Sport Feminism(s): Narratives of Linearity?

This article is inspired by a dialogue that occurred between two feminist scholars in the journal Feminist Theory. The dialogue was initiated by Clare Hemmings, in 2005, in her article entitled “Telling feminist stories.” Rachel Torr challenged this original article with “What’s wrong with aspiring to find out what has really happened in academic feminism’s recent past? Response to Clare Hemmings” “Telling feminist stories” (2007). Hemmings, in the same issue (2007), gave her reply: “What is a feminist theorist responsible for? Response to Rachel Torr”. In this article, I explore the debates raised by their dialogue and I suggest that the tensions the authors highlight—in their written scholarly correspondence—are significant to sport feminisms and sport feminists. I focus on the ways feminist thinking, feminist theory and feminist politics have been framed in some sport feminist work in relation to “waves” of feminism and how this presents key developments as linear, progressive and in danger of missing the multiple, complex and fragmented nature of feminisms. More specifically, I seek to problematize the notion of a “third wave” of sport feminism.