Going beyond the Body of Girls Who Play Sports:

From the Perspective of “Third Wave Feminism”

Abstract

　In this paper, we examine the relationship between the theory of feminism and sports culture, and the meaning of the image of female athletes today by referring to the various theories of Third Wave Feminism that emerged in the 1990s. First, we focus on the changes in the sports environment in the United States and explain that these changes were the result of the feminist movement. However, along with progress in the participation of women in sports culture, the image of female athletes and young women playing sports was reduced to that of a commercialized “premium” icon that ensured the purchase of products. Therefore, taking advertisements featuring female athletes and young women who play sports as case studies, we present how women have become victims of commercialism and commodification stirring the desire for beauty, health, and consumption. We also show that the relationship between sports culture and women today has become a complex one. Finally, although the relationship has become complex, we explain through the example of street sports that even today sports culture is an important site for the expression of Stealth Feminism.