Palgrave Building the WNBA: From "Dunking Divas" to Political Leaders (New Femininities in Digital, Physical and Sporting Cultures)

This book provides the first comprehensive analysis of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), exploring the role of gender, race, and sexuality in the continuing growth of the league. As the longest running and most successful professional women’s sporting league in the United States, the WNBA has evolved into a politically important force both inside and outside the sporting world. Drawing on a variety of research methods, including ethnography, media and literary analysis, and archival research, the book argues that it is its players’ dedication and commitment to ensuring a sustainable league that has enabled the WNBA to survive in spite of an American sporting landscape that is otherwise hostile to women. As such, It will be of interest to academics and students working or studying in the fields of sports sociology, sports management, feminist theory, sports history, and gender studies.