{"title":"Not America’s Game: The Globalization and Post-Westernization of Women’s Baseball","authors":"C. Maddox","doi":"10.1177/0193723519884850","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This article explores the globalization of women’s baseball from both historical and contemporary perspectives. The women’s game is largely absent from literature about the global diffusion of baseball, but its growing presence in numerous cultural contexts demands attention. Drawing on ideas from Rumford and Cho, I contend that contemporary women’s baseball is best read as an example of post-Westernization, which sets it apart from the men’s game still largely defined by the singular entity of Major League Baseball. The power base of women’s baseball has shifted from the United States to East Asia, as developments such as youth infrastructure, a professional league, and annual tournaments have created a surge of interest in women’s baseball in the region. Moreover, East Asia’s commitment to women’s baseball as a sport distinct from softball reinforces the shift of organizational power and cultural influence away from the United States.","PeriodicalId":47636,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sport & Social Issues","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5000,"publicationDate":"2020-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Sport & Social Issues","FirstCategoryId":"95","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0193723519884850","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"HOSPITALITY, LEISURE, SPORT & TOURISM","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2
Abstract
This article explores the globalization of women’s baseball from both historical and contemporary perspectives. The women’s game is largely absent from literature about the global diffusion of baseball, but its growing presence in numerous cultural contexts demands attention. Drawing on ideas from Rumford and Cho, I contend that contemporary women’s baseball is best read as an example of post-Westernization, which sets it apart from the men’s game still largely defined by the singular entity of Major League Baseball. The power base of women’s baseball has shifted from the United States to East Asia, as developments such as youth infrastructure, a professional league, and annual tournaments have created a surge of interest in women’s baseball in the region. Moreover, East Asia’s commitment to women’s baseball as a sport distinct from softball reinforces the shift of organizational power and cultural influence away from the United States.
本文从历史和当代两个角度探讨了女子棒球的全球化。在关于棒球全球传播的文献中,女子棒球运动基本上是缺席的,但它在众多文化背景中日益增长的存在值得关注。借鉴Rumford和Cho的观点,我认为当代女子棒球最好被解读为后西方化的一个例子,这将其与主要由美国职业棒球大联盟(Major League baseball)这一单一实体所定义的男子棒球区分开来。女子棒球的力量基础已经从美国转移到东亚,因为青少年基础设施、职业联赛和年度锦标赛等方面的发展,使该地区对女子棒球的兴趣激增。此外,东亚对女子棒球作为一项不同于垒球的运动的承诺,加强了组织权力和文化影响力从美国转移出去的过程。
期刊介绍:
Journal of Sport & Social Issues is an indispensable resource that brings together the latest research, discussion, and analysis on contemporary sport issues such as race, media, gender, economics, drugs, recruiting, injuries, and youth sports. Using an international, interdisciplinary perspective, Journal of Sport & Social Issues examines today"s most pressing and far-reaching questions about sport, including: World Cup soccer, gay experience and sport, social issues in sport management, youth sports, sports subcultures. Always provocative, Journal of Sports and Social Issues presents a lively public discussion of the impact of sport on social issues from many perspectives.