I am fast but I do not fit: an autoethnography of a swimmer’s experiences of ‘competitive performance’ stigma in two sporting contexts (original) (raw)
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Multiple Oppression and Tackling Stigma Through Sport
The Palgrave Handbook of Paralympic Studies, 2018
Stereotypes and stigmas also affect persons with disabilities. However, having a culture or a community to rely on can help to process these events and to feel empowered. The Paralympic Games, the second-largest multi-sport event in the world, is an elite level competition for athletes with disabilities (Brittain 2012). The Paralympic Movement, bigger than just the Games, has gained momentum (Bailey 2008; Blauwet and Willick 2012) and further reach to demonstrate the power and role sport plays in the promotion of disability rights, accessibility, inclusion and health (Blauwet and Willick 2012). With information on participation numbers from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) historical records database, the most recent Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro welcomed 4316 athletes from 158 countries in 2016 (International Paralympic Committee 2016). The most recent Winter Games in Sochi welcomed 538 athletes from 45 countries in 2014 (International Paralympic Committee 2015b). The number of countries participating in international disability sport has increased over time. Participation in sport can be seen as one mechanism to constructively deal with the negative aspects of stigmas and stereotypes (Griffin 1992; Taube et al. 1999). The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the relationships between disability and gender, race, sexuality, class and religious beliefs in the context of Paralympic sport. In addition to being a scholar, I also draw extensively on personal experiences with the Paralympic Movement as an athlete
Development and Validation of Perceived Stigmatization in Sports Scale for Female Athletes
Journal of Professional & Applied Psychology, 2021
The current study aimed to develop an indigenous, valid and reliable perceived stigmatization in sports scale for female athletes (PSSSFA). Eight in-depth, detailed and semi-structured interviews were conducted with female athletes, whereas, the preliminary item pool of twenty items was administered on 125 female university athletes. The age was 18-24 years (M= 21, SD=1.6). The process of scale development depended upon two phases. The first phase was about construct conceptualization through interviews and the second phase consisted of examining factor structure and reliability of the scale. Perceived Stigmatization in Sports Scale for Female Athletes was developed in Urdu. Total 20 items were developed but the final scale included 18 items with five-point rating scale. On the basis of scree plot and Eigen values, three factors were extracted: Family Stigmatization included 6 items and had .82 reliability, Social Stigmatization included 5 items and had .75 reliability and Effect on...
“Fat” Chicks Who Run: Stigma Experienced by “Overweight” Endurance Athletes
Journal of Sport and Social Issues
Research on "overweight" and "obese" populations is extensive, but little of this research specifically addresses the "obese" or "overweight" amateur endurance athlete. Amateur endurance athletes often have bodies that defy the stereotype of the typical marathoner, swimmer, or triathlete. As a result, these athletes can experience stigma, both within their sporting communities as well as in the workplace, at home, and from spectators at athletic events. In an effort to discover what brings "overweight" adults to endurance sports and to recognize the barriers that they encounter to stay active in sports, this study seeks to identify the types of stigma that "overweight" endurance athletes face, the effects stigma has on their physical and mental health, and the effects stigma has on their participation in sports. Six amateur endurance athletes who identify as "overweight" were interviewed, and data were coded using Owen's interpretive themes framework. Participants were found to experience stigma in being members of the "back of the pack," in their entry into endurance sports, and in the lack of competition-quality clothing available for larger body types. Participants experienced negative physical and mental health outcomes as they internalized the stigma messages received during training and racing. No negative effects on participation were observed.
Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise & Health, 2019
In this article, following on from earlier debates in the journal regarding the ‘thorny issue’ of epochē and bracketing in sociological phenomenological research, we consider more generally the challenges of engaging in reflexivity and bracketing when undertaking ethnographic ‘insider’ research, or research in familiar settings. We ground our discussion and illustrate some of the key challenges by drawing on the experience of undertaking this research approach with a group of competitive swimmers, who were participating in a British university performance swimming programme at the time of the doctoral study. The primaryresearcher was highly familiar with the phenomenon of competitive swimming, having been both a competitive swimmer and swimming coach. Some of the key elements of a sociological phenomenological approach to studying physical-cultural embodiment are first delineated, before addressing the considerable challenges of engaging in sustained reflexivity and bracketing, using the swimming research for illustrative purposes. We suggest some practical ways in which researchers in sport and physical cultures might approach epochē and bracketing in ethnographic ‘insider’ research.
Sporting Identities: A Trialectic of the Triathlon
tasa.org.au
The triathlon as a site of sociological study offers a unique opportunities to investigate how 'body cultural' activities are at any one instance both stable and contested, allowing for a 'triathlete identity' that is increasingly fluid and fragmented. Theoretically this paper has been influenced by the work of Norbert Elias and the more recent adaptations by Henning Eichberg, notably the trialectic. The paper examines previous research on the triathlon (swim, bike, run) and offers a different way to conceptualise the sport that is inclusive of its multifaceted nature and permits a mapping of identity performances. An example is drawn from an empirical study of the triathlon, which illustrates the utility of this approach.
Sport in Society, 2015
Equestrian sport is not subjected to the dominant binary sex segregation of most sports and therefore provides a unique opportunity to review how athlete 'identity' is constructed and framed within a sex-integrated sporting experience. This research draws on an ethnographic evaluation of the Olympic and Paralympic experience of the British Equestrian Team. A total of 28 interviews were conducted with riders, performance managers and support staff with transcripts subjected to Ethnographic Content Analysis. Results show clear constructs of identity, such as 'them and us', 'horsey' and 'discipline specific', with a noted absence of gender in the way interviewees describe themselves and others within the sport. Furthermore, in their accounts of their lives, there is a lack of salience of gender with regard to their identity as sports persons. The paper considers the implications of this phenomenon for a claim that equestrian sport might be described from a participant's perspective as gender neutral. 'measures up' in the eyes of other males (Messner 1995; Sabo and Runfola 1980), according to Merlini (2004), the equal 'playing field' with female athletes questions whether male athletes are 'real' men. Bodies and physical differences are indeed at the very centre of sport since it is based on a system which systematically reveals differences and establishes a ranking based on the individual's performance (Pfister 2010). Discussions on sport and gender are often focused on the physicality or
Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 2015
Background: The transition out of elite sport can be distressing and many athletes experience a range of transition difficulties. However, the socio-cultural and discursive contexts which shape experiences remain largely unexplored in the transition literature. Objective: To explore retirement and transition difficulties in a cultural context through an analysis of Australian newsprint media. Design and methods: A discursive analysis of 121 media articles reporting on post-retirement experiences of two Australian swimmers 7 and 5 years (respectively) into retirement. Data were analysed for repeated representation of transition difficulties, specifically how the cause of difficulties was attributed. The identities that were ascribed to athletes and what these functioned to accomplish were also examined. Results: The identities of both individuals were repeatedly constructed in terms of an athlete identity, to the exclusion of other identities. The responsibility for transition difficulties was depicted as located solely within the individual and, thereby, the sport setting and the broader socio-cultural context were overlooked. Conclusions: In this cultural context (Australian news media), the repeated construction of limited identity positions for retired athletes and the construction of former athletes as the sole locus of transition difficulties have implications for their psychological well-being. Despite this, the role of the sporting and cultural context is rendered invisible in these accounts and more broadly, and interventions remain targeted at the individual level.