Female Olympian And Paralympian Athlete Activists

"Athlete activism by female Olympians and Paralympians is wide-ranging, with a colorful, sometimes contentious, history blending sport and society. Emphasizing the rhetoric of women from around the world in multiple disciplines, Female Olympian and Paralympian Athlete Activists highlights women from 90 countries (including the Refugee Olympic Team). The book is underscored by author Linda Fuller's developing theory of Gendered Critical Discourse Analysis (GCDA)"--

This book examines the phenomenon of athlete activism across all levels of sport, from elite and international sport, to collegiate and semi-pro, and asks what this tells us about the relationship between sport and wider society. With contributions from scholars around the world, the book presents a series of fascinating case studies, including the activism of world-famous athletes such as Serena Williams, Megan Rapinoe and Raheem Sterling. Covering a broad range of sports, from the National Football League (NFL) and Australian Rules, to fencing and the Olympic Games, the book sheds important light on some of the most important themes in the study of sport, including gender, power, racism, intersectionality and the rise of digital media. It also considers the financial impact on athletes when they take a stand and the psychological impact of activism and how that might relate to sports performance. It has never been the case that ‘sport and politics don’t mix’, and now, more than ever, the opposite is true. This is essential reading for anybody with an interest in the politics or sociology of sport, the politics of protest, social movements or media studies.

This book examines women's participation in the Olympic Games since they were allowed to be included in that global arena. Using a holistic, social scientific approach, and emphasizing the rhetoric of sport mediatization, Female Olympians reviews the literature relative to sexism, racism, and ageism before providing historical, political, economic, and socio-cultural perspectives such as the gendered language of Olympic reportage, religious considerations, women’s bodies relative to their training for the Games, drugs and doping, and female Paralympians. With numerous critical case studies, never-before assembled data, and personal interviews with athletes, this volume offers insights that both investigate and celebrate female Olympians’ successes.

Female Olympian and Paralympian Events is a groundbreaking book that examines women’s sports in the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which have long been underappreciated and under-analyzed. The book begins with a brief background on women’s participation in the Olympic Games and their role relative to the International Olympic Committee, then introduces the underlying Gendered Critical Discourse Analysis theory used throughout the book’s analysis before delving into a literature review of female Olympians and Paralympians’ events. It includes a listing of noteworthy “firsts” in the field, followed by individual discussions of twenty-eight Summer and seven Winter events, analyzed according to their historical, rhetorical, and popular cultural representations. Women’s unique role(s) in the various events are discussed, particular athletes and Paralympic events are highlighted, and original tables are also included. At the end of each section, affiliated organizations and resources are included in this invaluable referential volume.

This book explores how the Olympic industry has shaped hegemonic concepts of sporting masculinities and femininities for its own profit and image-making ends, examining its continuing marginalization of athletes on account of their race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and class.

Over the last 50 years, the struggles to achieve equity in sport have become central to the feminist mission. This book contains an inspiring collection of stories from the women on the front lines: athletes, coaches, educators, and activists for women's sport, who have done so much to foster change. Many of the women profiled here reflect on their tough beginnings in sport: being isolated and unconnected, competing in makeshift settings, training alone, and inadequate equipment. But they also reflect on the joy of movement, teamwork, and competition. These women grew to be remarkable role models and helped to dismantle sexism in sport. To read these stories is to swell with pride over their victories, to empathize with their battles with discrimination, and to become re-energized to confront collectively the many hurdles left to clear. Featuring contributions from notable sports stars Hayley Wickenheiser, Nikki Dryden, and more. "It is hard to put into context how much the world of sport has changed. This book helps us remember the distance we have come and the enormous debt we owe to women who fought for inclusion and equal support." - Silken Laumann, Canadian Olympian

NOlympians: Inside the Fight Against Capitalist Mega-Sports in Los Angeles, Tokyo and Beyond investigates the intersection of the global rise of anti-Olympics activism and the declining popularity of hosting of the Games. The Olympics were once buoyed by myths of luminous prosperity and upticks in tourism and jobs, but in recent years these assurances have been debunked. Now more than ever, it’s clear that the Olympics have transmogrified into a political-economic juggernaut that arrives with displacement, expanded policing, and anti-democratic backroom deals. Jules Boykoff – a former professional soccer player who represented the US Olympic soccer team – zooms in on Los Angeles, where the Democratic Socialists of America have launched the NOlympics LA campaign ahead of the 2028 Summer Games. Boykoff shows how DSA-LA’s anti-Olympics activism fits with the resurgence of socialism in the US and beyond. Boykoff’s research, based on more than 100 interviews with anti-Olympics activists, personal experiences at protests in Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro, London, and Tokyo, academic research, mass- and alternative-media coverage, and Olympic archives, is the backbone for this story of activists fighting against the odds and embracing the transformative politics of democratic socialism.

Rooted in a global, transnational perspective, Athletic Activism: Global Perspectives on Social Transformation demonstrates how athletic activism can not only impact global discourse about inequity across various social location, but foster institutional change that advances social justice.