Balancing Acts: Women in Sport: Essays on Power, Performance, Bodies & Love

by Justin Wolfers (Editor), Erin Riley (Editor), Tegan Higginbotham (Foreword)

A collection of non-fiction pieces from more than 20 contributors that explores women’s range of experiences with sport and sporting culture in Australia.

Focusing on a critically under-represented part of Australian culture—specifically the myriad ways non-male participants negotiate the traditionally male spectacle of athleticism—this collection interrogates the way sporting bodies and achievements are portrayed in Australian media and culture.

Understanding the term ‘sport’ in the broadest possible sense, and applying the definition of ‘women’ in the same way (to include trans, gender diverse, non-binary, intersex and otherwise non-cis women, as well as from and/or about queer, lesbian, and bisexual women), these essays examine the way women athletes’ experience are marginalised and under-reported, and attempt to de-centre the status quo of sports writing and commentary as dominated by male perspectives and expertise.

The pieces in the book take literary, historical, narrative, critical, experimental and personal approaches to their subject matter, as well as several that make use of reportage and interviews. Topics include:

- the sexualisation of women in surfing culture;
- the marginalisation of women in boxing;
- feminine performativity in ballet;
- life as an AFL spectator;
- structural disadvantage as experienced by a cyclist;
- social soccer's ins and outs;
- the power relations between female athletes and coaches;
- female-identifying athletes’ experience of homophobia;
- the aesthetics of televised sports.

Genres: Nonfiction

357 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2018

Reviews

[Madison Griffiths · Rating 4 out of 5]

Active women can change the world, Brunette Lenkić wrote in her essay on physicality and womanhood in Balancing Acts: Women In Sport, asking the question: but what are bodies for? and there wasn’t a single moment while reading it where I didn’t feel a part of some larger, tight-knit team. There’s something compelling about getting immersed in a collection so rich and apt if you—like me—live between the goalposts of what it means to be good, to be female. Themes included: carrying gender within the vessel of flesh, bones limbs, organs and race (see: Ellen van Neerven’s Australia is Open: To Hold! Receive! Take!), display, performance and growth (see: Gina Rushton’s Yoga Poses and Nicole Hayes’s From the Outer—And Back Again), what it means to be a constant spectacle, the body as a means to convey some larger truth (see: Danielle Warby’s Out on Instagram, Nadia Bailey’s Pas de Quatre, Rebecca Slater’s A Coach’s Hands, a Woman’s Body and Charlotte Guest’s The Thing About Sport and Poetry is That They’re Kind of Similar), and the poison that can be found in the male gaze (see: Stephanie King’s Becoming-Object, or: Body as Body of Work and Holly Isemonger’s Surfing is My Feminist Origin Story).

[cherryyemilyy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/4☆

Okay I’m extremely biased as a lifetime and diehard netball fan, but you would think that the book dedicated to documenting the stories of female sport in Australia would have a little bit more dedicated to the almost exclusively female sport that Australia dominates in?

All of the stories were powerful, I especially loved Lenkić, Slater and Isemonger’s essays, however, Laura Buzo’s “Uniform Treatment” was so entertaining (it was the only netball focused on and I’m sorry to all female cyclists out there but why did you guys get two?! Also why was the longest essay a love letter to Roger Federer?!).

Overall I did really enjoy the collection and I think more females interested in sport and the sporting culture of Australia should give it a read :)

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This heartfelt, angry, adoring, challenging collection of essays is absolutely fascinating. As a non-sports fan I feel that it opened the lid on a surprising community of whip smart writers who welcome the reader into their world. An important read that helped me reflect on and crystallise my own opinions about women in sport.

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
I wanted to love this book more than I did. I did love some of the essays, some were less interesting for me.

My favourite essays were:

Australia is Open: To Hold! Receive! Take by Ellen van Neervan

Pas De Quatre by Nadia Bailey

The Thing About Sport and Poetry is That They're Kind of Similar by Charlotte Guest

All in the Bounce by Kate Doak

Cheering on the Boys by Savannah Indigo

[Louise]

A really good, interesting, diverse collection. I loved the contributions from:
- Brunette Lenkić
- Ellen van Neerven
- Gina Rushton
- Jodi McAllister
- Kasey Symons
- Nicole Hayes