If You Let Me Play: Young Girls’ Insider-Other Narratives of Sport

Abstract

In this article we explore the narratives that 10 White, middle-class female athletes, ages 11–14, (co)produce around their sport experiences. Through interviews, observation, and participant observation, we argue that, consistent with the advertising rhetoric of such multinational corporations as Nike, these girls all advocate hard work, choice, opportunity, and personal responsibility in playing sport and in challenging gender discrimination. We argue this reflects the girls’ subscription to elements of liberal feminism and to their frequent positioning as “insider-others”—that is, outside the dominant gender norms of sport but simultaneously the beneficiaries of Whiteness and middle-class norms. In contrast to Nike and liberal feminists who frequently argue for equal opportunity in sport, these girls’ insider-other narratives suggest the need for critical interrogation of the multiple meanings and effects of sport experiences.

The Symbolic Boundary of Sports: Middle School Athletic Culture and Mexican Immigrant Girls

“…The taken for granted meaning attached to sports in these schools meant that lessons relying on the topic of sport, students' desire to excel in sport, and teachers' emphasis on sports participation as evidence of achievement was the norm. In fact, similar to the findings of Cooky and McDonald (2006), sport, embodied and in metaphor, was the key avenue for the transmission of cultural values and peer group status at the school.…”

The Sport Nexus and Gender Injustice

“…Title IX -the most significant civil rights legislation relating to the participation of girls and women in sport in the United Statesamounts to both a step forward and a step backward in the fight for gender justice in sport and beyond. Title IX"s requirement that federally funded institutions and programs offer equal access and opportunity to girls and women has contributed to gender justice by recognizing girls and women as athletes and providing institutional structures for their sporting activities (Cooky & Macdonald, 2005). In spite of considerable increases in the participation of girls and women in sport following the signing into law of Title IX, however, this legislation continues to reinforce and promote gender injustice for girls and women by emphasizing the distinct and inferior status of women athletes.…”

“I Am Not a Cow”: Challenging Narratives of Empowerment in Teen Girls Sports Fiction

“…This is not to say that sports feminists should stop publicly advocating for women's athletics, but these books provide a powerful example of how quickly a project conceptualized for empowerment can become redirected in ways that diminish its potential. Cooky and McDonald (2005) write that neo-liberal discourse and broader tenets of liberal feminism are not sufficient in aiding young girls to navigate the complexities of identity and power in sporting spaces. Given that these books reflect those central tenets, we do not believe they provide a toolkit for addressing the difficult issues young girls may face in their own sporting experiences.…”

“…In sports, the iconic 1999 magazine cover of a sports bra-clad Brandi Chastain in Newsweek spurred on the movement, as the image with the headline "Girls Rule!" is often used as an example of assertiveness and strength for young women (Cooky & McDonald, 2005). Thus, girls today have grown up in an era where they are encouraged in both institutional settings as well as in popular discourse to 'be all they can be.…”

“…For instance, the allure of individualistic ideology functions in a way that can be detrimental to building a consciousness among young women toward ongoing systemic inequities. In interviews with young girls about sporting experiences, Cooky and McDonald (2005) noted the prevalence of anecdotes related to individual achievement and hard work, along with an adherence to liberal feminist narratives that advocate only for opportunity and the chance to prove one's own skill set and measure up to a (male) standard. The authors point out that this type of liberal feminist politics-reflected so much in popular discourse aimed at and about girls-leave girls "ill equipped" to interpret the complexities of gender, race and class in sporting spaces (p. 171).…”