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Athletic activities are associated with reduced levels of stress and negative mood states among heterosexuals; thus, examining this association among gay/bisexual men is warranted. The current study examined the relationship between sports motivation and mood states, self-esteem, body esteem, life satisfaction, perceptions of masculinity/femininity, and parental encouragement for athletic endeavors among 195 gay/bisexual men. The results were mixed, but suggest that sports participation among gay/bisexual men may relate to a desire to express their masculinity and maintain a positive body image. Gay/ bisexual men may be more likely to participate in sports if they receive positive reinforcement from others. KEYWORDS. Gay, bisexual, men, sports, body image, motivation, masculinity

The benefits of exercise and sport extend far beyond the physical and emotional to the socio-psychological, metaphysical, global, and historical. One way to introduce and maintain sport as a therapeutic tool is to do so metaphorically, using narrative-sport therapy. That is, in addition to the introduction of physical interventions, a narrative approach to therapy is well suited to stretch exercise to its fullest meanings. Exercise and sport are powerful possibilities for women in therapy. A woman's story of herself as sporting can also be a powerful language for transformative (therapeutic) experience. In this article, some of the major tenets of narrative therapy are explained using stories from women's lacrosse specifically, and for women who exercise in general. This article uses the concepts of history-making, boundaries, reflecting, and networking to illustrate only a few of the many possible productive intersections of sport and narrative therapy. KEYWORDS. Narrative therapy, women, exercise

The domain of sports and physical activity has traditionally been considered to be appropriate for men and not compatible with the feminine role. Because gender-based schematic processing has been shown to affect attitudes and behavior, there might be differences in the categorization of sports as masculine or feminine, between sex-typed and non-sex-typed individuals. The findings in this study, including 104 women and 103 men (96.6% Caucasian, 2.9% Arabic, 0.5% Black) showed differences in gender appropriateness ratings between groups classified according to the Bem Sex Role Inventory, and also between men and women. Men, in general, and sex-typed men, in particular, were more inclined to stereotype sports as masculine or feminine. An explanation might be that these individuals engage to a greater extent in gender-based schematic processing. A possible additional explanation could be that childhood socialization into sports may serve as a means of providing proof of boys' manliness and the validation of prejudices against women, and that the need for this proof is stronger among sex-typed men.

The present work tests the associations of sports ideology with sexist and anti-homosexual attitudes in a sample of 304 college students. It was found that sports ideology is positively associated with sexist and anti-homosexual attitudes, but only among males. Among females only sexist attitudes were associated with negative attitudes toward gays and lesbians. Among males, the link of sports ideology to anti-homosexual attitudes was independent of sexist beliefs. Reciprocal causal influences between sexist attitudes and sports ideology are discussed.

The primary purposes of this study were to assess the possible relationship of sports participation during high school to body self-objectification, instrumentality, and locus of control, and to explore the possibility that different sports might be differentially related to psychological variables according to the perceived stereotypical masculinity or femininity of the sport. Two studies were reported herein. In the first, using 195 male and female students, we examined perceptions of sports according to emphasis on physical appearance and perceived masculinity/femininity. These findings were used in Study 2, which included 437 college women, to describe sports participation along dimensions of both extent of participation and the nature of the sports in which the individual participated. Extent of participation in physical fitness activity was also assessed. Participation in sports and/or physical activity was associated with higher scores on the body shame subscale of McKinley and Hyde's (1996) Objectified Body Consciousness Scale, which indicates greater internalization of cultural standards of female beauty. Body shame was also related to participation in more 'feminine' sports (those focusing more on female appearance). Physical activity was also consistently related to both instrumentality and locus of control. Further research is needed to understand the relationship of sports and physical exercise activities to body self-objectification and other indicators of psychological functioning among women.