Arts and Humanities Commons^™

From Uneven Bars To Uneven Barriers: The Marginalization Of Black Women In Gymnastics, Chinaza K. Asiegbu

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Especially in sports that are societally regarded as feminine, such as gymnastics and figure skating, Eurocentric beauty standards are an unspoken feature of the game. Undergirded in ethnic disparities within gymnastics are financial and aesthetic barriers for black women, specifically. This essay will explore the sport of gymnastics as a case study to demonstrate the ways in which black women have historically been excluded from ‘feminine sports.’ I argue that black female gymnasts have been historically marginalized from mainstream gymnastics on the basis of finances and white conceptions of femininity, both two components crucial to success in the gymnastics realm.