Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"A carefully crafted and meticulously organized anthology,
Child's Play provides a much needed research agenda for studying physical activities and sport participation among young people, and serves as a valuable source of information for any parent or adult concerned about youth sports." -- Jay Coakley * author of Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies *
"A much needed contribution to the fields of childhood and sport studies." * Sport in American History *
"Together, these essays present an understanding of youth sports supported by research data and ethnographic data that share a child’s voice. This convincing collection recognizes the culture of youth sport and its bearing on the growth of youth. It is for anyone interested in youth sports... Highly recommended." * Choice *
"Messner and Musto have pulled together a powerful collection of essays that offer panoramic insight and riveting detail. The voices of kids are truly revelatory and powerfully demonstrate children’s cultural fluency within the constraints of age and other inequities.
Child’s Play is a rare achievement that centers kids’ experience in sports while using it as a crucial prism onto other major sociological projects." -- Allison Pugh * University of Virginia *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Kids and Sport Michael A. Messner and Michela Musto Part I. Playing Fields: The Social Landscape of Youth Sports Chapter 1. Surveying Youth Sports in America: What We Know and What It Means for Public Policy Chapter 2. Kids of Color in the American Sporting Landscape: Limited, Concentrated, and Controlled Chapter 3. Girls and the Racialization of Female Bodies in Sport Contexts Chapter 4. Sport and the Childhood Obesity Epidemic Chapter 5. The Children Are Our Future: The NFL, Corporate Social Responsibility, and the Production of “Avid Fans” Part II. Fields of Play: Kids Navigating Sport Worlds Chapter 6. Athletes in the Pool, Girls and Boys on Deck: The Contextual Construction of Gender in Coed Youth Swimming Chapter 7. The Voices of Boys on Sport, Health, and Physical Activity: The Beginning of Life Through a Gendered Lens Chapter 8. “We Have a Right to the Gym”: Physical Activity Experiences of East African Immigrant Girls Chapter 9. Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Kids and the Binary Obstacles of Sport Participation in North America Chapter 10. Examining Boys, Bodies, and PE Locker Room Spaces: “I Don’t Ever Set Foot in That Locker Room” Chapter 11. Park “Rats” to Park “Daddies”: Community Heads Creating Future Mentors Afterword: Kids, Sport Research, and Sport Policy Notes on Contributors Index
