Date of Award

2014

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.H.K.

Department

Kinesiology

First Advisor

Paraschak, Victoria

Keywords

Social sciences, Duality of structure, Lingerie football, Media, Tackle football, Women's sport

Rights

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Abstract

I explored how Canadian female football players were shaping football and being shaped by their participation in the sport using a duality of structure framework. Through ten semi-structured interviews with two administrators and four players in the Western Women's Canadian Football League (WWCFL) and four players in the Legends Football League (LFL) Canada, I examined the leagues' structures and participants' experiences in their leagues. I also analyzed media representations in 230 newspaper articles. Results indicated that the leagues' divergent purposes as well as hegemonic understandings of football differently shaped their structures and consequently players' experiences and media representations. The WWCFL's close alignment with men's football and the LFL's divergence, especially in terms of its uniform, contributed to these differences, although all players shared an enjoyment of physicality, supportive teammates, and extensive volunteer expectations. WWCFL players had many opportunities to shape their league, while opportunities for LFL players were extremely limited.

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