Although girls and women account for approximately 40 percent of all athletes in the United States, they receive only 4 percent of the total sport media coverage. SportsCenter, ESPN's flagship program, dedicates less than 2 percent of its airtime to women. Local news networks devote less than 5 percent of their programming to women's sports. Excluding Sports Illustrated's annual "Swimsuit Issue," women appear on just 4.9 percent of the magazine's covers. Media is a powerful indication of the culture surrounding sport in the United States. Why are women underrepresented in sports media? Sports Illustrated journalist Andy Benoit infamously remarked that women's sports "are not worth watching." Although he later apologized, Benoit's comment points to more general lack of awareness. Consider, for example, the confusion surrounding Title IX, the U.S. Law that prohibits sex discrimination in any educational program that receives federal financial assistance. Is Title IX to blame when administrators drop men's athletic programs? Is it lack of interest or lack of opportunity that causes girls and women to participate in sport at lower rates than boys and men? In Women's Sports, Jaime Schultz tackles these questions, along with many others, to upend the misunderstandings that plague women's sports. Using historical, contemporary, scholarly, and popular sources, Schultz traces the progress and pitfalls of women's involvement in sport. In the signature question-and-answer format of the What Everyone Needs to Know (R) series, this short and accessible book clarifies misconceptions that dog women's athletics and offers much needed context and history to illuminate the struggles and inequalities sportswomen continue to face. By exploring issues such as gender, sexuality, sex segregation, the Olympic and Paralympic Games, media coverage, and the sport-health connection, Schultz shows why women's sports are not just worth watching, but worth playing, supporting, and fighting for.

About the Author
Jaime Schultz is an associate professor of Kinesiology at Penn State, with an affiliate appointment in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. An award-winning teacher and Fulbright scholar, Schultz is the author or editor of five books and fifty article or book chapters. She also serves as the academic editor of the International Journal of the History of Sport (Americas) and as co-editor for the University of Illinois Sport and Society series.

Reviews
Women's sport is more than about games; it's also about transformation and empowerment. In this important book, Jaime Schultz tells us how sport is rapidly changing the world's perception of women... and why it matters. * Kathrine Switzer, first woman to register officially and run the Boston Marathon; winner of the New York City Marathon; Author, Marathon Woman: Running the Race to Revolutionize Women's Sports, founder of 261Fearless.org, and global women's sports activist *
Jaime Schultz's Women's Sports: What Everyone Needs to Know (R) is a comprehensive examination of historical and contemporary issues that affect women's participation in sports. This book provides just the right balance of depth and breadth to provide the reader with an understanding of how women's experience in sports is affected by larger cultural systems of inequality based on sex, class, race, gender identity, sexual orientation and religion. This is a great book for anyone who seeks to better understand women's sports in the context of contemporary social forces that affect women's access to the competitive athletic experience. * Pat Griffin, Professor Emerita, Social Justice Education, University of Massachusetts Amherst *
In a small volume, Jaime Schultz's Women's Sports presents the most up-to-date information in concise, elegant prose. Schultz poses key questions for the reader, and then provides insightful answers infused with her own incisive analysis. Because of the book's clear explanations and reasoning, it could easily serve as an introduction to gender and sexuality studies as well as the study of women's sports. It explores the ways gender, sex, and sexuality (in connection with race, ethnicity, religion and disability status) inform women's athletic participation. Most of all, the book makes clear the importance of women's sport not only to participants but to our broader knowledge of sport, culture, and society. * Susan Cahn, Professor of History, University at Buffalo *



Book Information
ISBN 9780190657703
Author Jaime Schultz
Format Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 272g
Dimensions(mm) 142mm * 208mm * 18mm