Golf does not inherently privilege men or women physically, yet men are much more likely to participate in golf. The authors explore the institutional(e.g., societal level) and interactional barriers to women’s golf participation and uncover strategies women use to negotiate playing and persisting in golf. Guided by research on tokenism in occupations, statistical discrimination, and feminist research in the sociology of sport, the authors use 10 interviews with recreational women golfers to explore these issues. Similar to women in predominantly male occupations, the women in this study report heightened visibility and experiences with typecasting on the golf course. In addition, social closure operates in the form of unwelcoming courses; women reported feeling ignored, overlooked, or unimportant on the course. The authors discuss several strategies the women in the sample use to overcome sexism and persist in golf.
Billings, A. C.
(2000). In search of women athletes: ESPN’s list of the top 100 athletes of the century. Journal of Sport & Social Issues, 24(4), 415-421.
5.
Bittman, M.
, & Wajcman, J. (2000). The rush hour: The character of leisure time and gender equity. Social Forces, 79(1), 165-189.
6.
Bricknell, L.
(1999). The trouble with feelings: Gender, sexualities, and power in a gender regime of competitive sailing. Journal of Sport & Social Issues, 23(4), 421-438.
7.
Broad, K. L.
(2001). The gendered unapologetic: Queer resistance in women’s sports. Sociology of Sport Journal, 18, 181-204.
8.
Cahn, S.K.
(1993). From the “muscle moll”to the “butch”ballplayer: Mannishness, lesbianism, and homophobia in U.S. women’s sports. Feminist Studies, 19(2), 343-368.
9.
Caudwell, J.
(1999). Women’s football in the United Kingdom: Theorizing gender and unpacking the butch lesbian image. Journal of Sport & Social Issues, 23(4), 390-402.
10.
Chambers, M.
(1995). The unplayable lie: The untold story of women and discrimination in American golf. New York: Golf Digest.
11.
Charmaz, K.
, & Mitchell, R. G. (1996). The myth of silent authorship: Self, substance, and style in ethnographic writing. Symbolic Interaction, 19(4), 285-302.
12.
Clarke, J.
, & Critchener, C. (1985). The devil makes work: Leisure in capitalist Britain. London: Macmillan.
13.
Coakley, J.
, & White, A. (1998). Making decisions: Gender and sport participation among British adolescents. Sociology of Sport Journal, 9(1), 20-35.
14.
Collins, P.H.
(1990). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness and the politics of empowerment. New York: Routledge.
15.
Coltrane, S.
(2000). Research on household labor: Modeling and measuring the social embeddedness of routine family work. Journal of Marriage and Family, 62(4), 1208-1233.
16.
Connell, R. W.
(1987). Gender and power: Society, the person and sexual politics. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
17.
Crawley, S.L.
(1998). Gender, class and the construction of masculinity in professional sailing. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 33(1), 33-42.
18.
Creswell, J. W.
(1994). Research design: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
19.
Crosset, T.
(1995). Outsiders in the clubhouse: The world of women’s professional golf. Albany: State University of New York Press.
20.
Deem, R.
(1999). How do we get out of the ghetto? Strategies for research on gender and leisure for the twenty-first century. Leisure Studies, 18(3), 161-177.
21.
Eastman, S.
, & Billings, A. C. (1999). Gender parity in the Olympics: Hyping women athletes, favoring men athletes. Journal of Sport & Social Issues, 23(2), 140-170.
22.
England, P.
(1992). Comparable worth: Theories and evidence. New York: Aldinede Gruyter.
23.
Firestone, J.
, & Shelton, B.A. (1994). A comparison of women’s and men’s leisure-time: Subtle effects of the double day. Leisure Sciences, 16(1), 45-60.
24.
Gainer, B.
(1995). Ritual and relationships: Interpersonal influences on shared consumption. Journal of Business Research, 32(3), 253-260.
25.
Glaser, B.
, & Strauss, A. (1965). The discovery of grounded theory. Chicago: Aldine.
26.
Graves, R.
(2003). Wake-up call. PGA Magazine, 84, 20-36.
27.
Henderson, K. A.
, & Bialeschki, D. M. (1991). A sense of entitlement to leisure as constraint and empowerment for women. Leisure Sciences, 13(1), 51-66.
28.
Higie, R. A.
, & Feick, L. F. (1989). Enduring involvement: Conceptual and measurement issues. Advances in Consumer Research, 16, 690-696.
29.
Hochschild, A.
(1989). The second shift. New York: Viking.
30.
Hofstadter, D. R.
(1985). Metamagical themas. New York: Basic Books.
31.
Jackson, P. B.
, Thoits, P. A., & Taylor, H. F. (1995). Composition of the workforce and psychological well-being: The effects of tokenism on America’s Black elite. Social Forces, 75(2), 543-557.
32.
Jencks, C.
(1992). Rethinking social policy: Race, poverty and the underclass. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
33.
Kanter, R. M.
(1977). Men and women of the corporation. New York: Basic Books.
34.
Kinney, L.
(2003, April 10). Gwinnett at play: Making gains on the green: Women finding more opportunities in pro golf management. Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved on May 15, 2003, from http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m=77c43af6c3b30b2ec82f564754745cde&_docnum=14&wchp=dGLbVlb-lSlAl&_md5=76241bec39912f38cbdad8b4b9cbf455
35.
Langer, E.
(1989). Mindfulness. New York: Perseus Books.
36.
Liberman, N.
(2004). Golf’s guiding force: No doubting that Tiger is tops. SportsBusiness Journal, 7(8), 16-24.
37.
Lofland, J.
, & Lofland, L. H. (1995). Analyzing social settings: A guide to qualitative observation and analysis. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
38.
Maas, K.W.
, & Hasbrook, C.A. (2001). Media promotion of the paradigm citizen/golfer: An analysis of golf magazines’ representations of disability, gender, and age. Sociology of Sport Journal, 18, 21-36.
39.
McCracken, G.
(1988). The long interview. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
40.
McGinnis, L. (2002). Examining the gender gap in participatory golf using a ritual dramaturgical framework and gender perspective (Doctoral dissertation, University of Nebraska, 2002). Dissertation Abstracts International, 63, 2308.
41.
McGinnis, L.
, Chun, S., & McQuillan, J. (2003). A review of gendered consumption in sport and leisure. Academy of Marketing Science Review, 5. Retrieved October 18, 2001, from www.vancouver.wsu.edu/otcgi/llscgi60
42.
McIntyre, N.
(1989). The personal meaning of participation: Enduring involvement. Journal of Leisure Research, 21(4), 167-179.
43.
Messner, M.
(1988). Sports and male domination: The female athlete as contested ideological terrain. Sociology of Sport Journal, 5, 197-211.
44.
Messner, M.
(2002). Taking the field: Women, men, and sports. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
45.
Messner, M. A.
, Dunbar, M., & Hunt, D. (2000). The televised sports manhood formula. Journal of Sport & Social Issues, 24(4), 380-394.
46.
National Golf Foundation
. (1999). Improving the investment return on women’s golf. Retrieved on March 1, 2001, from www.ngf.org/whatsnew/story72.html
47.
Nomaguchi, K. M.
, & Bianchi, S. M. (2004). Exercise time: Gender differences in the effects of marriage, parenthood, and employment. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66, 413-430.
48.
Reskin, B.
(2000). Proximate causes of discrimination. Contemporary Sociology, 29(2), 319-328.
49.
Reskin, B.
, & Hartmann, H. (1986). Women’s work, men’s work, sex segregation on the job. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
50.
Richins, M. L.
, & Block, P. H. (1986, September). After the new wears off: The temporal context of product involvement. Journal of Consumer Research, 13, 280-285.
51.
Ridgeway, C.
(1997). Interaction and the conservation of gender inequality: Considering employment. American Sociological Review, 62(2), 218-235.
52.
Risman, B.
(1998). Gender vertigo. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
53.
Sharp, D.
(2003). High brow sports seek diversity. Available at www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-06-15-croquet-usat_x.htm
54.
Shaw, S.
(2001). Conceptualizing resistance: Women’s leisure as political science. Journal of Leisure Research, 33(2), 186-201.
55.
Shin, E. H.
, & Nam, E. A. (2004). Culture, gender roles, and sport. Journal of Sport & Social Issues, 28(3), 223-244.
56.
Shipnuck, A.
(2004). The battle for Augusta National: Hootie, Martha, and the masters of the universe. New York: Simon&Schuster.
57.
Snyder, M.
(1977). When belief creates reality: The self-fulfilling impact of first impressions on social interaction. In A. Pines & C. Maslach (Eds.), Experiencing social psychology (pp. 189-192). New York: Knopf.
58.
Strauss, A.
, & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
59.
Weber, M.
(1978). Max Weber: Selections in translation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
60.
West, C.
, & Zimmerman, D. H. (1987, June). Doing gender. Gender & Society, 1, 125-151.
61.
Yoder, J. D.
(2001). Making leadership work more effectively for women. Journal of Social Issues, 57(4), 815-828.
