Awards

• Winner of Cyblis Awards 2020 Finalist: High School Nonfiction 2020
• Winner of Cyblis Awards 2020 Finalist: High School Nonfiction 2020 (United States)

Overview

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 also help create a more just world for everyone.

Full Product Details

9781538130667

Table of Contents

Reviews

In a climate that is relentlessly hostile towards transgender and intersex people, books like this are needed to set the record straight and continue advocating for inclusion of diverse people in sport and beyond. Brilliant and thought-provoking read that cuts through the misinformation and fear-mongering surrounding transgender and intersex people in sport.--Owl and Fox Fisher, directors of My Genderation Ryle gives readers a thoughtful, comprehensive look at sport's past and present, while skillfully unpacking the pressing discussions that will influence its future. A fascinating and illuminating compendium of the vital issues facing sports culture today.--Stacey May Fowles, award-winning novelist, journalist, and essayist and author of the bestseller Baseball Life Advice: Loving the Game That Saved Me Throw Like a Girl, Cheer Like a Boy offers a historically acute, narrative-driven sociological account of males and females in organized sport. It weaves a narrative of where sport has been, where it is, and where it is going, in prose that is easy to read and engaging. It is, above all, a riveting and intellectual endeavor. This is perfect reading for anyone interested in sport, gender, and sexuality.--Eric Anderson, professor of sport, health, and social sciences, University of Winchester

Throw Like a Girl, Cheer Like a Boy offers a historically acute, narrative-driven sociological account of males and females in organized sport. It weaves a narrative of where sport has been, where it is, and where it is going, in prose that is easy to read and engaging. It is, above all, a riveting and intellectual endeavor. This is perfect reading for anyone interested in sport, gender, and sexuality.--Eric Anderson, professor of sport, health, and social sciences, University of Winchester Ryle gives readers a thoughtful, comprehensive look at sport's past and present, while skillfully unpacking the pressing discussions that will influence its future. A fascinating and illuminating compendium of the vital issues facing sports culture today.--Stacey May Fowles, award-winning novelist, journalist, and essayist and author of the bestseller Baseball Life Advice: Loving the Game That Saved Me In a climate that is relentlessly hostile towards transgender and intersex people, books like this are needed to set the record straight and continue advocating for inclusion of diverse people in sport and beyond. Brilliant and thought-provoking read that cuts through the misinformation and fear-mongering surrounding transgender and intersex people in sport.--Owl and Fox Fisher, directors of My Genderation

"Did you know that cheerleading was originally thought to be too macho for girls? This book delves into all the ways that our gender, sexuality, or race-based assumptions and expectations about people affect how we see their performance on the playing field, often ignoring what people are actually doing out there. Robyn Ryle uses clear sources and text to show how often the expectation comes first, and then the results are interpreted to fit what people wanted to see. Modern issues around transgender athletes, activist players, and homophobic announcers in different sports are all examined with a steady but light tone, showing how society and sports affect one another in ways we never think about.-- ""Library Chicken"" In a climate that is relentlessly hostile towards transgender and intersex people, books like this are needed to set the record straight and continue advocating for inclusion of diverse people in sport and beyond. Brilliant and thought-provoking read that cuts through the misinformation and fear-mongering surrounding transgender and intersex people in sport.--Owl and Fox Fisher, directors of My Genderation Ryle gives readers a thoughtful, comprehensive look at sport's past and present, while skillfully unpacking the pressing discussions that will influence its future. A fascinating and illuminating compendium of the vital issues facing sports culture today.--Stacey May Fowles, award-winning novelist, journalist, and essayist and author of the bestseller Baseball Life Advice: Loving the Game That Saved Me Throw Like a Girl, Cheer Like a Boy offers a historically acute, narrative-driven sociological account of males and females in organized sport. It weaves a narrative of where sport has been, where it is, and where it is going, in prose that is easy to read and engaging. It is, above all, a riveting and intellectual endeavor. This is perfect reading for anyone interested in sport, gender, and sexuality.--Eric Anderson, professor of sport, health, and social sciences, University of Winchester"

Did you know that cheerleading was originally thought to be too macho for girls? This book delves into all the ways that our gender, sexuality, or race-based assumptions and expectations about people affect how we see their performance on the playing field, often ignoring what people are actually doing out there. Robyn Ryle uses clear sources and text to show how often the expectation comes first, and then the results are interpreted to fit what people wanted to see. Modern issues around transgender athletes, activist players, and homophobic announcers in different sports are all examined with a steady but light tone, showing how society and sports affect one another in ways we never think about.-- Library Chicken In a climate that is relentlessly hostile towards transgender and intersex people, books like this are needed to set the record straight and continue advocating for inclusion of diverse people in sport and beyond. Brilliant and thought-provoking read that cuts through the misinformation and fear-mongering surrounding transgender and intersex people in sport.--Owl and Fox Fisher, directors of My Genderation Ryle gives readers a thoughtful, comprehensive look at sport's past and present, while skillfully unpacking the pressing discussions that will influence its future. A fascinating and illuminating compendium of the vital issues facing sports culture today.--Stacey May Fowles, award-winning novelist, journalist, and essayist and author of the bestseller Baseball Life Advice: Loving the Game That Saved Me Throw Like a Girl, Cheer Like a Boy offers a historically acute, narrative-driven sociological account of males and females in organized sport. It weaves a narrative of where sport has been, where it is, and where it is going, in prose that is easy to read and engaging. It is, above all, a riveting and intellectual endeavor. This is perfect reading for anyone interested in sport, gender, and sexuality.--Eric Anderson, professor of sport, health, and social sciences, University of Winchester

Author Information

Robyn Ryle is professor of sociology and gender studies at Hanover College in Indiana. She is a member of Sociologists for Women in Society and the American Sociological Association and gives speeches in front of national and local audiences on the topics of gender and community, as well as consulting for international development organizations. Ryle has extensive experience writing about gender, sexuality, and race. She manages a successful blog, You Think Too Much, on sociological topics and small town life, and is the author of Gender: Create-A-Path and Questioning Gender: A Sociological Exploration.

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