Mum's the Word: the cycling career of Beryl Burton, 1956-1986

The English cyclist, Beryl Burton, was one of the few women athletes whose performances matched and sometimes surpassed those of men. Despite the potential threat to hegemonic gender relations thus posed, Burton was, with the important exception of a well-publicised disagreement with her fellow-cycl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inWomen's history review Vol. 17; no. 5; pp. 787 - 806
Main Author Russell, Dave
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Routledge 01.11.2008
Subjects
Athletes
Females
Sex
Sexual Inequality
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Summary:The English cyclist, Beryl Burton, was one of the few women athletes whose performances matched and sometimes surpassed those of men. Despite the potential threat to hegemonic gender relations thus posed, Burton was, with the important exception of a well-publicised disagreement with her fellow-cyclist daughter, Denise, an uncontroversial figure and much respected within the male sporting community. While many personal and sporting factors contributed, this was largely the result of her highly public performance of her roles as wife and mother. However, those roles were also skilfully constructed so as to generate the maximum space for her development as an elite athlete. As a woman and as an amateur, she received less media attention than she deserved in her lifetime and, despite being one of the greatest athletes of all time, has received little serious scholarly or wider public attention since her death.
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ISSN:0961-2025
1747-583X
DOI:10.1080/09612020802316728