Female jockeys in Swedish horse racing 1890–2000: From minority to majority – complex causes

The aim of this paper is to describe and explain the changes in the gender balance of jockeyship in Swedish horse racing in the period 1890–2000. The change in gender coding, and its causes, are both complex. Two distinctive periods of change are argued to have been crucial, the 1940s and 1970s. In the first period women were given permission to ride in amateur races; in the second period they were allowed to become professionals. It is suggested here that the changes in the gender balance are explained by male support, the intersection of gender and social class and gender coding.