@incollection{Turtiainen2021,

title = {‘Dare to Shine’: Megan Rapinoe as the Rebellious Star of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2019},

author = {Riikka Turtiainen},

editor = {Katherine Dashper},

doi = {10.1108/978-1-83982-936-920211013},

isbn = {978-1-83982-937-6},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-11-29},

booktitle = {Sport, Gender and Mega-Events},

pages = {133-148},

publisher = {Emerald Publishing},

abstract = {In 2019, FIFA Women's World Cup turned into a mega event with enormous viewing figures. The U.S. player Megan Rapinoe became a star of the tournament on and off the field. Her controversial presence as an outspoken athlete-activist gained attention worldwide. In this chapter I examine her representations in social and mainstream media during the World Cup. In context of social media I focus on her Instagram posts and ephemeral stories with ethnographic observation and field notes. I utilize feminist thematic analysis of female athletes’ self-representation strategies on social media. The key concepts emphasizing neoliberal post-feminism here are self-love, self-disclosure and self-empowerment. (Toffoletti & Thorpe 2018.) As a result, I argue that the time is finally right for the new kind of recognition of women’s football and therefore need for a rebellious female athlete who takes advantage of this opportunity to raise awareness of equality among (sports) people.



},

keywords = {Inequality, Megan Rapinoe, Post-feminism, Social media, Sports},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {incollection}

}