1st Student's Major
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sociology and Corrections
1st Student's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Students' Professional Biography
Kelsey Mischke grew up around the small town of Westbrook, located in the southwest corner of Minnesota. She is a 2015 graduate of Minnesota State University, Mankato and currently holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology. Following a year serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA in Denver, Colorado, she plans to continue onto graduate school in the fall of 2016 in pursuit of a PhD in Sociology, focusing on gender, race, and class inequality. With such, Ms. Mischke hopes to use research and action to be a voice for marginalized and silenced populations in the political arena.
Mentor's Name
Afroza Anwary
Mentor's Email Address
afroza.anwary@mnsu.edu
Mentor's Department
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sociology and Corrections
Mentor's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Abstract
Competing assumptions, expectations, and discourses surrounding the institution of sports, femininity, and the feminine body create a conflicting paradox for female athletes. Existing research was investigated to examine the ways in which female athletes negotiate their conflicting roles in society and how they feel about their muscular bodies. Feminist theory, gender-role conflict theory, and identity work are used. Results show athletes employ apologetic behaviors, defensive othering, and create fluid identities in response to experiencing gender-role conflict. In terms of their bodies, female athletes feel differing sentiments dependent on environment, reject conflicting messages about their body, and/or reject their musculature. Due to significant social changes in how Western society views and understands gender, gender identity, and gender expression, future research should reinvestigate how female athletes experience their identities and bodies. Additionally, future studies should strive to use a multi-method approach and incorporate a more diverse and representative sample of female athletes.
Recommended Citation
Mischke, Kelsey J.
(2015)
"The Muscular Female Athlete: Negotiating Conflicting Identities and Bodies,"
Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato: Vol. 15, Article 6.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.56816/2378-6949.1193
Available at:
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/jur/vol15/iss1/6
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License