Scope|Subject Headings|Overview Sources|Circulating Books|Periodicals, Journals & Trade Publications|Web Sites

SCOPE: Although women’s participation in professional sports is on the rise, some gender barriers still exist. Women traditionally participate in sports that are considered gender specifc such as gymnastics, tennis, figure skating, and swimming. Sports psychologists believe that sports contributes to the social construction of masculine and feminine behaviors. (Yiannakis, Contemporary Issues in Sociology of Sport) 
The purpose of this pathfinder is to serve as a guideline for the student in locating library resources on the topic of gender and sports. It is not intended as a comprehensive listing, but as a selective sampling of the many types of materials available in the library.

SUBJECT HEADINGS 

Books dealing with gender and sports are listed in the Baddour Library’s online catalog under the following subject headings:

Sex discrimination against women—History –20th century 

Sports—Social aspects

Sex discrimination in sports 

Sports—Psychological aspects 

There are sources located in the Reference Section of the Baddour Library that give a general overview or summary of the topic you are researching. The following is a list of some of the sources available in the library. 

OVERVIEW SOURCES 

REF HM 585.W67 2001 World of Sociology 
REF GV 709.I58 2000 International Encyclopedia of Women and Sports 

Some representative books from the Circulating Collection located on the second floor of the library are:

CIRCULATING BOOKS 

Birrell, Susan & Cheryl L. Cole. Women, Sport, and Culture. Champaign, IL: Human 
Kinetics, 1994.

Cahn, Susan K. Coming on Strong: Gender and Sexuality in Twentieth-Century Women’s Sport. New York: Maxwell Macmillan International, 1994.

Fields, Sarah K. Female gladiators: gender, law, and contact sport in America. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2005.

Heywood, Leslie. Built to Win: The Female Athlete as Cultural Icon. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2003.

McKay, Jim, Michael A. Messner, & Don Sabo. Masculinities, Gender Relations, and 
Sport. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications, 2000.

Messner, Michael A. & Donald F. Sabo. Sport, Men, and the Gender Order: Critical Feminist Perspectives. Champaign, ILL: Human Kinetics Books, 1990.

Yiannakis, Andrew & Merrill J. Melnick. Contemporary Issues in Sociology of Sport.
Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2001.

Some of the specific periodicals that the library subscribes to that focus on the topic of gender and sports are:

PERIODICALS, JOURNALS & TRADE PUBLICATIONS 

Click the link for a list of full text journals available through our databases in:

• Recreation & Sports

Open Access Journals in Gender Studies

WEB SITES

100 Greatest Female Athletes
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/siforwomen/top_100/1/
Sports Illustrated for Women provides biographies of 100 of "the century's greatest sportswomen".

WNBA.com
http://www.wnba.com/
Official site for the Women's National Basketball League. Includes news & features, player and roster information, schedules, results, and chat.