Abstract
Sports are forms of popular culture deeply rooted in modern society. Within this chapter, we will discuss the meaning of sport and the importance of studying sport from a sociological perspective. This chapter also includes: (a) a discussion of women’s involvement and history in sport from the late 1800s to present, with attention directed toward the barriers that have kept women from participating in different forms of physical activity, (b) an overview of first and second wave sport media research and the televised sports manhood formula, and (c) a brief examination of future directions within sport.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Acosta, V., & Carpenter, L. (2012). Women in sport: A longitudinal, national study. Retrieved September 24, 2013, from http://www.acostacarpenter.org/
Anderson, E. (2008). Being masculine is not about who you sleep with…. Heterosexual athletes contesting masculinity and the onetime rule of homosexuality. Sex Roles, 58, 104–115.
Bruce, T. (2013). Reflections on communication and sport: On women and femininities. Communication and Sport. doi: 10.1177/2167479512472883
Calhoun, A. S., LaVoi, N. M., & Johnson, A. (2011). Framing with family: Examining online coaching biographies for heteronormative and heterosexist narratives. International Journal of Sport Communication, 4(3), 300–316.
Christie-Robin, J., Orzada, B., & López-Gydosh, D. (2012). From bustles to bloomers: Exploring the bicycle’s influence on American women’s fashion, 1880–1914. The Journal of American Culture, 35(4), 315–331.
Christopherson, N., Janning, M., & McConnell, E. D. (2002). Two kicks forward, one kick back: A content analysis of media discourses on the women’s world cup. Sociology of Sport Journal, 19(2), 170–188.
Clavio, G., & Eagleman, A. N. (2011). Gender and sexually suggestive images in sports blogs. Journal of Sport Management, 7, 295–304.
Coakley, J. (2009). Sport in society: Issues and controversies (10th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Cooky, C., Wachs, F., Messner, M., & Dworkin, S. (2010). It’s not about the game: Don Imus, race, class, gender and sexuality in contemporary media. Sociology of Sport Journal, 27,139–159.
Duncan, M. C. (1990). Sports photographs and sexual difference: Images of women and men in the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games. Sociology of Sport Journal, 7, 22–43.
Eitzen, D. S. (2012). Fair and foul: Beyond the myths and paradoxes of sport. New York, NY: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers.
Eitzen, D. S., & Sage, G. H. (2012). Sociology of North American sport (9th ed.). Cary, NC: Oxford University Press.
Fink, J. S., & Kensicki, L. J. (2002). An imperceptible difference: Visual and textual constructions of femininity in Sports Illustrated and Sports Illustrated for Women. Mass Communication and Society, 5(3), 317–339.
Greendorfer, S. L. (2002). Socialization processes and sport behavior. In T. Horn (Ed.), Advances in sport psychology (pp. 377–401). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Griffin, P. (1998). Strong women, deep closets: Lesbians and homophobia in sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Hall, A. (1996). Feminism and sporting bodies: Essays on theory and practice. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Hardin, M., Lynn, S., & Walsdorf, K. (2005). Challenge and conformity on contested terrain: Images of women in four women’s sports/ fitness magazines. Sex Roles, 53, 105-117.
Hasbrook, C. A. (1999). Young children’s social constructions of physicality and gender. In J. Coakley & P. Donnelly (Eds.), Inside Sports (pp. 7–16). London, UK: Routledge.
Heywood, L., & Dworkin, S. (2003). Built to win: The female athlete as cultural icon. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Kaiser, K., & Skoglund, E. (2006), Prominence of men and women in newspaper sports coverage as an indicator of gender equality pre- and post-Title IX. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Convention, San Francisco, CA.
Kane, M. J. (1988). Media coverage of the female athlete before, during and after Title IX: Sports Illustrated revisited. Journal of Sport Management, 2, 87–99.
Kane, M. J. (2011). Sex sells sex, not women’s sports. Retrieved from The Nation: http://www.thenation.com/article/162390/sex-sells-sex-not-womens-sports#axzz2Wbuy16qm
Kane, M. J., & Buysse, J. (2005). Intercollegiate media guides as contested terrain: A longitudinal analysis. Sociology of Sport Journal, 22, 214–238.
Kane, M. J., LaVoi, N. M., Fink, J. S. (2013). Exploring elite female athletes’ interpretations of sport media images: A window into the construction of social identity and selling sex in women’s sports. Communication and Sport, 1–31. doi:0.1177/2167479512473585
Karen, D., & Washington, R. E. (2010). The sport and society reader. London, UK: Routledge.
Kauer, K., & Krane, V. (2006). Scary dykes and feminine queens: Stereotypes and female collegiate athletes. Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, 15, 42–55.
Krane, V. (2001). We can be athletic and feminine, but do we want to? Challenging hegemonic femininity in women’s sport. Quest, 53, 115–133.
Krane, V., Surface, H., & Alexander, A. (2005). Health implications of heterosexism and homonegativism for girls and women in sport. In L. Ransdall & L. Petlichkoff (Eds.), Ensuring and health of active and athletic women and girls (pp. 327–346). Reston, VA: National Association for Girls and Women in Sport.
LaVoi, N. M. (2013). Gender and sport media. In E. A. Roper (Ed.), Gender relations in sport (pp. 39–52). The Netherlands: Sense Publishing.
Lumpkin, A. (2009). Female representation in feather articles published by Sports Illustrated in the 1990’s. Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, 18(2), 38–51.
Markula, P. (2005). Feminist sport studies: Sharing experiences of joy and pain. Albany, NY: State University of New York.
Messner, M. A. (1988). Sports and male domination: The female athlete as contested ideological terrain. Sociology of Sport Journal, 5, 197–211.
Messner, M. (2002). Taking the field: Women, men, and sports. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Messner, M., & Cooky, C. (2010). Gender in televised sports: News and highlights shows, 1989–2009. Los Angeles, CA: USC Center for Feminist Research.
Messner, M. A., Dunbar, M., & Hunt, D. (2000). The televised sports manhood formula. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 24, 380–394.
Messner, M. A., Duncan, M. C., & Cooky, C. (2003). Silence, sports bras, and wrestling porn: Women in televised sports news and highlight shows. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 27(1), 38–51.
National Federation of State High School Associations. (2007). 2005– 2006 NFHS high school athletics participation survey. Retrieved July 16, 2010, from http://www.nfhs.org/2006/09/participation_in_high_school_sports
O’Reilly, J., & Cahn, S. (2007). Women and sports in the United States: A documentary reader. Boston, MA: Northeastern Press.
Pfister, G. (2013 ). Developments and current issues in gender and sport from a European perspective. In E. A. Roper (Ed.), Gender relations in sport (pp. 163–180). The Netherlands: Sense Publishing.
Polasek, K. M., & Roper, E. A. (2011). Negotiating the gay male stereotype in ballet and modern dance. Research in Dance Education, 12(2), 173–193.
Roper, E. A. (2012). Gender, identity and sport. In S. Murphy (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of sport and performance psychology. Oxford University Press.
Roper, E. A., & Clifton, A. (2013). Representations of physically active girls in children’s picture books. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 84, 147–156.
Shakib, S. (2003). Female basketball participation. American Behavioral Scientist, 46, 1405–1422.
Toft, D. (2011, October 3). New sports press survey: Newspapers focus narrowly on sports results. Retrieved from Play the game: http://www.playthegame.org/knowledge-bank/articles/new-sports-presssurvey-newspapers-focus-narrowly-on-sports-results-5248.html
Tuchman, G. (1978). Introduction: The symbolic annihilation of women by the mass media. In G. Tuchman, A. Daniels, & J. Benét (Eds.), Hearth and home: Images of women in the mass media (pp. 3–38). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Ware, S. (2011). Game, set, match: Billie Jean King and the revolution in women’s sports. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.
Wallace, L., Wilson, J., & Miloch, K. (2011). Sporting Facebook: A content analysis of NCAA organizational sport pages and Big 12 conference athletic department pages. International Journal of Sport Communication, 4, 422–444.
Weber, J. D., & Carini, R. M. (2013). Where are the female athletes in Sports Illustrated? A content analysis of covers (2000–2011). International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 48(2), 196–203.
Young, I. M. (1990). Throwing like a girl and other essays in feminist philosophy and social theory. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Sense Publishers
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Roper, E.A., Polasek, K.M. (2014). Gender, Sport and Popular Culture. In: Trier-Bieniek, A., Leavy, P. (eds) Gender & Pop Culture. Teaching Gender. SensePublishers, Rotterdam. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6209-575-5_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6209-575-5_7
Publisher Name: SensePublishers, Rotterdam
Online ISBN: 978-94-6209-575-5
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)