Beyond the Boundaries (Asynchronous - Online Only)
Protesting Is Cool, but Don't Mess With the Money: Colin Kaepernick, Racial Capitalism, and the Bounds of Black Activism View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Brent Clark Jr, Semassa Boko
This project utilizes the theoretical framework of racial capitalism as a theoretical foundation to analyze the coverage of former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s initial decision to protest racial injustice, as well as the coverage of subsequent events such as the development of the NFL Player’s Coalition. Through the use of critical discourse analysis (CDA) this paper analyzes how the media’s coverage these events was shaped and influenced by the underwriting logics of racial capitalism. By deconstructing the content of mainstream newspaper coverage of Kaepernick and the subsequent focusing events related to the NFL and racial justice activism we illustrate that the true sin committed by Kaepernick was the violation of norms related to the role of Black bodies within the capitalist structure of the National Football League. Subsequently we will deconstruct the ways which the media’s framing of the Player’s Coalition organization, other athletes such as Malcolm Jenkins, and the NFL as an institution’s broader role in society represented attempts to reestablish the boundaries around what is and is not defined as “appropriate activism”. Ultimately, we argue that, despite the surface-level focus on issues such as the national anthem and respect for the military, that the greatest violation of norms committed by Colin Kaepernick through his protest was the conveyance of a message which questioned the role of the NFL and its fans in the larger capitalist systems which reproduce and replicate the widespread persecution and marginalization of people of color.
A Feminist Analysis of "Nike Women" Advertisements' Portrayal of the Female Athlete's Body View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Sajusha Ashok
The American transnational sports footwear and apparel giant, Nike, garners millions of views through its online ‘Nike Women’ advertising campaigns directed to female-identifying consumers. In this study, I draw on three such advertisements, namely, 'Dream Crazier', 'What are girls made of?' and 'The Toughest Athletes', to understand how capitalist mainstream media represents, and shapes common perceptions about, female-identified sportspersons and their bodies. The aforementioned advertisements have been hailed for breaking gender stereotypes, representing sportswomen from various marginalized social categories, challenging normative beauty standards, and “empowering” sportswomen. I, however, argue that a closer examination suggests otherwise. The language of meritocracy and agency used not only encourages sportswomen to embody capitalistic, masculine ideals but also blatantly overlooks the structural inequalities pertaining to race, sexuality, gender, religion, age, and disability that plague their lived experiences. Nike’s portrayal of the female body (through its emphasis on extraordinariness, perseverance, and hyper-focus) merely replaces conventional feminine beauty standards with those of muscular and fit bodies that necessitate acute self-disciplining. Its portrayal of pregnant athletes’ bodies in particular perpetuates toxic discourses that encourage women to perform “fit” and “healthy” pregnancies. My contention, therefore, is that contrary to popular belief, Nike merely typifies and reinforces a post-feminist sensibility that afflicts the contemporary popular imagination and reproduces normative gender binaries.
Perceptions of Female International Students’ Lived-Experience as College Athletes View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Christopher Atwater, Nicole Sellars, Chris Corr
While all students experience an adjustment to college (e.g., living away from family, time commitments, social opportunities, etc.), students participating in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletics experience additional levels of adjustment within each component of their lives. Though international athlete participation is prevalent, and increasing, little extant literature has examined the unique adjustment made by international athletes participating in NCAA Division I athletics. Furthermore, even fewer studies have examined the college adjustments made by international female athletes specifically. Female college students experience an adjustment to college that is unique from males. While financial burden and academic rigor are common adjustment stressors affecting both female and male college students, females face added social, physical, and sexual stressors. International female athletes face the combination of these adjustment components; all of which can potentially alienate them from the campus community. The present study currently being conducted aims to explore the perceptions of international female athletes at NCAA Division I member institutions. A greater understanding of the unique adjustments that international female athletes make upon enrollment, and sustained attendance, at NCAA Division I member institutions is valuable and important. Findings may serve to inform both practitioners (i.e., NCAA, Division I institutions, coaches) and academics (i.e., faculty, advisors, researchers) in assisting international female athletes as they transition and adjust to life as a college athlete in the United States.
Passion Versus Argentina: A Feminist Fan Remembers Diego Armando Maradona and Queers His Legacy
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Melissa Maldonado Salcedo
Fútbol (soccer) plays an essential role in times of “crisis” (political, economic, and social) within Argentina’s story and remains its most organized religion. Diego Armando Maradona is their god for reasons that extend beyond the pitch. The national affinity with him provides a primer into this nation’s relationship with empire (England) and subsequently reveals the queering of gender, sexuality, and race ideas. Lovers (Fans, devotees) and his haters (critics) alike recognized Maradona’s untimely death in 2020 as a significant loss to Argentina’s beloved sport and people. The grief and mourning that enveloped the nation brought it to its knees. For a divided Argentina and arguably to the rest of the world’s most marginalized communities, Maradona serves to unite in chant and prayers against one’s greatest oppressors (within and beyond) the field. I focus on three particular moments and relationships to further this conversation on Argentina and Soccer: Maradona’s “hand of God” goal against England during the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Maradona’s relationship with the late trans artist Cris Miro, and lastly, I discuss Maradona’s last public moments and his very “private” and preventable death. Using my anthropological and feminist fieldwork reflections and queer theory in conversation with media discourse, I argue that Maradona embodies Argentina’s history, politics, and culture through his relationship with soccer. I highlight with “passion and reason” that how we remember Maradona matters to the nation, sport, and its subsequent future.
Hitting the Barriers: Women in Formula 1 and W Series Racing View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Olivia R. Howe
In this paper I argue that that the major automotive racing league, Formula 1, is substandard it its efforts to be a truly unisex sport. Though women have never been officially prohibited from competing in Formula 1, there have been fewer than 10 female drivers since its inception, and in the current series there are none. This study focuses on factors preventing women drivers from securing professional driving positions in Formula 1 and from racing on equal terms with men. I argue that there are six major barriers perpetuating women’s exclusion from this league: historical attitudes, current attitudes, assumed physical and mental inferiority, sexualisation, money, and representation and (in)visibility. In this cultural examination, I show that the situation for women in Formula 1 appears to be bleaker than in many other sports that are making progress in their quest for gender equality. However, it will also be suggested that, despite ethical issues, W Series - a new, women’s only, single-seater car racing championship – could potentially cause positive change for women’s car racing. This study employs the theories of philosopher Simone de Beauvoir on the concept of ‘Otherness’ (2011), and Helmut Pflugfelder’s account of female embodiment in motorsport (2009). The conclusion will be that, although W Series provides a promising pathway for aspiring women drivers, more focused research and action is required around gender issues in Formula 1.
