McGannon Kerry R, Kulkarni Shaantanu, Hladun Willa, Bundon Andrea, Pegoraro Ann
School of Kinesiology and Health Sciences, Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON, Canada.
School of Kinesiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Commun Sport. 2025 Feb;13(1):99-120. doi: 10.1177/21674795231187916. Epub 2023 Jul 11.
Coinciding with athlete mothers' stories gaining media visibility, sport media researchers are studying media discourses to learn more about socially constructed motherhood and sport. The present study extends media research on elite athlete mothers, by using feminist narrative inquiry to interrogate discrimination meanings in sport. North American sport media stories were collected on Canadian athletes' (i.e., boxer Mandy Bujold, basketball player Kim Gaucher) journeys to the 2020 Tokyo Games after being discriminated against due to their motherhood status. Thematic narrative analysis of 103 stories identified three narrative motifs (i.e., recurring concepts) in stories linked to discrimination meanings: last shots, forced to choose, and more than us. The first two motifs are discussed in relation to a motherhood penalty narrative linked to sexism and discrimination. The more than us motif is discussed in relation to the resolution to compete for both athletes, linked to maternal activism and social change. All three motifs exposed and challenged maternal discrimination in sport, using 'feminist consciousness' linked to a neoliberal feminist status quo. These findings show the pedagogical potential of media stories for athlete maternity rights awareness and structural change, while highlighting a need for intersectional feminist reform regarding athlete parents and post-pandemic recovery.
随着运动员母亲的故事在媒体上越来越受关注，体育媒体研究者们正在研究媒体话语，以更多地了解社会建构的母亲身份与体育。本研究通过运用女性主义叙事探究来审视体育中的歧视意义，扩展了对精英运动员母亲的媒体研究。收集了北美体育媒体关于加拿大运动员（即拳击手曼迪·布约尔德、篮球运动员金·高彻）因母亲身份而受到歧视后参加2020年东京奥运会历程的报道。对103篇报道进行的主题叙事分析确定了与歧视意义相关的报道中的三个叙事主题（即反复出现的概念）：最后一搏、被迫选择和超越自我。前两个主题是围绕与性别歧视和偏见相关的母亲身份惩罚叙事展开讨论的。“超越自我”主题是围绕两位运动员为兼顾比赛所做的努力展开讨论的，这与母亲行动主义和社会变革相关。所有这三个主题都利用与新自由主义女性主义现状相关的“女性主义意识”，揭示并挑战了体育中的母亲歧视现象。这些发现显示了媒体报道在提高运动员生育权利意识和推动结构变革方面的教育潜力，同时凸显了对运动员父母进行交叉性女性主义改革以及疫情后恢复的必要性。
