The topic to be discussed in this essay is Black women in sports; more specifically how they navigate the challenges as both female athletes and black athletes. This will be an analysis of literature and statistics through primarily Critical Race Theory (CRT) and the feminist theory.
My first lens, critical race theory, formerly studied on college campuses, has seen a recent push to be applied to broader schools of thought and institutions. It evaluates the significant inconsistencies in the consideration of the place of “race” in legal circles impacts life chances, freedoms, and every day experiences in social structures (Lawrence & Hilton, 2022) With one of those social structures being sports, black athletes have had to navigate exclusion, abuse, unequal opportunities and protections.
The beginnings of most black American participation in sports at a higher level began in historically black colleges and coloured leagues. Those athletes were some of the first to encounter post-slavery economic mobility; and all the societal expectations that came with being an educated negro in the white world of sports. To be a black athlete back then meant not to stand out too much, prove the whites wrong and fit into the standard. Pioneer athletes such as Arthur Ashe-first black male professional tennis player, were vocally subservient to whites by spreading negative ‘boot straps vs lazy’ rhetoric during the civil rights move in the 1960’s; he was praised as a good negro compared to the controlling images of activists and “angry black athletes” at the time(Destin & Dyer, 2021). Black people in general are often not given the option of being perceived as individuals, always representing their entire race in what they do, how they carry themselves and the spaces they enter; individuality is a privilege of whites- not having to face implicit biases based off societal caricatures(Banaji et al., 2021) To elaborate:
Coercive power structures that have disadvantaged marginalized groups in society (sexism, ableism, ageism) find a parallel in sport. However, racial capitalism is particularly amplified in this setting. In sport, Black bodies are assessed, monetised, and replaced like commodities. Excluded from a status of full humanity in this way, we argue that athletes are often reduced to entertaining performers.(Tuakli-Wosornu & Darling-Hammond, 2022)
In recent times, more and more black female athletes have broken away from the passive attitudes of their predecessors. Prominent figures like Simone Biles and Serena Williams have been vocal about the racism and sexism they experience in their fields, gymnastics and tennis respectively. Simone Biles deciding to opt out of the Tokyo Olympic Games to prioritize her mental health, which was being affected by the constant attacks on her character and athleticism, was a huge upset to those who hold expectations and biases for professional athlete behavior.(Vivek, 2021) Serena wasn’t afraid to call out unfair officiates, racism in the press and unequal drug testing she had to undergo constantly to compete. Never bowing her head like those before her, thus infuriating the white masses that regulate, officiate and fund professional tennis. Fast forward to Serena and her sister Venus entering the world stage of professional tennis in their cornrows, colourful outfits and powerful athletic displays a barrage of negative media (Martin, 2019) surrounded them throughout their careers. One such event occurred after a match against Lucie Ε afΓ‘ΕovΓ‘ at the French Open in 2015, a social media commentator wrote that Williams “looks like a gorilla and sounds like a gorilla when she grunts while hitting the ball. (Desmond-Harris, 2017 as cited in Destin & Dyer, 2021). Currently, white players make up 78% of professional tennis and black players at 6.8% (Zippia, 2022)
The end of the Negro Leagues as a result of integration efforts as well as the replacement of community-based independent sport for larger administrative organizations during the 1950s had damaged the black-controlled infrastructure of sports that had formed during segregation.(Ruck, 2021) Black female athletes have had to face extra barriers when it comes to accessing higher education, the resources to participate in sports and to support their families (Cunningham et al., 2021). It wasn't until the 1970’s with the evolution of Title IX legislation that women’s professional sports took off;
Since the inception of Title IX, college scholarships in those sports that have also been added in efforts to attract female athletes tend to be extended toward White, middle-class women. Thus, the effect of Title IX at the high school level may be to maintain the “funnelling” of Black female athletes into two main sports (e.g., basketball and track & field), whereas White female athletes benefit the most from the addition of new sports and sports programs. In continuing to provide a narrow range of sports available at the high school level for Black women, this process may also adversely affect the accessibility of college athletics for non-White females who may be seeking athletic scholarships. (Walker-Pickett et al., 2012)
My second lens, the feminist theory, will analyze the past and current standards for women in gender and female athletes along with how whiteness is often the standard for femininity. The feminist theory,
‘seeks to explain the lives of girls and women (and more generally people who are marginalized by virtue of their identification with the categories, sex, gender, and sexuality) in ways that show varied perspectives. Highlighting such diversity then points to possibilities for social change and to imagine the future in novel ways.’ (Lorraine Radtke, 2017)
During the 1800’s to early 1900’s, wealthy white women had access to sports, recreationally through clubs and activities on college campuses. They were not taken seriously and were barred from competing with other schools nor were there any professional leagues due to then sexist dogma that riddled science. Women were seen as delicate, emotional and inferior creatures for men to care for. It was after WWII, when the country saw a large group of women nationally step up and become a part of the workforce, replacing men off to war, able to show their ability to perform as men do. (Bell, 2016) After Title IX passed, there was a surge in female participation in sports; although as previously stated the legislation did not translate to equal access to the world of sport due to the socioeconomic differences between white and black female athletes.
With recent controversy in the sporting world surrounding trans athletes, transphobic discourse has produced a disproportionate amount of negative attention towards black female athletes. Many have their womanhood questioned when they outperform their white counterparts or don’t have Eurocentric features (Grover, 2020). The masculinization of black women has caused a great deal of negative media reporting and commentary directed toward black female athletes. Studies surveying the public's perception of black women in general have shown they are not seen as feminine or through a feminine lens;
Empirical research has demonstrated the conflation in the White American imaginary of whiteness with female, and blackness with male. In one study, participants (82% White) were presented with images of Black and White men and women, and asked to identify the gender of the depicted person. Respondents often miscategorized Black women as men, making more errors when categorizing them compared to any other group (Goff, Thomas, & Jackson, 2008, as cited by Kwate & Threadcraft, 2015).
White female athletes are able to take advantage of being perceived as the standard of femininity and the subjectively positive media attention and financial opportunities; black women in sport don’t benefit in the same context as the hyper sexual ‘sapphire’ caricature doesn’t translate in sport the same way hyper masculinization does.
In conclusion, Black female athletes face a multitude of opponents outside of their competitors in their respective courts or fields and that needs to be recognized. The role respectability politics plays in the enforcement of institutional racism and sexism in sports and how demonized black women are when they choose to participate in professional sports are barriers black female athletes continue to navigate as time goes on. Recent generational shifts in thought have shown promise for further improvement of societal structures that oppress black people, however, with sport being an institution resistant to change- unless radical progress is made black females in professional sport and otherwise won’t see change.
Works Cited
Banaji, M. R., Fiske, S. T., & Massey, D. S. (2021). Systemic racism: Individuals and interactions, institutions and Society. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-021-00349-3
Bell, R. C. (2016, October 12). A history of women in sport prior to title IX. The Sport Journal. Retrieved November 7, 2022, from https://thesportjournal.org/article/a-history-of-women-in-sport-prior-to-title-ix/
Cunningham, G. B., Wicker, P., & Walker, N. A. (2021). Editorial: Gender and racial bias in sport organizations. Frontiers in Sociology, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2021.684066
Desmond-Harris, J. (2017, January 28). Despite decades of racist and sexist attacks, Serena Williams keeps winning. Vox. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://www.vox.com/2017/1/28/14424624/serena-williams-wins-australian-open-venus-record-racist-sexist-attacks
Destin, Y., & Dyer, E. (2021, May 26). The legacies of tennis champions Althea Gibson, Arthur Ashe, and the Williams sisters show The persistence of america's race obstacles - race and Social Problems. SpringerLink. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12552-021-09334-3
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Grover, A. M. (2020, December 4). Straddling the line between gender and sex: How racism, misogyny, and transphobia intertwine to define notions of womanhood in the world of Elite Sports. Engenderings. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/gender/2020/12/07/straddling-the-line-between-gender-and-sex-how-racism-misogyny-and-transphobia-intertwine-to-define-notions-of-womanhood-in-the-world-of-elite-sports/
Kwate, N. O. A., & Threadcraft, S. (2015, July 15). Perceiving the black female body: Race and gender in police constructions of body weight. Race and social problems. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4606888/
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O’Neal, L. (2018, July 13). The struggle is real: The unrelenting weight of being a black, female athlete. Andscape. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://andscape.com/features/the-struggle-is-real-the-unrelenting-weight-of-being-a-black-female-athlete/
Vivek, S. (2021, July 30). How 400K+ tweets show that Simone Biles wins. Medium. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://towardsdatascience.com/how-400k-tweets-show-that-simone-biles-wins-ee941bdb13e2?gi=300a25dfbd00
Walker-Pickett, M., Dawkins, M., & Braddock Li, J. H. (2012, November). Race and Gender Equity in Sports Have White and African American Females Benefited Equally From Title IX? Researchgate. Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258122768_Race_and_Gender_Equity_in_Sports_Have_White_and_African_American_Females_Benefited_Equally_From_Title_IX
Zenquis, M. R., & Mwaniki, M. F. (2019). The intersection of race, gender, and nationality in sport: Media Representation of the Ogwumike Sisters. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 43(1), 23–43. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193723518823338
Zippia Careers. (2022, September 9). Tennis player demographics and statistics [2022]: Number of tennis players in the US. Tennis Player Demographics and Statistics [2022]: Number Of Tennis Players In The US. Retrieved November 7, 2022, from https://www.zippia.com/tennis-player-jobs/demographics/
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