Graduate Research Papers

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Open Access Graduate Research Paper

Abstract

Sports is an increasingly popular genre for girls who have more opportunities to participate since the passing of Title IX. Finding young adult sports fiction books that contain female athletes has been difficult. Girls should be able to read about girls playing and succeeding at sports, as well as boys being able to read about girls playing and succeeding on the athletic field. This research was aimed to find if that is, indeed, a problem.

Young adult sports fiction books that contained female athletes were identified using various search methods. The books were grouped according to those that were published prior to 1990 and those published after 1990. A diverse sampling of books (copyright, sport represented, author) were selected and the content was evaluated for gender representation, reasons for female participation in the story, characterization of the female athlete in the story, and social problems encountered by the female character.

An evaluation of 16 books from a range of copyright dates, authors, and sport representation was expected. One of the researchers frustrations was in finding 25 books that were available and that had a female athlete in a significant role in the story. Sixteen books from 1970 to the present were identified, located, and evaluated.

Two hypotheses were accepted and one hypothesis was narrowly rejected. The first hypothesis regarding the illusion that females participate in sports for social reasons rather than competitive reasons was overwhelmingly supported; 75% of the books that were evaluated supported this first hypothesis. Social issues interfering with sporting issues was the basis of the second hypothesis and was overwhelmingly accepted. Gender issues being a top conflict in the story appeared in 94% of the stories evaluated. Most of the books also included other social conflicts including alcoholism, eating disorders, family relationships, and school problems.

One hypothesis concerning the characterization of the female athlete was narrowly rejected. Half of the books described a weak, passive, feminine female who struggled with gender issues. The other 50% of the stories included a boisterous, aggressive, and assertive female who created problems for herself and her teammates.

The way that boys and girls are portrayed in young adult sports literature has not changed much from earlier views and does not reflect the changes we have experienced in society. It is frustrating that while young adult sports fiction books are available and plentiful, finding books that include females is difficult. The books that are available do not provide positive examples of girls playing successfully on girls' teams without social consequences.

Year of Submission

2006

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Department of Curriculum and Instruction

Department

Division of School Library Media Studies

First Advisor

Barbara Safford

Comments

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Date Original

8-2006

Object Description

1 PDF (v, 113 pages)

Language

en

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