This 2-part longitudinal study uses quantitative content analysis of newspapers to investigate gender dynamics in producing news on equality in sports. It analyzes differences in Title IX coverage by reporter gender to determine whether female journalists advocated more aggressively for women’s equality than their male counterparts did. The study’s first part uses content analysis of volume and placement of articles about Title IX, by journalist gender, and discusses the implications of how patterns of volume and placement have changed over time. The second part identifies advocacy and opposition frames used in the conflict over Title IX; applies content analysis of frames used, by journalist gender; and discusses implications of reporting differences and changes over time for equality. Evidence suggests that, first, social control; then a feminist perspective; and, most recently, a postfeminist worldview among female journalists influenced coverage of the law.
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Gender Dynamics in Producing News on Equality in Sports: A Dual Longitudinal Study of Title IX Reporting by Journalist Gender
Kent Kaiser
Activism in Women’s Sports Blogs: Fandom and Feminist Potential
Dunja Antunovic and Marie Hardin
The emergence of social media has provided a space for discourse and activism about sports that traditional media outlets tend to ignore. Using a feminist theoretical lens, a textual analysis of selected blogs on the Women Talk Sports blog network was conducted to determine how fandom and advocacy for women’s sports were expressed in blog posts. The analysis indicated that bloggers enhance the visibility of women’s sports, but their engagement with social issues varies. Some bloggers may reproduce hegemonic norms around sports and gendered sporting bodies, while others may offer a more critical, decidedly feminist view and challenge dominant ideologies. While the blogosphere, and particularly networks such as Women Talk Sports, can serve as a venue for activism around women’s sports and the representation of athletic bodies, its potential to do so may be unmet without a more critical perspective by participants.
Curriculum Work in Physical Education: Beyond the Objectives Approach?
David Kirk
Objectives are widely used in physical education curriculum work, though the effectiveness of their use varies. Specific and behavioral objectives continue to be advocated by physical education curriculum writers despite many wide-ranging criticisms. A particular criticism is that objectives trivialize educational processes and celebrate convergent learning outcomes. In this essay, a range of advocacies on how best to approach physical education curriculum work is reviewed. A number of limitations of the objectives approach are identified. These limitations are highlighted through a review of literature and through a case study, which examines some of the practical consequences of institutionalizing an objectives approach. It is suggested that the notion of curriculum work as craft presents an alternative to the use of objectives. Curriculum work as craft involves systematic and reflective processes promoting individuality and personal involvement in teaching and learning. This approach also creates the possibility of divergent learning outcomes.
‘Screenagers’ and In/Active Lifestyles: A Socio-Cultural Analysis of Healthy Life Span Promotion
Margaret MacNeill
Young people are increasingly the targets of public health and private-public sector campaigns to promote active lifestyles and longevity of the life span (Arnett, 2012; Faulkner, Kwan, Brownrigg, & MacNeill, 2011). Yet media campaigns alone cannot redress the barriers to physical activity. In this paper I argue that theories of life span and social marketing approaches to health promotion share a grounding in the behavioral sciences that need to be broadened to consider social determinants of active and inactive lifestyles and uncover how youth audiences make sense of health promotions. As such, I suggest how the social marketing of healthy life spans can move upstream to advocate policies and programs for youth activity. In this article I a) critically examine our shifting notions of youth and assumptions about life span, b) highlight trends in media consumption by youth, c) consider how kinesiology can broaden the social marketing lens to active media advocacy for social justice, and d) raise implications for research and intervention.
Increasing the Availability of Physical Activity Programs for Older Adults: Lessons Learned From Texercise Stakeholders
Alan B. Stevens, Shannon B. Thiel, Jennifer L. Thorud, Matthew Lee Smith, Doris Howell, Jessica Cargill, Suzanne M. Swierc, and Marcia G. Ory
Many initiatives have been developed to facilitate older adults’ engagement in physical activity (PA) and document its benefits. One example is Texercise, a 12-week program with a focus on increasing participants’ self-efficacy. The goal of this paper is to augment the knowledgebase of PA program implementation and dissemination by elucidating the experience of Texercise implementation as perceived by multiple stakeholders. We conducted 28 semistructured stakeholder interviews and categorized the responses into four preset themes: (1) program delivery and advocacy; (2) value/merit of the program; (3) successes/challenges of offering and sustaining the program; and (4) recommendations for enhancing implementation and delivery. We identified emergent subthemes through further analysis. Many perceptions that are broadly applicable to community organizations emerged. Our findings highlight the importance of stakeholder support when embedding PA programs in communities. Furthermore, the findings are crucial to understanding underlying processes that support widespread program dissemination and sustainability.
A Time for Clinical Transformation: Emerging Implications From COVID-19 for Athlete Transition Research and Clinical Practice
J.D. DeFreese, Samuel R. Walton, Avinash Chandran, and Zachary Y. Kerr
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in changes to the structure of sport and the experiences of athletes. In this commentary, we consider how these changes, including schedule disruptions and the early termination of careers, have contributed to a reconsideration of how athlete transition should be defined, examined, and intervened upon. We outline our rationale for this proposed reconfiguration, including implications for researchers and practitioners working with athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. For researchers, we recommend updating the transition definition, reconsidering the measurement of salient transition-related variables, and utilizing study designs/methods that best facilitate this work. For practitioners, we recommend considering the dynamic nature of transition within holistic athlete care, building momentum on mental health destigmatization achieved during the pandemic, athlete transition education, and clinician advocacy for transition-related resources for athletes. Ultimately, we hope this work will spark continued innovations in athlete transition research and practice moving forward.
Women with Disability, Paralympics, and Reasoned Action Contact Theory
Claudine Sherrill
The underrepresentation of women in the Paralympics movement warrants attention as the world prepares for Atlanta 1996, when Paralympics (conducted after the Summer Olympics) will attract approximately 3,500 athletes with physical disability or visual impairment from 102 countries. Barriers that confront women with disability, the Paralympic movement, and adapted physical activity as a profession and scholarly discipline that stresses advocacy and attitude theories are presented. Two theories (reasoned action and contact) that have been tested in various contexts are woven together as an approach particularly applicable to women in sport and feminists who care about equal access to opportunity for all women. Women with disability are a social minority that is both ignored and oppressed. Sport and feminist theory and action should include disability along with gender, race/ethnicity, class, and age as concerns and issues.
Sport Management Faculty Members’ Mentorship of Student-Athletes
Stacy M. Warner, Sarah Stokowski, Alison Fridley, and Kibaek Kim
When compared with other disciplines, sport management educators are more likely to encounter student-athletes in their classrooms. While faculty mentoring is a key to student success for all, better understanding of this mentoring dynamic between sport management faculty and student-athletes is important to advancing pedagogical knowledge within the discipline. And perhaps, even more importantly, it can aid in creating a pathway for faculty advocacy and dispelling stigmas related to student-athletes. Consequently, the Mentor Role Instrument was used to determine if faculty mentorship of student-athletes differs by function type (RQ1) and if this was impacted by gender or faculty appointment (RQ2). An online survey of 88 sport management educators indicated that a significant difference was found, F(8, 783) = 44.16; p < .001, among mentoring function type. Friendship and Acceptance were the most prevalent mentoring functions, while Protection was the least frequent. Results did not indicate that gender or faculty appointment impacted faculty mentorship styles toward student-athletes.
Psychological Research on Exercise and Fitness: Current Research Trends and Future Challenges
Lise Gauvin and John C. Spence
In this paper, milestones of psychological contributions to the study of exercise and fitness are summarized, the results of an archival study of empirical research published in 10 periodicals since 1990 are presented, and challenges facing researchers in this area are discussed. Psychological studies on exercise and fitness began to emerge in significant numbers in the late 1970s and have frequently been conceptualized with health outcomes in mind. Current research is published in almost equal numbers in physical activity and health periodicals, but researchers based in academic units related to physical activity publish less frequently in health-related journals. Aerobic exercise is studied more often than other types of exercise, and exercise adherence and the role of exercise for mental health are studied most frequently. Some challenges facing researchers include developing effective publication strategies, engaging in advocacy for the relevance of exercise and fitness, and bridging the gap between research and practice.
Characteristics of Utility Cyclists in Queensland, Australia: An Examination of the Associations Between Individual, Social, and Environmental Factors and Utility Cycling
Shannon L. Sahlqvist and Kristiann C. Heesch
Background:
Initiatives to promote utility cycling in countries like Australia and the US, which have low rates of utility cycling, may be more effective if they first target recreational cyclists. This study aimed to describe patterns of utility cycling and examine its correlates, among cyclists in Queensland, Australia.
Methods:
An online survey was administered to adult members of a state-based cycling community and advocacy group (n = 1813). The survey asked about demographic characteristics and cycling behavior, motivators and constraints. Utility cycling patterns were described, and logistic regression modeling was used to examine associations between utility cycling and other variables.
Results:
Forty-seven percent of respondents reported utility cycling: most did so to commute (86%). Most journeys (83%) were > 5 km. Being male, younger, employed full-time, or university-educated increased the likelihood of utility cycling (P < .05). Perceiving cycling to be a cheap or a convenient form of transport was associated with utility cycling (P < .05).
Conclusions:
The moderate rate of utility cycling among recreational cyclists highlights a potential to promote utility cycling among this group. To increase utility cycling, strategies should target female and older recreational cyclists and focus on making cycling a cheap and convenient mode of transport.
