Society for the Study of Social Problems Notes From the Chair Giovanna Follo Wright State University Hello to all of you! My name is Giovanna Follo. I am an Assistant Professor at Wright State University - Lake Campus in Celina, OH. I am a Sociology generalist, not only in teaching but in research. My research includes teaching sociology and working on an autoethnography about the sandwich generation. But my heart lies with research investigating women and girls in the martial arts, traditional and reality based systems.  I would like to thank those you have continued to be part of this division and those that are new to the division. There is much coming up at the 2018 SSSP meeting. But beforehand, I am asking all of you to share your thoughts and voices in shaping the future of the division. I am asking for your perspectives and ideas in helping clarify the division for others to understand.  In this newsletter, I will be asking you to define what you think Sport, Leisure and the Body mean, both as individual concepts and as the name of this division. The goal is to ensure that we are inclusive in the suggestion of the name. For example, do those that submit to this division’s sessions believe they can only include body work or sport work or do they believe that it has to include all? Also, at the division meeting at the 2017 annual meeting, we were asking how we can include gender in this name and it not be locked into having it relate to sport. There is no gender home at SSSP and perhaps this is where the home should be? So how do we make the name a place where we can see these concepts as individual concepts and, if preferred, as interdependent concepts. In addition, I would like your thoughts and perspectives on the division mission which has been provided in the newsletter. We are required to review the mission statement every few years. I have approved it because of time constraints but would like to revisit the mission statement. So any thoughts are welcome.  Lastly, I would like to be more engaged with all of you and for us to communicate with each other to share our thoughts on these concepts and perhaps for research partners. So, please submit a 250 word description of the research you are working on or share your thoughts on an issue that would concern the division. However, you are not limited to the specific division concepts. I would like to post these on Facebook. Please like the Facebook page and let’s get it rolling. I welcome all your comments and ideas. Please feel free to contact me at any time.  Cheers, Giovanna Like Us on Facebook! And let us know what you are working on! Send information on recent books, articles, reports, presentations, etc. to Giovanna Follo at giovanna.follo@wright.edu by February 14, 2018. https://www.facebook.com/Sport-Leisure-and-the-Body-Division-of-SSSP-531156313760877/ Request for Feedback: Division Name and Mission As the 2017 SSSP Annual Meeting there seemed to be some confusion as to what Sport, Leisure, and the Body truly means. This was expressed in the division chairs meeting and by those that were present at the division meeting. So at this time, we are asking the division what Sport, Leisure, and the Body means to them and whether the name of the division should be changed to suggest more inclusivity. Should the name stay the same? Should it be changed? If so, what would you suggest? We also ask that you consider the division’s mission statement below. Are there additions or changes you would suggest? Please provide your thoughts and feedback to Giovanna Follo at giovanna.follo@wright.edu by February 14, 2018. Vision of a Just World 1. What is your vision of a just world in relation to your division's mission?  Our vision of a just world within the realm of sports and leisure encompasses many issues. One of the primary forms of justice is economic justice. Currently female athletes do not have financial equity for their athletic achievements, college sports do not fund, or market women’s sports in a way that allows for parity. Another issue of justice within sport and athletics is that sexuality would not be a central focus, nor a means of ostracism. Women in athletics are presumed to be lesbians, and men are presumed to by hypersexual, heterosexuals. These presumptions affect interactions, and create a need to hide a part of one’s life. It is often assumed that if one’s sexuality is known, that the ability to be accepted by “mainstream” society will be affected. This can cause another form of economic injustice with the lack of endorsement opportunities. The LPGA has been a great deal of time and money marketing the heterosexual players, their family lives, etc. this promotes the idea of heterosexual normativity, creating further injustice. The final issue of justice within sport and leisure is racial disparities in sport participation rates, particularly among girls of color and girls whose families are recent immigrants to the United States. Moreover, racial stereotypes and beliefs still exist in sport contexts which both enable and constrain participation. 2. What are one or two demonstration project, nations or states that have most effectively addressed your division's mission at any time in history and what are/were their important features? One justice issue that made national news came when various American Indian tribes protested the continued use of American Indian names, imagery, and chants as part of both collegiate and professional sports. The movement was centered on educating non-Indian people about the offensiveness of many of the practices, and the origins of the names that were being used by teams. While the issue did receive national attention, little has changed in the decade since attempts to change the practices. 3. What are the key difficulties that you and others working toward your division's mission face in your work toward a better world? Educating people about the inequalities present in most sports is a difficult challenge. Part of the resistance is that people utilize sports as a form of fun and recreation and view sport as entertainment, thus many perceive sport to be outside the realm of social and political issues. It has also been difficult to try to educate and convince many people that women’s sports are as interesting, competitive, and worthy of attention as male sports. Women’s sports continues to receive less media coverage and when female athletes are represented in the media- it is in ways that reinforce traditional gender stereotypes.  These traditional stereotypes hinder many people’s abilities to see women as “true” athletes. Division Sessions for 2018 Annual Meeting in Philadelphia (August 10-12) Listed below are the 2018 Annual Meeting Sessions. Each participant is permitted to submit one sole-authored paper and one sole-authored critical dialogue paper, but additional co-authored papers may be submitted. Critical Dialogue sessions include short (5 minute) presentations by up to 8 authors followed by facilitated dialogue that critically explores connections among the papers. The audience will have an opportunity to participate in the dialogue as well. Emphasis is placed on exploring interesting connections between papers with a broadly similar theme. The hope is that both presenters and the audience will have an opportunity to make new and deeper connections from their unique insights and presented ideas. Critical Dialogue sessions will not have audio-visual equipment. Click here to submit an extended abstract (required) and paper (optional) or to view your added or submitted abstracts/papers. NOTE: if you are already a SSSP member, please use your SSSP login information. If you are not a SSSP member, you will be asked to create an account. Your personal information will not be shared with any other organization without your consent. Please see the SSSP Privacy Policy for more information. For assistance with the 2018 Call for Papers process, read our Frequently Asked Questions (link will open in a new window). All papers must be submitted by midnight (EST) on January 31, 2018 in order to be considered. * Session 32: "Disabling Sport" [Co-sponsored with Disability Division] * Session 49: "Empowering Minds and Bodies: Sport and Education" [Co-sponsored with Educational Problems Division] * Session 91: "Sports Analogies and Workplace Culture – the Language of Exploitation" [Co-sponsored with Labor Studies Division] * Session 102: "Race/Ethnicity and Sport" [Co-sponsored with Racial and Ethnic Minorities Division] * Session 107: “Sexuality and Bodies" [Co-sponsored with Sexual Behavior, Politics, and Communities Division] * Session 116: "Mental Health and Sport" [Co-sponsored with Society and Mental Health Division] * Session 120: "Community Programming and Sports" [Co-sponsored with Sociology and Social Welfare Division] * Session 121: “Methodological Approaches to Studying Sport and/or the Body” * Session 122: “Body Liberation” [thematic session] Call for Submissions: 2018 Graduate Student Paper Award The Sport, Leisure, and the Body Division announces the 2018 Graduate Student Paper Competition. Papers may be empirical and/or theoretical, and may be on any aspect of sport or sporting culture, leisure or recreation, and/or sporting bodies broadly defined. The winner will receive a stipend of $200, a plaque of recognition, student membership in SSSP for 2018 (valued at $30), complimentary registration for the 2018 annual meeting to help the winner attend the meeting (value $60). The winner will be invited to present the winning paper at one of the Sport, Leisure, and the Body sessions at the 2018 annual meeting in Philadelphia. To be eligible, a paper must meet the following criteria: 1) the applicant must be a graduate student at the time of the SSSP annual meeting in Philadelphia on August 10-12, 2018, 2) the applicant must be the first (lead) author on the paper, 3) the paper must not be co-authored with a faculty member or a colleague who is not a student; 4) the paper must not have been accepted for publication (papers that have been submitted for presentation at a professional meeting are eligible); 5) the paper must not exceed 30 pages including notes, references, and tables; 6) the paper must be typed using 12-point font in either Times New Roman or Courier; 7) student papers may only be submitted to one of the SSSP divisions. Authors are required to submit their papers through the annual meeting Call for Papers process as a condition for consideration for the award. Please submit your paper electronically as a Microsoft Word and PDF file to jsacha@ucdavis.edu. Paper submission must be dated (via electronic time/date stamp and post-mark) on or before 2/23/18. New Member Book No Slam Dunk Gender, Sport and the Unevenness of Social Change CHERYL COOKY and MICHAEL A. MESSNER In just a few decades, sport has undergone a radical gender transformation. However, Cheryl Cooky and Michael A. Messner suggest that the progress toward gender equity in sports is far from complete. The continuing barriers to full and equal participation for young people, the far lower pay for most elite-level women athletes, and the continuing dearth of fair and equal media coverage all underline how much still has yet to change before we see gender equality in sports.  The chapters in No Slam Dunk show that is this not simply a story of an “unfinished revolution.” Rather, they contend, it is simplistic optimism to assume that we are currently nearing the conclusion of a story of linear progress that ends with a certain future of equality and justice. This book provides important theoretical and empirical insights into the contemporary world of sports to help explain the unevenness of social change and how, despite significant progress, gender equality in sports has been “No Slam Dunk.”   30% DISCOUNT ON ALL ORDERS (WITHIN THE US) Order online: rutgersuniversitypress.org or by phone at 800-848-6224 Free shipping on all orders placed directly through Rutgers University Press. Use discount code “02AAAA17” in order to qualify for a 30% discount. Submit to Engaging Sports! About Engaging Sports (https://thesocietypages.org/engagingsports/)  provides sociologically-informed analysis to help readers think about sports in a way that goes beyond the scores, highlights, and statistics. The site is intended for sport participants, fans, coaches, administrators, students, media members, and anyone else interested in better understanding sports in society. Engaging Sports is a collaborative effort led by scholars affiliated with the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport (NASSS). Broadly, the mission of NASSS is to promote, stimulate, and encourage the sociological study of play, games, sport, and physical culture. Engaging Sports provides a forum for people affiliated with NASSS to engage the broader public with their work. Submission Guidelines Anyone who is a current member of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport (or has been a member within the past year) is welcome to submit a contribution to Engaging Sports. The general purpose of the site is to provide content that helps readers interpret and understand current events and issues occurring in the context of sport and physical culture. Contributions should include analysis that is clearly grounded in and informed by scholarship in the sociology of sport, presented in a way that “translates” that scholarship for a public audience. It may be helpful for authors to think of a hook to a current/recent event, upcoming date, or anniversary of a notable event when writing contributions for the site. Overall, authors should think of the piece as an opportunity to translate sociology of sport content for a public audience in such a way that helps readers better understand current issues in sport and physical culture. When writing a contribution for Engaging Sports, authors should consider the following points: * Contributions should be approximately 700 to 1000 words in length. This length should allow authors to provide substantive content that is easy for a member of the general public to read and digest in a few minutes. * Contributions should be written using language and a writing style that is easily accessible for a member of the general public. When writing, it may be helpful to envision a first-year university student with no background in social science as a potential reader. * When you refer to theory or research findings, do so in a narrative style in which you clearly explain the theory/research rather than using traditional academic citations. If you are referring to a specific piece of scholarship, you may include hyperlinked text that the reader can click on to view the original article being referenced. * Writers are encouraged to identify one or two photos that can be posted along with the article (along with appropriate captions and photo attribution). * For examples of how to “translate” academic scholarship for public consumption, prospective writers are encouraged to view posts appearing on sites such as the Contexts blog, the Conversation, and the Gender & Society blog. * At the end of the text, all authors should include a biographical note that lists their current position, briefly describes their academic interests/expertise, and provides a link to their institutional bio page (if applicable). Authors can also provide links to their social media accounts (e.g., Twitter) if they wish. * To submit a contribution, please send your submission (with any hyperlinks inserted) as a Microsoft Word file to EngagingSports@gmail.com. Please also attach any photos (or include hyperlinks to the photos), along with appropriate captions and photo attribution, that you wish to use with the submission. All submissions will be reviewed by a site editor and a reviewer(s) with expertise in an area related to the submission prior to publication. NASSS 2018 Annual Meeting The North American Society for the Sociology of Sport will meet in Vancouver, BC, Canada, October 31- November 3, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency. For more information, see www.nasss.org. 1