Abstract
This literary analysis draws upon navigational identity theory to examine the experiences of female protagonists who choose to play on boys’ athletic teams. The study analyzes ten middle grade and young adult novels published between 2005 and 2017 to explore the question, How are the female protagonists represented in the navigation of changing identities as they move into a male-dominated sporting space? Findings center on how, in this process of navigating two spaces, the female athletes are described as able to separate themselves from the girls but unable to fully join the boys. In the authorial construction of their identities, they struggle to navigate the culture of power (i.e. the male world of sport) as successfully because they are unable to avoid internalizing the perspectives of those in positions of power. The institutional structures of sport reinforce traditionally masculine norms and demand conformity by female athletes even though these athletes are non-conforming in their desire to play on boys’ teams. This demand for conformity is reaffirmed in this literature and illustrates how inequities can be maintained and reproduced through story. The piece offers suggested classroom activities designed to offer both critique and alternatives to the ways in which female athletes are positioned in fiction and on the field.
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Wendy J. Glenn is Professor of Literacy Studies and Chair of Secondary Humanities in the School of Education at the University of Colorado Boulder. She teaches courses in the theories and methods of teaching literature, writing, and language. Dr. Glenn was named a University Teaching Fellow at the University of Connecticut in 2009 and Fulbright Scholar to Norway in 2009–2010. Her research centers on literature and literacies for young adults, particularly in the areas of socio-cultural analyses and critical pedagogy. She is the former President of the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the National Council of Teachers of English (ALAN) and current Senior Editor of the organization’s peer-review journal, The ALAN Review.
Danielle King-Watkins is a PhD Candidate in English Education/Curriculum and Instruction in the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut. Her research explores how students in alternative school settings connect to their own lives during their transactional reading experiences with young adult texts and the intersection of athletics and identity in young adult sports fiction. She serves as an Assistant Editor of The ALAN Review.
Appendix A: Annotated Bibliography of Titles Analyzed
Appendix A: Annotated Bibliography of Titles Analyzed
Cochrane, Mick. (2009). The Girl Who Threw Butterflies. New York, NY: Random House.
Baseball. Middle Grade.
Eighth grader Molly Williams has lost her father in a car accident. To avoid being known as the girl whose father died and to pay tribute to him and the knuckleball he taught her to throw, she decides to play baseball on the boys’ team at school.
Day, Karen. (2008). No Cream Puffs. New York, NY: Random House.
Baseball. Middle Grade.
It’s 1980 in Michigan, and 12-year-old Madison just wants to play baseball on a summer team with the boys. She insists she plays only due to her love for the game but finds herself the center of attention given the novelty of her role.
Esckilsen, Erik E. (2006). The Outside Groove. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Racecar Driving. Young Adult.
Casey LaPlante has grown up around the track given her older brother’s success as a local racecar driver. Tired of being ignored by her family, despite her own academic and athletic successes, and believing that racing can’t really be that hard, Casey takes up the sport herself.
Fitzgerald, Dawn. (2005). Getting in the Game. New York, NY: Roaring Brook Press.
Ice Hockey. Middle Grade.
Seventh-grader Joanna Giordano wants to play ice hockey, but the only option is to join the middle school boys’ team. She is excited about the opportunity, despite a lack of support from her coach, teammates, and father, and vows to prove them all wrong about what a girl is capable of achieving on the ice.
Gibney, Sharon. (2015). See No Color. Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhoda Lab.
Baseball. Young Adult.
At seventeen, Alex Kirtridge knows that she is an amazing baseball player and that she is adopted. What she doesn’t fully understand is how to make sense of her identity as a biracial child in a white family that professes not to see color. Playing baseball is simple; navigating life off of the diamond is not.
Heldring, Thatcher. (2017). The Football Girl. New York, NY: Penguin Random House.
Football. Young Adult.
Tessa plays flag football with the guys for fun during the summer and plans to run cross country when the school year begins. However, upon losing the last game of the summer season, Tessa wants redemption and is surprised to discover how much she loves the game of football. Despite opposition from her teammates and family, she decides to go out for the team.
Kenneally, Miranda. (2011). Catching Jordan. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks Fire.
Football. Young Adult.
Jordan is the well-respected captain and quarterback of her high school football team. She strives to earn a scholarship to play football in college. As this dream comes closer to fruition, she questions how her role as a female player is being constructed by university officials.
Kenneally, Miranda. (2013). Racing Savannah. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks Fire.
Horse Racing. Young Adult.
As the daughter of a stable hand, Savannah is used to living with little. When an opportunity to learn how to be a jockey arises, she imagines a life different from what she knows, one in which she can do what she loves and have financial security. Pursuing this dream, however, means breaking into a world rarely inhabited by female riders.
Murdock, Catherine Gilbert. (2006). Dairy Queen. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Football. Young Adult.
DJ lives and works with her family on a dairy farm in rural Wisconsin. A family friend (and coach of the rival football team) asks her to train his team’s quarterback in preparation for the next season. In her role as trainer, she realizes that football brings her joy and decides to try to earn a place on the team.
Roberts, Kristi. (2005). My 13th Season. Logan, IA: Perfection Learning.
Baseball. Middle Grade.
Fran Cullers was a successful player on the boys’ baseball team in her old town. Upon moving, however, she finds herself unwanted despite her talent. After the coach is forced to allow her to play, Fran vows revenge, jeopardizes the team’s success, and has to work through the consequences.
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Glenn, W.J., King-Watkins, D. Fictional Girls Who Play with the Boys: Barriers to Access in the Transition to Male-Dominated Sports Teams. Child Lit Educ 51, 309–331 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-019-09384-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-019-09384-7