In this episode, Johanna is joined by repeat guest and close friend of the show, interdisciplinary scholar extraordinaire Kelly Wright. We discuss and compare the media's reactions to Angel Reese during 2023's March Madness to a white German commentator's remark about the Moroccan World Cup team's gesture last summer. After recapping for us what happened with and against Reese, Kelly shares her agreement with and expands upon Letisha Brown's excellent First and Pen analysis: how the incident exemplified the dehumanization of Black people under our white supremacy, as well as how Reese's response could not have addressed sports' anti-Blackness and misogynoir in a better way. We also refer back to Kelly's insights from her prior episode about the white gaze of sports scouts and extend it to the mainstream media landscape that spewed racism and misogynoir against Reese. Kelly emphasizes how speech is an act, and not just words; hand gestures and body movements (and responses to them) are actions too, and we must analyze them as such regarding systemic violence and resistance to it. We pivot to the racism at the 2022 Men's World Cup: when a white German commentator chose to describe the Moroccan player's hand gesture as an "Islamic State gesture " (folks, he held up his index finger to suggest #1, like athletes do worldwide). We discuss sporting nationalism and whiteness in relation to this incident. Considering the German state's insistence that criticism of Israel is antisemitic, we briefly talk about how this fits into Germany's nationalist use of Holocaust commemoration for anti-Arab racism.
Episode 137: The Hegemonic vs. Inclusive Masculinity Debate
Episode 136: How the Anti-trans Movement Shields Cisgender Sexual Predators
Episode 135: Hungary, Sportswashing, and Global Fascism
Episode 134: Masculinities and Sport with Raewyn Connell
Episode 133: Gunpower and Sports with Patrick Blanchfield
Episode 132: The Barstool Sports Episode
Episode 131: College Sport NLRB Extravaganza
Episode 130: The Definitive Netflix Sports Rankings
Episode 129: Higher Ed 'Crisis' with Asheesh Kapur Siddique and Joe Darda
Episode 128: On The PWHL with Liz Knox
Episode 127: Gaza Genocide and Sporting Politics with Karim Zidan
Episode 126: Football, Manliness, and the Conjuncture
Episode 125: Israel and Russia Don't Belong in Paris 2024
Episode 124: The Swiftie Bowl
Episode 123: Palestine Solidarity
Episode 122: Why Canada Needs a Judicial Inquiry into Sport
Episode 121: Anti-trans Discourse, Sport, and our Fascist Moment
Episode 120: Another College Sport Apocalypse
Episode 119: The End of College Football (A Preview)
Episode 118: What is Hockey Culture? with Kristi Allain
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