No Slam Dunk: Gender, Sport and the Unevenness of Social Change (Critical Issues in Sport and Society)

315 Pages·2018·6.347 MB·English

by  Cheryl Cooky, Michael A. Messner

No Slam Dunk
CRITICAL ISSUES IN SPORT AND SOCIETY
Michael Messner and Douglas Hartmann, Series Editors
Critical Issues in Sport and Society features scholarly books that help expand
our understanding of the new and myriad ways in which sport is intertwined
with social life in the contemporary world. Using the tools of various schol-
arly disciplines, including sociology, anthropology, history, media studies, and
others, books in this series investigate the growing impact of sports and sports-
related activities on various aspects of social life as well as key developments and
changes in the sporting world and emerging sporting practices. Series authors
produce groundbreaking research that brings empirical and applied work
together with cultural critique and historical perspectives written in an engag-
ing, accessible format.
Jules Boykoff, Activism and the Olympics: Dissent at the Games in Vancouver
and London
Diana Tracy Cohen, Iron Dads: Managing Family, Work, and Endurance Sport
Identities
Cheryl Cooky and Michael A. Messner, No Slam Dunk: Gender, Sport, and the
Unevenness of Social Change
Jennifer Guiliano, Indian Spectacle: College Mascots and the Anxiety of Modern
America
Kathryn E. Henne, Testing for Athlete Citizenship: Regulating Doping and Sex
in Sport
Jeffrey L. Kidder, Parkour and the City: Risk, Masculinity, and Meaning in a
Postmodern Sport
Michael A. Messner and Michela Musto, eds., Child’s Play: Sport in Kids’
Worlds
Jeffrey Montez de Oca, Discipline and Indulgence: College Football, Media, and
the American Way of Life during the Cold War
Stephen C. Poulson, Why Would Anyone Do That?: Lifestyle Sport in the
Twenty- First Century
Nicole Willms, When Women Rule the Court: Gender, Race, and Japanese
American Basketball
No Slam Dunk
Gender, Sport, and the
Unevenness of Social Change
CHERYL COOKY AND MICHAEL A. MESSNER
Rutgers University Press
New Brunswick, Camden, and Newark, New Jersey, and London
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Cooky, Cheryl, author. | Messner, Michael A., author.
Title: No slam dunk : gender, sport and the unevenness of social change / Cheryl Cooky and
Michael A. Messner.
Description: New Brunswick, New Jersey : Rutgers University Press, 2018. | Series: Critical
issues in sport and society | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017033655| ISBN 9780813592053 (hardback) | ISBN 9780813592046
(paperback)
Subjects: LCSH: Sex discrimination in sports. | Sports for women—Social aspects. |
Sports—Sex differences. | Mass media and sports—Social aspects. | BISAC: SPORTS &
RECREATION / Sociology of Sports. | SOCIAL SCIENCE / Women’s Studies. | SOCIAL
SCIENCE / Gender Studies.
Classification: LCC GV706.32 .C665 2018 | DDC 306.483—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017033655
A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the British Library.
This collection copyright © 2018 by Rutgers, The State University
For copyrights to individual pieces please see first page of each essay.
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permis-
sion from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press, 106 Somerset Street, New
Brunswick, NJ 08901. The only exception to this prohibition is “fair use” as defined by U.S.
copyright law.
The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American National
Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ANSI Z39.48-1992.
www.rutgersuniversitypress.org
Manufactured in the United States of America.
No Slam Dunk is gratefully dedicated to the memory of
D. Stanley Eitzen—sport sociology pioneer, prolific author,
inspiring mentor, and friend.

Contents
Introduction 1
CHERYL COOKY AND MICHAEL A. MESSNER
Part I Sport, Gender, and Sexuality
1 Gender Ideologies, Youth Sports, and the
Production of Soft Essentialism 15
MICHAEL A. MESSNER
2 Policing the Boundaries of Sex: A Critical
Examination of Gender Verification and the Caster
Semenya Controversy 37
CHERYL COOKY AND SHARI L. DWORKIN
3 Gender Relations and Sport:
Local, National, Transnational 54
MICHAEL A. MESSNER
4 Women, Sports, and Activism 70
CHERYL COOKY
Part II Sport as Gendered Practice
5 Barbie Girls versus Sea Monsters: Children
Constructing Gender 93
MICHAEL A. MESSNER
6 “Girls Just Aren’t Interested”: The Social Construction
of Interest in Girls’ Sport 113
CHERYL COOKY
vii
viii • Contents
7 Ready for Anything the World Gives Her?:
A Critical Look at Sports- Based Positive Youth
Development for Girls 139
LAUREN RAUSCHER AND CHERYL COOKY
8 Separating the Men from the Moms: The Making of
Adult Gender Segregation in Youth Sports 160
MICHAEL A. MESSNER AND SUZEL BOZADA- DEAS
9 Gender and Sport Participation in Montenegro 180
CHERYL COOKY, MARKO BEGOVIC, DON SABO, CAROLE A. OGLESBY,
AND MARJ SNYDER
Part III The Gender of Sports Media
10 “It’s Dude Time!”: A Quarter Century of Excluding
Women’s Sports in Televised News and Highlight Shows 209
CHERYL COOKY, MICHAEL A. MESSNER, AND MICHELA MUSTO
11 Reflections on Communication and Sport: On Men
and Masculinities 235
MICHAEL A. MESSNER
12 It’s Not about the Game: Don Imus, Race, Class,
Gender, and Sexuality in Contemporary Media 247
CHERYL COOKY, FAYE L. WACHS, MICHAEL A. MESSNER, AND SHARI L. DWORKIN
13 “What Makes a Woman a Woman?” versus “Our First
Lady of Sport”: A Comparative Analysis of the
United States and the South African Media Coverage
of Caster Semenya 269
CHERYL COOKY, RANISSA DYCUS, AND SHARI L. DWORKIN
About the Authors 295
About the Contributors 297
Index 299
No Slam Dunk