Challenge and conformity on contested terrain : Images of women in four women's sport/fitness magazines

Women's sport magazines were launched during the mid-to-late 1990s as a response to the growing women's sport movement in the United States. These magazines, including Real Sports, Sports Illustrated for Women, and Women's Sports & Fitness, were marketed as more active and sport-f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Sex roles 2005-07, Vol.53 (1-2), p.105-117
Main Authors:	HARDIN, Marie, LYNN, Susan, WALSDORF, Kristie
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Athletes Biological and medical sciences Females Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology Gender differences Masculine hegemony Mass Media Images Physical fitness Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry Psychology. Psychophysiology Sex Differences Sexual differentiation Social psychology Social role. Sex role Sports Women Womens magazines
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Summary:	Women's sport magazines were launched during the mid-to-late 1990s as a response to the growing women's sport movement in the United States. These magazines, including Real Sports, Sports Illustrated for Women, and Women's Sports & Fitness, were marketed as more active and sport-focused than established titles such as Shape, a popular magazine launched during the early 1980s for fitness-oriented women. Shape has been criticized by scholars for reinforcing male hegemony in US culture through its emphasis on sexual difference. In the present research, we analyzed photo images presented in Sports Illustrated for Women, Women's Sports & Fitness, and Real Sports to assess the reinforcement or rejection of sexual difference in these magazines as gauged against the presentation of sexual difference in Shape. The results show that the newer magazines do, to varying degrees, contest male hegemony more than Shape does. The impact of these magazines is discussed, and we speculate on the reasons that, although Shape continues to thrive, these magazines have ceased publication.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:	0360-0025 1573-2762