Toward a typology for negotiating layered identities: An oppositional discourse analysis of girls’ youth sport

Alaina C. Zanin, Emilee T. Shearer, Laura V. Martinez

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study documents how participants in an all-female youth sport organization negotiate oppositional discourses of identity. Employing Fairhurst and Putnam’s (2019) integrative method of organizational discourse analysis, the findings revealed hegemonic and alternative discourses related to gender (i.e., boys and girls are different; boys and girls are the same), which influenced how participants negotiated a nested feminine-athletic identity and nested identity discourses. Finally, this study offers a typology for how members negotiated oppositional nested and higher-order identities through (a) fleeing, (b) challenging, (c) constricting, and (d) expanding. Practical implications for how these oppositional discourses affect participation in life enrichment groups are discussed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)381-403
Number of pages23
JournalCommunication Monographs
Volume87
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2 2020

Keywords

  • Nested identity
  • identity management
  • oppositional discourse analysis
  • paradox

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Communication
  • Language and Linguistics

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