Toni Morrison and the Natural World
Through the works of Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison, this week's review links critical studies in African American literature and ecocriticism
Posted on in Review of the Week
Posted on January 24, 2022 in Review of the Week
Kissane, Rebecca Joyce. by Rebecca Joyce Kissane and Sarah Winslow Temple, 2020
230p bibl index, 9781439918869 $94.50, 9781439918876 $34.95, 9781439918883 $34.95
Using a detailed, multimethod approach, Kissane (Lafayette College) and Winslow (Clemson Univ.) focus on everyday players participating in fantasy sports leagues in the US. They concentrate primarily on gender, while also highlighting the intersecting domains of race and class privilege, to compare and contrast fantasy sports participation with consumption of traditional spectator sports. They analyze the gendered experiences of men and women as related to their participation in and perceptions of the male-dominated space of fantasy sports, showing how gender influences those experiences. In particular, they illustrate how both structural and ideological factors work to advantage men and disadvantage women in this space, emphasizing how women either resist or reproduce the existing stereotypes. A major contribution to the discourse is in their newly coined concept of “jock statsculinity.” As they explain, this unique, expanded, and more accessible form of masculinity is found only in fantasy sports: a new, gendered way for male players to perform their masculinity. In the end, the authors conclude that fantasy sports is a gendered space that ultimately reproduces the stereotypical ideologies of gender, race, and class found in traditional sports, a domain which by all accounts favors “white, class-privileged men.” These findings adeptly answer the title question of who dominates and controls fantasy sports.
Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students, faculty, and researchers. General readers.
Reviewer: A. Curtis, Lake Erie College
Interdisciplinary Subjects: Women’s & Gender Studies
Subject: Science & Technology – Sports & Recreation
Choice Issue: Mar 2021
Through the works of Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison, this week's review links critical studies in African American literature and ecocriticism
Posted on in Review of the Week
In honor of Public Works Week, we take a sociological look at city development and planning in Dividing Paradise. This week's review presents a case study of Paradise Valley, which demonstrates class tensions and economic disparity in rural areas.
Posted on in Review of the Week
In celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, this week's review brings together research on "1.5 generation" Koreans in the US and beyond
Posted on in Review of the Week
To commemorate Mental Health Awareness Month, this week's review looks at how "mattering" impacts one's well-being, relationships, and community
Posted on in Review of the Week