Women of Asian descent and their self identification and involvement in sport and physical activity

Author

Catherine C.W. English, University of Tennessee

Date of Award

12-2002

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Education

Major Professor

Joy T. DeSensi

Committee Members

Leslee Fisher, Eric Haley, Handel Wright

Abstract

Much of the literature regarding women of Asian descent in the United States goes back to the 1800s; this is around the same time documentation of Asian immigrants began to be recorded. Since this time, it has been historically noted that women of Asian descent and Asian American women have been marginalized and overlooked with regard to issues of mainstream American culture and research, especially in areas such as politics, economics, race, class, gender, health, sports, and, of course, the media. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to reveal how a selection of women of Asian descent self-identify racially and ethnically, and, to explore the perspectives of women of Asian descent regarding experiences in sport and/or physical activity. There were seven co-participants involved in this study, and five themes with corresponding subthemes which emerged from these interviews. The first four themes, Imposed Identity, Embraced Identity, Fractured Identity, and Experience of Extended Identity through Sport all pertain to how the co-participants experience identity. The fifth theme, Experiences regarding Sport and/or Physical Activity, reflects the emergent commonalities of experiences shared by the co-participants.

Recommended Citation

English, Catherine C.W., "Women of Asian descent and their self identification and involvement in sport and physical activity. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2002.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/6230