Football, Family, Gender and Identity


Book Description

This book presents a cross-disciplinary examination of the lived experiences of girls and women football players using theoretical insights from sports studies, psychology, sociology and gender studies. It examines the concept of ‘the football self’ – your own, personal football identity that encapsulates the importance of football to our everyday lives – and what that can tell us about the complex relationships between sport, family, gender and identity. The book draws on in-depth ethnographic research involving players and family members, and offers important new insights into the everyday experiences of those girls and women who play. It breaks new ground in focusing on the significant relationships between player and family with a particular focus on parenting through football. The book brings to the fore key debates around gender identity, barriers to participation, cultural gaps and discrimination. The author also brings a personal perspective to bear, drawing on experience gained over 20 years as a player, adding an extra critical layer to her important empirical research. This is essential reading for all researchers and students with an interest in football, sport studies or issues around gender, inclusion or the family in sport, and fascinating reading for anybody generally curious about football.




Football, Family, Gender and Identity


Book Description

"This book presents a cross-disciplinary examination of the lived experiences of girls and women football players using theoretical insights from sports studies, psychology, sociology and gender studies. It examines the concept of 'the football self' - your own, personal football identity that encapsulates the importance of football to our everyday live - and what that can tell us about the complex relationships between sport, family, gender and identity. The book draws on in-depth ethnographic research involving players and family members, and offers important new insights into the everyday experiences of those girls and women who play. It breaks new ground in focusing on the significant relationships between player and family with a particular focus on parenting through football. The book brings to the fore key debates around gender identity, barriers to participation, cultural gaps and discrimination. The author also brings a personal perspective to bear, drawing on experience gained over twenty years as a player, adding an extra critical layer to her important empirical research. This is essential reading for all researchers and students with an interest in football, sport studies or issues around gender, inclusion or the family in sport, and fascinating reading for anybody with a general interest in football"--




Sports and Identity


Book Description

This volume of essays examines the ways in which sports have become a means for the communication of social identity in the United States. The essays included here explore the question, How is identity engaged in the performance and spectatorship of sports? Defining sports as the whole range of mediated professional sports, and considering actual participation in sports, the chapters herein address a varied range of ways in which sports as a cultural entity becomes a site for the creation and management of symbolic components of identity. Originating in the New Agendas in Communication symposium sponsored by the University of Texas College of Communication, this volume provides contemporary explorations of sports and identity, highlighting the perspectives of up-and-coming scholars and researchers. It has much to offer readers in communication, sociology of sport, human kinetics, and related areas.




Fathering Through Sport and Leisure


Book Description

In Fathering through Sport and Leisure, an underrepresented and highly topical area of social study is examined. This is a book about fathers, and how we can understand fathers and their fathering practices better if we examine the role of sport and leisure in their relationships with their children and their partners. The author’s clear and interdisciplinary approach makes this volume an invaluable resource for undergraduates and scholars in the fields of leisure studies, family studies, sociology of the family, and the sociology of sport.




They Don't Teach This


Book Description

*SHORTLISTED FOR THE TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS* Eni Aluko: 102 appearances for England women's national football team. First female pundit on Match of the Day. UN Women UK ambassador. Guardian columnist. First class honors law degree. Now an inspirational author. They Don't Teach This steps beyond the realms of memoir to explore themes of dual nationality and identity, race and institutional prejudice, success, failure and faith. It is an inspiring manifesto to change the way readers and the future generation choose to view the challenges that come in their life applying life lessons with raw truths of Eni's own personal experience. 'A fascinating examination of her multiple identities - British and Nigerian, a girl in a boy's world, footballer and academic, a kid from an estate with upper-middle-class parents, a God-fearing rebel... Aluko does not hold back - and few people from the football establishment emerge with their reputation intact' Guardian




Cultural Sport Psychology


Book Description

"Cultural Sport Psychology is the first full text to offer a complete and authoritative look at this developing field by a diverse group of established and aspiring contributors. As clinicians develop their practice to include more diverse athletes and sport psychologists expand to work in multicultural settings, this text will undeniably spark increased discussion, reflection, and research of cultural considerations in sport psychology practice."--BOOK JACKET.




The Routledge Handbook of Gender Politics in Sport and Physical Activity


Book Description

This progressive and broad-ranging handbook offers a comprehensive overview of the complex intersections between politics, gender, sport and physical activity, shining new light on the significance of gender, sport and physical activity in wider society. Featuring contributions from leading and emerging researchers from around the world, the book makes the case that gender studies and critical thinking around gender are of particular importance in an era of increasingly intolerant populist politics. It examines important long-term as well as emerging themes, such as recent generational shifts in attitudes to gender identity in sport and the socio-cultural expectations on men and women that have traditionally influenced and often disrupted their engagement with sport and physical activity, and explores a wide range of current issues in contemporary sport, from debates around the contested gender binary and sex verification, to the role of the media and social media, and the significance of gender in sport leadership, policy and decision-making. This book is an authoritative survey of the current state of play in research connecting gender, sport, physical activity and politics, and is an important contribution to both sport studies and gender studies. It is fascinating reading for any student, researcher, policy-maker or professional with an interest in sport, physical activity, social studies, public health or political science.




Gender, Sport and Society


Book Description

Introducing the core concepts, issues and debates in the study of gender and sport, this is an accessible, engaging and thought-provoking textbook for anyone studying or interested in sport. It highlights the complexity of the gendered sporting world. Exploring inequalities in society that are reflected in sporting spaces and practices, and offering practical guidance on how to develop study skills and critical thinking, this textbook empowers readers to view the world in a different way. The book explores the social and political aspects of gender, sport and society, as well as their intersection with race/ethnicity, dis/ability, and sexualities. Introducing the basics of gender theory as applied to sport, and placing equity, diversity and inclusion at the heart of the discussion, the book explores key themes, current issues and hot topics, such as women in esports, mental health, and parenthood. The book also looks at how gender and gender stereotypes play out in the world of sport business and management. The reader is asked to co-create the textbook’s narrative by engaging with several pedagogical features, such as ‘stop and think’ and seminar activities, requesting the reader to be an active and critical participant. The compact and considered chapters will help to break down the complexity involved in this subject area. The final chapter is dedicated to study skills and practical learning advice, acting as a study guide to complement the discipline-rich chapters that come before it. This textbook is written from practitioner-educator experience ensuring the content is degree-specific, critically positioned, and most importantly, inclusive and accessible. Full of useful features in every chapter, from subject ‘insights’ to guides on further reading, media links and other sources, as well as example assignment questions, this is an indispensable textbook for all students of gender and sport, women and sport, the sporting body, sport and society, social issues in sport, inclusion in sport, and sport development, and fascinating reading for anyone with an interest in sport, gender studies or sociology more broadly.




The Feminization of Sports Fandom


Book Description

Women fans have entered the traditionally male domain of the sports stadium in growing numbers in recent years. Watching professional sport is important for women for so many reasons, but their expectations and experiences have been largely ignored by academics. This book tackles these shortcomings in the literature and sheds new light on the many ways in which women become sports fans. This groundbreaking study is the first to focus on the phenomenon of the feminization of sports fandom. Including original research on football and rugby union in the UK, it looks at the increasing opportunities for women to become sports fans in contemporary society and critically examines the way this form of leisure is valued by women. Drawing upon feminist thinking and intersectionality, it shows how women from different social classes and age groups consume the spectacle of sport. This book is fascinating reading for any student or scholar interested in sport and leisure studies, sociology and gender or women’s studies.




African Football, Identity Politics and Global Media Narratives


Book Description

This edited volume addresses key debates around African football, identity construction, fan cultures, and both African and global media narratives. Using the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa as a lens, it explores how football in Africa is intimately bound up with deeper social, cultural and political currents.