Mothers, Mothering, and Sport

Experiences, Representations, Resistances Mothers and mothering have been a long-time focus of research and study in various academic disciplines, and common topics of interest in mainstream press and popular culture, yet the experiences of mothers and mothering in the area of sport have been less explored. This innovative, interdisciplinary collection provides a space for exploration of the complex dimensions of intersections between mothers, mothering, and sport, as athletes, players, participants, parents, and discursive figures. Topics discussed are wide-ranging, from motherwork in sport, mothers as athletes, the athlete mother in sports, representations and expectations of motherhood and health, legal regulation of sports and parenting, as well as sexuality and gender in sports and gaming. “There is no other text like it. The articles provide watershed feminist theorizing about the process and practices of mothering athletes from intersectional feminist perspectives from all over the world. There are no other anthologies that I know of that critique the world of sports for children with a focus on gender from a mother’s point of view or a theoretical grounding in intersectional feminism. The chapters in this book challenge cissexism, interphobia, racism, classism, hegemonic feminism, and mother blame. These critiques turn the heteronormative, masculinist, cisgender world of competitive sports on its head. The authors approach the world of youth sports teams and individual sports from a myriad of voices—relational voices, embodied voices, voices of mothers, and mothers who coach. They challenge and resist masculinist and misogynist views of sports.” PAIGE EDLEY, Communication Studies Professor, Loyola Marymount University