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Gendered Assumptions in the Framing of Fitness in Sports Nonfiction for Young Adult Readers

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Abstract

This Critical Comparative Content Analysis employs theories of poststructuralist feminism to examine two versions of a nonfiction fitness text for young adult readers, one written for females and one for males. The analysis reveals the persistent naming of gendered assumptions about the appropriateness of particular sports to particular athletes, purposes of fitness, understandings of the ideal athlete, and emotional capacity of young adult readers. These assumptions result in regular and repeated performances of gender that have the potential to suggest to readers that there are certain expectations around fitness that depend upon whether an athlete is a girl or a boy. Taken together, they reflect a particular positioning of athletes and expectations around performance, suggesting to readers that how bodies are shaped and how bodies perform are normative and distinctly gendered, a finding that holds particular resonance when we consider the authoritative nature of informational texts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, University of Colorado Boulder, 249UCB, Boulder, CO, 80309-0249, USA

    Wendy J. Glenn & Erica Caasi

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  1. Wendy J. Glenn
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  2. Erica Caasi
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Correspondence to Wendy J. Glenn.

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Wendy J. Glenn is Professor of Literacy Studies and Teacher Learning, Research, and Practice; Chair of Secondary Humanities; and Co-Director of Teacher Education in the School of Education at the University of Colorado Boulder. Dr. Glenn was named a Best Can Teach recipient, University Teaching Fellow, and Fulbright Scholar. She served as President of the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the National Council of Teachers of English (ALAN) and Senior Editor of the organization’s peer-review journal, The ALAN Review.

Erica Caasi is a Ph.D. student in the Literacy Studies and Teacher Learning, Research, and Practice programs at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her research centers on elementary teacher professional development and literacies in sport and fitness.

Appendix A Page from Shared Data Set

Appendix A Page from Shared Data Set

Researcher

Author One

Author Two

Both

Content & Text

Content

G

give you the ability to spike a volleyball and kick a soccer ball (p. 10)

B

give you the ability to shoot a basketball, kick a soccer ball, and shadow box (p. 10)

G

Many young women believe that means being thin. The key is not how thin you are, but how physically fit. Exercise–to develop a combination of flexibility, endurance, and muscular strength–will maintain your weight at the right level and give you the attractiveness you seek. (pp. 14-15)

B

Many young men are mainly interested in building up their muscles. But building only muscular strength and ignoring flexibility and endurance is not the path to physical fitness. (pp. 14-15)

G

volleyball (p. 15)

B

basketball (p. 15)

G Pg. 10 Muscles Make it Happen

∙ “Working together with your skeleton, voluntary muscles give you the ability to spike a volleyball and kick a soccer ball.’

B Pg. 10 Muscles Make it Happen

∙ “Working together with your skeleton, voluntary muscles give you the ability to shoot a basketball, kick a soccer ball, and shadow box.”

G Pg. 14-15 Exercise - The Big Picture

Exercise develops flexibility, endurance, and strength.

∙ “It’s important to develop your body to its full potential. Many young women believe that means being thin. The key is not how thin you are, but how physically fit. Exercise - to develop a combination of flexibility, endurance, and muscular strength - will maintain your weight at the right level and give you the attractiveness you seek.”

∙ “Just playing volleyball, for example, won’t make you physically fit. To play volleyball well, you need to develop your flexibility, endurance, and strength. That’s why coaches insist on stretching, as well as aerobic and resistance exercises.”

B Pg. 14-15 Exercise - The Big Picture

Exercise develops flexibility, endurance, and strength.

∙ “It’s important to develop your body to its full potential. Many young men are mainly interested in building up their muscles. But building only muscular strength and ignoring flexibility and endurance is not the path to physical fitness.”

∙ “Just playing basketball, for example, won’t make you physically fit. To play basketball well, you need to develop your flexibility, endurance, and strength. That’s why coaches insist on stretching, as well as aerobic and resistance exercises.”

∙ Text differences

∙ Sports differences

∙ Similarities in images, stretches, exercises – differences in presentation (color, borders, etc.).

∙ Scientific language differences

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Glenn, W.J., Caasi, E. Gendered Assumptions in the Framing of Fitness in Sports Nonfiction for Young Adult Readers. Child Lit Educ 53, 76–96 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-020-09432-7

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