Search Results

The presence of transitioned women in sport is currently a contested issue. Mianne Bagger, a transitioned woman, has been an important figure in developments related to this issue during her efforts to play on various women’s professional golf tours. Using a standpoint perspective, which begins with the assumption that some social locations, such as those of marginalized individuals, are better starting points than others for seeking knowledge, the researchers interviewed Bagger about her experiences. Since she has begun seeking the right to play on various women’s professional tours, a number of golfing organizations have introduced or created “gender policies” regarding who is allowed to participate. While such policy developments may seem on the surface to be progressive measures designed

The purpose of this study was to assess the presence of gender-biased or stereotypical coverage in the written and photographic newspaper reporting of interscholastic sports. Over a one-year timeframe, a total of 602 newspaper issues were randomly selected from Florida’s 43 daily newspapers. These daily issues contained 1792 articles and 827 photographs that fit the criteria for inclusion. The results of the study were consistent with previous research on the media’s stereotypical coverage of athletics. Both female and male athletics were over-represented in both written and photographic coverage of traditionally accepted “sex appropriate” sports. Male athletics were under-represented in both written and photographic coverage of “sex inappropriate” sports. Female athletics, when analyzing their participation in “sex inappropriate” sports, were under-represented in the photographic coverage but not in the written coverage. Overall, there existed hegemonic masculinity within the sports pages of the Florida print media.

Women’s flat track roller derby is considered by participants a space for constructing positive images of diverse female bodies in sport, proclaiming that women of all shapes and sizes are welcome. However, despite evidence to the contrary, the universal claim of diverse body acceptance has not been fully interrogated within the literature. In this three-year auto/ethnography of a Midwestern Division 1 derby league, I ask: In what ways do women derby skaters talk about the derby body, and how do their behaviors coexist with the mantra of inclusion? I rely on participant observation, in-depth interviews with 13 skaters, and personal journaling of my experiences as a skater to problematize the notion that “any body can be a derby girl.” I argue that three contradictory discourses regarding skater bodies simultaneously permeate the elite derby space: 1) “size doesn’t matter,” or that function trumps body form, 2) “bigger is better,” or that larger bodies have greater value, and 3) “serious athleticism,” that skater bodies must have a high level of fitness to compete. I conclude that the mantra of acceptance within derby must be qualified given these other discourses, and that derby’s potential to empower participants and serve as a critique for mainstream sport is thereby limited.

The purpose of this paper is to answer three questions related to authorship trends in movement science journals: 1) Do movement science journals publish significant numbers of articles by women?, 2) How does the rate of publication by women in movement science journals compare to that in other fields?, and 3) Has the number of journal articles published by women in the movement sciences changed throughout 1990’s (1991-1996)? Six movement science journals were selected for inclusion in this study. Two trained investigators conducted hand searches of journals and frequency counts were performed for the total number of authors and articles, and the gender of the first through fourth authors. Percentage of women authors was ascertained using the following formula: [total number of women authors / total number of authors] × 100. Percentage of articles in which a woman made a contribution was calculated as follows: [number of articles with at least I woman author / total number of articles] × 100. Number of articles with a woman as first, second, third, or fourth author was calculated by counting individual authors and their order of authorship. The journal that published the highest percentage of women authors or articles with women contributors was the Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal , followed by Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport and Quest . The journals that published the largest number of articles by women were Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise and The Physician and Sportsmedicine . Trends in publication by gender have not changed considerably between 1991-1996. In comparison to journals in other scientific disciplines, exercise science journals publish a comparable proportion of articles by women.

Women’s running has made significant gains during the past century. The Feminine Sportive Federation International, an international organization for women in sport, was an early advocate for women’s running. They lobbied for the inclusion of 5 new women’s events in the 1928 Olympics, the longest of which was 800 meters. Unfortunately, some competitors in the 800 m event collapsed, providing “rationale” for excluding women from distance racing (Noakes, 1991). Later, the 800 meter event was re-introduced in the 1960 Olympics, and so the interest in “women’s distance running” was re-kindled. Women continued to call for greater challenges, and eventually in 1972, they were officially allowed to run the Boston Marathon (Noakes, 1991). Today, distances of 5,10, and 42 kilometers make up the majority of road races throughout the country. These events are not limited to top-flight women athletes racing for fame and fortune or a chance to represent America in the Olympic Games. Rather, thousands of women—of all shapes, running styles and fitness levels—enter these weekend races, most with little hope of winning a prize.

Currently, women runners are recognized at the national level as “open” (any age) or “masters” (40 years of age and older) competitors. This separation is important because performance varies with age. How age affects performance depends upon a number of factors including overall health, injury status, training, and genetic endowment. Considerable individual variability exists, but at some point in middle-age, performance declines. Although equal performance is not likely from outstanding 45 year old and 25 year old competitors, each may be considered an “elite” performer when competition is separated into age groups. The separation of athletes into masters and open categories and further into age groups results in opportunities for many to receive recognition, and for competitors to set and achieve goals relative to their age. Age-group competition has attracted thousands and thousands of “new” runners and encouraged former competitors to “stay with it for a few more years.”

Very little is known about women who run at the “masters” level. There is general information about how aging affects the male athlete’s performance, but little information about how aging affects women’s performances. This paper is a review of the literature on masters women runners and a description of 1) their physical and physiological characteristics, 2) their performance, 3) their performance decline with advancing age, and 4) the health related benefits of physical activity.