2023
Turtiainen, Riikka; Friman, Usva
Strength Over Gender? Discussing and Presenting the Ambivalent Female Strength in the CrossFit Games 2019 Book Section
In: Brigden, Noelle K.; Hejtmanek, Katie Rose; Forbis, Melissa M. (Ed.): Gender and Power in Strength Sports: Strong As Feminist, pp. 29-53, Routledge, 2023, ISBN: 9781003370925.
Abstract | Links | Tags: CrossFit culture, CrossFit games, Female athletes, Gender
@incollection{Turtiainen2023,
title = {Strength Over Gender? Discussing and Presenting the Ambivalent Female Strength in the CrossFit Games 2019},
author = {Riikka Turtiainen and Usva Friman},
editor = {Noelle K. Brigden and Katie Rose Hejtmanek and Melissa M. Forbis},
url = {https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003370925-4/strength-gender-discussing-presenting-ambivalent-female-strength-crossfit-games-2019-riikka-turtiainen-usva-friman
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/369160739_Strength_Over_Gender_Discussing_and_Presenting_the_Ambivalent_Female_Strength_in_the_CrossFit_Games_2019},
doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781003370925},
isbn = {9781003370925},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-05-05},
urldate = {2023-05-05},
booktitle = {Gender and Power in Strength Sports: Strong As Feminist},
pages = {29-53},
publisher = {Routledge},
series = {Routledge Critical Studies in Sport},
abstract = {In this chapter, we pay attention to the ambivalence of the CrossFit culture, which both resists and reinforces hegemonic femininity by expanding the possibilities of the strong female body. CrossFit seems to emphasize physical capabilities over gender, and in its world championship competition the CrossFit Games, female and male athletes are given similar attention. As a fitness regimen and a brand CrossFit is also actively promoting its ethos of equality. However, hegemonic masculinity and heteronormativity are both enforced and challenged within the CrossFit community. Our analysis focuses on the Rogue Iron Game live stream broadcast of the individual women athlete’s events in the 2019 Reebok CrossFit Games competition, published as eleven separate YouTube videos. Through a close reading of this audiovisual material, we interpret the representations and discourses concerning female athlete’s strength in the context of this sporting event. We utilize feminist thematic analysis and combine this approach with a critical understanding of CrossFit as a neoliberal and postfeminist manifestation. As a result, we present three essential themes discussed and presented in the context of female strength: (1) looking strong, (2) strong and dominating performance, and (3) women’s strength versus men.},
keywords = {CrossFit culture, CrossFit games, Female athletes, Gender},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {incollection}
}
In this chapter, we pay attention to the ambivalence of the CrossFit culture, which both resists and reinforces hegemonic femininity by expanding the possibilities of the strong female body. CrossFit seems to emphasize physical capabilities over gender, and in its world championship competition the CrossFit Games, female and male athletes are given similar attention. As a fitness regimen and a brand CrossFit is also actively promoting its ethos of equality. However, hegemonic masculinity and heteronormativity are both enforced and challenged within the CrossFit community. Our analysis focuses on the Rogue Iron Game live stream broadcast of the individual women athlete’s events in the 2019 Reebok CrossFit Games competition, published as eleven separate YouTube videos. Through a close reading of this audiovisual material, we interpret the representations and discourses concerning female athlete’s strength in the context of this sporting event. We utilize feminist thematic analysis and combine this approach with a critical understanding of CrossFit as a neoliberal and postfeminist manifestation. As a result, we present three essential themes discussed and presented in the context of female strength: (1) looking strong, (2) strong and dominating performance, and (3) women’s strength versus men.
2021
Turtiainen, Riikka
”Unity in Diversity” – The Varying Media Representations of Female Olympic Athletes other
2021.
Links | Tags: Female athletes, Olympics, Representation, Sports
@other{Turtiainen2021c,
title = {”Unity in Diversity” – The Varying Media Representations of Female Olympic Athletes},
author = {Riikka Turtiainen},
editor = {Daniel Jackson and Alina Bernstein and Michael Butterworth and Younghan Cho and Danielle Sarver Coombs and Michael Devlin and Chuka Onwumechili},
url = {https://olympicanalysis.org/section-2/unity-in-diversity-the-varying-media-representations-of-female-olympic-athletes/},
isbn = {978-1-910042-33-5},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-09-14},
booktitle = {Olympic and Paralympic Analysis 2020: Mega Events, Media, and the Politics of Sport
},
pages = {64},
publisher = {The University of Texas, Austin},
keywords = {Female athletes, Olympics, Representation, Sports},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {other}
}
