(Re)inscribing Ideologies: Examining Ideological Positioning of Black Women Athletes in Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults

Abstract: This paper centers Simone Biles and Serena Williams, two Black women and decorated athletes whose media presence has made them familiar to a wide audience. Utilizing critical content analysis (CCA) and theories of ideology, we explore how adult authors and illustrators in biographies written for a range of young people position these Black women athletes in ways that can influence young people's understandings of these athletes and the possibilities of their own athletic identities. Findings reveal an ideological interplay between exceptionality, determination, and normalcy. The authors pit narratives of exceptional talent against those of determination, perpetuating a false narrative of hard work, and pit narratives of exceptionality against those of humanization that reinforce assumptions around girls and women having to be "normal" to be liked. Findings also reveal an ideological interplay between emotionality and dependency. The authors forward stereotypes of the athletes as physically strong but mentally weak, as emotionally volatile in ways that challenge their success, and as fragile and in need of saving from their coaches to succeed. The resulting narratives reaffirm ideologies of how athletes, specifically Black female athletes, should and can belong to sport.