1990s film Fight Club, where Brad Pit explains the status of men of that day.

The Family Law Court of Australia was formed in 1975, facilitating a quadrupling of divorce rates in Australia, after a massive spike in 1976. (ABS Demographics 2008)

At the moment, I can't find much in the way of statistics of children living with single parent mothers. So far I've only found records back to 1998, and that shows not much significant change from around 17-20% of families with children under 15 years old. (ABS Australian Social Trends 2010)


 * "A generation of men raised by women. I’m wondering if another woman is the answer we really need." (Tyler Durden in Fight Club 1999)

A critique of the movie Fight Club, and its comments on gender roles - [http://thehathorlegacy.com/fight-club-a-generation-of-men-raised-by-women/ Kesler, J. (2005). Fight Club: A generation of men raised by women. http://thehathorlegacy.com]

[http://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Pb4BZ7QtfgAC&oi=fnd&pg=PA161&dq=Maltz,+D.,+%26+Borker,+R.+(1982).+A+cultural+approach+to+male-female&ots=eFdslULGR1&sig=sSIGl_j4uZpjwzsxHlOrIBlOX8A#v=onepage&q&f=false Maltz, D., & Borker, R. (1982). A cultural approach to male-female]. Maltz and Broker’s research showed that the games children play contribute to socializing children into masculine and feminine cultures. For example, girls playing house promotes personal relationships, and playing house does not necessarily have fixed rules or objectives. Boys, however, tended to play more competitive team sports with different goals and strategies.

Ini a phone call with Rosely Batistoni at the NSW Scouting Australia Office, it is generally agreed that the 1970s was a peak period for scouting in Australia, with around 65000 members nationally in the 70s to over 20000 today, with a 4% growth rate.

The Solo Man


Schwepps Solo

Youtube copy of 1990 Commercial

Star Wars Han Solo

An historical look at individual adventuring, through to Schwepps Solo Man ads of the 1980s

GoreTex
A look at the intensification of adventure gear production and marketing, and a comment on the difference between this type of sport marketing, and team sports, where community engagement took precedence over individualism.

A critique of Goretex