ABSTRACT
Sociologists view sports as a social institution that both reflects and influences the broader society. Simultaneously, sports are a mechanism by which cultural ideas about “desirable and normalized bodies” are constructed and particular physical attributes and accomplishments are valued while others are denigrated (Cole 2002: 441). In this way, sports also reflect and influence social constructions about the alleged physical capabilities of various groups, for example, the able-bodied versus disabledbodied, women and girls versus men and boys, and blacks versus whites (Coakley 2004; DePauw and Gavron 2005).
