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The academic interest in women’s roles in sports in Kenya reflects the concern to level the playing field in a major social cultural phenomenon such as sport and its overall significance to social development. It is therefore not surprising that, in Kenya, women were late in establishing themselves in the sporting world. Under-representation of females in sport within the African set-up, Kenya included, is attributed to the inappropriate western-oriented games, the conflicting values of sexual beauty and sporting competence, and the divorce between women and the warrior tradition of indigenous Africa. However, as data on Kenya’s athletes to various international events demonstrate, women have slowly but steadily emerged out of the shadows of men. In some editions of the games, women have not only been the majority, but also have won more medals than men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines quantitatively and qualitatively gender representation in Finnish and Swedish tabloids' sports coverage during Athens 2004 summer and Turin 2006 winter Olympics. Several media studies argue that sports journalism marginalises women's sports and sexualises female athletes. The results of this study show that male athletes received more coverage than female athletes in every tabloid, but when the number of domestic participants and their level of success were considered, neither country's tabloids quantitatively marginalised women's sports. Qualitative analysis found that research stereotypes showing trivialisation and sexualisation of female athletes were incorrect, with the exception of Finnish tabloids representations of female athletes participating in sports that are considered masculine. For the most part, female athletes were represented in the same way as male athletes. However, it should be emphasised that the material is limited to Olympics coverage: during such major sporting events women are treated more equally, particularly quantitatively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1970s, women’s sport underwent significant change in the United States resulting in an increase of participation opportunities and funding at the interscholastic, intercollegiate, professional and international levels. Yet, media outlets continued to ignore women and, at best, portray them in gender stereotypical ways. Considering the lack of progress for women in sports media coverage, this study employs sport historian Jaime Schultz’s ‘points of change’ framework in order to identify those moments that constituted an ideological shift in the process of covering women’s sport. Drawing upon oral history interviews with journalists who wrote about women’s sport in the 1970s and 1980s, this research provides a deeper look into how journalists experienced and addressed the shifting gender ideologies of the time period. Journalists’ memories, accompanied by their articles, reveal how media practitioners negotiated meanings about femininity and athleticism in response to events that challenged deeply embedded assumptions about gender and its intersections with ethnicity, race and sexuality. This exploratory research, thus, identifies several ‘points of change’ – or points of struggle, conflict and resistance – and calls for a re-periodization of the history of women’s sports coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turkey has a distinctive position with regard to its geography and history among Muslim countries. Particular features are its secular system and far reaching modernization processes particularly with respect to the ‘emancipation’ of women. The aim of this paper is to describe and analyze sport and body politics as part of the modernization processes in Turkey and to explore in particular the multiple roles of different groups of women in the reforms initiated by the Turkish Governments. A focus will be on the intersecting influences of gender and social class. The famous archaeologist Halet Çambel will be used as an example of the ‘modern’ woman who embodied reformist ideologies. Çambel was the daughter of an elite family; she was born in Berlin where her father was an attaché at the Turkey embassy. She studied in France and participated in the Olympic Games in 1936. She and another Turkish fencer were the first women from a Muslim country to participate in the Olympic Games. Later she became the most famous archaeologist in Turkey and she stayed physically active all her life. In particular, horse riding became a favourite activity as she travelled to archaeological sites on horseback. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of History in Africa: A Journal of Method is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Leading up to the early 2000s, feminist researchers identified numerous representational practices through which the sports media ignored, trivialized and sexualized sportswomen. At that time, a distillation of the research into a set of six unwritten media 'rules' concluded that, at best, the traditional media approached women's sport ambivalently within an either/ or discourse of pretty or powerful that constructed femininity and athleticism as incompatible. In the past decade, the rise of Internet-based news and social media has dramatically changed the field of representation, including an explosion in public voice and information sharing on social networking sites. In this changed media landscape, I synthesize U.S. and global research into 15 historical and emerging rules of media representation, in order to extend researchers' understandings of the current status and range of representational practices. In addition, I employ the theoretical lenses of third-wave feminism and cultural studies to advance the ways in which feminist researchers can conceptualize and understand historical and emerging trends in how sportswomen are imagined in popular culture. In particular, I consider the implications of third wave feminism for understanding the emergence of a pretty and powerful discourse in the U.S. that challenges dominant interpretations of sports media coverage and points to the value for feminist sport media researchers of expanding their interpretive frameworks for making sense of media coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topic of women's empowerment in the Global South not only dominates gender and development programming but continues to be at the forefront of political concerns about the status and position of women across the ‘developing world’. Increasingly, it is being championed as an essential ‘developmental goal’ of northern-led sport for development and peace and sport, gender and development initiatives. Using the US Department of State supported ‘Global Sports Mentoring Program’ (GSMP) as a case study, this paper centralizes the perceptions and experiences of empowerment, agency and voice as expressed by 27 women from 22 countries across the Global South before and during their participation in the 2012 and 2013 programmes. Findings illustrate the multiple ways in which women fought for, negotiated and asserted power within their lives, and the degree to which their pre-GSMP thoughts on female empowerment were broadened, challenged and positively or negatively impacted. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Historical and sociocultural associations between sport and masculinity still determine the predominance of male ‘sporting role models’ (SRMs) in many parts of the world. The lack of female SRMs is one common theme among Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) publications. This article features potential benefits of available and relevant female SRMs in general and for SDP in particular. Findings from African case studies help to contextualize the theoretical concepts presented. Moreover, assumed functions and claims attributed to well-known top sportswomen or recreational female coaches are categorized. Different types and attributes of SRMs are identified which may enable SDP programmes to further enhance gender equity and empowerment. Thereby, key issues such as ethnicity, sexual orientation, patriarchy, type of sports, patriotism, and media coverage are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The struggle of women worldwide for their right to self-realization in general and their proper representation in sports in particular included the struggle of the women in theYishuvcommunity prior to the establishment of the State of Israel, or in the Israeli society that was formed after the country was founded. The rapid increase in women's participation in sports in Israel over the last decades illustrates the change in the status of women in sports itself and in many other social areas, but in parallel, also exposes rigid thought patterns in regard to women's and men's involvement in sports. The different physical characteristics of men and women, and society's differing expectations influence involvement in sports and the success that women achieve in sport activities. This paper will trace, conceptually and historically, the different aspects of women's sports in Israel in the past and present, while presenting the central trends of the progression and limitations of the status of female athletes in Israel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article shows how sports contributed to create new experiences and expressions of gender in Argentina in the first half of the twentieth century. The sportswoman embodied a new model of femininity, a novel type of modern, healthy and active womanhood that defied traditional constructions of gender. Sports affected women's experience of gender, providing a site for the development of an emotional and spiritual well-being by fostering personal and psychological qualities like self-esteem, self-satisfaction and self-determination. Participation in sports also helped to redefine how women related to their environment by widening their social circles and relationships. These changes triggered a number of fears and anxieties about sport's potential for gender dis-order. In particular, the figure of the machona, a masculinized, unattractive, and mannish woman, became a symbol of this dis-order. The use of humor, parody, and theatrical displays of gender became ways through which these fears were both expressed and negotiated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the coverage of women's sport in UK media rises to comparable levels to men's sports during large sporting events like the Olympics, academics agree that “routine” women's sports coverage is under-represented. According to the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation, “81% of people think that the female athletes at London 2012 make better role models for young girls than other celebrities.” This article examines the representation of women in sport and compares routine coverage of women's sports in the UK national press across a week in February 2012, six months before the London Olympics, with coverage in a week in February 2013, six months after the Olympics, to see if there has been an Olympic “legacy” that increased coverage. It also examines coverage at the same time of year a decade earlier, to see how far, if at all, women's sports coverage in newspapers has progressed. The results suggest that there has been minimal change in everyday coverage of women's sports after the Olympics, and that female athletes continue to be hugely under-represented in the UK press. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study was carried out to examine constraints to sport participation among female secondary school students in Hlanganani rural area, Limpopo Province, South Africa. A total of 101 female students aged 17-24 years from four secondary schools were recruited to participate in the study. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Results indicated that the dress code, lack of energy, lack of family support and family commitment were identified as major constraints to sport participation among female students. The results of this study provide practical implications for promoting and developing female sports programmes in rural schools. This study suggests that stakeholders such as parents, peers, and teachers should motivate and encourage female students to participate in school sport. Additionally, the study recommended that in order to promote sport participation in rural areas, the values, norms, beliefs, attitudes and customs that restrict females from participating in sport and physical activity should be dissented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors expand the original Consensus Statement published by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) concerning relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S). Topics covered include the aetiological factors contributing to the RED-S syndrome among female athletes, reasons for the need to change the term "female athlete triad" and low energy affecting male athletes.

In late 2013, Jeffrey outlined the poor performances in 2012 and 2013 of the men's cricket, soccer, and rugby union teams in Australia. She compared these poor performances to the increase in world championship titles and Olympic and international success of many of Australia's female athletes and teams (Jeffrey 2013). Australian Sport Commission Chairman John Wylie suggested that "there's a rising force in female sport," and explained that women won 57% of Australia's gold medals in London, up from 38% in Sydney in 2000, but were still "under-appreciated" (cited in Jeffrey 2013). These types of discussions around the rise of women's sports have been common in the media over the last two years in Australia. Many of these articles have focused on one particular athlete, Ellyse Perry, and her contribution to the rise of women's sport in Australia. Perry, a dual national representative in both cricket and soccer, has been presented as one of the shining lights in this culture. However, a media analysis of newspaper and online news sources in Australia has found that despite some sport journalists celebrating the achievements of Perry in particular and female athletes in Australia in general, the discussions and images used in these articles are often framed around the femininity, heterosexuality, and sexuality of such athletes. For instance, Perry is regularly presented off the field in evening dresses and high heels in newspaper articles and interviews (Halloran 2013, Le Grand 2013). Therefore, using Perry as case study and an example of this culture, this paper explains that despite women athletes in Australia performing to high international standards, they are often still presented in feminine, heterosexual, and sexualized discourses in the Australian sports media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a reading sport methodology, this study examined the Lingerie Football League (LFL) through a critical feminist lens to explore how cultural definitions of femininity, as intersected with race and sexuality, were (re)produced and challenged in texts of the LFL. This analysis was based on the examination of 380 newspaper and magazine articles and web blogs as well as content from the LFL website. The data were collected using LexisNexis and then coded using inductive themes. The five major themes developed included: (1) just another form of soft porn, (2) real women play lingerie football, (3) men take care of business, (4) promoting white-defined beauty, and (5) narratives of empowerment. The findings indicate that a dominant white, heterosexy femininity infused the league and its representations at the point at which the league was established. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper attempts to show how women in the world are gaining momentum in sports, just as they are doing in many other fields. Opportunities to compete in many field games as team players, and track athletes have been increasing in the world; this has greatly galvanized a tremendous number of women to move forward to train and compete in many sports meets, including the Olympics. They are performing better and more efficiently as athletes and the world is being forced to change its opinion of women as being not good enough to be considered as equal with men athletes on the sports arena. This paper tries to analyze the new trend among the women athletes to train harder and beat their own and others' records and rise up as fine, strong athletes worthy of accolades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, the digital media has played a key role in generating attention, creating controversy and showcasing changes in media coverage of women’s sports. Social media have made sports coverage an interpersonal, intercultural and international public domain. For the news media, however, the values used to cover and construct representation women athletes and women’s sports have not changed. An historic overview of media coverage of women’s sports is compared with today’s digitized, diversified and globalized sports coverage. The Olympics provide a media microcosm to explore gender equity in sports reporting. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Cuadernos de Psicología del Deporte is the property of Cuadernos de Psicologia del Deporte and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The goal of this research was to evaluate the attitudes of female students sportswomen and no sportswomen about sport and physical education, the research was realized in the first term of 2011/2012 school year with the sample of 64 female students, which were divided into sub sample of 29 sportswomen and 35 non sportswomen. Mercer's inventory is used for the evaluation of attitudes with 40 statements. Apart from numeric and percentage evaluation, multivariant analysis of variance and discriminative analysis and Roy's test we re applied. The values of multivariant analysis and discriminative analysis indicate the existence of statistically significant difference and clearly defined limit between sportswomen and non sportswomen, which indicates that sportswomen have positive attitude towards sport and physical education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through the unifying theme of sportswomen from sub-Saharan Africa, this volume breaks new ground within the study of women and gender. The collection also widens the canon of scholarship on sports, in which African women have long been on the periphery of methodological, theoretical and empirical discussion. This introduction has three parts. First, it sets forth the motivation for studying African sportswomen. Second, trajectories within scholarship on women and gender are traced from the second wave of Western feminist writing to debates about the category of ‘gender’ in Africa. This interdisciplinary review serves as the backdrop for the accompanying essays, a description of which comprise the final section of this introduction. The essays within this collection contribute new perspectives to studies of gender, sport and Africa, and African sportswomen offer a promising new approach for studying sport in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This discussion of the ‘state of play’ of writing on sports in Africa gives particular emphasis to the study of female athletes across the continent. It highlights the rich seam of work that has been forthcoming about athletics in southern Africa as well as conceptual frameworks that have been used to good effect. Empirical historical material is introduced to demonstrate, following Bourdieu, how far sport requires management of the body, which is ‘central to the acquisition of status’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a long time, rugby union was reserved for men in France. The French rugby union federation only opened its doors to women in 1989. Twenty years later, we asked ourselves how and when women start playing rugby and if there are still social barriers to their practice. In order to answer this, we interviewed 15 persons who belong to the world of French rugby and almost 200 female players. The results show that people around the players are reserved, mainly for fear of the physical risk, the injuries they associate with rugby and, to a lesser extent, because they are afraid of a social risk that they may become more masculine. Our results also underline the fact that actors of the French rugby sphere do not seem to be afraid of the physical risk but that they have the perception of a social risk. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of International Journal of the History of Sport is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that motivate women athletes to participate in sport in Palestine and the motivational climate created by coaches and parents. Additionally, participants' commitment to sport was investigated as well as the social constraints that Palestinian women athletes face. Participants (n= 107) included women athletes who were members of the following sport federations: soccer, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, and track and field. The athletes were asked to complete the following surveys: 1) Sport Motivation Scale, 2) the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire-2, 3) the Parent-Initiated Motivational Climate Questionnaire, and, 4) the Sport Commitment Model Scale. T-test and multiple regression analysis were utilized between the variables in the study as well as descriptive statistics. The results indicated women athletes in Palestine reported more intrinsic motivation to play sport than extrinsic motivation. Also, motivational climate created by the coach was the only factor to predict women's motivation to play their sport. Finally, women athletes in Palestine are highly committed to their sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]