{"product_id":"childs-play-sport-in-kids-worlds-9780813571454","title":"Child's Play: Sport in Kids' Worlds","description":"Is sport good for kids? When answering this question, both critics and advocates of youth sports tend to fixate on matters of health, whether condemning contact sports for their concussion risk or prescribing athletics as a cure for the childhood obesity epidemic. \u003ci\u003eChild's Play\u003c\/i\u003e presents a more nuanced examination of the issue, considering not only the physical impacts of youth athletics, but its psychological and social ramifications as well. The eleven original scholarly essays in this collection provide a probing look into how sports--in community athletic leagues, in schools, and even on television--play a major role in how young people view themselves, shape their identities, and imagine their place in society. Rather than focusing exclusively on self-proclaimed jocks, the book considers how the culture of sports affects a wide variety of children and young people, including those who opt out of athletics. Not only does \u003ci\u003eChild's Play\u003c\/i\u003e examine disparities across lines of race, class, and gender, it also offers detailed examinations of how various minority populations, from transgender youth to Muslim immigrant girls, have participated in youth sports. Taken together, these essays offer a wide range of approaches to understanding the sociology of youth sports, including data-driven analyses that examine national trends, as well as ethnographic research that gives a voice to individual kids. \u003ci\u003eChild's Play\u003c\/i\u003e thus presents a comprehensive and compelling analysis of how, for better and for worse, the culture of sports is integral to the development of young people--and with them, the future of our society.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMICHAEL A. MESSNER is a professor of sociology and gender studies at the University of Southern California. He is the author of several books, including \u003ci\u003eIt's All for the Kids: Gender, Families, and Youth Sports\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eSome Men: Feminist Allies and the Movement to End Violence Against Women\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e MICHELA MUSTO is a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at the University of Southern California. Her work has appeared in \u003ci\u003eGender \u0026amp; Society and Sociology of Sport Journal\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Rutgers University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50328753144082,"sku":"9780813571454","price":42.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_eba8f7ab-0eea-434b-9faa-8e463d34b81d.jpg?v=1727750378","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/childs-play-sport-in-kids-worlds-9780813571454","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}