This article explores the potential for martial arts to support transformation and community building for women. Findings indicate women can derive many individual benefits from learning martial arts. Yet, the benefits must extend beyond the individual level to create social change. Based on an evaluation of literature on women's experiences…

In 1971, female professional physical educators in higher education formed the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) to govern women's college athletics. The AIAW presidents gathered at the University of Iowa in July 1980 for a five-day conference: "AIAW... A Decade of Progress: Presidential Review" to create a…

Considers constructs and operation of homophobic discourse surrounding female athletes, employing Foucauldian notions of discipline and discourse and feminist critiques of the gendered body to depict female athletes as nonconformist to the discipline of femininity. The paper argues that homophobic discourse exists in response to this nonconformity…

Women have played an active role in the development of modern American physical education since its emergence in the mid-nineteenth century. Factors which have influenced the course of women's physical education are discussed in this article. Recent biographical, institutional, and social research on the subject is reviewed. (Author/GC)

This compendium of materials focuses on sex discrimination, Title IX, and women in sports, and provides information and recommendations on bringing about equity for women in athletic programs. The individual papers deal with the following topics: (1) the Women's Equity Action League (WEAL) Fund and its work; (2) equal opportunity and…

This autobiography of a woman physical education instructor covers the developments in her field from 1924 to 1954. The increasing interest in physical education for women, the changing attitudes and values over these years, and the growth of physical education organizations are the major themes in this book. (JD)

Reviews women's struggles for equal representation in the Olympic Games on the International Olympic Committee and the national committees, and as participants in the games. Discusses problems with the language in the Olympic Charter, governance of the games, and the role of education on all levels. (SM)

Title IX protects individuals from sex discrimination in any educational activity receiving federal funding. A lawyer from the National Women's Law Center answers questions about Title IX from coaches, teachers, and administrators at all levels. The questions focus on women and athletics. (SM)

Argues that a male perspective, valuing individual achievement through aggressive competition, has dominated physical education. This agenda has marginalized other pedagogies and sports such as gymnastics and dance. Supports this interpretation with an analysis of policy documents, archival material, interviews, and journal articles. (MJP)

A feminist discussion of the interconnected nature of homophobia and sexism in women's sport examines the origins of the lesbian stereotype, political functions of homophobia in a sexist culture, manifestations of homophobia in women's sport, and suggestions for confronting homophobia in women's sport. (SM)

The reports from this conference deal with the sources, manifestations, and influences of sports and physical education over time, geography, and cultures. Written in a non-technical manner, the twenty-eight articles deal with the relationship of sports to (among others) politics, art, dance, mythology, religion, economics, sociology, and…