“WE ARE JUST EVERYDAY PEOPLE AND WOMEN”: AN EXAMINATION OF SELF-PRESENTATION OF NBA WIVES AND THE TWO-PERSON CAREER ON INSTAGRAM Hope E. Grame-Zeller Submitted to the faculty of the University Graduate School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Public Health Indiana University December, 2019 Accepted by the Graduate Faculty, Indiana University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Doctoral Committee: ________________________________________ Dr. Paul M. Pedersen, Ph.D. Dissertation Co-Chairperson ________________________________________ Dr. Cassandra Coble, Ph.D. Dissertation Co-Chairperson _______________________________________ Dr. Gary Sailes, Ph.D. Committee Member ________________________________________ Dr. Jesse Steinfeldt, Ph.D. Outside Committee Member (Date of Oral Examination – December 5, 2019) ii ã Copyright 2019 Hope Grame-Zeller iii Every sport wife, mom, sister, and daughter. I see you. I am you. We’re in this together. Regardless of what sport brings us, home is wherever we can be with our family. And to my grandmothers. I am grateful that I come from two resilient, determined, strong-willed, driven, and hard-working women that broke down the barriers of their time. So much of who I am came from both of you. I can only hope that I would make you proud and pass on your legacy of strength in our family. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The fact that I am at a point of the process that I am writing acknowledgements is a testament to all the people that have stood beside me to listen, behind me to push me forward, and before me to show the way. Dr. Coble- thank you for always being a trustworthy mentor and friend. One of the things I never had to question was your intentions behind decisions. I was (and am) confident you were always doing what you thought was truly best for me. Thank you for being trustworthy, a steady force, and a calming voice. You have an amazing talent to connect with all types of people, and the wisdom and discernment to do so, well. Thank you for being a great example to learn from. Dr. Pedersen & Jen- thank you for caring about me first as a person, then as a student. At times, Dr. P, you unintentionally reminded me of the characteristics of my dad, who I missed during this process. Thanks for putting up with my constant questions and always pushing me to be better. Jen- you are a ray of light and an encouraging spirit. I am so grateful for your thoughtfulness! Dr. Sailes- thanks for being “Doc,” the one always available to teach and to encourage! I have learned so much from you. Dr. Steinfeldt- you have an amazing gift to put into words the thoughts that I am not yet able to. You balance brilliance and relatedness like none I’ve seen before. Thank you for always having an open door and willingness to provide feedback. I am better because of you. To the rest of the Kinesiology and Sport Management crew: There’s a lot that I am grateful for over the last few years! Dr. Koceja- Thank you for being personable enough that I always felt comfortable coming to you. I so appreciate your willingness to support me in all circumstances! To Dr. Williams- thanks for encouraging me to continue my education all those years ago and providing feedback to make me better throughout the process. Dr. Byon- thank you for always being kind and encouraging. I’m amazed by your ability to mentor and develop your students! I have no doubt you make each of them the researcher they have become. Dr. McNary- thanks for your willingness to talk through content analysis, even when I had no idea what I was doing. You have a gift of being able to grow relationships on a personal level with so many. I admire that in you! Tammy & Mildred- thanks for helping in all the office details like printing, supplies, knowledge… along with bringing lots of fun, candy, decorations, hand sanitizer, and lots of giggles. To Hannah Bolte- you may have single handedly saved my dissertation. Thank you for your hard work, dedication, and kindness in putting out a fire that wasn’t yours to extinguish. I honestly can’t imagine what I would have done without the work you so selflessly did just to help me in a tough moment. You are a ROCKSTAR, and truly, you made the most significant impact on the transcript! You are pretty amazing! To Julius & Jonathan: WHEW! What a ride, right? You two have been amazing colleagues that have not only helped me in research, but in almost every other area of work- school-life balance. You and your families have helped me push through and I’m grateful for the opportunity to do this all together. Thanks for always being a sounding board and even jumping in to help with the research! To Alex, Juha, Jin, William, Cecilia, Song, and all the rest of the doctoral students: thanks for bringing joy and laughter to the dungeon! You all amaze me at the work you are able to do- truly inspiring! Along with great professional relationships, my favorite people were also a huge part of my ability to take on the task of grad school and writing a dissertation. ii To my parents: thank you for having the courage to break the cycle. To my mom: there’s nothing like calling your mom and finding your “home.” Thanks for continuing to answer my calls, traveling to see us, for encouraging me through this whole process, and speaking on behalf of Dad when he could not be here. You are one of the strongest, most courageous women I know, as well as one of the most loving and giving. You’ve survived some of the worst things in life, and yet you still care deeply for others. To my dad: thanks for always pushing me to think beyond myself. Your story, teaching, and constant pursuit of knowledge is one of the reasons I am here. There were many times that I wished I could call you to help me talk through some of in-depth concepts I was working through. One day, we’ll get that chance again. To my in-laws: thanks for being such a support to us during our entire marriage, but especially during the last four years. It takes a village, and you were that and more. Thanks for being childcare, our chef, our encouragers, our personal home repairmen, our dog sitters, and our friends. Thank you, also, for opening your home for my own personal writing retreats to get the manuscript completed. Your home, especially the hammock, has given me a place to focus, to push through, and to move forward. We are so grateful for you and your willingness to help in any way you can. You have made our lives better, and we are grateful! To Cody: thanks for always being open to talk, answer questions, and provide feedback on this topic. Most importantly, though, thanks for being the excel wizard and being willing to help organize the data with your excel tricks. You were my #1 phone-a-friend for all things excel... and my favorite person to discuss bracketology with. It’s been so fun to watch you turn into an amazing man over the last 10 years. Thanks for being so thoughtful, caring, and most importantly, an all- star family vacation planner. iii To my friends, Shelby & Kari: thank you for being my people. You were there through this entire process and were often the ones that got me through it. You let me cry, laugh, be brave, be scared, lay on the couch or swim in the lake. You were my safe places, my fun people, and the friends that are up for anything, but always refocusing me back on Jesus. I love living our lives with each other’s families and I’m so grateful that we get to mourn together and celebrate together….even if we’re far apart. You two are the people that give me hope in finding and being good people in the world!. To the Hutson family: thanks for adopting me into your family. Your family is my safe place and your house, the place that I consider home. Thank you for quite literally loving me to Jesus, when there were many times I didn’t deserve it. David- years ago, our sociological conversations struck the curiosity in me and has since given me motivation to keep going. Thank you for always being willing to teach with grace, understanding and lots of gentleness. And by far, the most important- to my boys. Kyston- you have brought absolute JOY to our lives. My most favorite and important job will always be being your mom. You taught me absolute JOY, innocence, grace, and lots and lots of love. I have absolutely loved watching you grow and I cannot wait to see how God continues to make you into the young man He wants you to be. And to my husband- who has been the second actor in my two-person academic career- I consider you, in many ways, Superman. I began to keep track of all the ways you have supported me and helped me through the demands of the doctoral education process, but it became longer than this dissertation. I have noticed all of those things including cooking, cleaning, laundry, stealing the kids away so I could have a quiet house, sending me examples of the research I made you listen to, canceling exciting trips and guys’ weekends so I could hit a deadline, and the list iv goes on and on.