The Swimsuit Issue and Sport

Explores the cultural meanings of the swimsuit issue and shows how Sports Illustrated secures a large audience of men by creating a climate of hegemonic masculinity.

"The Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue is the cultural keystone of what is worst about male-dominated sport media. This book is the most systematic treatment of the SI swimsuit issue to date, and it reveals some of the ways that sexism, racism, heterosexism, and Western ethnocentrism have been woven into the cultural fabric of menis sports. But it is more than an analysis of SI. Davis unfurls cutting-edge critical analysis of media through this ostensible exercise in the study of a sport magazine issue. The book is a fine example of the explanatory power of feminist analysis that takes other multiple systems of domination into account; i.e., race, ethnicity, nationalism, and sexual orientation". -- Don Sabo, coauthor of Sex, Violence, and Power in Sports: Rethinking Masculinity

This cultural study of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue shows how it encourages individual and institutional prac

Acknowledgments

ix

Introduction

1

(8)

Feminist Analysis with a Twist

2

(1)

Studying the Mass Media

2

(2)

Getting at the Meaning of the Swimsuit Issue

4

(5)

Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issue: The Rise to Popularity and Profitability

9

(10)

History of the Swimsuit Issue

9

(6)

Popularity of the Swimsuit Issue

15

(2)

Profitability of the Swimsuit Issue

17

(2)

The Basic Content: ``Ideally Beautiful and Sexy Women for Men''

19

(14)

The Basic Content: Ideal Women's Bodies

19

(1)

The Ideal Readers: Men

20

(1)

Denotative versus Connotative Level Meaning

20

(2)

Factors That Encourage Denotative Level Consensus

22

(9)

Recognizing the Power of Producers and the Text

31

(2)

The Struggle Over Public Sexuality

33

(14)

Debating the Degree of Sexual Meaning

34

(7)

Debating the Morality of Public Displays of Sexuality

41

(6)

A Vehicle for Public Declarations of Heterosexual Identity

47

(8)

It's about Heterosexuality

47

(4)

Securing Heterosexual Status through Consumption

51

(2)

Using Heterosexual Status to Secure Masculine Status

53

(2)

Profiting from the Masculinity Crisis

55

(18)

The Masculinity Crisis and Response to the Crisis

55

(3)

Fashioning Sports Illustrated as a Men's Magazine

58

(7)

Critiques of the Sports Illustrated Strategy

65

(8)

The Struggle Over Gender

73

(16)

Men Who Identify with Hegemonic Masculinity

73

(1)

Women Who Identify with Hegemonic Femininity

74

(5)

Men Who Do Not Identify with Hegemonic Masculinity

79

(1)

Feminists Who Criticize Hegemonic Masculinity and Femininity

80

(5)

Backlash against the Feminist Readings

85

(4)

Hegemonic Masculinity Built on the Backs of People of Color

89

(8)

Racism as a Central Component of Hegemonic Femininity

89

(5)

Racism as a Central Component of Hegemonic Masculinity

94

(3)

Hegemonic Masculinity Built on the Backs of ``The (Post)Colonialized Other''

97

(20)

The Hegemonic Masculine Subject as Actual and Media Tourist

98

(5)

``The (Post)Colonialized Other'' as Exotic Spectacle for the Hegemonic Masculine Subject

103

(8)

The Hegemonic Masculine Subject as Colonizer of ``the (Post)Colonialized Other''

111

(6)

Conclusion

117

(6)

Appendix A Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issues (from 1964 to 1991 and 1996)

123

(4)

Appendix B Non-Academic Media Material Related to the Swimsuit Issues

127

(4)

Appendix C Interview Schedules for Producers, Consumers, and Librarians

131

(4)

Appendix D Recruitment of, and Information About, the Interviewed Producers and Consumers

135

(4)

Notes

139

(8)

References

147

(14)

Index

161

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The Swimsuit Issue and Sport

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

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The Swimsuit Issue and Sport

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Table of Contents

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