It's All for the Kids: Gender, Families, and Youth SportsToday, in a world quite different from the one that existed just thirty years ago, both girls and boys play soccer, baseball, softball, and other youth sports. Yet has the dramatic surge in participation by girls contributed to greater gender equality? In this engaging study, leading sociologist Michael A. Messner probes the richly complex gender dynamics of youth sports. Weaving together vivid first-person interviews with his own experiences as a volunteer for his sons' teams, Messner finds that despite the movement of girls into sports, gender boundaries and hierarchies still dominate, especially among the adults who run youth sports. His book widens into a provocative exploration of why youth sports matter—how they play a profound role in shaping gender, class, family, and community. |
Contents
Its All for the Kids Gender Families and Youth Sports | 1 |
Looking for a Team Mom Separating the Men from the Moms | 24 |
We Dont Like Chick Coaches Women at the Helm | 50 |
You Dont Have to be a Drill Sergeant Men at the Helm | 94 |
Theyre Differentand Theyre Born Different Engendering the Kids | 137 |
Its a Safe and Fun Place for Kids Youth Sports Families and the Good Community | 172 |
Demographic Description of Interview Subjects | 207 |
RacialEthnic Composition of South Pasadena LLBAYSO Coaches and of the City of South Pasadena | 212 |
Proportion of AYSO and LLBS Women Head Coaches in Communities Surrounding South Pasadena | 213 |
In the Field | 216 |
Notes | 221 |
| 239 | |
| 253 | |
Other editions - View all
It's All for the Kids: Gender, Families, and Youth Sports Michael A. Messner No preview available - 2009 |
Common terms and phrases
activities adults asked assistant coach athletic AYSO and LLB/S ball Barbara Jones baseball teams careers Carlos Ruiz chapter children PROF coach boys competitive context create daughter divisions of labor Doug Berger Drill Sergeant dugout El Sereno experience father feel feminist field Gender & Society gender divisions gender regime George Starr gonna Grasmuck guys head coaches hegemonic high school Hispanic husband inner circle interviewed Joan Ring June Park kids kids-knowledge kind Latino laughs Little League Baseball male coach manager men's mothers number of women older organization percent pitch play sports players position professional-class role season sex-segregation soccer coach social sociologist soft essentialism softball softball coach South Pasadena Sport Journal sports-knowledge style T-ball talk team mom team moms team parent tend there's things tion volunteer woman women coaches yells youth coaches youth sports