Jenny McMahon

Empowering swimmers and their bodies in and through research

This paper critically examines methodological issues associated with a research project that sought to explore three athletes’ experiences in the elite and sub-elite sporting culture of Australian swimming. Discussion centres on four considerations that were central to research methodology and specifically pursues the empowerment of participants and their bodies in the research process. The considerations were (i) to foreground the swimmers’ voice/s in the research, giving them the centre stage as data and in reporting; (ii) to achieve and maintain highly collaborative relations throughout the research process; (iii) to enable the reader to take on and read from the positions and perspectives of the participants, and (iv) to acknowledge and enable the realisation of the emancipatory potential of the research. Key decisions in relation to the methodological framework, research process, research relations and presentational format are discussed in the light of these considerations. Strategies employed at various points in the research process are identified as critical to achieving participant empowerment and the emancipatory emphasis that was desired. Attention is particularly drawn to the processes of generating stories and positioning these as primary data; the way in which the collaborative production of narrative episodes enabled the participants to gain some clarity in relation to their lived experiences; and efforts to ensure that participatory democracy was reflected through all phases of the research process…

Exposure and effect: An investigation into a culture of body pedagogies

What is an appropriate structure for reporting a study based on the lived bodily experiences of three swimmers when following the interpretive and critical paradigms and utilizing creative analytical practices (CAP)?​

Assimilating to a Boy's Body Shape for the Sake of Performance: Three Female Athletes' Body Experiences in a Sporting Culture.

This paper explores three female swimmers’ relationships with their male coaches and the body practices they were exposed to within Australian swimming. Particular attention is given to how the relationships and practices might relate to gender. Additionally, the article examines how (if at all) the conduct contributed to the social construction of an accepted female swimmer body. Through narrative accounts, the three adolescent female athletes articulate hierarchical male coach–female athlete relationships and specific body encounters they were exposed to and/or engaged with. Their experiences reveal how a sexually maturing body (growing breasts, female body shape and menstruating) was deemed unsuitable for performance and the swimmers were thus encouraged to transform their bodies and behaviours towards that of the boys. Using a feminist Foucauldian perspective, these accounts points to how the three swimmers came to regulate their diet, training and appearance in order to fulfil expectations. This self-regulation is problematic in two ways: first, no scientific evidence shows that a boy like physique is essential for best performance. Second, the stress from being pressured to achieve a particular body, as well as the shame that resulted from being unable to achieve the idealised physique, eventually caused the swimmers to develop an unhealthy relationship with their developing bodies. We highlight how those immersed in sporting contexts should recognise the serious implications of gender practices and power relations underpinning the male coach–female athlete dynamic in competitive sport.

Mother runners in the blogosphere: A discursive psychological analysis of online recreational athlete identities

Objectives: Qualitative research on physically active mothers has shown that recreational sport may allow women to resist good mother ideals that often constrain exercise. The purpose of this study was to extend this understanding in a socio‐cultural context by examining how recreational athlete mother identities were constructed within one form of new media ‐ blogging. Design: A qualitative approach grounded in discursive psychology was used to theorize athlete mother identities as subject positions constructed within particular discourses circulated within a blog. Method: Critical discourse analysis of 30 stories and 177 reader comments from the North American online running community Another Mother Runner, was conducted. Visual data analysis of 102 images accompanying stories also contextualized the textual meanings of discourses and subject positions. Results: Two primary discourses were identified: discourse of transformation and empowerment and a discourse of disruption and resolution. Subject positions constructed within these two intersecting discourses were role mother/advocate and resilient mother runner. Conclusions: This study extends discursive psychology literature in sport and exercise psychology as well as media work on athlete mother identities within sport psychology into the realm of the internet and identity construction. HighlightsUnderstandings of recreational mother athletes in socio‐cultural context are extended by studying a running blog.Cultural meanings and identity meanings were explored via discursive psychology and critical discourse analysis.Discourses offer emancipative and constraining potential through blogging for athlete mothers.Identities or subject positions constructed within discourses offer resistance within one particular internet space.

The impact of a coaching/sporting culture on one coach's identity: how narrative became a useful tool in reconstructing coaching ideologies

In this research, the use of narrative accounts is investigated as the catalyst for the evolution of one coachs identity. Unable to sustain a coaching identity that was deemed to be appropriate by my coaching mentors, I (Author 1) disengaged from the swimming culture. This was due in part to the expression of power within the mentor–mentee relationship embedded in the coach development pathway, as well as within the wider sporting culture. By utilizing a narrative approach; writing and deconstructing my own narratives in relation to coach identity development within the mentor–mentee relationship, I developed an alternative approach. I established a sustainable coaching identity that demonstrated evidence-based judgement and reflective consideration of actions rather than the obtuse reproduction of mentor coach practice. This research suggests that the use of narrative as an integral element in coach education can be powerful in terms of deconstructing cultural ideologies and in the construction of a sustainable coaching identity. The combination of these two components is powerful in terms of enabling a coaching identity to evolve. It is therefore suggested that the development of a sustainable mentor–mentee relationship is inextricably linked with the expression of narrative and the critical reflection on the same.

Fleshy, female and forty: A docudrama of a former elite swimmer who re-immersed herself into elite swimming culture

Abstract This film is presented as a docudrama, where video diaries and other elements of film production capture the six-month journey of a former elite swimmer who re-immersed herself into an elite swimming culture as a 40-year-old woman. Over a six-month period, the former swimmer subjected herself to the same training schedule and coaching practices that current Australian elite swimmers undertake, capturing video diaries of her experiences during this time. Her re-immersion in this culture was a conscious decision, undertaken in order for her to identify whether body practices that she was subjected to 16 years earlier were still occurring in the present day. Previous research on elite swimming culture has revealed how body practices which centre on attaining the ideal body for competitive performance cause detrimental effects for swimmers in both the short and also long term. This research provides a first-hand athlete perspective of elite swimming culture in the present day and whether these detrimental ways of approaching the swimmer body for the sake of competitive performance are still occurring. Two parts make up this research which include a brief written section which accompanies a 25-minute film. An evocative stance is adopted throughout the research where the audience is invited to draw their own conclusions from the lived experiences presented and whether or not detrimental body practices are still occurring in this culture in the present day.

Understanding athlete mother transition in cultural context: A media analysis of Kim Clijsters’ tennis comeback and self-identity implications.

Although the presence of elite athlete mothers is growing in sport, these athletes have received less attention in sport psychology research. The purpose with this study was to extend understanding of elite athlete mothers in sociocultural context by examining how news media constructed elite athlete identities of 1 high profile athlete mother, tennis star Kim Clijsters. Ethnographic content analysis (Altheide, 1996) was used to explore motherhood and athletic identity in relation to an athletic comeback, as sociocultural creations shaped by media narratives, with psychological implications. Forty-five stories from North American and United Kingdom news media were collected between August 1, 2009, and September 30, 2009, covering the key media incident of Clijsters’ comeback to win the 2009 U.S. Open. Visual data analysis of 38 images further contextualized the meaning(s) of narratives identified within stories (Altheide & Schneider, 2013). A fairy tale come true narrative was identified as constructing comeback meanings linked to 2 identities: the super mum and the golden girl. These identities fed into a limited meaning of Clijsters’ tennis comeback, downplaying accomplishments in favor of normative ideals for female athletes, but also expanding possibilities for athlete mothers. These findings extend cultural sport psychology research exploring the social construction of elite mother athlete identities and athlete transition.

The media’s role in transmitting a cultural ideology and the effect on the general public

Abstract Previous research investigating Australian swimming culture revealed a deeply entrenched ‘slim to win’ ideology, a notion that is centred on the swimmer body needing to be lean in order to achieve competitive performance. While previous research revealed that ‘slim to win’ was occurring in situ, this study examines how media representations might come to be possible contributors to this ideology being proliferated to outsiders of the culture. Specifically, three professional sports photographs are examined for materiality criteria. Further, an affect perspective is employed through Foucault’s idea of ‘dispositive’ to consider how the messages provided by the images, their captions and the titles of the news items they were included in, were consumed. We argue that the media representations included in this investigation are highly problematic because they reinforce the ‘slim to win’ ideology. Further, we argue that many people who contributed to the online forums relating to these media representations reproduced and to a certain extent negotiated ‘slim to win’ through their comments. This latter point occurred via the representations which provided a platform for critical interpretation.

The long and winding road: An autobiographic study of an elite athlete mother’s journey to winning gold

Within sport psychology, researchers have explored elite athlete mothers’ experiences. More work is needed to understand the nuanced psychosocial aspects of their athletic journeys. Studying autobiographical narratives is useful toward understanding the psychosocial nuances of motherhood and athletics in sociocultural context. Within the present study we sought to extend this understanding through studying one elite athlete’s—British runner Jo Pavey—journey as an athlete mother within her autobiography This Mum Runs (26 chapters totaling 253 pages). Thematic narrative analysis of key chapters focusing on pregnancy and motherhood in relation to training and competition allowed for the identification of a central theme—discovery narrative–reconfiguring the performance narrative—along with two subthemes: go with the flow and best of both worlds. The subthemes are used to illustrate the navigation of tensions in relation to an athlete mother identity grounded in family relationships to facilitate training and competition goals, within a discovery narrative. Applied sport psychology recommendations are made using narrative theory in relation to key findings. Recommendations focused on athlete stories and narrative resources as concrete entry points to encourage compatible athlete mother identities and sport career engagement. This study adds to sport psychology work that has used autobiography as theoretical, analytical, and applied resources to expand understanding of marginalized and/or hard to access topics in elite sport. This is the first autobiographic study to focus on elite athlete mother identities, furthering understanding of nuanced identity negotiation and experiences over time. Lay Summary: Understanding of elite athlete mothers negotiation of identity and athletic career is expanded through studying published/public autobiographical narratives. A discovery narrative grounded in personal growth and family relationships facilitates strategies that facilitate training and competition goals.

Whose stories matter? Re-vising, reflecting and re-discovering a researcher's embodied experience as a narrative inquirer

This paper centres on one researchers narrative inquiry of embodied experience. The purpose of this paper is to initiate and extend dialogue which highlights potential possibilities and limitations for those researchers and participants who choose to engage with the narrative inquiry approach. Of special concern are four points or evocations that have been enacted and/or encountered by a researcher (Author 1) as a narrative inquirer over the past seven years. Those being; narrative and the (re)presentation of lived experience; constraints imposed by positivists; the double-edged sword of evocation and verisimilitude, and the potentiality of initiating catharsis. This paper provides personal insights into how one researchers reactions to tensions, positivist constraints in and through the narrative inquiry process led her to, in some instances to conform to narrative critics’ impositions. The narrative inquiry of embodied experience included in this paper is by no means conclusive, finalised or absolute; it does, however, represent a cross section of conformance as well as theoretical and methodological realisations and tensions encountered.