Elite experience and careers in judged female sports complicate the binary categories of retirement while they are especially exposed to cultures of abuse, pressure and subjectivity. This thesis is comprised of multiple voices and experiences from the elite female athletic perspective, including my autoethnographic narrative. Highlighted and discussed are the topics of sexual assault and abuse, family pressure on children to do and excel at sport, the National Team experience representing the United States and subjected bodies and judging. It is an aim of this thesis to culminate all of those factors in the final chapter and hold that the experience and the cultures of athletic identity within synchronized swimming, gymnastics and figure skating not only cannot be explained by current research on athletic identity through retirement but have the capability to retire undeveloped young women by overdeveloped athletic identities. Through a sampling of voices and experiences across different female judged sports, over three decades, the reader will observe similarities that cause these sports to have a culture of solidarity through the aspects they hold in common with each other. The narrative highlights pivotal moments in the lives of the elite female athlete within these sports, which add to the calculation of their athletic identities and the lack of their personal identities. Through reflection and analyses of not only my story, but the interviewees from my original research and that of Joan Ryan’s as well, I aim to voice a mutual experience of elite athletes. Consisting of multiple factors throughout many years we will see through my autoethnography, paralleling with other voices and experiences, how it all intersects and contributes to this: Who am I now and where do I go from here?
on-restriction of movement during the pre-shot routine. Results were analyzed using 2x2 Within-Subjects Analysis of Variance. For shooting performance, there was an interaction (approaching significance) such that participants were more affected by pressure when allowed to execute their pre-shot routine. For kinematic variables, significant interactions between pressure and movement restriction were found for elbow-knee cross correlations and there were significant main effects of variability of the acceleration of both the elbow and knee angles. In all kinematic measures, participants exhibited more “novice-like” patterns of movement under pressure when movement was not restricted during the pre-shot routine. Primary results indicate promising evidence that motor control may be a mediating variable between pressure and performance and bring into question the value of a pre-shot routine in basketball.
There exists a gendered difference in how sports films portray female protagonist athletes. This creative project closely examines scenes from four films, Bend It Like Beckham, Million Dollar Baby, Girlfight and Whip It, that collectively represent four gendered themes that are present within the female protagonist sport film subgenre. Each film provides representative examples for themes of exceptionalism, the explicit presence of gender or sexuality, paternal or romantic relationships with male characters, and the punishment or containment of the female athlete. These themes are then analyzed for their presence and meaning in the film genre, including how existing heteronormative film structures are present in female protagonist sport films and how such ideas are reflections of wider societal values. This exposes how the continued use of such heteronormative themes perpetuates stereotypes of female athleticism. After understanding how these themes take shape and what they mean for the genre, this paper then highlights examples of an emergent more feminist genre, promotes alternative filmmaking methods and progressive change to the portrayal of female athletes in sport film.
This work explores the dynamic of gender and sport through the lens of Title IX, with the intention of highlighting the importance of gender equality within athletics.
examined the impact of hiking in hot (HOT), dry temperatures versus moderate (MOD)
temperatures on dietary intake behaviors as well as markers of heat stress. Twelve
recreational mountain hikers climbed “A” Mountain four consecutive times (4-miles) on
a HOT day (WBGT=31.6 °C) and again on a MOD day (WBGT= 19.0 °C). Simulated
food and fluid behavior allowed participants to bring what they normally would for a 4-
mile hike and to consume both ad libitum. The following heat stress indicators (mean
difference; p-value), were all significantly higher on the HOT hike compared to the MOD
hike: average core temperature (0.6 °C; p=0.002), average rating of perceived exertion
(2.6; p=0.005), sweat rate (0.54; p=0.01), and fluid consumption (753; p<0.001). On the
HOT hike, 42% of the participants brought enough fluids to meet their individual
calculated fluid needs, however less than 20% actually consumed enough to meet those
needs. On the MOD hike, 56% of participants brought enough fluids to meet their needs,
but only 33% actually consumed enough to meet them. Morning-after USG samples
≥1.020 indicating dehydration on an individual level showed 75% of hikers after the
HOT hike and 67% after the MOD hike were unable to compensate for fluids lost during
the previous day’s hike. Furthermore, participant food intake was low with only three
hikers consuming food on the hot hike, an average of 33.2g of food. No food was
consumed on the MOD hike. These results demonstrate that hikers did not consume
enough fluids to meet their needs while hiking, especially in the heat. They also show
heat stress negatively affected hiker’s physiological and performance measures. Future
recommendations should address food and fluid consumption while hiking in the heat.
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