This study examined the role of men athletes in framing women athletes in marketing images, and CrossFit was used as the sport-specific context. The purpose was to understand how consumers perceive women athletes, whether the presence of men athletes influences these perceptions, and if consumers perceive women athletes to be represented more accurately when pictured alone or with male counterparts. Using a mixed-methods approach involving both quantitative and qualitative analysis, questionnaires (n = 389) and interviews (n = 19) were utilized to gather participants’ perceptions on videos featuring all women CrossFit athletes and/or those with men and women CrossFit athletes. Results showed that consumers’ perceptions began to shift when looking at their athletic competence, although a focus on appearance remained. While the results of the questionnaires revealed no clear correlation between the presence of men athletes and the perception of women athletes, the interviews suggested a relationship, highlighting the complex role that male athletes play. Overall, the study indicates that consumers perceive women athletes to be framed more accurately when pictured alone and offers valuable insights into how men athletes affect consumers’ perceptions of women athletes.
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Does He Make a Difference? Analyzing the Role of Men Athletes in the Framing of Elite Women CrossFit Athletes in Sportswear Retailers’ Marketing Materials
Alexandra Gibson and Andrea N. Geurin
Nationalism and Anti-LGBTQ+: Exploring the Role of Nationalism in Soccer Fans’ Protests Against LGBTQ+ Equal Rights
Mateusz Grodecki, Dagmara Szczepańska, and Barbara Pasamonik
This paper examines the role of nationalism in Polish soccer fans’ protests in resistance to LGBTQ+ equal rights. Drawing on data from semistructured interviews with 22 nationalist activists, namely ideological leaders of hard-core soccer supporters’ community, who shape the ultras’ nationalist discourse, the study explores their rationalizations behind anti-LGBTQ+ demonstrations. By recognizing nationalism as an ideological background, our study goes beyond theories of masculinity, a dominating way of explaining discrimination against sexual minorities in sports (fandom) to date, and it identifies a wider set of rationalizations, conceptualized in two broader models: (1) naturalist rationalizations, and (2) the counter-counterhegemonic rationalizations, which include three more specific themes—(2a) anti-antihegemonic masculinity (2b) anti-Western and (2c) anti-leftist.
Sport and Transnational Indigenous Solidarity From Turtle Island to Palestine? Examining Iroquois Nationals’ 2018 Trip to Israel
Chen Chen
The Iroquois Nationals’ participation in the 2018 World Lacrosse Championship was welcomed by the hosting Israeli state despite the call for boycott from the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement and pro-Palestinian groups’ appeal for Indigenous solidarity. This paper discusses the historical/geopolitical contexts of this event and examines the responses from multiple parties, including the team representatives, pro-Israel groups, and Indigenous media/activists. By bringing together literature in Indigenous studies, settler colonial studies, Palestinian studies, and critical sport studies, it highlights the challenges for transnational solidarity in the sport industry as well as the urgency for deepening an internationalist anticolonial/anti-imperialist political consciousness among athletes and sport organizations, Indigenous or non-Indigenous alike.
Throwing Them Under the Bus: The Framing of a Critical Incident at the Tour de France
Ryan Snelgrove, Laura Wood, Larena Hoeber, and Orland Hoeber
In the context of sport events, several stakeholders’ reputations could be impacted by critical incidents, including event organizers, athletes, teams, countries represented by athletes, and sponsors. The purposes of this study were to develop an understanding of (a) how an event organizer, media, and the public framed a critical incident in a rhetorical arena and (b) how frames were connected with the reputations of event stakeholders immediately following a critical incident. A three-phase approach was employed that involved collecting and analyzing data from X/Twitter about a bus crash at the 2013 Tour de France. The critical incident was framed in nine different ways, many of which were emergent. Findings demonstrated that critical incidents at a sport event are interpreted and framed in multiple ways and can have an impact on the reputations of the event and other event stakeholders.
Research Across the Female Life Cycle: Reframing the Narrative for Health and Performance in Athletic Females and Showcasing Solutions to Drive Advancements in Research and Translation
Kelly L. McNulty, Bernadette C. Taim, Jessica A. Freemas, Amal Hassan, Carly Lupton Brantner, Chimsom T. Oleka, Dawn Scott, Glyn Howatson, Isabel S. Moore, Kate K. Yung, Kirsty M. Hicks, Matthew Whalan, Ric Lovell, Sam R. Moore, Suzanna Russell, Abbie E. Smith-Ryan, and Georgie Bruinvels
Over the last few decades, there has been an unprecedented growth in the number of females in sport and exercise, including an exponential rise in female participation, alongside an increased interest and investment in female sport. This success in many aspects underscores the demand for and importance of female-specific research to optimize health, participation, and performance of athletic females. It has also brought awareness to the numerous inequities that exist between females and males. Indeed, the prevailing narrative within sport and exercise science focuses on the disparity of research in females compared with males, which has led to a lack of a critical mass of high-quality data on athletic females. While acknowledging the current gap and the need for further higher quality data, there is still a body of knowledge pertaining to athletic females spanning over a century. This existing literature, amid its criticisms, offers a valuable foundation to build upon for current translation and to inform future research. Thus, it is essential to acknowledge, interpret, and apply prior learnings from previous work, while also considering any limitations. This commentary proposes a reframing of the current narrative that there is an absence of useful data in athletic females, to one that recognizes both the strides made and how past findings can be integrated into practice today as well as inform future research directions. It also addresses the opportunities that remain, and how a more comprehensive and pragmatic body of knowledge can be developed and translated to better serve athletic females in the future.
Driving Change? Field Containment of Gender Equality Committees in International Sports Governance
Lucie Schoch and Madeleine Pape
This study investigates the ability of Gender Equality Committees (GECs) to drive change in the governance of International Federations, particularly in the overrepresentation of men in leadership roles. We situate GECs within the gendered fields of strategic action, whose change efforts must engage diverse actors beyond the immediate organizational context of a given International Federation. In examining the GECs of two gender-progressive International Federations through semistructure interviews, we develop the concept of “field containment” and show that the political and material conditions of the GEC constrain its ability to perform impactful work and particularly to achieve field-wide change, ultimately resulting in the containment of the GEC. The article concludes with practical implications.
Media Analysis of Lia Thomas Surrounding 2022 National Collegiate Athletic Association Championship Win
Jessica L. Hamdan and Adam Love
In March 2022, swimmer Lia Thomas became the first transgender athlete to win a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I individual title. The current study analyzed popular online media coverage of Thomas during the month of the NCAA championships. Conservative-oriented media set the agenda by publishing a disproportionate number of articles about Thomas, frequently framing her performance as (a) illegitimate and (b) enabled by activists who “silence” their opponents. All media outlets often framed Thomas’ performance as (a) unprecedented, (b) a question of fairness as it relates to (1) science and policy and (2) concern for women’s rights, and (c) complex, while nonconservative media more frequently framed her performance as (a) a matter of LGBTQI+ rights and (b) an inspiration.
Science Communication in Kinesiology: Examples for Engaging Students
Steven J. Elmer
Scientists have a responsibility to engage with and inform the public about new challenges and discoveries that impact the health of society. However, most scientists do not have formal training in how to communicate scientific information to nonscientists. In this paper, I describe how the Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology at Michigan Technological University incorporated science communication into its undergraduate and graduate curriculum. I also discuss the impact, benefits, and lessons learned from this initiative. My hope is that this paper will inspire other kinesiology programs to provide distinct opportunities for their students to develop science communication skills so that they can better connect with the public and world around them.
Social Justice in Practice—Integrating Ethical Leadership, Inclusive Excellence, and Community Engagement in the Undergraduate Kinesiology Curriculum
Jeffrey Cherubini
Creating opportunities for undergraduate students’ personal and professional development including advocacy for social justice is a relevant topic for kinesiology faculty and administrators. Utilizing a multidisciplinary approach to promote self-awareness, behavior change, and social justice in kinesiology, the purpose of this article is to share and discuss high-impact practices and strategies to infuse ethical leadership, inclusive excellence, and community engagement within the kinesiology curriculum. Principles from kinesiology, public health, sport psychology, leadership studies, pedagogy, and human resources are integrated to help kinesiology faculty facilitate and enhance students’ future professional practices. Frameworks for behavior change for social justice in kinesiology include the decolonizing kinesiology ethics, inclusive excellence, stages of change, and effective communication. Readers are encouraged to “take back to their departments” practices and strategies that can be further modified and integrated into their own kinesiology curriculum.
Amplifying Student Viewpoints on Inclusive Student Experiences for Inclusive Excellence in Kinesiology
DeAnne Davis Brooks, Helen Yolisa Duley, Laura M. Pipe, Carla C. Fullwood, and Christopher A. Aiken
The purpose of this paper is to share how the American Kinesiology Association’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee envisioned, planned, and created an opportunity to show how inclusive excellence can be implemented as a strategy for transformation and change. This was achieved by listening to and intentionally responding with positive outcomes to students who voice their lived experiences in an institution of higher education. The Viewpoints on Inclusive Student Experiences (VOISES) model of student/faculty engagement is explained, along with reflections from two faculty members who participated in VOISES panels—one as an audience member and the other as a panel moderator. The discussion includes suggestions for incorporating student voices generally and the VOISES model specifically as part of a comprehensive diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy.
