Higher Goals: Women's Ice Hockey and the Politics of Gender

by Nancy Theberge

Winner of the 2001 North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Book Award

The most extensive treatment to date of women's experiences in team sports, Higher Goals provides an ethnographic account of the "Blades," a Canadian team that plays at the highest levels of women's hockey. With a vivid depiction of life on the Blades, the book follows the team over two seasons, tracing their journey to a national championship. Key issues in the sociology of sport and gender studies are explored, including the construction of community among women athletes; the "feminine apologetic" and pressures on athletes to conform to feminine ideals; homophobia and the experiences of lesbian athletes; and physicality and women's experience in contact sports.

195 pages, Hardcover

First published August 10, 2000

Reviews

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really interesting read. The publication date is 2000, but the bulk of the research is from the early 90s. There's some discussion at the end of book about the Olympics, but it mostly focuses on the North York Aeros, or the "Blades" as they are pseudonymously known in the book, prior to even the original NWHL. It's fascinating not only because this was during Angela James' time playing for the Aeros and on the national team, but also because it's just so 90s. There's no discussion of concussions and it's very Canadian focused, but it's super interesting, and I wish there was more recent (book-length, academic) work on the topic because while I'm sure many things have stayed the same, much has certainly changed.