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Some of Us Are Still Brave: Sport and the Social Production of Black Femaleness

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Abstract

This chapter explores the contemporary politics of black female embodiment in the discursive sites of tennis, and track and field. Because the classification of black women’s bodies has always been inextricable from their location in relation to their humanity, I am interested in how the (hyper)visible arena of sport (re)produces and reinforces public understandings of black female alterity. I contend that the insistent querying of the humanness of black female athletes and their bodies is a feminist issue, because the corporeal integrity and personhood of black women is not simply being questioned, it is being violated. I demonstrate how the development of integrated and complex analyses of discourses of difference and domination is key to the cultivation of any meaningful and liberatory feminist sporting projects.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Williams would lose to Sharapova later that same year in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) season ending championships; however, since that defeat in November 2004, Williams has not lost to Sharapova, defeating her in all 17 of their subsequent meetings.

  2. 2.

    As of July 2015 Williams holds 21 Grand Slam singles titles—in contrast to Sharapova’s five. Viewed 15 November 2015, from http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2015/08/tennis-has-7-forbes-10-highest-paid-female-athletes/55919/#.VeIiQygx9SU

  3. 3.

    The tests were suspended at the 2000 Olympic Games.

  4. 4.

    Thank you to Janine Jones for this insight.

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Acknowledgements

I want to acknowledge Janine Jones for our earlier and ongoing discussions. Thanks to Afuwa Granger for her enduring encouragement and tireless editorial eyes. Lastly, I want to express my appreciation to Louise Mansfield, managing editor, for her guidance and support throughout this process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Independent Scholar, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    Delia D. Douglas

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  1. Delia D. Douglas
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Brunel University, London, United Kingdom

    Louise Mansfield

  2. Bournemouth University, Poole, United Kingdom

    Jayne Caudwell

  3. University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Belinda Wheaton

  4. Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, United Kingdom

    Beccy Watson

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Douglas, D.D. (2018). Some of Us Are Still Brave: Sport and the Social Production of Black Femaleness. In: Mansfield, L., Caudwell, J., Wheaton, B., Watson, B. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Feminism and Sport, Leisure and Physical Education. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53318-0_36

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53318-0_36

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-53317-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-53318-0

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