Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


Mann, Mallory.pdf (1.47 MB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Squeezing In: Exploring Female Athletes' Body Perceptions

Mann, Mallory E
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1435185800

Abstract Details

2015, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, American Culture Studies.
Much attention has been paid to female college athlete body image over the last three decades. However, relatively few inquiries employed a holistic approach that examined the myriad of interrelated sociocultural and personal factors influencing athletes’ body perceptions. The primary purpose of the current study was to explore female college athletes’ body image in both social and sport settings. A secondary purpose was to investigate the sociocultural context and how it influenced athletes’ body perceptions. Finally, this study sought to understand the ways in which female athletes’ social identities helped explain their body-related behaviors. Feminist and intersectional methodological approaches guided this inquiry to create partial, in-depth understandings of how female athletes think about and relate to their physiques. The study is particularly unique in its commitment to representing multiple, diverse stories from athletes without privileging one type of body perception. Using an intersectional methodology contextualized athletes body descriptions to uncover deeper meanings and underlying factors. Twenty female college athletes participated in unstructured interviews. These athletes represented eight different varsity sports at NCAA Division I, II, and III institutions. This study offers a new perspective on the relationship between motivational team climate and female athlete body image. While task-oriented team climates still appear to serve as a protective factor against body disturbances among athletes, findings also indicated that a team’s obsession with the body seemed more closely tied to body image issues than a team’s goal orientation. How strongly women adhered to White, heterosexual, middle-class definitions of femininity influenced their experiences with their bodies both in and out of sport. Further, their social identities related to how women negotiated their physiques within body boundaries.
Vikki Krane (Committee Chair)
Dafina-Lazarus Stewart (Committee Member)
Nancy Spencer (Committee Member)
Dryw Dworsky (Committee Member)
333 p.
American Studies; Gender; Health; Physical Education; Psychology; Sports Management
female athletes; body image; athletic body ideal; gendered body norms; motivational team climate; hegemonic femininity; intersectionality; qualitative

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Mann, M. E. (2015). Squeezing In: Exploring Female Athletes' Body Perceptions [Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1435185800

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Mann, Mallory. Squeezing In: Exploring Female Athletes' Body Perceptions. 2015. Bowling Green State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1435185800.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Mann, Mallory. "Squeezing In: Exploring Female Athletes' Body Perceptions." Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1435185800

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1435185800
2,691
© 2015, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.