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Baseball Wives Gender and the Work of Baseball

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George Gmelch at University of San Francisco and Union College
George Gmelch
  • University of San Francisco and Union College
PATRICIA MARY SAN ANTONIO
PATRICIA MARY SAN ANTONIO
PATRICIA MARY SAN ANTONIO
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Abstract

This article focuses on how the structure and constraints of the occupation of professional baseball shapes the lives of the players' wives. The major constraints on the role of baseball wives include high geographical mobility, the husband's frequent absence, lack of a social support network, and the precariousness of baseball careers. Baseball wives are expected to fulfill a traditional role of support for their husbands and families. Baseball wives play a backstage supporting role but in so doing become far more independent and resourceful than many American women, managing families and households on their own.
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Ethnography
Journal of Contemporary
DOI: 10.1177/089124101030003003
2001; 30; 335 Journal of Contemporary Ethnography
GEORGE GMELCH and PATRICIA MARY SAN ANTONIO
Baseball Wives: Gender and the Work of Baseball
http://jce.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/30/3/335
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... Nevertheless, across a range of sporting cultures, wives and girlfriends fulfil a role that is presented as 'decorative' (Brady 1981), that prioritises men's careers, and that is often expected to uphold sexist gender ideals and support athletes to demonstrate their masculine heterosexual prowess through adultery (Ortiz 1997). Research on so-called 'groupies' also indicate that they, like WAGs, are located within a well-delineated gender order that supports the dominance of men (Gauthier and Forsyth 2000; Gmelch and San Antonio 2001;Wedgwood 2008). Camille Nurka (2013) also argues that dismissive attitudes towards women who have been sexually assaulted by athletes often emanate from a disdain for groupies, as there is a widespread perception '[no] respectable girl would have sex with footballers' (Nurka 2013, 49). ...
... Camille Nurka (2013) also argues that dismissive attitudes towards women who have been sexually assaulted by athletes often emanate from a disdain for groupies, as there is a widespread perception '[no] respectable girl would have sex with footballers' (Nurka 2013, 49). Other international research explores the construction of the athlete's spouse as a 'femme fatale' in Spanish football codes (Vaczi 2014), the role of the wife in the construction of UK footballers' masculinity (Clayton and Harris 2004), and the lives of 'baseball wives' in the US (Gmelch and San Antonio 2001). The research presented here aims to understand how the spouse is constructed through media representations, rather than her role in the construction of her partner's identity (e.g. ...
... Clayton and Harris 2004), or the struggles represented by her lifestyle (e.g. Gmelch and San Antonio 2001;Ortiz 1997Ortiz , 2010Roderick 2012). An important touchstone is sociologist Kim Toffoletti's (2007) observation that WAGs are treated as 'accessories' during the coverage of the Brownlow Medal Awards for the AFL, a claim that can be extended through a more in depth focus on the ceremonies themselves. ...
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