Power and focus: self‐representation of female college athletes

Abstract

Readers should also refer to the journal's website at http://www.informaworld.com/rqrs and check volume 2, issue 2 to view the visual material in colour.

This study examined how female athletes prefer to be represented photographically. In past research, such representations can be interpreted as an expression of power, agency and resistance as well as constrained by the patriarchal construction of women's sport. Our exploration of athletes' choice of representation is grounded in a multidisciplinary perspective that joins feminist cultural studies and social psychological theory. Twenty female college athletes participated in a photo shoot in which they selected how they would be portrayed (e.g., attire, location, pose) and a short interview in which they chose and discussed their favourite photograph. Analysis of the athlete interviews revealed four primary higher order themes emerging from the data: being an athlete, psychological characteristics, social identities and progressive interpretation of femininity. Overall, the participants emphasised the power and strength of female athletes, which we interpret to signify pride in their athleticism and musculature. Why these photographs differ considerably from typical media images of female athletes are discussed relative to our conceptual framework.

Keywords:

• female athlete
• visual methods
• photographic self‐representation
• media
• representation
• femininity

Acknowledgements

We greatly appreciate and want to acknowledge the assistance of the advanced photography students at BGSU who conducted the photo shoots. Photographs taken by Lindsay Akens (Figures 1, 2 and 4), Adam Rensch (Figure 5) and Crystal Weaver (Figure 3) appear in this paper.

Notes

1. A media guide is an informational booklet about a team including coach and athlete biographies, team statistics and other pertinent information.