Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: There has been increased media attention to women's sports over the past 5-10 years. No where is this more evident than with the creation of a magazine devoted to just women's sports -- Sports Illustrated for Women. Scholars assessing the presentation of female athletes by the media have generally concluded that the small amount of coverage given to female athletes has often been stereotypical and based on male athletic norms. Using content analysis of the feature stories in Sports Illustrated for Women and Sports Illustrated for the year 2001, this study explores how the gender of the intended audience shapes the definitions of sport, of athlete, and of female athlete. Sports is interpreted more broadly and a wide range of female athleticism is presented in Sports Illustrated for Women. However in Sports Illustrated, sports is interpreted more hierarchically, sports coverage is generally limited to the three major male professional sports (baseball, basketball, and football) and female athletes are included in very limited sports roles. To make it into the male world of sports coverage, female athletes have to be either in the gender appropriate and sexy sport of tennis or in the high audience drawing sport of basketball. Two very different realities of female athletes are constructed depending on the magazine one views. With the existence of the two sports magazines and the types of images presented in the magazines, the message is females can play whatever sport they want as long as they play in their own court.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Using Bourdieu's concepts of field and habitus, sport is conceptualized as an arena of change in which mutually interdependent agents interact affecting one another and the field itself. This research focuses on fans as one objective position in the field. In order to describe the habitus of fans developed in part through the consumptive process, one ardent group of fans is foregrounded, fantasy sport enthusiasts. Data from an online survey, participant observation and secondary data sources facilitate the construction of a theory of fanship habitus.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Fans represent an important segment of television audiences that programmers cultivate across genres. While scholars have examined fans for sports, soap operas, and reality programs separately, they haven’t looked for commonalities in fanship across programming genres. This study assessed the ways in which the viewing experience for sports fans is similar to—and different from—the viewing experience for fans of other popular genres of programming. Self-administered questionnaires were completed by 267 students at a large Midwestern university. Close-ended questions assessed the viewing experience for soap operas, reality programs, situation comedies, daytime and late night talk shows, adult-oriented animation programs, and prime time dramas. Fans of televised sports were likely to engage in a variety of pre-game planning and information search activities. Their viewing was more likely to be purposive and content-oriented. Sports fans appeared to be active viewers who took a keen interest in the action on the screen. They were emotionally involved and cared about the outcomes. Perhaps as a result, they also were more likely to check media sources for follow-up information about the games they watched. Sports fans stood alone. Fans for other programming genres were not as active or invested in their favorite programming genre.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Please see extended abstract attached

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper is part of a larger project that follows the lives of 28 African American teenagers in a diverse small-city high school in the Northeast. Through interviews and observations at public events, this longitudinal study traces their hopes, fears, and educational experiences with the goal of gaining insight into the long standing dilemma of persistent racial and ethnic achievement differences in high school. The paper focuses on a subset of male and female athletes and explores the role sports may play as a mediating factor in providing a positive school experience, greater school attachment, and academic achievement. I make three main points. First, at the most obvious level, high school sports is the one area where racial and class barriers break down. The manner, however, in which sports provide the occasion for cross racial friendships differs for male and female athletes. Second, high school sports in general provide a means for greater school attachment, an incentive for academic achievement, and a promised path to a college education, yet few realize the promise. Nevertheless, sports may have been a key reason why they lasted as long as they did in high school, with most graduating. Third, the role of coaches becomes an important source of social and cultural capital for some, although it varies by athlete and sport.