Theoretical considerations in the examination of African American girls and women in sport

In the United States of America, Black (e.g. African American) women are said to experience a ‘double burden’ based on race and gender marginalisations (St. Jean and Feagin 1998). In this chapter, the author will discuss critical theories and why they are the most appropriate framework to illuminate African American women’s experiences of ‘double burden’ in and through sport and society. Therefore, the contribution of African American women intellectuals, intersectionality and the vagaries of Black feminist thinking are debated and connected to the development of womanist theory, Black feminist thought, critical race feminism, and Hip-Hop feminism. In this chapter, it is argued that these critical theories have the potential to better elucidate African American women’s experiences of sport.