Abstract
This chapter draws upon black feminism and intersectional theory to challenge assumptions of whiteness that frequently travel within British and North American leisure, sport and gender scholarship. To achieve this goal, we critically situate and apply an intersectional framework to explore two highly mediated cases: the controversies surrounding Don Imus and the Rutgers University women’s basketball team and the SlutWalk protest movement. This chapter makes clear the persistent need to challenge the primacy of gender as always and already the most important social relation, as some feminists infer. Such a conceptualization is problematic as it reifies the power of whiteness within feminist sport and leisure scholarship and popular narratives, as well as within feminist organizing and activism more broadly.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ahmed, S. (2007). A phenomenology of whiteness. Feminist Theory, 8(2), 149–168.
Attwood, F. (2007). Slut and riot grrrls: Female identity and sexual agency. Journal of Gender Studies, 16(3), 233–247.
Black Women’s Blueprint. (2011). An open letter from black women to the slutwalk. Black Women’s Blueprint, 23.
Bosse, J. (2007). Whiteness and the performance of race in ballroom dance. Journal of American Folklore, 120(475), 19–47.
Brah, A. & Phoenix, A. (2004). Ain’t I a woman? Revisiting intersectionality. Journal of International Women’s Studies, 5(3), 75–86.
Carr, J. L. (2013). The SlutWalk movement: A study in transnational feminist activism. Journal of Feminist Scholarship, 4, 24–38.
Chiachiere, R. (2007). Imus called women’s basketball team ‘nappy-headed hos.’ Media Matters for America. Retrieved September 24, 2017 from https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2007/04/04/imus-called-womens-basketball-team-nappy-headed/138497
Cho, S., Crenshaw, K. W. & McCall, L. (2013). Toward a field of intersectionality studies: Theory, application and praxis. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 38(4), 785–810.
Collins, P. H. (1986). Learning from the outsider within: The sociological significance of black feminist thought. Social Problems, 33(6), S14–S32.
Collins, P. H. (1990). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. New York: Routledge.
Collins, P. H. (1999). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. New York: Routledge.
Collins, P. H. (2009). Another kind of public education: Race, schools, the media, and democratic possibilities. Beacon Press.
Cooky, C., Wachs, F. L., Messner, M., & Dworkin, S. L. (2010). It’s not about the game: Imus, race, class, gender and sexuality in contemporary media. Sociology of Sport Journal, 27, 139–159.
Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1(8), 139–167.
Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241–1299.
Crunk Feminist Collective (CFC). (2011). SlutWalks vs. ho strolls. Retrieved September 7, 2015, from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0ahUKEwi8p_TO9M_JAhVGOiYKHSb3AY8QFggdMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcrunkfeministcollective.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F05%2F23%2Fslutwalks-v-ho-strolls%2F&usg=AFQjCNE5tsuK4IdhD4dFHK6V4wCs00Jzgw&sig2=ssyA5qFkrni-YIJ0BuM9Yw
Douglas, D. D. & Jamieson, K. M. (2006). A farewell to remember: Interrogating the Nancy Lopez farewell tour. Sociology of Sport Journal, 23(2), 117–141.
Dyson, M. E. (2007). Know what I mean? Reflections on Hip Hop. New York: Basic Books.
Horn, J., & Gold, M. (2007, April 11). Radio host skated close to the edge, and plenty went along. Los Angeles Times, p. A11.
Kwan, R. (2011, February 16). Don’t dress like a slut: Toronto cop. The Excalibur. Retrieved September 24, 2017, from http://www.excal.on.ca/dont-dress-like-a-slut-toronto-cop/
Lonsway, K. A., & Fitzgerald, L. R. (1994). Rape myths: In review. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 18, 133–164.
Maronese, N. (2011a). Cop’s ‘slut’ comment draws backlash from guerilla activists. Excalibur: York University’s Community Newspaper. Retrieved December 7, 2015 from http://www.excal.on.ca/cop’s-‘slut’-comment-draws-backlash-from-guerilla-activists/
Maronese, N. (2011b). SlutWalk toronto: April 3, 2011. Excalibur: York University’s Community Newspaper. Retrieved December 7, 2015 from http://www.excal.on.ca/slutwalk-toronto/
McDonald, M. G. (2014). Mapping whiteness and intersectionality: Troubling gender and sexuality in sport studies. In H. Jennifer & A. Eric (Eds.), Routledge handbook of sport, gender and sexuality (pp. 151–160). London: Routledge.
McDonald, M. G., & Thomas, C. (2011). The Rutger’s women’s basketball team talks back: Intersectionality, resistance, and media power. In S. S. Prettyman & B. Lampman (Eds.), Learning culture through sport: Perspectives on society and organized sport (pp. 78–91). Lanham, MD: Roman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Mendes, K. (2015). SlutWalk, feminism, and news. In K. Mendes & K. Silva (Eds.), Feminist Erasures (pp. 219–234). London: Palgrave Macmillan UK.
Mills, J. (1991). Womanwords: A vocabulary of culture and patriarchal society. London: Virago.
Murtha, T. (2013). SlutWalk philly changes protest name to ‘a march to end rape culture.’ RH Reality Check. Retrieved December 7, 2015 from http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2013/09/26/slutwalk-philly-changes-protest-name-to-a-march-to-end-rape-culture/
Park, M. K. (2015). Race, hegemonic masculinity and the ‘Linpossible’: An analysis of media representations of Jeremy Lin. Communication and Sport, 3(4), 367–389.
Payne, D., Lonsway, K., & Fitzgerald, F. (1994). Rape myth acceptance: Exploration of its structure and its measurement using the Illinois Rape Myth Awareness Scale. Journal of Research in Personality, 33, 27–68.
Press Conference Transcribe. (2007, April 10). Retrieved December 7, 2015 from http://www.scarletknights.com/genrel/041007aaa.html
Rand, E. J. (2014). Reclaiming queer. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press.
Ratna, A. (2011). Who wants to make aloo gobi when you can bend it like Beckham? British Asian females and their racialized experiences of gender and identity in women’s football. Soccer in Society, 11, 382–401.
Reagon, B. J. (1983). Coalition politics: Turning the century. In B. Smith (Ed.), Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology (pp. 343–356). New York: Kitchen Table: Women of Color.
Reger, J. (2015). The story of a slut walk. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 44(1), 84–112.
Romo, V. (2011). Hundreds march against sexual assault in ‘slutwalk.’ NPR. Retrieved December 7, 2015 from http://www.npr.org/2011/06/20/137304051/hundreds-march-against-sexual-assault-in-slut-walk
Rutgers’ Coach, Players Accept Imus’ Apology. (2007, April 16). Retrieved December 7, 2015 from http://www.today.com/id/18089620/ns/today/t/rutgers-coach-players-accept-imus-apology/#.VogsDhG9ow0
Sandoval, C. (2000). Methodology of the oppressed. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota.
Simmons, A. S. (2011). Woman is the ‘n’ of the world? AfroLez®femcentric Perspectives. Retrieved December 1, 2015 from http://afrolez.tumblr.com/post/11023864373/woman-is-the-n-of-the-world
SlutWalk Toronto. (2015). SlutWalk toronto frequently asked questions. Retrieved December 7, 2015 from http://www.slutwalktoronto.com/about/faqs
Soloman, A. (2011a). Is the slutwalk movement relevant for a black feminist. Colorlines. Retrieved December 11, 2015 from https://www.colorlines.com/articles/slutwalk-movement-relevant-black-feminist
Soloman, A. (2011b). More thoughts on slutwalk: No attention is better than bad attention. Colorlines. Retrieved December 11, 2015 from http://www.colorlines.com/articles/more-thoughts-slutwalk-no-attention-better-bad-attention
Steinkellner, K. (2015). The evolution of the word ‘slut’ and the problems with reclaiming it. Retrieved December 10, 2015 from http://hellogiggles.com/evolution-word-slut/3/#read
Tanenbaum, L. (2000). Slut!: Growing up female with a bad reputation. New York: Harper Collins.
Thompson, C. (2006). Back to nature? Resurrecting ecofeminism after poststructuralist and third-wave feminisms. Isis, 97(3), 505–512.
Watson, B., & Scraton, S. J. (2013). Leisure studies and intersectionality. Leisure Studies, 32(1), 35–47.
Welter, B. (1966). The cult of true womanhood: 1820–1860. American Quarterly, 18(2), 151.
Wolfe, D. A., & Chiodo, D. (2008). Sexual harassment and related behaviors reported among youth from grade 9 to grade 11. CAMH Centre for Prevention Science. Toronto: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
McDonald, M.G., Shelby, R. (2018). Feminism, Intersectionality and the Problem of Whiteness in Leisure and Sport Practices and Scholarship. In: Mansfield, L., Caudwell, J., Wheaton, B., Watson, B. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Feminism and Sport, Leisure and Physical Education. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53318-0_31
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53318-0_31
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-53317-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-53318-0
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)