Policing the “Russian diva”: gymnastics broadcasts and the idealisation of the girl-child athlete

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper examines the “Russian diva,” a label used by media within specific periods of Women’s Artistic Gymnastics. In using it, broadcasters created rival gymnastics femininities and reinforced gymnastics’ gender norms by rendering the rebellious and emotional diva as a behavioural anomaly and the disciplined US girl-child as the behavioural ideal. This created a symbolic, two-fold marginalisation whereby self-determination and emotional displays were rendered aberrant, and docility and submission to paternal authority was normalised. Situated in the context of recent revelations about the silencing and oppression of girls in artistic gymnastics globally, this analysis is guided by Nura Taefi’s (2009) call for the use of an intersectional lens that considers the overlooked interplay of gender and age and the unique forms and sometimes subtle forms of marginalisation the girl-child can face. It also seeks to fill a gap in feminist sports media research by contributing to the understanding of how elite-level sporting girlhood has been rendered over time.