THE CONSTRUCTION OF GENDER IN SPORT - WOMEN, COACHING, AND THE NATURALIZATION OF DIFFERENCE

Analyses of the significance of sport to the construction of gender ha ve for the most part concentrated on the practice or performance of sp ort. This article examines the construction of gender in the work of w omen coaches. Women coaches experience the marginalization common to t oken members of a work group. Their token status provides a context in which gender is highlighted through accounts of gender stressing the physical differences between men and women and the superiority of men' s sporting experiences.