Decentering whiteness in women's sport

Emma Calow

Chapter 17 in Reimagining the Gendering of Sport, 2025, pp 206-223 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Situated in feminist cultural studies, I expose how whiteness frames the experiences of Black athletes and coaches in women's sport. Whiteness is embedded into the structure and nature of sport at all levels, institutionalizing a disregard for the interests and needs of people of color. Black athletes and coaches in women's sport also face unremitting racist and sexist stereotypes (Carter-Francique, 2020) that Collins (2009) refers to as controlling images. Institutionalized whiteness combined with stereotypic representation position Black girls and women in sport as outsiders within (Collins, 2009) and space invaders (Puwar, 2004). Thus, Black athletes and coaches face scrutiny and marginalization typically not experienced by their white counterparts. And yet, through medal-winning performances, legacy-building leadership, and culturally affirming attire, Black women athletes and coaches continue to resist whiteness through the symbolic and embodied act of talking back (hooks, 2015).

Keywords: Whiteness; Black women and sport; Intersectionality in sport; Outsider within; Race and women's sport; Racial marginalization in sport (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035310203
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