Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Lesbian athletes'

Research on lesbian athletes’ experiences is dated, with the majority being conducted in the 1980s and early 1990s. However, the 1980s represent a unique socio-cultural period, one Anderson (2009b) describes as homohysteric. Thus, as society has become more inclusive in previous generations, including within women’s sport (Fink et al 2012; Anderson & Bullingham 2013) and men’s sport (Anderson 2000, 2002, 2005a, 2005b, 2009b, 2011a; Adams & Anderson 2011) there is a need to reconsider the relationship between homophobia and sport. Semi-structured interviews from 31 lesbian athletes (from beginner to international standard players) were analysed using the coding procedures within Charmaz’ approach to grounded theory (Charmaz 2006). Results were subsequently applied to the adapted model of homohysteria (Anderson 2009b; Worthen 2014). Memos were used throughout the coding procedure to aid reflexivity and to ensure that results were grounded in data. Results show athletes competing in a positive environment, gaining support from teammates and coaches. Social situations were fully inclusive, including attending socials in LGBT friendly bars, demonstrating that fear surrounding the lesbian label has declined. Language has helped to develop this inclusive atmosphere; talking about sexuality has been shown to negate the environment of silence formerly experienced by lesbian athletes. This change in environment has changed how athletes ‘come out’. No longer do athletes need to prepare a statement; in fact coming out has become something of a non-event. Some athletes were even able to demonstrate an improvement in their professional lives, due to the diminished requirement to conceal their (homo)sexuality. However, some athletes still shunned the lesbian label, not through fear but by deeming it an unimportant facet of their individuality. Additionally, players’ athletic capital had no effect on their acceptance within the team, with the exception of international athletes. Participants faced very limited incidence of homophobia, but in those cases where homophobia was experienced, they would actively challenge the negative behaviour or language, as would their teammates. The supportive environment extended to providing advice and comfort to any athletes struggling with the process of coming out. In addition, participants in some cases became role models for their teammates. While the majority of the results were positive, there remained room for improvement in certain areas. There is still clear evidence that the environment has not changed for all athletes and there remain some areas to be addressed by sporting administrations. Old stereotypes of the predatory lesbian or the affective nature of sport on sexuality were raised by participants but tended to refer to historic events (over 10 years old).

Transgender athletes face scrutiny because they do not fit within the traditional and constructed bounds of male and female. The objective of this study was to discover how to provide advocacy to this marginalized population amidst discriminating policies and transphobic environments. The research included a survey of high school coaches from thirty schools throughout Tennessee along with interviews with five transgender athletes from across the United States. All five athletes reported that leaders were the most impactful allies in their lives and can be the main sources of advocacy for transgender athletes. Survey findings showed that not every coach throughout Tennessee will accept transgender athletes but in each region of Tennessee some coaches claimed to support and would resist discriminatory policies. Leaders have the opportunity to pave the way for transgender athletes by providing advocacy and amplifying the voices of transgender athletes.

Sport sociologists have longed defined sport as a heterosexist institution where gay and lesbian athletes are stigmatized. However, the number of active gay and lesbian athletes who have disclosed their sexual identities in sport is increasing, and therefore deserving of attention and investigation. The present study examines why intercollegiate lesbian athletes disclose their sexual identities, how they disclose their sexual identities, and the perceived consequences of sexual identity disclosure in sport. In-depth interviews were conducted with 16 self-identified lesbian athletes who disclosed their sexual identities while participating in intercollegiate sport. Unlike most past literature on disclosure, the present study approaches disclosure as an interactional process that involves a discloser, an audience, and a context. Motivational factors leading to disclosure included wanting to be perceived as an honest and "normal" person, further self-acceptance, the desire for closer friendships with teammates, an unwillingness to hide their intimate or sexual relationships with teammates, and tolerant sporting environments. Athletes' perceived consequences of disclosure included a personal sense of relief, more self-confidence, positive responses from teammates, closer friendships with their teammates, and the creation of more supportive environments. Respondents most commonly utilized implicit and reactive methods of disclosure; however, in some cases the lesbian athletes relied on teammates to tell others about their sexual identities. Unlike past literature, the disclosure experiences, and the overall sporting experiences of the lesbian athletes in the present study, were positive. Explanations concerning their positive experiences included a self-fulfilling prophesy, the liberal mentality of the universities they attended, the large number of lesbians on their teams, the implicit nature of disclosure, and greater tolerance for gays and lesbians in sport. Overall, approaching disclosure as an interactional process provided a more inclusive and sociological understanding of the disclosure experiences of lesbian athletes in sport. Future research should consider utilizing such a framework to investigate the disclosure experiences of gay and lesbian athletes in high school and professional sports.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2008.
"Department of Sociology." Keywords: Athletes, Disclosure, Identity, Lesbian, Sexual, Sport, Sexual identity, Intercollegiate sport. Includes bibliographical references (p. 141-145). Also available online.

This thesis takes the Sydney 2002 Gay Games: Under New Skies �02, as a case study into the production of global queer citizenship. In the existing body of work around the Gay Games they are analysed as an international gay and lesbian sporting event (Cramer, 1996; Krane et al., 2001; Pronger, 2000; Waitt, 2005), as a gay and lesbian community event (Krane & Waldron, 2000; Symons, 2002, 2004; Waitt, 2003, 2006), and as a cultural site where discourses of nationality, sport and sexuality converge (Miller, 2001; Probyn, 2000; Rowe et al., 2006; Stevenson et al., 2005; Waitt, 2005; Waitt & Markwell, 2006). This thesis builds on these investigations, asking specific questions about the ways in which discourses of sexuality and citizenship are produced and governed within and across the Sydney 2002 Gay Games promotional and media materials. The analysis is guided by Michel Foucault�s notion of governmentality (1991) and the works of related theorists who map the disparate array of neoliberal mechanisms of government that �conduct the conduct� and �act on the actions� of individuals and certain populations (Bratich et al., 2003; Gordon, 1991; Larner, 2000; Larner & Walters, 2002, 2004; Miller, 1993; Rabinow & Rose, 2003; Rose, 1996a, 1999). The analysis begins by asking how discourses of the autonomous, neo-liberal subject converge with discourses of �global living� such that individuals are invited to imagine themselves as increasingly flexible, freedom-loving (Rose, 1999), self-assured, cosmopolitan global citizens. The idea of the global imagination is then used to explore the ways in which the Gay Games commitment to �total inclusion� and its promise of personal and community transformation rely on similar neo-liberal renderings of tbe subject. It argues that the event�s �political� promises not only normalise certain forms of identity-based consumption (Chasin, 2000), they also (re)produce and normalise a very entrepreneurial, western-centric, cosmopolitan �brand� of global queer citizenship. The thesis also emphasises the important role that images and image-related technologies played in upholding normative meanings around queer sexuality and queer citizenship at the Games. In doing so, the thesis argues that images and technologies do more than simply represent individuals� lived experiences. Images, it argues, are (inter)active entities that produce and shape individuals� understanding of the �real� and how they come to know themselves as certain types of subjects. Where the Sydney 2002 Gay Games were concerned, images were integral in producing normative meanings around gender, sexuality and citizenship and in governing participants� experiences as �locals�, �global visitors�, �athletes�, �cultural participants� and consumers.

This thesis examines the complete absence of openly gay males from the ranksof the professional players in the Australian Football League (AFL). It seeks to explain this absence in the context of the modern gay rights movement. incontemporary Australian society. It compares and contrasts the effects of thismovement on both the AFL and other mainstream Australian social institutions. Over more than four decades, the gay rights movement has effected a number of social changes. These changes include both specific legal reforms and more general trends such as the increasing social visibility of gay men across a range of mainstream institutions including politics and the military. However, this trend is not consistent across all major institutions. It is far less evident in professional team sports,especially the major football codes of this country. This research shows that the same trend is evident in the major football codes of countries such as Britain and the United States (US). However, what is unique to the AFL is that none of its current or former players has ever publicly declared his homosexuality in a biographical text or media interview. Despite the absence of openly gay AFL players, this thesis accesses other significant sources such as the coming-out narratives of professional players in other football codes and of other athletes in Australia, Britain and the US. Furthermore, relevant research into homophobia among athletes is also presented. Given the absence of primary sources as well as the inability to access relevant subjects directly, this research is qualitative rather than quantitative. It is also speculative in that it seeks to explain a specific trend in professional sport in general and in the AFL in particular by outlining common trends. A primary focus is the pattern of masculinity that prevails in men’s sport, both amateur and professional. This pattern is examined in other exclusively or predominantly male institutions such as the military. Until the advent of gay liberation, this pattern of masculinity was depicted purely in heterosexual terms. This thesis explores the evolution of this dominant masculinity within the context of modern Western society, specifically in terms of the Industrial Revolution and its effects on the sexual division of labour. This predominant masculinity is also examined in relation to the mainstream media in various contexts. These include the reporting on both the public personas and the private lives of high-profile footballers in general and of AFL players in particular. A further context is how this reporting consolidates the elite status of high profile, professional footballers and how a range of sexual indiscretions are portrayed in the mainstream media. The thesis also examines how the homoerotic aspect of AFL is portrayed within the media. Since some of this media coverage has been analysed by academic research, further insights are provided into aspects of misogyny and homophobia within the AFL. Both this media coverage and academic analysis allude to a culture within the AFL that tends to preclude a gay player from coming out. This thesis explains the relationship among the factors— both within the sporting context and within broader society— that converge within the professional AFL to promote a particular pattern of masculinity. This pattern of masculinity continues to preclude the openly gay man among its ranks of professional players.

Lesbian athletes face criticism and discrimination from coaches, fans, and society. Researchers have suggested that female sport is stigmatized due to perceived masculinity and homosexuality, causing athletes to focus on heterosexual and feminine behaviors. The dichotomy of athleticism and femininity in sports has been extensively studied in the heterosexual population. However, the impact of the overt discrimination and pressure to conform to societal standards of femininity and heterosexuality has not been studied in lesbians. Therefore, the purpose of this quantitative study utilizing survey design was to examine the relationship among sport participation, gender schema, athletic identity, and internalized homophobia. A network-based snowball sampling method was used to survey 226 lesbians, 18 years of age and older. Surveys issued via Internet included the Bem Sex Role Inventory, Athletic Identity Measurement Scale, and the Lesbian Internalized Homophobia Scale. Data were analyzed using Chi-square, t tests, and Pearson Correlation. No significant difference in sports participation was found in lesbians with different gender schemas. There was a significant difference in the athletic identity of participants who were more or less active in sports, but there was no significant difference in internalized homophobia for participants who were more or less active in sports. There was no relationship between athletic identity and internalized homophobia. This study contributes to the existing literature on women and sport. It promotes social change by further investigating the influence of gender schema, athletic identity, and internalized homophobia related to behaviors and attitudes in sports.

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2006.
Title from screen. Michael Bruner, committee chair; Marian Meyers, Mary Stuckey, committee members. Electronic text (120 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed May 17, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 120-139).

碩士
國立臺灣體育運動大學
體育研究所
99
Sex equality and Gender identity are global trend. The method of this research takes Sociological role theory and Approval theory as a foundation, then analyses relation of female homosexuality athletes, role anticipation, role pressure and role conflict. The purpose for this essay are shown below: 1. to know the family background of female homosexuality athletes 2. To understand the approval course of female homosexuality athletes 3. to get understanding on condition of athletic field territory of female homosexuality athletes. The method of this research uses Literature analytic method first by books, journals, essays, internet search, then reads, arranges, analyses data by author. The author determines sampling first and makes a snow-rolling way to proceed contact and deep discussion of eight objects of study. To combine the research results and find that: 1. In the female homosexuality athletes’ family background, there were good communication and the intimate relation with the mother, also established the friendship relations with the homogeneous friends, and hoped that themselves had a better society and economic status.2. The female homosexuality athletes discovered that was totally different, when received the question or the feeling are dissimilar will have the puzzled feeling, usually encouraged each other to eliminate the feeling of puzzle by books and friends.3. The female homosexuality athlete body regarded the athletic field territory as the best stealth and this present existence, expressed the place of decompression strength, the female homosexuality athletes use role combination method frequently to conform to the socialization.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alberta, 2003.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 226-260). Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

A female athlete who identifies as lesbian possesses multiple identities that exist within a heterosexist and homonegative climate. The primary objective of this research was to provide a voice to a marginalized group by describing and to understand the experiences of athletes who identify as lesbian. Phenomenological interviews were conducted with 11 women who identified as athletes and lesbian. An overall thematic structure containing a ground and three figural themes, supported by participant quotations, was developed to represent the lesbian athletes’ experiences. The ground was my own process. The three figural themes that emerged were support, homophobia, and emotions. Further research on athletes who identify as lesbian, and each theme presented in the present study, is necessary to combat the heterosexist and homonegative climate of sport. Furthermore, psychologists, coaches, athletic trainers, sport psychology consultants, and others working with athletes who identify as lesbian may utilize this information to enhance their understanding of the experiences of lesbian athletes. Continued professional and personal dialogue, research, and practical recommendations regarding lesbian athletes are encouraged to promote change.

碩士
國立臺灣體育運動大學
休閒運動管理研究所
105
Gender inequality, including issues of LGBT, has attained much attention in current society. Traditional gender-related concepts and ideology confront the urgency of transformation. This study attempted to focus on lesbian athletes who did not share much exposure in past studies, and tried to explore how they perceive and challenge the traditional gender ideology in their professional development in sports. The qualitative approach was employed in this study, and the focus group served as the major source of data collection from November 2015 to March, 2016. Totally, three focus groups were gathered, and interview transcripts were analyzed according to the grounded theory. Through the data analysis, this study found: 1.Sport provided a friendly place for lesbian athletes to reveal their trueness, and meanwhile allowed them an opportunity to rebuild a new definition toward the concept of “appropriate gender”. 2.Lesbian athletes recognized the concept of the gender stereotype as unfair for all females, and it should be modified and redefined, rather than the idea of biological sex. 3.Lesbian athletes refused to compromise to current female merchandise, and tried to use what they have to create a new style for themselves. It showed the reoccurrence of homosexual image and con-solidation of the homosexual culture.

Safe and supportive spaces are important for women as they explore and affirm diverse and non-conventional discourses and practices of gender and sexuality. Sport, however, does not readily provide such spaces. Historically, many women athletes and women‘s team sports have been stigmatised by a lesbian label and by the discrimination that regularly accompanies this label. Also, there are many sporting teams and club environments where lesbians are invisible and silent. This research examined the lived experiences of women hockey players from three clubs in suburban Melbourne, in relation to their understandings of gender and sexuality, and policy and practice in the club context. This research project utilised a qualitative multiple case study approach and employed interview and content analysis methods. It was found that all three hockey clubs had not implemented a member protection or anti-discrimination policy at the club level. Additionally, the two clubs that had a mixed-gender membership had a culture where males dominated the governance of the club and adhered more readily to traditional ideas about gender and sexuality resulting in a culture of male domination and heterosexism. In such clubs, women often played a subordinate role and sexual diversity in general, and visibility of lesbians in particular, was minimal. In contrast, the club which was established by lesbian feminists, and had an exclusively female membership, had developed by necessity and design, a culture of governance of women by women, a more open attitude to the sexuality of members and a highly visible lesbian presence. This research concluded that the current communication processes in place between the state sporting association and the hockey clubs was inadequate, as evidenced by the invisibility of policy at each of the hockey clubs. In addition, irrespective of politics, gender and sexuality diversity, the lesbian label, in all cases, had a negative impact on the research participants by defining, controlling and constricting their self identity and self image.