In toxic hating masculinity: MMA hard men and media representation

ABSTRACT

This article begins by focusing on the presumed relation between the toughness fostered by mixed martial arts (MMA) and the maintenance of traditional ‘hard man’ forms of toxic masculinity. However, it adds an extra dimension to this discussion. It argues that (first) the UFC and (thereafter) MMA as a whole were in very tangible ways invented within and thanks to reality TV. As such, it contends that MMA's often debated relation to ‘real’ fighting needs to be approached in full awareness to the implications of its indebtedness to media representation. Because of this debt, it argues that media representation itself ought to be understood as playing an active role in the invention, maintenance or modification of gendered representation. Finally, it proposes that if a kind of ‘MMA toxic masculinity’ is regarded as being a problem, then the solution may not simply be to ‘change MMA’. Rather, both the problem and the solution may more precisely be located in the kinds of media representations that circulate about MMA subjects and subjectivities.     

When girls have no opportunities and women have neither time nor energy: the participation of Muslim female cleaners in recreational physical activity

Statistics about the recreational physical activity (PA) of minority ethnic Muslim women reveal very low participation rates. Drawing on approaches to socialization and Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and taste, the aim of this study was to investigate the (lack of) PA participation of Muslim minority ethnic women in Denmark and to identify key influences which shape(d) their PA attitudes and practices. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 26 female migrant cleaners from various non-Western countries. The interviews revealed that a lack of previous experience of sport and recreational PA and life circumstances constrained participation in recreational PA. In contrast, religion did not provide an explanation for the women’s lack of engagement in recreational PA.     

Crossing Boundaries and Changing Identities: Empowering South Asian Women through Sport and Physical Activities

The participation of women in sport is significant to socio-economic empowerment in any country. Evidence reveal that although South Asian female athletes are capable of winning medals in the Olympics, a very low percentage of the South Asian female population ever participate actively in sport. The status and circumstances to participate in sport are restricted for many female athletes in South Asia. This paper examined the main factors that influence women's sporting participation in South Asian countries. Data were analysed by using documentary analysis method. This paper analysed a combination of concepts addressing women and sport in South Asia in two ways. Firstly, it emphasises the issues and patterns of women's participation in sport in South Asian countries after the independence from the British Empire. Secondly, it highlights the benefits to South Asian societies of women's participation in sport, but argues why South Asian women are trivialised in sports participation. Results revealed the inequalities and discrimination that constrain women from participating in the South Asian sports sector as personal, social and cultural barriers. Possible solutions are provided to reduce these factors to encourage South Asian women's participation in sport. Success and the implications of South Asian governments’ interventions on women and sport are also discussed. Results of this study revealed the inequalities and discrimination that constrain women from participating in the South Asian sports sector is continuing.     

在传统与自觉之间:湘西村落女性参与传统体育的行为逻辑——兼与万义博士商榷

村落女性是当代湘西地区民族传统体育复兴的主要力量,女性的体育参与行为来自于主体意识的觉醒或短视性的工具理性行为。通过长期的田野调查、地方文献比对,并反思前人研究成果,认为:少数民族村落女性积极参与的传统体育项目均为自古以来其所拥有参与权的项目;当下她们参与集体性传统体育活动主观上有社交的需求,客观上得到村级行政机构的支持;她们热衷于参与公共空间的展演活动,并试图在文化融合中通过传统体育行为完成身份认同,其中,以女性精英分子的文化自觉为引领的代表性项目的复兴起到举足轻重的作用;男权社会的性别结构制约女性参与者的主体能动性,政府主导的传统体育复兴为女性提供更多参与机会,但过度的主导又极易伤害其自觉性。     

Promoting women’s soccer through social media: how the US federation used Twitter for the 2011 World Cup

This study examines the coverage given to the US women’s national soccer team by its governing body, the US Soccer Federation (USSF), immediately before, during and immediately after the 2011 World Cup. Content analysis of two of the USSF’s Twitter accounts showed that although the differences in both quantity and quality of coverage between men’s and women’s soccer are not as great as those detected in traditional media between men’s and women’s athletics, a gender gap remains. Similar to traditional media, the USSF framed the women’s team as less important than the men’s, even though this study was purposefully conducted at a time when female soccer was supposed to be prominent because of the international schedule.     

‘Muscles for Motherhood’: A Genealogical Analysis of Medicalized Ways of Knowing Female Footballers in New Zealand, 1921 and 1973–1975

ABSTRACT

Michel Foucault argued that females gradually became integrated into the sphere of medical practices through a process which he termed as a ‘hysterization of women’s bodies’ (Foucault, The History of Sexuality, Volume One: An Introduction, New York: Pantheon Books, 1978, 104). In this article, we draw on Foucault to examine how women’s bodies, exercise and motherhood impacted on the historical development of female football in New Zealand within two time periods (1921 and 1973–1975). Employing his genealogical framework, we analyze newspaper reports, historical documents and conducted in-depth interviews to demonstrate how medical/scientific discourses both constrained and enabled the participation of women in football. We conclude that while medical knowledge was used to publicly disqualify the legitimacy of the female footballer in 1921, and hence her abrupt disappearance from the sporting realm, the absence of such medical knowledge in the early 1970s, combined with societal changes associated with second wave feminism, paved the way for the eventual ‘normalization’ of female football in New Zealand.     

湖南城市职业女性健身消费与其他身体消费比较研究

运用文献资料研究、问卷调查、实地访谈等方法对湖南城市职业女性健身消费与其他身体美丽消费的相关问题进行研究.结果表明,是的现代标准下女性对身体不满加剧;“美女”行业走进大众生活;美丽消费成为职业女性个人消费首选;但城市职业女性整体健身消费热情不高;健身消费多少与收入高低并非呈正比;健身消费注重趣味与实效;美丽消费使女性痛并焦虑着;为促进女性的和谐发展,满足女性健身、健美、娱乐等多种需求,提出了必须通过多种途径,丰富和拓展职业女性健身健美体育文化,激发职业女性积极主动的健身参与意识,提高职业女性的健康素养.     

‘Governmentality’ in the origins of European female PE and sport: the Spanish case study (1883–1936)

The purpose of the paper is twofold: (1) to contribute to the analysis of the origins of modern European female PE and sports from a power perspective, inspired by Foucault's work; and (2) to present a detailed analysis of female PE and sport in Spain (1883–1936) as a specific European case study. It is argued that these physical activities could be conceived in the Spanish case as part of a specific kind of ‘governmentality’ with a dual nature. On the one hand they represented disciplinary ‘technologies of power’ over the female body. Selected physical activities—dictated mainly from the hygienic-moral position of the Regeneracionistas (‘Regenerationists’)—were exerted as a kind of ‘bio-power’ for the control of the female population. On the other hand, such kind of activities (especially sports) represented certain ‘technologies of the self’ for middle and upper class women. Through participation in sports, women gained a more active and public role in the Spanish society of the era, obtaining some degree of autonomy in self-governance over their bodies and their lives.     

农村妇女健康促进的体育行动与策略——基于广东省清远市J村妇女的行动研究

体育是促进健康的重要方式,然而现实中农村妇女健康状况令人忧虑,其体育参与也面临层层障碍。为消除农村妇女体育参与的困境,探索体育促进农村妇女健康的行动策略,以女性主义身体理论为指导,以广场健身舞为干预手段,对广东省清远市J村妇女进行健康促进的体育行动研究。发现:体育不仅能使农村妇女的健康状况得到改善,更能促进其健康生活方式的形成、自我认同的加强、社会支持的增多。认为:体育的健康行动策略需从“自我关注的提升”“自由的获得”“身体的掌控”“网络的构建”等4个方面进行规划,使农村妇女运动的主体性得以释放与满足,实现农村妇女的全面健康。     

性别、权力与体育:中国女性体育研究进展——基于“十一五”以来CNKI数据的文本研究

采用文献资料等方法对"十一五"以来我国女性体育研究领域的相关成果进行梳理,评述女性体育研究领域的进程与历史走向。结果发现:我国女性体育研究整体成果数量不多,研究过程中出现"女性体育"、"妇女体育"与"女子体育"概念相互混淆的局面,其中以"女性体育"研究文献居多;目前我国女性体育研究的典型成果主要围绕"女性体育参与的状况","女性体育与性别","女性体育媒介呈现","女性主义与女性体育","女性身体观与体育"等维度展开;女性主义、西方社会学理论与女性体育研究在我国还处于初级阶断;对女性身体观与体育、性别与体育领域的研究还有待于进一步深入。     

当代女性健身观念与行为的影响因素和特点——以北京地区为例

通过文献资料、访谈、调查问卷等方法,以北京地区为例对当代女性健身观念与行为进行讨论与分析。从被调查者年龄结构、受教育程度和职业分布能够比较全面反映出当代女性健身观念和行为的现状。研究显示:当今,女性健身目的明确且理性,大部分女性认为体育健身应是生活的一部分,并认为对体育健身的参与度反映出女性的社会地位及参与体育健身是现代女性的标志之一。当代女性特别是知识女性对体育健身与人的身心健康的关系认知程度都比较高,认为体育健身是改变身心健康的有效途径,特别是年轻的女性参与体育锻炼更多的是源于对自身身心健康的关注。但是,从参与体育健身的人数和每周健身的频度,反映出当代女性健身观念和健身行为的不一致性。在现实当中,由于女性角色传统与现代的冲突,在参与健身时存在着女性与男性实际上的不平等。     

竞技体育视野下的女性性别认同建构

伴随着女性参与体育运动的高涨,女性在竞技体育中的性别认同建构引起社会学家的广泛关注。以福柯、布迪厄为代表的社会学家对女性性别认同建构予以关照,深刻影响了体育社会学的研究,在男性话语建构下的竞技体育发展视角下,论述竞技体育中女性性别认同建构。主要分析体育运动中女性身体的展现和竞技体育中女性身体建构两个方面,并以个案研究为例论述竞技体育中女性性别认同建构研究。     

Women,Sport, and the Press in Twentieth-Century Mexico

Abstract

The concept of women engaging in physical recreation was anathema to late nineteenth-century Mexican society. While underlying scepticism continued throughout the decades that followed, post-Revolutionary reforms provided a surprisingly open arena within which both men and women could practice sport. We analyze how the issue of gender influenced these reforms and the degree to which this affected popular participation in sports. Identifying media coverage as a barometer of broader society’s perceptions of female sporting activity, we consider the salient trends in the Mexican press, how these changed over time, and the ways in which female journalists approached women’s sport. Our findings suggest the need for caution in leaping to gender-based assumptions and provide evidence that, in some respects, male journalists became more enlightened than their female counterparts in confronting underlying prejudices.     

湘西地区农村妇女对全民健身的认同及需求的研究

文章采用文献资料法、实地访谈法、问卷调查法、数理统计法等研究方法,围绕认知、态度和参与及需求方面对湘西地区农村妇女体育进行调查研究.研究结果表明:该地区农村妇女对全民健身计划关注程度低,健身态度积极性不强;认知水平尚处于浅层次上,不能很好的区分体育与劳动,对健身项目的认同表现不同,但该群体对体育在生活中作用的重要性认知较强,体育功能认知呈现多元化;参与情况:妇女参与率低,选择健身项目内容单一,活动时间不具有连续性.开展最普遍的是民族传统体育活动的组织形式以松散、小型的群众自发组织为主;妇女对体育的需求度并不太高,但对体育内容的需求多元化,并针对欠发达地区农村提出如何发展妇女体育的一些建议.     

Empowerment and women in adventure tourism: a negotiated journey

Women’s participation in adventure tourism is growing, yet few studies have explored this group of tourists. This conceptual paper seeks to extend our understanding of female adventure tourists by examining the empowering journey women can take through constraint negotiation to enjoy the benefits of adventure tourism. Using content analysis to review the literature on women’s adventure experiences in tourism and recreation settings reveals prominent themes that have been consolidated to propose constraint, negotiation and benefit categories. A conceptual model is presented that illustrates the opportunities for women’s empowerment within these categories and examines the interrelationships and interdependency between them. The model shows that constraints, negotiations and benefits can be experienced simultaneously, at different points in a woman’s adventure tourism journey and used as a vehicle for empowerment. Women will also re-evaluate these categories before, during and after their adventure tourism experience. Therefore, the categories are not fixed and evolve each time a woman participates in adventure tourism throughout her life. Suggestions are made for further study in this under-researched area.     

Female football players in England: examining the emergence of third-space narratives

This paper will examine the ways in which female football players negotiate and contest gender conventions practised in English football. I look at female participation through the application of Bhabha’s ‘third-space’ thesis, and argue that Bhabha’s work has utility in the context of this case study for understanding complexities and nuances ordinarily ignored by gendered discourse performed in English football culture. I utilize semi-structured interviewees with women who have or are still currently playing football across an age range of 17–45. I draw on a feminist ‘standpoint’ in order to attain critical narratives. Critiques arise in two key areas. Firstly, the impact of changes in governance under the Football Association. Secondly, the agency of players themselves to actively contest gender conventions, whether through playing football despite the negative connotations attached to female physicality, or through the provision of mixed football.     

The Women’s Amateur Rowing Association 1923–1963: a prosopographical approach

The formation of the Women’s Amateur Rowing Association (WARA) in 1923 marked the start of a new phase of the sport’s history. Apart from any direct influence it could exercise as a governing body, its foundation suggests a commitment to building the longevity, reach and relevance of women’s rowing. Yet in the context of the renowned conservativism of the Amateur Rowing Association (ARA) which preceded it, and the complex social permissions around women’s sport in the early twentieth century, it also raises important questions about the organisation and status of women’s amateur rowing. This paper aims to extend the understanding of the WARA using prosopographical data and analysis in conjunction with archival material. It challenges the existing depiction of this sporting community and administration as a female reflection of the ARA, aiming to replicate its structures and, in doing so, to bolster its respectability and the legitimacy of its practice among the middle and upper classes. Analysis addresses the intersection of domestic, professional and sporting lives, the role of education in sporting participation and administration, and the influence of class across these issues. The paper also interrogates the use of prosopography as an analytical tool for this type of analysis.     

男子足球与女子足球比赛攻守转换时空特征对比分析——以2010年男子足球世界杯赛和2011年女子足球世界杯赛为研究对象

采用文献资料调研、录像分析法、数理统计法对2010年男子足球世界杯赛109个运动战进球和2011年女子足球世界杯赛65个运动战进球特征进行分析,对比男子足球和女子足球运动战进球各项指标,探索男子足球和女子足球在比赛异同,为女子足球"男子化"的训练和打法提供建议。主要分析指标包括:进球耗时、有效传球次数、最后一传方式、射门区域、射门技术手段。研究结果表明:1)2010年男子足球世界杯赛场均进球数少于2011年女子足球世界杯赛场均进球数,主要原因有三:男子足球世界杯赛的中各队打法较为功利、非洲队伍表现不佳以及各队对南非环境的不适应。2)女子足球比赛攻守双方进入状态较快,打法更具激情,男子足球比赛则在比赛开始阶段相对较为保守;无论男子足球还是女子足球比赛,运动战都是得分的主要手段。3)女子足球运动员在比赛中较男子足球运动员更多地采用简洁快速的配合来获得得分机会。4)女子足球比赛在最后一传方式上较男子足球更加倾向于一脚传球;女子足球比赛中对于个人能力的依赖程度还是要高于男子足球比赛;女子足球运动员的传接球、控球技术不够娴熟,较易出现失误。5)现代足球比赛"一脚球"成为了得分的主要手段,男子足球和女子足球比赛均体现出了此特点;女子足球运动员在比赛中获得射门机会时相对于男子足球有更多的选择余地;女子足球运动员远射和小角度射门得分的数量要少于男子足球。     

Is football now feminist? A critique of the use of McCaughey’s physical feminism to explain women’s participation in separate leagues in masculine sports1

Over the past two decades, there have been a number of sociological investigations of participation by women in sports that had previously appeared to have been played exclusively by men. These investigations have rightly celebrated this participation as examples of greater physical empowerment, choice and freedom for women in sport. Several of these investigations have gone further by utilizing McCaughey’s notion of physical feminism to argue that participation in these sports is indicative of a broader feminist political challenge. This paper contends that this characterization of the broader political challenge is a misinterpretation of McCaughey’s physical feminism. Further, this misinterpretation is indicative of the theoretical underpinnings of the shift from a second wave radical feminism to a third wave celebrity feminism. This paper proposes a set of commitments that would be necessary, although not sufficient, to see these women’s leagues as feminist organizations that politically challenge patriarchal power.     

‘Physical Education’s First Lady of the World’: Dorothy Sears Ainsworth and the International Association of Physical Education and Sport for Women and Girls

Abstract

Dorothy Sears Ainsworth has received wide acclaim for her pioneering efforts in international relations that enhanced collaboration among female physical educators in the decades following World War II. As Director of Physical Education for Women at Smith College (1926–1960), Ainsworth became a global figure, traveling extensively and organizing the first international conference on physical education for women and girls in Copenhagen in 1949. This resulted in the establishment of the International Association of Physical Education and Sport for Girls and Women (IAPESGW), today counting over 400 members from 45 different countries. In this paper we (re)consider the largely hagiographical accounts of Ainsworth’s career and re-examine her contributions to the international stage in light of her maternalist views on female sport and physicality. Indeed, women’s difference from men dominated the discourse of many international women’s movements at this time. We consider what IAPESGW’s long-term governance by primarily white and wealthy women may have meant in terms of the organization’s focus and globalizing efforts and conclude that though Ainsworth’s essentialist approach ignored earlier feminist sporting movements, and would not outlast the more progressive winds of change in the 1970s, neither should her early contributions to establishing bonds among female physical educators globally be minimized.