Category Books

Culture on Ice: Figure Skating and Cultural Meaning »

Authors: Ellyn Kestnbaum
ISBN-13: 9780819566423, ISBN-10: 081956642X
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Wesleyan University Press
Date Published: May 2003
Edition: (Non-applicable)

Author Biography: Ellyn Kestnbaum

ELLYN KESTNBAUM has published articles in Theatre Topics and is a contributor to Women On Ice: Feminist Responses to the Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan Spectacle, edited by Cynthia Baughman (1995).

Book Synopsis

The first in-depth, critical look at figure skating.

A brilliant exploration of the fascinating world of figure skating. It includes a detailed history of the sport from its earliest beginnings and delves into its many facets. A superb and thoughtful work.

	Introduction
Pt. 1	Meaning and Figure Skating
Ch. 1	A General Theory of Meaning	3
Ch. 2	Skating as a Signifying System	21
Pt. 2	How Figure Skating and Its Meanings Developed
Ch. 3	The Beginnings of Skating on Ice	57
Ch. 4	Issues in the Development of Figure Skating	72
Ch. 5	Specularity	101
Pt. 3	Cultural Meanings of Ladies' Figure Skating
Ch. 6	Critique of Skating's Feminine Ideal	127
Ch. 7	Girls versus Ladies	151
Pt. 4	Masculinity on Edge
Ch. 8	Figure Skating and "Real" Manhood	183
Ch. 9	Out of the Closet	202
Pt. 5	Compulsory Mating Dances
Ch. 10	Defining Duos	217
Ch. 11	Gendered Meanings in Crisis	231
Pt. 6	Spectatorship
Ch. 12	Intimate Pleasures: Skating Fandom	253
	Conclusion	271
App	The Technical Basis of Figure Skating	275
	Notes	291
	For Further Reading and Viewing	335
	Index	347
	About the Author	359