The Swimsuit Issue and Sport: Hegemonic Masculinity and Sports Illustrated (Suny Series on Sport, Culture, and Social Relations) [Paperback]

Laurel R. Davis (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0791433927 | ISBN-13: 978-0791433928 | Publication Date: February 20, 1997

This study of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue demonstrates how the magazine encourages individual and institutional practices that create and maintain inequality. Laurel Davis illustrates how the interactions of media production, media texts, media consumption, and social context influence meaning. Individuals' interpretations of and reactions to the magazine are influenced by their views about gender and sexuality, views that have been shaped by their social experiences. Based on extensive interviews with Sports Illustrated producers and consumers, as well as analysis of every swimsuit issue from the first in 1964 to those of the 1990s, the book argues that Sports Illustrated uses the swimsuit issue to secure a large male audience by creating a climate of hegemonic masculinity. This practice produces considerable profit but on the way to the bank tramples women, gays, lesbians, people of color, and residents of the postcolonialized world.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Laurel R. Davis is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Springfield College.

Product Details

• Paperback: 190 pages
• Publisher: State University of New York Press (February 20, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0791433927
• ISBN-13: 978-0791433928
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,443,783 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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