On the block

Abstract

This dissertation takes a feminist approach to gender and race construction in the National Football League (NFL) draft (an annual meeting where teams select contract rights to the best amateur players), which has recently spawned a proliferation of media coverage. The analysis considers the political/economic conditions and the journalistic practices that have helped shape the mediated NFL draft, together with a critical analysis of the draft texts produced by, and related to, ESPN between 2000 and 2002. The texts considered include ESPN’s televised coverage of the draft, the content contained on ESPN.com’s special NFL draft section and ESPN analyst Mel Kiper, Jr.’s annual subscription draft guide. I read the draft as an attempt to position discursively the (mostly black) draft prospects as commodities. The draft represents an emerging strategy that positions audiences as “virtual owners” of athletes. This formulation has emerged alongside widespread beliefs about Black athletic dominance and anxieties over the “disappearance” of white athletes. In this dissertation, I analyze several dimensions of this discourse, including the commodification of prospects, the creation of docile bodies, and its erotic undercurrents. Abstract Approved: ______________________________ Thesis SupervisorApproved: ______________________________ Thesis Supervisor ______________________________ Title and Department ______________________________ Date ON THE BLOCK: RACE, GENDER, AND POWER IN THE NFL DRAFT by Thomas Patrick Oates A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Mass Communications in the Graduate College of The University of Iowa May 2004 Thesis Supervisor: Professor Judy Polumbaum Graduate College The University of Iowa Iowa City, Iowa CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL __________________________ PH.D. THESIS ____________ This is to certify that the Ph.D. thesis of Thomas Patrick Oates has been approved by the Examining Committee for the thesis requirement for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Mass Communications at the May 2004 graduation. Thesis Committee: ______________________________ Judy Polumbaum, Thesis Supervisor ______________________________ Susan Birrell ______________________________ John Erickson ______________________________ Sue Lafky ______________________________ Catriona M. Parratt