Many women have broke the glass ceiling of sports, including tennis star Serena Williams, race car driver Danica Patrick, and soccer player Abby Wambach. These women have fought hard to reach the summit of their sports, and many women in sports continue to fight to be taken seriously or to be paid the same as men. This text examines female athletes, their struggles, as well as representations of women in sports. It includes a glossary, a list of organizations for women in sports, and additional suggestions for research.
After the War presents a panoramic view of social, political, and economic change in post-Civil War America by examining its journalism, from coverage of politics and Reconstruction to sensational reporting and images of the American people. The changes in America during this time were so dramatic that they transformed the social structure of the country and the nature of journalism. By the 1870s and 1880s, new kinds of daily newspapers had developed. New Journalism eventually gave rise to Yellow Journalism, resulting in big-city newspapers that were increasingly sensationalistic, entertaining, and designed to attract everyone. The images of the nation’s people as seen through journalistic eyes, from coverage of immigrants to stories about African American "Black fiends" and Native American "savages," tell a vibrant story that will engage scholars and students of history, journalism, and media studies.
Stan Eitzen explores America's love of sport just as he reveals sport's darker side-the influence of big business, corruption, price gouging, political maneuvering, parental meddling and media grandstanding.
Is sport good for kids? When answering this question, both critics and advocates of youth sports tend to fixate on matters of health, whether condemning contact sports for their concussion risk or prescribing athletics as a cure for the childhood obesity epidemic. Child’s Play presents a more nuanced examination of the issue, considering not only the physical impacts of youth athletics, but its psychological and social ramifications as well. The eleven original scholarly essays in this collection provide a probing look into how sports—in community athletic leagues, in schools, and even on television—play a major role in how young people view themselves, shape their identities, and imagine their place in society. Rather than focusing exclusively on self-proclaimed jocks, the book considers how the culture of sports affects a wide variety of children and young people, including those who opt out of athletics. Not only does Child’s Play examine disparities across lines of race, class, and gender, it also offers detailed examinations of how various minority populations, from transgender youth to Muslim immigrant girls, have participated in youth sports. Taken together, these essays offer a wide range of approaches to understanding the sociology of youth sports, including data-driven analyses that examine national trends, as well as ethnographic research that gives a voice to individual kids. Child’s Play thus presents a comprehensive and compelling analysis of how, for better and for worse, the culture of sports is integral to the development of young people—and with them, the future of our society.
The African American influence on popular culture is among the most sweeping and lasting this country has seen. Despite a history of institutionalized racism, black artists, entertainers, and entrepreneurs have had enormous impact on American popular culture. Pioneers such as Oscar Michaeux, Paul Robeson, Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Langston Hughes, Bill Bojangles Robinson, and Bessie Smith paved the way for Jackie Robinson, Nina Simone, James Baldwin, Bill Russell, Muhammad Ali, Sidney Poitier, and Bill Cosby, who in turn opened the door for Spike Lee, Dave Chappelle, Dr. Dre, Jay-Z, Tiger Woods, and Michael Jordan. Today, hip hop is the most powerful element of youth culture; white teenagers outnumber blacks as purchasers of rap music; black-themed movies are regularly successful at the box office, and black writers have been anthologized and canonized right alongside white ones. Though there are still many more miles to travel and much to overcome, this three-volume set considers the multifaceted influence of African Americans on popular culture, and sheds new light on the ways in which African American culture has come to be a fundamental and lasting part of America itself. To articulate the momentous impact African American popular culture has had upon the fabric of American society, these three volumes provide analyses from academics and experts across the country. They provide the most reliable, accurate, up-to-date, and comprehensive treatment of key topics, works, and themes in African American popular culture for a new generation of readers. The scope of the project is vast, including: popular historical movements like the Harlem Renaissance; the legacy of African American comedy; African Americans and the Olympics; African Americans and rock 'n roll; more contemporary articulations such as hip hop culture and black urban cinema; and much more. One goal of the project is to recuperate histories that have been perhaps forgotten or obscured to mainstream audiences and to demonstrate how African Americans are not only integral to American culture, but how they have always been purveyors of popular culture.
This 2nd edition of a highly successful book (published in 2000) provides a comprehensive, critical analysis of the Olympic Games using a multi-disciplinary social science approach. This revised edition contains much new data relating to the Sydney 2000 Games and their aftermath; and preparations for Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Games. The book is broad-ranging and independent in its coverage, and includes the use of drugs, sex testing, accusations of power abuse among members of the IOC, the Games as a stage for political protest, media-related controversies, economic costs and benefits of the Games and historical conflicts between organizers and host communities.
“Women’s sports have typically been grossly under-represented in sports media coverage. Although elite lesbian athletes far outnumber ‘out’ male athletes, media scrutiny of their experiences remains largely non-existent. Largely situated in the context of improved cultural attitudes toward sexual minorities across the West, Bill Cassidy’s Sports Journalism and Women Athletes: Coverage of Coming Out Stories is, therefore, a valuable contribution to the study of sports journalism and media, offering – for the first time – a dedicated and detailed account of the coming out of some of sports’ most high-profile lesbian athletes.” - Dr. Rory Magrath, Solent University, UK This book examines sports journalism coverage of the coming out stories of three prominent women athletes: tennis legend and feminist icon Billie Jean King, Basketball Hall of Fame Member Sheryl Swoopes and WNBA champion Brittney Griner. When King was outed in 1981 it marked a pivotal moment in which journalists were forced to discuss lesbian athletes in sports for the first time. Swoopes’ 2005 coming out was hailed as a historic moment due to her status as one of the best women’s basketball players of all time, while Griner’s casual public acknowledgment of her sexuality came during what many have called a more receptive environment for gay and lesbian athletes. By directly analysing and comparing the media attention given to these three superstars, Cassidy provides a comprehensive overview of how journalists have historically addressed women and lesbian athletes in professional sports. This book will appeal to readers interested in sports journalism, the role of sport in society, and media coverage of gay athletes.
