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Living the paradox: female athletes negotiate femininity and muscularity

Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, March, 2004 by Vikki Krane, Precilla Y.L. Choi, Shannon M. Baird, Christine M. Aimar, Kerrie J. Kauer

Physically active women and girls face an intriguing paradox: Western culture emphasizes a feminine ideal body and demeanor that contrasts with an athletic body and demeanor. Sportswomen, therefore, live in two cultures, the sport culture and their larger social culture, wherein social and sport ideals clash. This lived paradox may have a multitude of effects on female athletes, and the research provides varied accounts of their body image, eating behaviors, self-presentation, and self-esteem. Some researchers have found that female athletes have a more positive body image, healthier eating patterns, and are less likely to become pregnant accidentally than their nonathletic peers (Marten-DiBartolo & Shaffer, 2002; Miller, Sabo, Farrell, Barnes, & Melnick, 1999). Yet, other researchers have found that the sport environment creates pressures that lead to unhealthy practices such as disordered eating, excessive exercising, and training through injuries (e.g., Duquin, 1994; Johns, 1996; Krane, Greenleaf, & Snow, 1997).

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To comprehend the sporting experiences of female athletes it is important to consider the cultural influences that can potentially alter their experiences, behaviors, and psychological states. Therefore, to appreciate these influences on individual experiences and remain consistent with previous research (Krane, Waldron, Michalenok, & Stiles-Shipley, 2001), this investigation of femininity and muscularity in female athletes is grounded in feminist cultural studies. Cultural studies scholars examine common practices that shape all aspects of social life (Frow & Morris, 2000). They focus on how these practices are socially constructed, how they create cultural meanings, and their role in establishing differential power and privilege in society. Analysis from this perspective concerns the social construction of customs or collective practices and their consequences (Barker, 2002). This leads to a contextually specific analysis of representation, power, and oppression. Feminist cultural studies scholars specifically focus on the interaction of gender and culture. They interrogate how social practices construct gender and gender difference. Cultural expectations of femininity and masculinity underlie this analysis, which is especially fitting for a study of female athletes. Feminist cultural studies has been applied in sport and exercise research to explore women's lived experiences with our bodies (e.g., Hall, 1996; Heywood, 1998; Markula, 1995), and it provides the foundation for examining the paradox of the physically active female body (Cole, 1993).

An important cultural ideal that affects all women, and especially athletic women, is femininity. Femininity is a socially constructed standard for women's appearance, demeanor, and values (Bordo, 1993). There are multiple permutations of femininity; femininity is bound to historical context (i.e., it changes over time), and "acceptable" femininity may be perceived differently on the basis of, for example, race and sexual orientation (Chow, 1999). Although there are multiple femininities in the Western world, there also is a privileged, or hegemonic, form of femininity (Choi, 2000; Krane, 2001a; Lenskyj, 1994). This hegemonic femininity is constructed within a White, heterosexual, and class-based structure, and it has strong associations with heterosexual sex and romance (Ussher, 1997). Hegemonic femininity, therefore, has a strong emphasis on appearance with the dominant notion of an ideal feminine body as thin and toned.

Different bodies are afforded differential value in comparison to the ideal feminine body; for example, Black, queer, and disabled coding of bodies are considered inferior to this heterosexual, White ideal (Holliday & Hassard, 2001). Rather than representing the diversity among female bodies (e.g., different body types, races, or sexualities), the media produce homogenous (i.e., similar) images that combine and erase differences (Bordo, 1993). Through a host of social mechanisms women learn that feminine women are accepted, appreciated, and respected in Western culture (Bordo, 1993). From portrayals in "women's" magazines, television, and movies to the selection of prom queens, a White and heterosexual hegemonic femininity is reinforced and reproduced.

Performative theories of gender propose that many women seek to portray this socially desirable, female-appropriate image (Bordo, 1993; Butler, 1990; Ussher, 1997). Ussher (1997) suggested that women actively choose from a variety of gender performance "scripts" depending on the situation and context. These scripts include positions that she called "doing girl," "being girl," "resisting girl," and "subverting girl" where "girl" refers to "perfect femininity we see framed within the boundaries of heterosexual sexuality and romance" (p. 355). However, as others have suggested (Bordo, 1993; Butler, 1990), gender performance is not entirely voluntary because there are socical retributions for not performing one's gender "correctly." A woman's "choice" to be feminine is not wholly a choice; if the only women privileged are those who conform to ideal femininity, and a woman wants to garner social acceptance, then the only "choice" seems to be conformity with the ideal (Bordo, 1993).

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Living the paradox: female athletes negotiate femininity and muscularity

Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, March, 2004 by Vikki Krane, Precilla Y.L. Choi, Shannon M. Baird, Christine M. Aimar, Kerrie J. Kauer

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