Faced with a unique oppression due to their racial and gender identity, a great disservice has been done to Black female athletes (BFAs) within the sporting literature as they have historically been silenced and rendered invisible, either in failure to include them in research, or in fragmenting their identities along racial or gender lines, thus presenting incomplete and inaccurate representations of their experiences. Employing a theoretical framework grounded in Black feminist standpoint theory, this study explored BFAs’ conceptualizations of femininity and microaggressions, as well as how their racial, gender, class, and athletic identities affect them within and outside of sporting environments. This study sought BFAs at 83 Division I institutions, asking them to complete a survey including the Bem Sex Role Inventory-Short (BSRI-S), the Racial and Ethnic Microaggressions Scale (REMS), and the Black Racial Identity Attitude Scale (BRIAS). Six BFAs opted-in to a qualitative interview. These BFAs presented multiple interpretations of femininity, discussed experiences with microaggressions, and spoke to how they navigated various contexts given their racial, gender, and athletic identities. While identifying hardships of being BFAs on college campuses and Black women in the United States, interview participants also discussed how their ability to withstand the unique mistreatment of BFAs and Black women left them feeling empowered and resilient. Implications for practitioners and researchers are also included. / Kinesiology

The purpose of this qualitative study was to provide a rich description of the experiences of mothering athletes training for and competing in the Olympic Games. Specifically, the study explored the post-partum return to training and competition, the integration of mothering and training responsibilities, the emotional and social experience of being a mother-athlete, and the Olympic experience. A purposive sample of eight athletes was utilized. All participants had competed in either the 2004 Summer or 2006 Winter Olympic Games and was mother to at least one child under the age of six at the time of their Olympic participation. Participants represented six different sports and two North American countries. In-depth interviews were conducted with the participants from September 2007 to April 2008. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed, yielding eight major themes and 26 sub-themes. The themes that emerged included: (1) becoming a mother-athlete, (2) the initial return to training, (3) the effects of motherhood on training and competing, (4) the effects of the elite sport career on motherhood and the family, (5) social support, (6) organizational support, (7) the Olympic experience, and (8) advice and recommendations. In general, participants reported that their children and families enhanced their lives, both in and out of sport. They felt that motherhood gave their lives more balance and gave them a healthier perspective on their sport participation. For most, this resulted in increased enjoyment of sport, less pressure to perform, and in turn, enhanced performance. Participants faced struggles as well. They reported lack of time and energy as barriers to training (especially in the first year of motherhood), and found traveling with children to be logistically and financially difficult. The athletes in this study reported high levels of support, both physical and emotional, from their husbands/partners and immediate families. Within the athletic community, the participants found support from coaches, yet reported varying levels of support from athletic peers and sport organizations. Overall, the athletes reported positive Olympic experiences, with two discussing disappointing experiences. Recommendations for researchers and sport professionals based on the interviews are also discussed. / Kinesiology

Increased participation rates and significant performances of girls and women in sport over the last three decades would have many believing that the barriers and discrimination experienced in the past have been overcome and that continued participation and success into the future is unproblematic. Feminist research has problematized what now seems like acceptance of women’s participation in sport in this postmodern era by considering the location of the female athlete at the intersecting of discourses of femininity, masculinist sport, heterosexuality and homophobia. Situated among these powerful regulating forces, female athletes become subjects attached to often contradictory identities. For instance, the paradox of femininity and athleticism can result in a troubling experience that requires complex negotiation and time-consuming management of gender boundaries and behaviour expectations. Although sport has been considered a liberatory space for women, that view fails to consider that sport continues to maintain the status quo through workings of power politics that sustain oppressive social structures and relations. In this study, the review of literature in Chapter Two illuminates that sport, as it currently exists, perpetuates gender inequality and builds and maintains socio-cultural boundaries of normative femininity and heterosexuality. Unpacking women’s sport experience, therefore, involves exploring the discursive force fields that structure their everyday lives. Immersed in the dynamics of power and resistance, women performing so-called “masculine” activities such as skilled sport performance create a contradictory and precarious location for themselves. This location could be perceived as transgressive and liberating or as one that must negotiate, and possibly resolve, the tension between discursive expectancies and non-normative performances. My study examined the sport experiences of eight female athletes. Each was interviewed three times using a semi-structured interview process. During the initial interview, the participants were asked to provide the history and priority of sport in their lives and speak about the repetitive act of “becoming” an athlete as they make the transitions from other subjectivities. Chapter Four summarizes this conversation with each of the participants. Through a photo-elicitation process, one of the interviews was dedicated to revealing each of the participants’ movements through the social spaces of their daily lives. Another of the interviews was supported by video footage of the athlete as she trained and/or competed in her sport(s). This data collection process allowed for the participants’ multiple subject positions or locations to be spoken by them throughout the conversations. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using discourse analysis. In order to critique the various discourses that dis/advantage female athletes, the theoretical framework provided by feminist poststructuralism was chosen for this project. Through this perspective, detailed in Chapter Three, an understanding of how social power is exercised over and experienced by women is helpful in knowledge production that supports women’s on-going efforts of contestation and change. For example, continued improvement and achievement in sport performance vi could be the result of new versions of femininity fostered by my critique of the privileged female identity that allows for less docile and more athletic female bodies. Discourse analysis, as described in Chapter Three, allowed for surveying the discursive terrain of the lives of the participants. This method also illuminated the ways of speaking, descriptions and specific images that the athletes used to speak about their sport experiences. The women spoke sport into their lives and created a positive space that featured personal achievement, escape or freedom from the “rest of life”; an activity that supported a healthy body and a positive body image; a place of family support; and a social, fun and accepting environment. In contrast to this, the participants’ sport space was troubled by the management and negotiation that was required by them to continue participation. Even though, as described in Chapter Five, they could speak sport into their lives in a positive way, they also spoke sport out of their lives (or at least further down the priority list) because of the effort that was required to juggle it or balance it within their multiple subjectivities. The sometimes simultaneous and always sequential contradictory gendered discursive force fields of motherhood, the ideal feminine body image, intimate relationships, compulsory heterosexuality, and physical activity required constant strategies of negotiation and management that are described in Chapter Six. A brief concluding chapter summarizes how the participants in this study found themselves frustrated by their “in-between-ness”. They are not athletes in the dominant heteronormative discursive space of male sport (they are “othered”), and they do not fit in the dominant discursive space of privileged femininity. The results of this study reveal that while sport presents itself as a site of empowerment for women, it also perpetuates and maintains traditional patriarchal values. The participants, however, creatively negotiated and renovated that patriarchal space to create a location in which they could evade the strength of dominant discourses and experience the benefits of sport engagement.

Increased participation rates and significant performances of girls and women in sport over the last three decades would have many believing that the barriers and discrimination experienced in the past have been overcome and that continued participation and success into the future is unproblematic. Feminist research has problematized what now seems like acceptance of women’s participation in sport in this postmodern era by considering the location of the female athlete at the intersecting of discourses of femininity, masculinist sport, heterosexuality and homophobia. Situated among these powerful regulating forces, female athletes become subjects attached to often contradictory identities. For instance, the paradox of femininity and athleticism can result in a troubling experience that requires complex negotiation and time-consuming management of gender boundaries and behaviour expectations. Although sport has been considered a liberatory space for women, that view fails to consider that sport continues to maintain the status quo through workings of power politics that sustain oppressive social structures and relations. In this study, the review of literature in Chapter Two illuminates that sport, as it currently exists, perpetuates gender inequality and builds and maintains socio-cultural boundaries of normative femininity and heterosexuality. Unpacking women’s sport experience, therefore, involves exploring the discursive force fields that structure their everyday lives. Immersed in the dynamics of power and resistance, women performing so-called “masculine” activities such as skilled sport performance create a contradictory and precarious location for themselves. This location could be perceived as transgressive and liberating or as one that must negotiate, and possibly resolve, the tension between discursive expectancies and non-normative performances. My study examined the sport experiences of eight female athletes. Each was interviewed three times using a semi-structured interview process. During the initial interview, the participants were asked to provide the history and priority of sport in their lives and speak about the repetitive act of “becoming” an athlete as they make the transitions from other subjectivities. Chapter Four summarizes this conversation with each of the participants. Through a photo-elicitation process, one of the interviews was dedicated to revealing each of the participants’ movements through the social spaces of their daily lives. Another of the interviews was supported by video footage of the athlete as she trained and/or competed in her sport(s). This data collection process allowed for the participants’ multiple subject positions or locations to be spoken by them throughout the conversations. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using discourse analysis. In order to critique the various discourses that dis/advantage female athletes, the theoretical framework provided by feminist poststructuralism was chosen for this project. Through this perspective, detailed in Chapter Three, an understanding of how social power is exercised over and experienced by women is helpful in knowledge production that supports women’s on-going efforts of contestation and change. For example, continued improvement and achievement in sport performance vi could be the result of new versions of femininity fostered by my critique of the privileged female identity that allows for less docile and more athletic female bodies. Discourse analysis, as described in Chapter Three, allowed for surveying the discursive terrain of the lives of the participants. This method also illuminated the ways of speaking, descriptions and specific images that the athletes used to speak about their sport experiences. The women spoke sport into their lives and created a positive space that featured personal achievement, escape or freedom from the “rest of life”; an activity that supported a healthy body and a positive body image; a place of family support; and a social, fun and accepting environment. In contrast to this, the participants’ sport space was troubled by the management and negotiation that was required by them to continue participation. Even though, as described in Chapter Five, they could speak sport into their lives in a positive way, they also spoke sport out of their lives (or at least further down the priority list) because of the effort that was required to juggle it or balance it within their multiple subjectivities. The sometimes simultaneous and always sequential contradictory gendered discursive force fields of motherhood, the ideal feminine body image, intimate relationships, compulsory heterosexuality, and physical activity required constant strategies of negotiation and management that are described in Chapter Six. A brief concluding chapter summarizes how the participants in this study found themselves frustrated by their “in-between-ness”. They are not athletes in the dominant heteronormative discursive space of male sport (they are “othered”), and they do not fit in the dominant discursive space of privileged femininity. The results of this study reveal that while sport presents itself as a site of empowerment for women, it also perpetuates and maintains traditional patriarchal values. The participants, however, creatively negotiated and renovated that patriarchal space to create a location in which they could evade the strength of dominant discourses and experience the benefits of sport engagement.

Girls choose to drop out of sports in a higher rate than men. According to some researchers there are several factors that affects their decisions to drop out or continue with their sport. The purpose with this study is to increase knowledge about young female athletes and how they look at their future in elite sports, also how the girls experience their elite efforts, and what they find important in it. The study examines what is required for young female elite athletes to continue their elite efforts and what factors affect how the girls look at their future. In this study, a qualitative survey in the form of semi-structured interviews has been conducted. The selection consisted of six girls from the sports soccer, ice hockey and taekwondo. The result showed that the athletes consider having fun and to develop to be the most important in sport. Factors that made the athletes continue their elite efforts was right conditions and their sport clubs. The factors that determines how athletes look at their future were their goals and dreams, as well as motivation. The conclusion of this study was that the conditions can be different between team athletes and individual athletes. The individual athletes in this study seemed more satisfied with their situation than the team athletes.

Bakgrund: De hormonella förändringarna som sker under menstruationscykeln bidrar till variationer i olika fysiologiska processer som påverkar både kvinnors mående och prestation. Det är inte enbart det välstuderade premenstruella syndromet innan blödning som påverkar utan variationer i könshormonerna under hela menstruationscykeln påverkar olika fysiologiska processer. Forskning om optimering av styrke- och konditionsträning utgår ofta från studier med manliga deltagare som har testosteron som uppbyggande hormon. Forskning på kvinnor visar att de hormonella förändringarna under menstruationscykeln bidrar till variation i metabolism, styrka, inflammation, vätskebalans, kroppstemperatur och risk för skador. Syfte: Litteraturstudiens syfte var att undersöka hur menstruationscykeln påverkar prestationsförmågan hos idrottande kvinnor. Metod: En litteratursökning genomfördes i databaserna PubMed och Sport Discus. Även en utökad sökning och en sekundärsökning utfördes. Totalt inkluderades tio studier. Resultat: Fem studier undersökte skillnader i muskelstyrka mellan follikelfasen (första blödningsdag fram till ägglossning) och lutealfasen (ägglossning fram till dagen innan nästa blödning). Fyra av studierna visade en ökad muskelstyrka och större muskeltillväxt under follikelfasen och en av studierna visade ingen skillnad mellan faserna. Fem studier undersökte syreupptagningsförmåga mellan follikel- och lutealfas. Två av studierna visade en högre syreupptagningsförmåga under lutealfasen, och tre av studierna visade inga skillnader mellan faserna. Slutsats: Studierna kring muskelstyrka indikerar att effekten av styrketräning är störst under follikelfasen, varemot flera studier behövs för att kunna utreda hur menstruationscykeln påverkar kvinnors syreupptagningsförmåga. / Background: The hormonal changes that occur during the menstrual cycle contribute to variations in different physiological processors that affect both women's sensation and performance. It is not only the well-studied premenstrual syndrome of bleeding that affects women but the continuous variation in the steoridhormones throughout the menstrual cycle affect several physiological functions. Research on optimization strength and fitness training is often based on studies with male participants who have testosterone as the dominant anabolic hormone. Research on women shows that the hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle contribute to variation in metabolism, strength, inflammation, fluid balance, body temperature and risk of injury. Purpose: This literature study purpose was to investigate how menstrual cycles affect the performance of athletic women. Method: A literature search was carried out using the PubMed and Sport Discus databases. An extended search and a secondary search were also performed and a total of ten studies were included. Results: Five studies examined differences in muscle strength between the follicle phase (first bleeding day until ovulation) and the luteal phase (ovulation until the day before the onset of the next bleeding). Four of the studies showed increased muscle strength and greater muscle growth during the follicle phase while one study found no differences between the phases. Five studies investigated oxygen uptake and aerobic capacity between the follicle and luteal phase. Two of the studies reported an increased oxygen uptake during the luteal phase while the remaining three studies showed no differences between the phases. Conclusion: The studies on muscle strength indicate that effect of strength training is greatest during the follicle phase, whereas more studies are needed to investigate whether the menstrual cycle affects women's oxygen uptake capacity.

Introduction & Background: Female athletes are at risk for developing eating disorders, they feel the need to engage in dieting, fasting, vomiting, and diet pills. These actions impact 35-57% of female athletes. An eating disorder can be defined as a variety of mental conditions that are characterized by an imbalance in eating and a weakness in physical or mental health. The female athlete triad is three components including osteoporosis, eating disorders, and amenorrhea (absence of menstrual cycle). Purpose Statement & Research Question: For female athletes around the ages of 18-23, what is the risk of eating disorders compared to their involvement in a competitive sport within the years they are participating in their sport? Literature Review: Sources were pulled from the CINAHL database, these articles are under 5 years of age. Findings: Female athletes develop low body weights. Approximately 4.3% of female athletes struggle with the female triad. The demands of athletes cause extensive stress and unhealthy eating patterns. About 62% of female athletes develop eating disorders. Conclusion & Nursing Implications: Nurses should be educated on how to identify symptoms, educate on risks associated with energy deficiency, and refer athletes to resources. It is important for nurses, coaches, and families to work to promote the health and well-being of athletes, and to prioritize prevention and early intervention when it comes to eating disorders. Key search terms: Search terms include “female athletes”, “the female triad”, “eating disorders”, “eating disorders in sports”, “coaches' role in the female triad”, and “risk for injuries”.

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