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The Media and The Postmodern Athlete: A Political Economic Analysis of Mia Hamm and David Beckham by Melissa Thomas A thesis submitted to the Department of Sociology In Conformity with the requirements for The degree of Masters of Arts Queen‟s University Kingston, Ontario, Canada (April, 2010) Copyright ©Melissa Thomas, 2010 Abstract Sport has become so deeply in engrained in Western culture that society‟s understanding of it has become permeated with common sense. Deromanticizing the idea of sport, researchers have recently come to study sport as a cultural formation, asking that it be understood as an institution with a complex historical background. At its core, sport can be understood as an institution that is problematic. This idea opens the door for researchers to critically analyze the structure of sport and the power relations at play in sport and consumer culture. The central focus of the project examines the political economic structures and processes that have led to the complex conditions of the commodification of the professional athlete in twenty-first century Western society. As such, this project will address how athletes, such as soccer stars Mia Hamm and David Beckham, have been utilized as commodities to reach niche markets, represent multiple identities, and to maintain normative ideas of sport and society. In its entirety, this project will address how social, cultural, and historical processes converge to shape twenty-first century Western sport. i Acknowledgements Throughout the course of my Masters degree, I have had the privilege of working with Professor Vincent Mosco. Offering support and guidance throughout the entire process, Professor Mosco has been an amazing supervisor and mentor. I would also like to thank Professor Rob Beamish for his support and guidance during my MA. My success and growth would not have been possible without such incredible people. I would also like to thank Professor Stephen Baron and Professor Samantha King for their advice and encouragement. I would like to thank all of my friends and family for their continued support throughout this process. My parents and brother have offered continual encouragement and support. I appreciate that they are always there for me. I am thankful to my sister for inspiring me to write about consumerism and sport. I thank my fiancé for being both patient and encouraging over the past twelve months. Both academically and personally I am grateful for the friends I have. They have offered such great support, encouragement, and inspiration: Carrie, Michal, Tim, Wynne, and Karima. ii Table of Contents Abstract.................................................................................................................................i Acknowledgements..............................................................................................................ii Table of Contents................................................................................................................iii Chapter One – Introduction..................................................................................................1 Chapter Two – Literature Review........................................................................................4 History of Sport and Consumer Culture...................................................................5 Hegemony and Sport................................................................................................8 Defining Consumerism, Consumption, and Commodification................................9 Media and Sport.....................................................................................................10 Media, Sport, and Globalization.............................................................................13 Representations of Beckham in Current Media Culture........................................17 Gender and Sport...................................................................................................19 Postmodernism and Sport......................................................................................25 Conclusion..............................................................................................................26 Chapter Three – Theoretical Perspectives and Methodology............................................29 Theoretical Framework..........................................................................................30 Methodology..........................................................................................................45 Justification of Sources of Data Chosen.................................................................54 Conclusion.............................................................................................................56 Chaoter Four – Content Analysis......................................................................................59 The Commodification of Sport and Athletes........................................................59 From Mia Hamm to David Beckham: Constructing Athletes as Commodities.....67 Constructing Mia Hamm............................................................................69 Constructing David Beckham....................................................................85 Limitations............................................................................................................104 Conclusion............................................................................................................105 Chapter Five – Conclusion...............................................................................................107 References........................................................................................................................117 iii Chapter One Introduction Over the past twenty years there has been an expansion in the study of consumption and consumerism. This expansion links debates concerning globalization, postmodernity, identity and new forms of inequality (Horne 2006:1). Therefore, a researcher must approach an analysis of sport by considering the social, cultural and historical aspects of sport in a largely consumer culture. From this, it is understood that any study of sport needs to fully consider the people involved, and the institutions and social structures that affect sport experiences and processes that occur in conjunction with sport (Crossman 2008:3). The research project proposes to examine the political economic structures and processes that have led to the complex conditions of commodification of the professional athlete in twenty-first century Western society. An understanding of the social, cultural and historical aspects of the institution of sport, in relation to the media, is the subject of my Masters thesis, and as such this project will make a significant contribution to sport studies by addressing how social, cultural and historical processes converge to shape twenty-first century Western sport. Furthermore, by understanding these three processes the research intends to explore how meaning is generated to create a desire to consume products that purport to represent an identity and lifestyle. As the literature illustrates sport is a cultural formation and is not a cultural universal. Contemporary sport needs to be understood as a historical moment. Sport has become so deeply ingrained in Western culture that our understanding of it becomes permeated with common sense (Hargreaves 1986:1). This idea opens the door for researchers to critically analyze the structure of sport because at its core sport can be seen 1 as an institution that is problematic. Understanding sport as a social institution, political economic theory and the postmodern concept of simulacrum will be used to understand the complex processes that have lead to the commodification of the professional athlete. Furthermore, the theories allow for an analysis to examine the social, cultural and historical processes of a social institution, such as sport. In maintaining that sport is a cultural formation, with a complex historical makeup, political economic theory and the concept of simulacrum are critical tools to accurately analyze sport, media, and the power relations at play. Political economy can be understood as the study of social relations, especially the power relations, which mutually constitute the production, distribution, and consumption of resources (Mosco 2009:24; Mosco and Lavin 2007:3). The goal of understanding social change and historical transformation is critical in political economic research. This goal is characterized by an interest in examining the social whole or the totality of social relations that make up economic, political, social, and cultural areas of life (Mosco 2009:3-4). Furthermore, Mosco and Lavin (2007:2) maintain that political economic theory rejects the view that all “explanations can be reduced to one essential cause, such as economy or culture”. Therefore, political economic theory, by not solely focusing on one essential cause, will become a critical tool for understanding how social, economic and historical processes impact the institution of sport. Postmodern theory, specifically the concept of simulacrum, will be utilized in the analysis to illustrate how sport is used to present a „false‟ reality. Simulacrum maintains that reality is comprised of multiple signs and symbols. These signs and symbols are devoid of any single concrete meaning. The sign has become the hidden source of the commodity. All

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