“Isn't He a Good Guy?”: Constructions of Whiteness in the 2006 Olympic Hockey Tournament

Poniatowski, Kelly; Whiteside, Erin

doi:10.1080/10646175.2012.641866

Cited by 14 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…The qualitative analysis revealed race-related patterns in stories about the intellectual abilities of golden boys that could not be observed by the quantitative analysis. In line with previous studies (Mercurio and Filak 2010; Rada 1996; Rainville 1977; Eastman and Billings 2001; Poniatowski and Whiteside 2012; McCarthy and Jones 1997), the intelligence of some minority athletes was sometimes framed as surprising—a theme that was not present in stories about white golden boys. The qualitative analysis also showed how heavy alcohol consumption was normalized and sometimes idealized in Sports Illustrated.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

What Color is a Golden Boy? The Glorification and Disparagement of Male Superstar Athletes in Sports Illustrated

Woods

Hartwell

2023

Social Currents

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This study examined media representations of male superstar athletes over more than three decades. Some journalists portrayed their subjects as smart, physically attractive young men at the top of their games. Other writers emphasized their flaws and told stories of tarnished heroes. Based on an analysis of 140 references to sports stars in Sports Illustrated magazine articles, the results showed that favorable and unfavorable framing of athletes depended on their race/ethnicity, the dominance of their sport, and the historical context in which they played. Compared to white sports stars, racial minority athletes were more often portrayed with unfavorable frames, such as unintelligent, immoral, or lacking charm. Athletes from lesser-known sports were also more likely to be described with unfavorable frames than athletes from the four most dominant sports in the US (football, basketball, baseball, and hockey). Both favorable and unfavorable frames were more common in articles published in the most recent period (2013–2021) than in earlier decades (1987–2012), signaling an increasing interest among journalists in the personal qualities of sports stars. The study provides new empirical and theoretical insight on the relationships between three social antecedents—racism, hegemonic sport culture, and technological change—and the framing of superstar athletes.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

What Color is a Golden Boy? The Glorification and Disparagement of Male Superstar Athletes in Sports Illustrated

Woods

Hartwell

2023

Social Currents

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“…As Twine and Gallagher (2008) pointed out, white foreigners have the privilege and power that transmit white cultural products to Asian countries. In this case, white naturalized athletes delivered the sport of ice hockey to South Korea, where their physical superiority is credited as strong, tall, big, tough, aggressive, and unbreakable compared to their relatively weaker counterparts—South Korean-born athletes (Poniatowski & Whiteside, 2012). Cho (2014) argued that citizenship is complexly and selectively granted.…”

Section: Findings and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Taegeuk Warriors with Blue Eyes: A Media Discourse Analysis of the South Korean Men’s Olympic Ice Hockey Team and Its Naturalized Athletes

Shin

Park

Peachey

2020

Communication & Sport

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This study examines media discourses of the naturalized athletes of the South Korean men’s national ice hockey team. Building on the conceptual frameworks of imagined community, ethnic nationalism, and previous studies on athlete migration and naturalization, we further an understanding of the process of deconstruction and reconstruction of South Korean ethnic and national identity. We use Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis to explore how South Korean media legitimized the naturalization of foreign athletes without Korean ancestry and suggest three themes found from the discourses. First, the discourses highlighted the significance of the South Korean team’s Olympic success, which provided a legitimate reason for the recruitment of foreign athletes. Second, the naturalized athletes were described as “saviors” who possessed superior careers, physicality, and playing skills. Lastly, the media complimented the naturalized athletes’ acculturation to Korean culture by emphasizing their commitment to the nation. We argue that by forming and distributing discourses that favored the naturalization of athletes, Koreans have expanded the boundary of Koreanness. We discuss, then, the expansion of Koreanness in relation to the notion of flexible citizenship in the era of neoliberal globalization.

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“…Meanwhile, with regard to race, Pitter (2006) examines how racist structures within Canada and within hockey culture have rendered invisible narratives of hockey players of color. This argument is supported by a study by Poniatowski and Whiteside (2012), which found that television broadcasts of Canadian men's hockey games at the 2006 Winter Olympics constructed a hockey Whiteness based around a supposed superiority on the part of White Canadian players. The exclusionary nature of hockey is particularly problematic when the sport is understood at a popular level as a metaphor for, or is even conflated with, Canadian identity (cf.…”

Section: New Media and The Cultural Meaning Of Hockey In Canadamentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Furthermore, although my extensive experience in new media fan cultures suggests growing support for female fans and players or acceptance of gay athletes, I have not observed a similar recognition of or challenge to hockey’s Whiteness (cf. Pitter, 2006; Poniatowski & Whiteside, 2012). Negotiations of race and sexuality among hockey fans have not featured prominently thus far in my observation of the culture of Nucks Misconduct , although they certainly beg deeper exploration in future research on this and other Internet sport fan groups.…”

Section: New Media and The Cultural Meaning Of Hockey In Canadamentioning

confidence: 99%

Online Community or Electronic Tribe? Exploring the Social Characteristics and Spatial Production of an Internet Hockey Fan Culture

Norman

2012

Journal of Sport and Social Issues

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Scholarly interest in the relationship between sport and new media has increased significantly in recent years, yet research about online sport fan groups remains limited. This article contributes to this body of literature through an ethnographic examination of a fan-produced hockey blog called Nucks Misconduct. The article examines the blog's social characteristics by conceptualizing it as an electronic tribe-that is, a fluid, neotribal social formation located in cyberspace. Specifically, it explores how the interplay between topographical website features and the social interaction of members constructs the blog as a social space; and the tensions and ambiguities that arise from this process. The possibilities and limitations for online sport fan cultures to destabilize dominant constructions of sport are discussed, with a particular focus on the gendered construction of hockey as a masculine realm.

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“Isn't He a Good Guy?”: Constructions of Whiteness in the 2006 Olympic Hockey Tournament

Cited by 14 publications

References 17 publications

What Color is a Golden Boy? The Glorification and Disparagement of Male Superstar Athletes in Sports Illustrated

What Color is a Golden Boy? The Glorification and Disparagement of Male Superstar Athletes in Sports Illustrated

Taegeuk Warriors with Blue Eyes: A Media Discourse Analysis of the South Korean Men’s Olympic Ice Hockey Team and Its Naturalized Athletes

Online Community or Electronic Tribe? Exploring the Social Characteristics and Spatial Production of an Internet Hockey Fan Culture

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