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Throw Like a Girl, Cheer Like a Boy: The Evolution of Gender, Identity, and Race in Sports
This book uses the world of sports in order to reveal the complicated history of gender, sexuality, race, and social justice while connecting those stories to today's athletes. It highlights the ways sports often contribute to inequalities, but also how they can help make the world more accepting.
Have you ever wondered why most cheerleaders are girls? It didn't used to be that way. Up until the early twentieth century, all cheerleaders were actually boys. And why do some athletes, like Caster Semenya, have to prove they're women while there's no testing for men? Why do athletes like Megan Rapinoe and Colin Kaepernick use sports as a platform for social justice, and should they?
These questions and more are examined in Throw Like a Girl, Cheer Like a Boy: The Evolution of Gender, Identity, and Race in Sports. Robyn Ryle uses the world of sports to examine the history, controversy, and current conversations around sexuality, race, and social justice, bringing in the stories of today's athletes to highlight where things stand in the present. Topics covered include gender segregation, gender testing, transgender athletes, sexuality, homophobia, globalization, race, and activism.
Throw Like a Girl, Cheer Like a Boy shows the great strides that have been made in the sports world recently, but there are still questions that remain and work that needs to be done. This book brings to attention the ways in which sports can contribute to inequalities, while also demonstrating how sports can help create a more just world for everyone.
Have you ever wondered why most cheerleaders are girls? It didn't used to be that way. Up until the early twentieth century, all cheerleaders were actually boys. And why do some athletes, like Caster Semenya, have to prove they're women while there's no testing for men? Why do athletes like Megan Rapinoe and Colin Kaepernick use sports as a platform for social justice, and should they?
These questions and more are examined in Throw Like a Girl, Cheer Like a Boy: The Evolution of Gender, Identity, and Race in Sports. Robyn Ryle uses the world of sports to examine the history, controversy, and current conversations around sexuality, race, and social justice, bringing in the stories of today's athletes to highlight where things stand in the present. Topics covered include gender segregation, gender testing, transgender athletes, sexuality, homophobia, globalization, race, and activism.
Throw Like a Girl, Cheer Like a Boy shows the great strides that have been made in the sports world recently, but there are still questions that remain and work that needs to be done. This book brings to attention the ways in which sports can contribute to inequalities, while also demonstrating how sports can help create a more just world for everyone.
- GenresNonfictionSportsLGBT
192 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2020
About the author
Robyn Ryle
6 books53 followersRobyn Ryle is a writer who also teaches sociology and gender studies at a small liberal arts college in Indiana. Her young adult novel, FAIR GAME, about a girls' basketball team that challenges the boys to a high stakes game, putting their season, their futures and three cherished friendships on the line, is available for pre-order now.
She's also the author of three nonfiction books. THROW LIKE A GIRL, CHEER LIKE A BOY: THE EVOLUTION OF GENDER, IDENTITY, AND RACE IN SPORTS will be available in paperback in August 2023. SHE/HE/THEY/ME: AN INTERACTIVE GUIDE TO THE GENDER BINARY is a 2020 ALA Stonewall Book Award Honoree. She's also written a sociology of gender textbook, QUESTIONING GENDER: A SOCIOLOGICAL EXPLORATION, available in its 5th edition in October 2023.
She has essays and stories at Newsweek, Gawker, CALYX Journal, Tin House and Belt Magazine, among others. You can find her on Twitter, @RobynRyle and IG, @robynrryle.
She's also the author of three nonfiction books. THROW LIKE A GIRL, CHEER LIKE A BOY: THE EVOLUTION OF GENDER, IDENTITY, AND RACE IN SPORTS will be available in paperback in August 2023. SHE/HE/THEY/ME: AN INTERACTIVE GUIDE TO THE GENDER BINARY is a 2020 ALA Stonewall Book Award Honoree. She's also written a sociology of gender textbook, QUESTIONING GENDER: A SOCIOLOGICAL EXPLORATION, available in its 5th edition in October 2023.
She has essays and stories at Newsweek, Gawker, CALYX Journal, Tin House and Belt Magazine, among others. You can find her on Twitter, @RobynRyle and IG, @robynrryle.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 21, 2020
The subtitle says it all for this extremely well-researched and documented book. Ever wonder why the Dutch do so well in world baseball championships? The answer is rooted in colonialism. What about the reasons why there are so many photographs of suffragists riding bicycles? Again, likely a piece of history that you haven’t considered before. Robyn Ryle is going to make you aware of the answers to these questions and so many more, bringing up all the moments in history where the ability to participate in sports has been inequitable.
Her first chapter is really powerful and details all the ways in which gender inequality has played out in the world of sports, including the absurd methods of gender verification testing and the ways that these tests have been used to disqualify athletes from competing. She carefully debunks many misconceptions about the role that gender plays in athletic prowess. She also talks about the challenges that trans athletes face, especially ones who wish to compete while they explore their gender identity.
Her final chapter focuses on sports and activism, which takes us up to the Black Lives Matter movement and Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protests against police brutality. All of this is so very timely. It definitely sets the stage for what is currently happening as a result of George Floyd’s murder. At the time of this review, the book didn’t include the NFL’s change of stance on protests and I was wondering what the author’s take would be on that.
But you have to stop writing the book at some point so that you can get it out to the readers. This doesn’t detract from the book in any way.
This book is highly readable and will provide readers with a great background to understand the many changes that are happening in the world of sports.
Her first chapter is really powerful and details all the ways in which gender inequality has played out in the world of sports, including the absurd methods of gender verification testing and the ways that these tests have been used to disqualify athletes from competing. She carefully debunks many misconceptions about the role that gender plays in athletic prowess. She also talks about the challenges that trans athletes face, especially ones who wish to compete while they explore their gender identity.
Her final chapter focuses on sports and activism, which takes us up to the Black Lives Matter movement and Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protests against police brutality. All of this is so very timely. It definitely sets the stage for what is currently happening as a result of George Floyd’s murder. At the time of this review, the book didn’t include the NFL’s change of stance on protests and I was wondering what the author’s take would be on that.
But you have to stop writing the book at some point so that you can get it out to the readers. This doesn’t detract from the book in any way.
This book is highly readable and will provide readers with a great background to understand the many changes that are happening in the world of sports.
June 12, 2020
This book is well-researched and interestingly written. It provides historical context for the gender segregation and pay disparity we see in today's sports. The author tackles issues related to sexism as well as gender identification and testing while guiding the reader to the idea that maybe sports don't need to be segregated by gender.
July 30, 2021
The e-book version I read was bare bones with no photos. I'd like to see the actual print version. I decided the book was valuable but probably not one that casual readers will pick up. High school libraries that have teachers that do research on current events will find this to be a helpful resource. It really does address lots of issues related to gender and cultural identity and sports.
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December 15, 2020
I really enjoyed this look at how sports works in society, and it's helped me clarify my muddled ideas on transgender athletes. It also made me feel better about my vague feelings that sports could stand to be combined by gender.
I didn't look deeply into the notes and references because I read it as a PDF so skipping back and forth was a pain, but it seems well researched. I liked the various chapters and the willingness to look at the data behind many assumptions, even when it doesn't support the author's preferences for equality.
I didn't look deeply into the notes and references because I read it as a PDF so skipping back and forth was a pain, but it seems well researched. I liked the various chapters and the willingness to look at the data behind many assumptions, even when it doesn't support the author's preferences for equality.
July 24, 2022
Pretty good overview of the subject. Written at a young adult level, so doesn't always get into the most depth or nuance on every topic, but still miles more sophisticated than the general (dreadful) discourse around biology and sports.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews