Leaving it on the pitch: Hope Solo's negotiation of conflicting gender roles onDancing with the Stars

Abstract

Although star athletes have been extremely successful on the American Broadcasting Company's (ABC) reality television dance competition Dancing with the Stars, the participation of U.S. National Soccer Team goalkeeper Hope Solo created a gender performance conundrum. Embodying both athleticism; a 'traditionally masculine' marker and the graceful 'femininity' associated with ballroom dancing, Solo's emersion into competitive ballroom dancing created a notable intersection of multiple gender performances. Referring to the work of Judith Butler and Judith Halberstam on gender and masculinity, this article examines ABC's mediated construction of a tomboy narrative in order to reshape Solo's athleticism as a sign of immaturity. Through the shows' mediated portrayal of Solo's gender roles, clear lessons of the construction of gender and its narrations and performance were presented to the audience of one of America's most watched television shows.

Measuring Enjoyment of Ballroom Dancing in Filipino Americans Using the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale

“…Participants were also satisfied with ballroom dancing as demonstrated by the improvement of their PACES scores between Week 4 and Week 12. Because ballroom dance is also considered a competitive sport (Butler, Mocarski, Emmons, & Smallwood, 2014), this essence of noncompetitiveness among participants can be a factor in their success and may fit the noncompetitive exercisers in this study (Moreno Murcia et al, 2008;Mullen et al, 2011). There are additional considerations specific to Filipino Americans that may have influenced their scores, including the overall effect of socialization with their kababayans (countrymen).…”

Dancing With Derrida: Deconstructing Sportswomen’s Performances on Dancing with the Stars and Mira Quien Baila

“…The shows were popular in all three countries: the U.S. show regularly ranked in the top 10 prime-time shows, and season finals attracted almost a quarter of the New Zealand viewing population(Macdonald, 2016). Raising money for charity was a focus of the Spanish and New Zealand shows with each celebrity's chosen charitable organization receiving donations from a proportion of phone/text voting charges (DWTS-NZ) or the winning couple's weekly prize money (MQB).Athletes reached the finals or won in 14 of the first 23 DWTS-US seasons(Butler, Mocarski, Emmons & Smallwood, 2014; "The complete list," 2015). Female winners included "Dancing with Derrida: Deconstructing Sportswomen's Performances on Dancing with the Stars and Mira QuienBaila" by Martin M, Spencer N, Bruce T Sociology of Sport Journal © 2017 Human Kinetics, Inc. Olympic gold medalists in gymnastics, figure skating and ice dancing but sportswomen in other sports, such as endurance swimming, hurdles, bobsledding and tennis, did not fare as well.Sportswomen appeared on every DWTS-NZ show in the first five seasons(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009) reaching the final in three, with one winner from the dominant female sport of netball, and two runners-up who were Olympians in boardsailing and discus.…”