Sports and Physical Fitness

A myth-busting vindication of women's physical strengths that's "fun, rooted in science, and a strong pitch for a stronger sex" (Cat Bohannon) For decades, Starre Vartan--like most women--was told that having a woman's body meant being weaker than men. Like many women, she mostly believed it.   Not anymore.   Following a half decade of research into the newest science, Vartan shows in The Stronger Sex that women's bodies are incredibly powerful, flexible, and resilient in ways men's bodies aren't. Tossing aside the narrow notion of a fully ripped man as the measure of strength, Vartan reveals the ways that women surpass men in endurance, flexibility, immunity, pain tolerance, and the ultimate test of any human body: longevity. Vartan--a deadeye shot since her grandmother showed her how to aim a .22--debunks myth after myth like so many tin cans at two hundred yards and reveals why, if anyone wins in a battle of the sexes, it's women.  In interviews with dozens of researchers from biology, anthropology, physiology, and sports science, plus in-depth conversations with runners, swimmers, wrestlers, woodchoppers, thru-hikers, firefighters, and more, The Stronger Sex squashes outdated ideas about women's bodies. It's a celebration of female strength that doesn't argue "down with men" but "up with us all."  

A crucial subversion of the misconceptions around the participation of gender diverse athletes--advocating for the inclusion of trans and nonbinary athletes across all levels of sport The debate over the inclusion of gender diverse people in sport has become the latest battleground in the fight for basic human rights and equality. Trans and nonbinary people around the world are facing physical harm and violence--including death--at unprecedented rates. In Let Us Play, trans athlete Harrison Browne and investigative journalist Rachel Browne reveal how the opposition towards gender diverse athletes is fueled by fear and a moral panic as opposed to facts around what makes "a level playing field."  Interweaving Harrison's first-hand experience as a transgender athlete with exclusive accounts--from athletes, coaches, policymakers, and advocates on the front lines--Let Us Play dismantles the illusion that sports have ever been fair, that trans athletes pose a threat to women's sports, and that gender-affirming healthcare for athletes should be prohibitive to play.  Calling for a reframing of the binaries from youth and high school levels all the way to the national leagues, Browne and Browne offer a new path forward, led by solutions proposed by gender diverse athletes themselves.

American women's basketball has reached new peaks of interest and popularity, thanks to spellbinding athletes, exhilarating games, and a vibrant, empowered vision of womanhood. Shattering the Glass stands as the definitive history of the sport. Combining extensive historical research with dozens of oral history interviews, Pamela Grundy and Susan Shackelford bring life and depth to stories of the many generations of female athletes who have fought for liberation on and off the court. In this new and substantially expanded edition, Grundy and Shackelford provide a fresh view of the sport that extends to the present. They chart the expanding visibility of college programs, the growing dynamism of the WNBA, and players' courageous leadership on social issues such as sexuality and race, drawing on the actions and reflections of stars such as Seimone Augustus, Kim Mulkey, Brittney Griner, Geno Auriemma, Pat Summitt, Breanna Stewart, Dawn Staley, and Caitlin Clark. The result is a compelling story of women's empowerment through sport over the past century.

A thought-provoking manifesto arguing for the end of gender segregation in athletics.   Sheree Bekker and Stephen Mumford argue that the category of "women's sports" is not the feminist win some would have you believe. Instead, the segregation of women in sports is just one of the many ways in which women are told to expect less from society. Women had to fight to be included in sports in the first place, and are now only included under far less favorable terms than those enjoyed by men. There are better ways to ensure safety and fairness, the authors make clear, than segregation by gender. And this matters deeply: ending gender segregation would encourage a more equitable distribution of resources, increase women's participation in sports, and challenge outdated, sexist myths about women and their bodies.

This book focuses on the variety of strategies developed by women athletes in the Pacific Islands to claim contested sporting spaces - in particular, rugby union, soccer, beach volleyball, recreational sports and exercise - as a prism to explore grassroots women's engagement with heavily entrenched postcolonial (hetero)patriarchy. Based on primary research conducted in Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu, the book investigates contested sporting spaces as sites of infrapolitics intersected primarily by gender and also by other markers of inequality, including ethnicity, sexuality, class and geopolitics. Contrary to historical and contemporary representations of Pacific Island women as victims of gender injustice, it explores how these athletes and those who support them actively carve out space for their transformative agency. Pacific IslandWomen and Contested Sporting Spaces: Staking Their Claim focuses on a region underexamined by sport or gender studies researchers and will be of key interest to scholars and students in Gender Studies, Sport Studies, Sociology and Pacific Studies as well as sport practitioners and policymakers.

Sidestepping the inflated egos and scandal that have infiltrated many men's sports, college female softball players exhibit power and grace on the field as well as camaraderie, high achievement and vulnerability off the field. This balance not only makes the game compelling to watch, but it also elevates women's softball as an aspirational model for other sports. Focusing on the 2018 season, this book explores gender performance and sexuality in softball, how the influx of money from the sport's growth has reshaped expectations of success, and traditional media coverage of women's sports.