Play Like a Champion, Post Like a Champion: Investigating Adolescent Female Identity and Social Media

This intersectional feminist research project critically explores the experiences and identity constructions of adolescent female athletes through social media. Specifically, this research project studies how adolescent female athletes use social media as a possible tool to confront and disrupt current media discourses of female athletes. Grounded in feminist sports media scholarship and intersectional fourth-wave feminism, I engaged in a qualitative virtual ethnography, conducting surveys, collecting and analyzing digital artifacts, and interviewing adolescent female athletes aged 13-18. Findings included four significant themes: 1) Creating Narratives on Social Media, 2) “Legitimate” Athletes and the Female/Athlete Paradox, 3) Gendered Spaces in Sports and Sports Media, and 4) Female Athleticism and Social Justice Participation. Overall, each participant discussed how their identity constructions on social media were intentional and deliberate. Results demonstrate that participants are extremely conscientious social media experts, questioning and working through ideas about where, how and what to post on social media, as they negotiate identities of female athletes. This work provides further insights into the gender inequities and discourses in Canada’s sports and sports media climate, and how these inequities are mediated through social media technologies. This work aims to contribute to the body of intersectional feminist sports media scholarship in ways that legitimize, value and hold true to girls’ experiences and understandings. The overall impact of these studies is significant because this research addresses the challenges of being an adolescent female athlete in the 21st century and how this phenomenon contributes to gender inequities in sports and sports media. Using existing literature and scholarship, I contextualize, expand, and consider the findings, explain theoretical and methodological considerations, and discuss future research projects stemming from this work.Ph.D