New Femininities in Digital, Physical and Sporting Cultures – serie

This edited collection critically explores new and emerging models of female athleticism in an era characterised as postfeminist. It approaches postfeminism through a critical lens to investigate new forms of politics being practised by women in physical activity, sport and online spaces at the intersections of gender, ethnicity, sexuality and ability. New Sporting Femininities features chapters on celebrity athletes such as Serena Williams and Ronda Rousey, alongside studies of the online fitspo movement and women’s growing participation in activities like roller derby, skateboarding and football. In doing so, it highlights key issues and concerns facing diverse groups of women in a rapidly changing gender-sport landscape. This collection sheds new light on the complex and often contradictory ways that women’s athletic participation is promoted, experienced and embodied in the context of postfeminism, commodity feminism and emerging forms of popular feminism.

This volume presents a collection of essays that explore the relationship between sporting clothing and gender. Drawing on uniform and sports apparel as a means of exploring the socio-sexual politics of contemporary US society, the contributions analyse the historical, political-economic, socio-cultural and sport-specific dimensions of gendered clothing in sport.Part of a two-volume series (the other discussing this phenomenon in a global context), contributors cover topics such as WNBA uniform politics, military promotion, female sportscaster clothing, magazine depictions, plus-size exercise apparel, FloJo, the Skirt Chaser 5k race, and the socio-politics of the LPGA, CrossFit, roller derby, rock climbing, and more. As the first single compendium to discuss American sportswomen’s apparel, this collection will be of interest to practitioners and scholars of sports history, the sociology of sport, and gender/media studies.

This volume presents a collection of essays that explore the relationship between sporting clothing and gender. Drawing on uniform and sports apparel as a means of exploring the socio-sexual politics of contemporary US society, the contributions analyse the historical, political-economic, socio-cultural and sport-specific dimensions of gendered clothing in sport.Part of a two-volume series (the other discussing this phenomenon in a global context), contributors cover topics such as WNBA uniform politics, military promotion, female sportscaster clothing, magazine depictions, plus-size exercise apparel, FloJo, the Skirt Chaser 5k race, and the socio-politics of the LPGA, CrossFit, roller derby, rock climbing, and more. As the first single compendium to discuss American sportswomen’s apparel, this collection will be of interest to practitioners and scholars of sports history, the sociology of sport, and gender/media studies.

This volume presents a collection of essays that explore the relationship between sporting clothing and gender. Drawing on uniform and sports apparel as a means of exploring the socio-sexual politics of the contemporary world, the contributions analyse the historical, political-economic, socio-cultural and sport-specific dimensions of gendered clothing in sport. Part of a two-volume series (the other discussing this phenomenon in the USA), contributors cover topics such as the rise of athleisurewear, Olympics outfits, eSports, religious considerations, the saree, fitness attire on Instagram, Japanese bloomers, youth clothing, ForPlay’s sexy sports costumes, and women’s sportswear for rugby, tennis, throwing, biking, wrestling, and flat track roller derby. This global anthology will be of interest to practitioners and scholars of sports history, the sociology of sport, and gender/media studies.

This volume presents a collection of essays that explore the relationship between sporting clothing and gender. Drawing on uniform and sports apparel as a means of exploring the socio-sexual politics of the contemporary world, the contributions analyse the historical, political-economic, socio-cultural and sport-specific dimensions of gendered clothing in sport. Part of a two-volume series (the other discussing this phenomenon in the USA), contributors cover topics such as the rise of athleisurewear, Olympics outfits, eSports, religious considerations, the saree, fitness attire on Instagram, Japanese bloomers, youth clothing, ForPlay’s sexy sports costumes, and women’s sportswear for rugby, tennis, throwing, biking, wrestling, and flat track roller derby. This global anthology will be of interest to practitioners and scholars of sports history, the sociology of sport, and gender/media studies.

This book offers the first critical examination of the contributions of feminist new materialist thought to the study of sport, fitness, and physical culture. Bringing feminist new materialist theory into a lively dialogue with sport studies, it highlights the possibilities and challenges of engaging with posthumanist and new materialist theories. With empirical examples and pedagogical offerings woven throughout, the book makes complex new materialist concepts and theories highly accessible. It vividly illustrates sporting matter as lively, vital, and agentic. Engaging specifically with the methodological, theoretical, ethical and political challenges of feminist new materialisms, it elaborates understandings of moving bodies and their entanglements with human, non-human, technological, biological, cultural, and environmental forces in contemporary society. This book extends humanist, representationalist, and discursive approaches that have characterized the landscape of critical research on active bodies, and invites new imaginings and articulations for sport and moving bodies in uncertain times and unknown futures.View the video abstracts for each of the book's chapter here: Chapter 1  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UQy7aq1k20&list=PLdbxSLlj0ri04cOHxK37TfaQg0IAv6Znf&index=1 Chapter 2  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM-Q4FmW6h8&list=PLdbxSLlj0ri04cOHxK37TfaQg0IAv6Znf&index=2Chapter 3  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0VxosyyrKg&list=PLdbxSLlj0ri04cOHxK37TfaQg0IAv6Znf&index=3Chapter 4  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN9b58fPISA&list=PLdbxSLlj0ri04cOHxK37TfaQg0IAv6Znf&index=4Chapter 5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM3Ss_Tz0ZY&list=PLdbxSLlj0ri04cOHxK37TfaQg0IAv6Znf&index=5Chapter 6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNbSBThlR6s&list=PLdbxSLlj0ri04cOHxK37TfaQg0IAv6Znf&index=6Chapter 7 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFRAGwH8UOY&list=PLdbxSLlj0ri04cOHxK37TfaQg0IAv6Znf&index=7

This book offers the first critical examination of the contributions of feminist new materialist thought to the study of sport, fitness, and physical culture. Bringing feminist new materialist theory into a lively dialogue with sport studies, it highlights the possibilities and challenges of engaging with posthumanist and new materialist theories. With empirical examples and pedagogical offerings woven throughout, the book makes complex new materialist concepts and theories highly accessible. It vividly illustrates sporting matter as lively, vital, and agentic. Engaging specifically with the methodological, theoretical, ethical and political challenges of feminist new materialisms, it elaborates understandings of moving bodies and their entanglements with human, non-human, technological, biological, cultural, and environmental forces in contemporary society. This book extends humanist, representationalist, and discursive approaches that have characterized the landscape of critical research on active bodies, and invites new imaginings and articulations for sport and moving bodies in uncertain times and unknown futures.View the video abstracts for each of the book's chapter here: Chapter 1  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UQy7aq1k20&list=PLdbxSLlj0ri04cOHxK37TfaQg0IAv6Znf&index=1 Chapter 2  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM-Q4FmW6h8&list=PLdbxSLlj0ri04cOHxK37TfaQg0IAv6Znf&index=2Chapter 3  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0VxosyyrKg&list=PLdbxSLlj0ri04cOHxK37TfaQg0IAv6Znf&index=3Chapter 4  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN9b58fPISA&list=PLdbxSLlj0ri04cOHxK37TfaQg0IAv6Znf&index=4Chapter 5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM3Ss_Tz0ZY&list=PLdbxSLlj0ri04cOHxK37TfaQg0IAv6Znf&index=5Chapter 6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNbSBThlR6s&list=PLdbxSLlj0ri04cOHxK37TfaQg0IAv6Znf&index=6Chapter 7 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFRAGwH8UOY&list=PLdbxSLlj0ri04cOHxK37TfaQg0IAv6Znf&index=7

This book presents knowledge from Indigenous women who enact decolonization and wellbeing through physical activity.  In sport, physical activity, and health disciplines, there is a significant need for Indigenous women’s theoretical and methodological perspectives. While much research is published from a Western perspective on Indigenous peoples’ health, sport, and physical activity, less is known from Indigenous feminist and community perspectives. The chapters therefore inform the broader sociology of sport and Indigenous feminist fields on Indigenous cultural perspectives of physical activity.

This book presents knowledge from Indigenous women who enact decolonization and wellbeing through physical activity.  In sport, physical activity, and health disciplines, there is a significant need for Indigenous women’s theoretical and methodological perspectives. While much research is published from a Western perspective on Indigenous peoples’ health, sport, and physical activity, less is known from Indigenous feminist and community perspectives. The chapters therefore inform the broader sociology of sport and Indigenous feminist fields on Indigenous cultural perspectives of physical activity.

This book engages with the ongoing question of why many girls stop doing sport and physical activity in their teenage years. Previous research has found that many girls’ disengagement from sport takes place despite their childhood enjoyment and that frequently these same women take up sport again as adults. Within these chapters, Sheryl Clark explores what it is about this period of time that persuades many girls to disengage from sports when their male peers continue to take part; why some girls continue to take part; and most importantly how girls understand this participation. She suggests that girls’ participation in sport should be viewed as part of their ongoing constructions of ‘successful girlhood’ within a competitive schooling system and broader socioeconomic context.

This book engages with the ongoing question of why many girls stop doing sport and physical activity in their teenage years. Previous research has found that many girls’ disengagement from sport takes place despite their childhood enjoyment and that frequently these same women take up sport again as adults. Within these chapters, Sheryl Clark explores what it is about this period of time that persuades many girls to disengage from sports when their male peers continue to take part; why some girls continue to take part; and most importantly how girls understand this participation. She suggests that girls’ participation in sport should be viewed as part of their ongoing constructions of ‘successful girlhood’ within a competitive schooling system and broader socioeconomic context.

The chapters in the Women’s Football in Latin America two volumes will look at the social and historical means of the embodied representation of gender differences that has been deeply embedded in the history of Latin American women and football. The authors identify and analyse how, in a range of ways, Latin American women have found in-between spaces, amid severe macho structures, to establish and play their football. As a result, the book will be of interest to researchers and students of sport sociology, football studies, gender studies, comparative sports studies, sports history, and Latin American sporting culture.The first volume of this edited collection brings together a variety of high-quality research investigating women’s  football in Brazil to an international, English readership. The complex issues surrounding women and sport have attracted the attention of Brazilian academics since the early 1980s, and this book seeks to update that scholarship to themodern day, with chapters on sports media, 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, grassroots women’s  football, women’s  football fans. The book also indicates the forthcoming research and political challenges for gender equity in Brazilian football.

The chapters in the Women’s Football in Latin America two volumes will look at the social and historical means of the embodied representation of gender differences that has been deeply embedded in the history of Latin American women and football. The authors identify and analyse how, in a range of ways, Latin American women have found in-between spaces, amid severe macho structures, to establish and play their football. As a result, the book will be of interest to researchers and students of sport sociology, football studies, gender studies, comparative sports studies, sports history, and Latin American sporting culture.The first volume of this edited collection brings together a variety of high-quality research investigating women’s  football in Brazil to an international, English readership. The complex issues surrounding women and sport have attracted the attention of Brazilian academics since the early 1980s, and this book seeks to update that scholarship to themodern day, with chapters on sports media, 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, grassroots women’s  football, women’s  football fans. The book also indicates the forthcoming research and political challenges for gender equity in Brazilian football.

The chapters in the Women’s Football in Latin America two volumes will look at the social and historical means of the embodied representation of gender differences that has been deeply embedded in the history of Latin American women and football. The authors identify and analyse how, in a range of ways, Latin American women have found in-between spaces, amid severe macho structures, to establish and play their football. As a result, the book will be of interest to researchers and students of sport sociology, football studies, gender studies, comparative sports studies, sports history, and Latin American sporting culture.The second volume of this edited collection integrates a range of high-quality studies on women’s football across Latin American countries to a global readership. From studies with marginalized communities, football fans but also the media and professional women’s footballers, the chapters show how fútbol has been a key part of oppressive gender structures, and ways that women have fought for gender equity within this key cultural expression in Latin America. The book also suggests a fascinating research and activist agenda for women’s football in the continent for the next decades.

The chapters in the Women’s Football in Latin America two volumes will look at the social and historical means of the embodied representation of gender differences that has been deeply embedded in the history of Latin American women and football. The authors identify and analyse how, in a range of ways, Latin American women have found in-between spaces, amid severe macho structures, to establish and play their football. As a result, the book will be of interest to researchers and students of sport sociology, football studies, gender studies, comparative sports studies, sports history, and Latin American sporting culture.The second volume of this edited collection integrates a range of high-quality studies on women’s football across Latin American countries to a global readership. From studies with marginalized communities, football fans but also the media and professional women’s footballers, the chapters show how fútbol has been a key part of oppressive gender structures, and ways that women have fought for gender equity within this key cultural expression in Latin America. The book also suggests a fascinating research and activist agenda for women’s football in the continent for the next decades.

This book presents a critical rethinking of assumptions that have informed our understanding of women’s engagement in contact sport, based on an in-depth ethnography with an English rugby team. Looking at the day-to-day concerns of women who play rugby, this work provides a refreshing perspective on different ways of doing femininities in postfeminist times. Women’s rugby is one of the world’s fastest growing sports, yet it is also a physical game that is traditionally the preserve of men. Tackling Stereotypes reveals the cultural and symbolic stigma that ‘sticks’ to women’s rugby players and the tactics they use to carve out space for themselves and fight for legitimacy. It also argues that players engage in pragmatic politics, informed by their participation, that aims to enact realistic change. Branchu develops a situational sociology that furthers debates in the understanding of gender, belonging, becoming, embodiment, resistance politics, and the sociological study of sport.

This book presents a critical rethinking of assumptions that have informed our understanding of women’s engagement in contact sport, based on an in-depth ethnography with an English rugby team. Looking at the day-to-day concerns of women who play rugby, this work provides a refreshing perspective on different ways of doing femininities in postfeminist times. Women’s rugby is one of the world’s fastest growing sports, yet it is also a physical game that is traditionally the preserve of men. Tackling Stereotypes reveals the cultural and symbolic stigma that ‘sticks’ to women’s rugby players and the tactics they use to carve out space for themselves and fight for legitimacy. It also argues that players engage in pragmatic politics, informed by their participation, that aims to enact realistic change. Branchu develops a situational sociology that furthers debates in the understanding of gender, belonging, becoming, embodiment, resistance politics, and the sociological study of sport.

This book provides the first comprehensive analysis of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), exploring the role of gender, race, and sexuality in the continuing growth of the league. As the longest running and most successful professional women’s sporting league in the United States, the WNBA has evolved into a politically important force both inside and outside the sporting world. Drawing on a variety of research methods, including ethnography, media and literary analysis, and archival research, the book argues that it is its players’ dedication and commitment to ensuring a sustainable league that has enabled the WNBA to survive in spite of an American sporting landscape that is otherwise hostile to women. As such, It will be of interest to academics and students working or studying in the fields of sports sociology, sports management, feminist theory, sports history, and gender studies.

This book provides the first comprehensive analysis of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), exploring the role of gender, race, and sexuality in the continuing growth of the league. As the longest running and most successful professional women’s sporting league in the United States, the WNBA has evolved into a politically important force both inside and outside the sporting world. Drawing on a variety of research methods, including ethnography, media and literary analysis, and archival research, the book argues that it is its players’ dedication and commitment to ensuring a sustainable league that has enabled the WNBA to survive in spite of an American sporting landscape that is otherwise hostile to women. As such, It will be of interest to academics and students working or studying in the fields of sports sociology, sports management, feminist theory, sports history, and gender studies.

Women playing Australian Rules football continue to disrupt heteronormativity as they revel in the joys, pleasures and intensities of this full-contact, dynamic sport. Local women’s Australian Rules football teams offer a microcosm through which to explore the ways in which power, hegemony and norms can be constructed, reconstructed, challenged or transformed.Applying a queer intersectional lens to women’s experiences of playing in local women’s football teams and drawing on personal experiences of playing, this book theorises the politics of gender, sexuality, sociality and sportscapes while offering an intimate portrayal of playing Australian Rules football for women.Drawing on empirical data (including visual methods) with two women’s football teams in suburban Australia, this book explores how gender, sexuality, bodies, abilities and experiences intersect to effect women’s everyday experiences of physicality and sport, and the particularities of affect, homosociality and the values of sportscapes on women’s participation.Culminating in a comprehensive and nuanced insight into the field of local women’s Australian Rules football, this book may be of interest to those working and studying within the fields of gender and sexuality, queer theory, visual methodologies, sociology of sport, sports management and physical education. Additionally, it offers rich insights for those already immersed in or interested in the field – who play, volunteer, work, support or care about women’s football – for making sense of the personal, political, sometimes complex and often passionate experiences of the game for women who play.

This book examines the historical present as a turning point for women who are moving into traditional masculine cultures of team contact sports. The authors investigate how shifting gender dynamics are reshaping sports practices, organisations, and representations. They ask: What happens when women’s sporting bodies enter spaces that have historically excluded them? How is this change embodied, experienced, and navigated by athletes, stakeholders, and organizations within the broader sports ecosystem? And how does resistance to gender equality manifest in different forms?  Exploring how the challenge of gender inequity materialises through the relations and actions that are transforming sport organisations in complex ways, the book suggests that change must be translated in time and space, recognising the global and local forces that shape the sociomateriality of sport practices, organisations and assemblages. The pursuit of gender equity in sport as a political, economic and cultural phenomenon, raises key questions about how ‘value’, ‘markets’, ‘space’ and ‘time’ materialise through gendered formations. In this way the authors articulate a feminist future of sport for the present.

This book examines the historical present as a turning point for women who are moving into traditional masculine cultures of team contact sports. The authors investigate how shifting gender dynamics are reshaping sports practices, organisations, and representations. They ask: What happens when women’s sporting bodies enter spaces that have historically excluded them? How is this change embodied, experienced, and navigated by athletes, stakeholders, and organizations within the broader sports ecosystem? And how does resistance to gender equality manifest in different forms?  Exploring how the challenge of gender inequity materialises through the relations and actions that are transforming sport organisations in complex ways, the book suggests that change must be translated in time and space, recognising the global and local forces that shape the sociomateriality of sport practices, organisations and assemblages. The pursuit of gender equity in sport as a political, economic and cultural phenomenon, raises key questions about how ‘value’, ‘markets’, ‘space’ and ‘time’ materialise through gendered formations. In this way the authors articulate a feminist future of sport for the present.

This edited collection critically explores new and emerging models of female athleticism in an era characterised as postfeminist. It approaches postfeminism through a critical lens to investigate new forms of politics being practised by women in physical activity, sport and online spaces at the intersections of gender, ethnicity, sexuality and ability. New Sporting Femininities features chapters on celebrity athletes such as Serena Williams and Ronda Rousey, alongside studies of the online fitspo movement and women’s growing participation in activities like roller derby, skateboarding and football. In doing so, it highlights key issues and concerns facing diverse groups of women in a rapidly changing gender-sport landscape. This collection sheds new light on the complex and often contradictory ways that women’s athletic participation is promoted, experienced and embodied in the context of postfeminism, commodity feminism and emerging forms of popular feminism.

This book examines the intersections of sport, race, gender, social networks and social movements with a case study of the North-American nonprofit organization 'Black Girl Hockey Club' (BGHC). The landscape of sport and social movements has dramatically shifted through the advent of the internet and social media. A case in point is the transformation of the BGHC, a racial justice movement which morphed from an online sports fan collective to an anti-racism union, combining political action with the joy of sport.In the context of these shifting digital realities, Digital Black Feminism in the Global Sports Arena offers a unique perspective of social movements. The book posits that BGHC was thrust into anti-racism work because of political openings connected to racial reckonings resulting from the murder of George Floyd and ongoing efforts of #BlackLivesMatter activism. Integrating in-depth content discourse analysis and qualitative interviews with affiliated members of the BGHC, the author explores how digital networks influenced sports-based racial justice movements.While being particularly relevant to Black academics formally colonised by European countries, this book will appeal globally to students and scholars interested in the intersections of sociology, sports, race and ethnicity, feminist theory and gender studies, social movements, fandoms and digital sociology.