The swimsuit issue and sport : hegemonic masculinity in Sports illustrated / Laurel R. Davis.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 147-159) and index.

Ch. 1. Introduction -- Ch. 2. Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issue: The Rise to Popularity and Profitability -- Ch. 3. The Basic Content: "Ideally Beautiful and Sexy Women for Men" -- Ch. 4. The Struggle Over Public Sexuality -- Ch. 5. A Vehicle for Public Declarations of Heterosexual Identity -- Ch. 6. Profiting from the Masculinity Crisis -- Ch. 7. The Struggle Over Gender -- Ch. 8. Hegemonic Masculinity Built on the Backs of People of Color -- Ch. 9. Hegemonic Masculinity Built on the Backs of "The (Post)Colonialized Other" -- Ch. 10. Conclusion -- Appendix A. Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issues (from 1964 to 1991 and 1996) -- Appendix B. Non-Academic Media Material Related to the Swimsuit Issues -- Appendix C. Interview Schedules for Producers, Consumers, and Librarians -- Appendix D. Recruitment of, and Information About, The Interviewed Producers and Consumers.

This study of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue demonstrates how the magazine encourages individual and institutional practices that create and maintain inequality. Laurel Davis illustrates how the interactions of media production, media texts, media consumption, and social context influence meaning. Individuals' interpretations of and reactions to the magazine and influenced by their views about gender and sexuality, views that have been shaped by their social experiences. Based on extensive interviews with Sports Illustrated producers and consumers, as well as analysis of every swimsuit issue from the first in 1964 to those of the 1990s, the book argues that Sports Illustrated uses the swimsuit issue to secure a large male audience by creating a climate of dominant masculinity. This practice produces considerable profit but on the way to the bank tramples women, gays, lesbians, people of color, and residents of the postcolonialized world.

Print version record.

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