PennTags Feed for /tag/fans+gender

Girl wide web : girls, the Internet, and the negotiation of identity / edited by Sharon R. Mazzarella.

This very recent compilation (2005) contains 11 scholarly articles on the subject of adolescent girls and their use of the web, from perspectives of age, gender, ethnicity, and sociology/media theory. With regard to the subject of teenage girls and fandom, I am interested in Scodari's work on the negotiation of age and gender in TV fan newsgroups, since I am also discussing women's speech in such groups. Mazzarella continues this topic with her discussion of the "cultural economy" of teenage girls fandom on the internet. Finally, Thiel takes on the description of the construction of identity and gender identification for girls over instant messaging, which she describes as both a cultural and an experimentation space. While this text does not discuss specific linguistic topics, it does serve as an interesting sociological reference for young women's behavior on the internet, which could influence or inform linguisitic decisions online.

An Uneven Playing Field for Female Sports Fans. Feminist teacher. Norton: 2005. Vol. 15, Iss. 2 pg. 166

This journal article discusses the reality that, despite popular opinion, female fans are just as knowledgable as male fans. This will present another example of evidence that contradicts the commonly held opinion that female fans are mostly into sports for the attractive guys.

Not now, honey, I'm watching the game : what to do when sports come between you and your mate / Kevin Quirk.

Quirk actually takes a serious attempt at a self-help book for Sportsaholics and their significant others. This is exactly the common perception of male sports fans that is necessary to counter the rising number of female fans. What do the two groups mean to one another? How do they reflect on their genders as a whole?

Sports spectators / Allen Guttmann.

Guttmann takes a historical stance on sports fans, beginning all the way back in Ancient Roman and Greek times. He also presents the idea of the "hooligan." The concept of the "hooligan" is deceptively complicated, but seems to embody what most would claim to be masculine traits with aggressiveness being a major foundation. What do these "hooligans" imply on female sports fans?

American fan : sports mania and the culture that feeds it / Dennis Perrin.

Perrin illuminates a variety of aspects of American fans, in particular sports radio hosts. His discussion of the prevalence of male hosts highlights the gender bias present within sports media, let alone fan cultures.

Sportsex / Toby Miller.

Miller discusses the relatively recent shift in sports fan cultures, particularly with the marketing shift that has targeted female sports fans. It is interesting to see how he takes on lesbianism in relation to sports. There is a lot of great material to use in relation to my paper.

Sports Illustrated For Women

Sports Illustrated for Women ended its publication back in 2002. This could imply a lack of female sports fans to read this magazine. In looking at this website, especially in comparison to Sports Illustrated's website, it is clear that not as much work or effort went into its creation. Although, this difference could be from the 3 year span between when SI for women ended and today, during which SI's website could have had major additions and transformations.

Biased Evaluations of In-Group and Out-Group Spectator Behavior at Sporting Events: The Importance of Team Identification and Threats to Social Identity

This article focuses on the psychological aspects of being a fan. By including a psychological perspective, in particular one that discusses inclusion and exclusion from fan cultures, the implications of being included in a fan culture despite being female will be explicated, as well as vice versa.

Stronger women get, the more men love football : sexism and the American culture of sports / Mariah Burton Nelson.

This article was cited in the "Myth of the 'Puck Bunny'" article. The strength of women affecting the fandom of men implies that the questioning of gender norms for one sex affects how the other views themselves. This could corrulate with the argument that female fans are seen in opposition to gender norms.

Using Sex and Gender Role Orientation to Predict Level of Sport Fandom

This is the first article to differentiate between biological sex and gender constructions. This differentiation comes as a test to see if gender constructions or sex were a better predictor of who would be a fan. By differentiating between gender and sex, this article helps to clarify whether being a sports fan conflicts with the gender norms associated with being a woman.

Responses of Male and Female Metropolitans to the Commercialization of Professional Sport 1960 to 1975

This article presents an older look at sports fans, prior to the recent influx of female fans, which again is up for debate. The authors attempt to differentiate sex associations based on different aspects of being a fan. With an older look at fan behavior, the recent popularization of female fans can be determined as a changed perception or an actual increase in the numbers of female fans.

The Myth of the 'Puck Bunny': Female Fans and Men's Ice Hockey

Crawford and Gosling attempt to debunk the myth of the 'puck bunny.' In their efforts, they recognize no difference in knowledge between male and female fans. This significant disjuncture from common beliefs helps to legitimize female fans as being genuine.

Fantoo.com Women's Sports T-shirts - Take One for the Team

This is yet another indication of the corporate benefits being enjoyed by the increase in female fans or perhaps just the increased awareness of female fans. There could be no significant increase in female fans, but the perception of these fans could be changing. This website offers an alternative view of female fans from the negative portrayal usually associated with such an idea.

NFL.com - Official Site of the National Football League

NFL.com will help provide information on the significance of feminized sports hats and other such products. As mentioned in another article, presence of pink hats has caused a significant response by both women and men. Women tend to like them, whereas men think they are wrong, infuriating, or any number of other negative opinions.

Female and Male Sport Fans: A Comparison of Sport Consumption Motives

These authors try to determine the likelihood of men and women to become fans in general and then more specifically as fans according to gender to comparable sports like, college basketball. Also, it counters the many articles that emphasize and often exaggerate the number of female fans, finding data that denies an equal level of fans in both sexes. Men, of course, are more represented as fans.

Self and Product Image Congruency Among Male and Female Minor League Ice Hockey Spectators: Implications for Women's Consumption of Professional Sports

This article takes a significantly more involved advertising slant. It provides another example of how female sports fans are becoming a force to be reckoned with, be it their male counterparts or advertisers. In particular, this showed that advertisers need to differentiate their marketing strategies for men and women, because although they are all fans, the "image congruency" is lacking.

Relationships Among Spectator Gender, Motives, Points of Attachment and Sport Preference

Trail and Robinson focus on intercollegiate sports, but offer interesting statistics about spectators as a whole. Their focus on advertising relates to the advertisers of professional sports. However, an argument could be made that female college fans do not carry over into professional sports fans, due to the specialized setting under which their fandom is developed.

Males' Impressions of Female Fans and Nonfans: There Really is 'Something About Mary'

The authors attempt to distinguish a difference in perception of female fans by men who were sports fans themselves or nonfans. How men perceive female fans is crucial in determining the implications that female fans have on the fan cultures of professional sports, as well as, gender constructions.

'Girls Night Out' At a Ballpark

The article exposes the significant effect that female fans have had on professional sports. An entire night devoted to female fans is the premise of this article. Also, it shows how advertisers are being influenced by the realization that women are interested in sports.

Multi-hued Caps Make Me See Red

This article fits in with my argument that the presence of women fan's in a fan culture predominantly made up of men causes significant changes to gender constructions as well as the fan culture, itself. This article focuses on the creation of pink hats for almost every professional sports team. The author finds fault with this creation, which adds weight to the belief that women "shouldn't" like sports.

Female Fans Come Alive - TV Guide

I am not sure whether I will be actually able to use this article, because it does not appear when I click on the link from PennText. However, from the abstract in EBSCO, it seems like it would fit right in with my argument that female fan cultures affect gender norms. It is a TV Guide Survey of NFL female fans, with attention being drawn toward the affects that female fans have had on the NFL, particularly in its product line.