A behind-the-scenes tour of competitive college cheerleading describes every aspect of the sport from spring tryouts through the NCA Nationals, drawing on the personal experiences of accomplished athletes from three top cheer schools. Reprint.

This tight end is at the top of his game. He’s good with his hands, even better with his sexy mouth, and the best at making me forget my own name. His—ahem—stats are perfect. But I can’t fall for him. He might be everything I want, all rolled into a glorious package of gridiron god, but there’s one teeny-tiny problem. The vile, loathsome team I’ve spent my entire life hating—my beloved school’s arch-rival? This guy is their star player.

Entertainers or athletes? Leaders or losers? Cheerleaders, numbering 3.8 million in the United States alone, are part of everyone's school memories. Looking beyond the poms and megaphones, Cheerleader! An American Icon explores how the sport reflects our shifting beliefs about athletics, entertainment, gender, and national identity. Natalie Guice Adams and Pamela J. Bettis trace cheerleading's history, from its inception 135 years ago as a male leadership activity, through the sassy era epitomized by the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, to its current incarnation as a physically demanding sport. Integrating history, pop culture, and interviews with participants of all ages and even those in the business, Adams and Bettis simultaneously celebrate cheering and provide critical analysis as well. Cheerleader!: An American Icon is a poignant, hilarious, powerful, and revealing look at a perennially popular activity.

Draws on eighteen months of research in a racially diverse working-class high school to explore the meaning of masculinity and the social practices associated with it, discussing how homophobia is used to enforce gender conformity.

This volume provides the first comprehensive overview of social psychological research on inequality for a graduate student and professional audience. Drawing on all of the major theoretical traditions in sociological social psychology, its chapters demonstrate the relevance of social psychological processes to this central sociological concern. Each chapter in the volume has a distinct substantive focus, but the chapters will also share common emphases on: • The unique contributions of sociological social psychology • The historical roots of social psychological concepts and theories in classic sociological writings • The complementary and conflicting insights that derive from different social psychological traditions in sociology. This Handbook is of interest to graduate students preparing for careers in social psychology or in inequality, professional sociologists and university/college libraries.

Annie Lind has a great life until her cousin comes to live with her. Though Annie hopes Shawna can be the sister she never had, she finds instead that her cousin is cuter, smaller, more popular, and a better cheerleader. It will take God’s grace to conquer the green-eyed monster in Book 6 of the Blog On series.

This reference uses a relational concept of gender that critically examines and debunks traditional assumptions about men, women, and sport.