Fighting Visibility
Sports Media and Female Athletes in the UFC
by Jennifer McClearen
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Pub Date 30 Mar 2021 | Archive Date 3 Mar 2021
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Description
Mixed martial arts stars like Amanda Nunes, Zhang Weili, and Ronda Rousey have made female athletes top draws in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Jennifer McClearen charts how the promotion incorporates women into its far-flung media ventures and investigates the complexities surrounding female inclusion. On the one hand, the undeniable popularity of cards headlined by women add much-needed diversity to the sporting landscape. On the other, the UFC leverages an illusion of promoting difference—whether gender, racial, ethnic, or sexual—to grow its empire with an inexpensive and expendable pool of female fighters. McClearen illuminates how the UFC's half-hearted efforts at representation generate profit and cultural cachet while covering up the fact it exploits women of color, lesbians, gender non-conforming women, and others.
Thought provoking and timely, Fighting Visibility tells the story of how a sports entertainment phenomenon made difference a part of its brand—and the ways women paid the price for success.
Advance Praise
"A scathing critique of the exploitation that defines the relationship of UFC to its women fighters, Fighting Visibility fills a hole in the study of sports. Never has this subject been explored with the depth and clarity that we have here. A necessary and groundbreaking read. It makes the point with crystal clarity: visibility and equity are not the same thing."--Dave Zirin, Sports Editor, The Nation
"A must read for anyone interested in women, sport, and the media. Written by a quickly rising star in feminist media and communication studies, this book is a highly engaging account of the politics of women's participation and visibilities in UFC. It artfully identifies and explains important new trends in social media, branding, feminism, sport, and popular culture. Highly recommended reading!"--Holly Thorpe, author of Transnational Mobilities in Action Sport Cultures
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9780252085727 |
| PRICE | US$24.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 256 |
Links
Featured Reviews
Laura M, Reviewer
First of all, this book won't be for everyone but for someone interested in gender issues in sport and for someone who works in the UK football industry like myself it is probably not only an interesting read but a relatable one. Having read the synopsis beforehand (even though I think the title gives it away), it is clear that this book is not about what makes a strong female fighter or a biography of any particular female fighter and thus in my opinion, some of the reviews that I have read are unfair as the reader clearly had a misconception about the subject matter of the book.
The book focuses on the dynamics between the UFC, as the organiser of the sport, and its female fighters. It critiques the actions of the UFC in that it takes advantage of the female empowerment movement for its own gain to increase audience and viewer numbers but in reality and in practice, fails to make any strides to improve the working conditions of its female athletes.
I was already aware of a lot of the working conditions across the UFC both for male and female athletes but I was particularly interested to read about the promotional aspects of the sport - self promotion to be exact and the emotional toll that women endure from so called 'trolls', and the lack of support received when dealing with such negative attention. I felt that the author covered those topics really well and much of what was written was relatable to women's football here in the UK.
The comments and suggestions made by the author are transferrable, in my opinion, to most women's sport where there is a male counterpart and the author has certainly given me food for thought as to how we can improve exposure for female athletes whilst making them feel more valued and supported at the same time.
I want to stress that this book is not going to be for every UFC/MMA fan, it is a high-level academic reference book but for anyone who is interested in 'drawing back the curtains' and stepping behind the glitz of the octagon to understand what life in the UFC is really like for the average female fighter then this book is probably right up your street.
