Cheryl Cooky

CLA Profile

Professor // American Studies // SIS
Professor // Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies // SIS

Books

• Eitzen, D. S. & Cooky, C. (2025). Fair and Foul: Beyond the Myths and Paradoxes of Sport, 7^th edition. Lanham, MD: Bloomsbury. 
• Cooky, C. & Antunovic, D. (2022). Serving Equality: Feminism, Media and Women’s Sports. Peter Lang Publishers. 

Publications

• Cooky, C. & Antunovic, D. (in press). Feminist media studies in sport & physical culture. SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research in Sport & Physical Culture. M. Giardina, Donnelly, M. & Waldman, D. (eds.). SAGE.
• Antunovic, D. & Cooky, C. (2024). ‘Reimagining’ gender equality in media coverage: Feminist frameworks in European and Olympic portrayal guidelines.  European Journal for Sport and Society. 1–22.
• Antunovic, D. & Cooky, C. (2024). Feminist theories and sport communication: Understanding media representations of women’s sport. Handbook on Sport Communication. P. Pedersen (ed.), Routledge.
• Posbergh, A., Bekker, S., Cooky, C., Pape, M., Teetzel, S., & Travers. (2024). Critical Reflections on the Governance of Women and Gender Expansive Athletes: An Intersectional Interdisciplinary Dialogue. Sociology of Sport Journal. Advance online publication.
• Cooky, C. (2023). Sport, femininities, and heteronormativity. In L. Wenner (Ed.) The Oxford Handbook on Sport & Society, pp. 907-923. Oxford University Press.

Media Publications / Interviews

• Cooky, C. Is this the dawn of a new era in women’s sports? April 10, 2024. The Conversation. 
• MSNBC w Katy Tur. “Trump signs executive order prohibiting transwomen from playing in girls and women’s sports. February 5, 2025. 
• PBS News Hour. “Exploring the history of gender equity at the Olympics and where things stand today.” August 11, 2024. 
• Reilly, K. C. The Troubling Rise of Harassment and Stalking in Women’s Sports. May 15, 2025. Elle. 
• Josh, P. Shedeur Sanders has been targeted before NFL draft. Experts weigh in on why. April 22, 2025.
• USA Today. 
• Graves, W. Trump kept his promise to order a ban on transgender female athletes. Court fights have arrived. April 16, 2025. Associated Press. 
• Daher, N. & Hopkins, P. Taylor Swift and the Evolution of the NFL WAG. February 9, 2025. AXIOS 
• Graves, W. Trump delivered on his promise to ban on transgender female athletes. What’s next? February 7, 2025. Associated Press. 
• DiNapoli, J. & Harte, J. Trump’s ban on transgender athletes may be difficult to enforce. February 5, 2025. Reuters. 
• Wallace, A. They told her no one goes to a bar to watch women’s sports. Jenny Nguyen proved them wrong. December 25, 2025. CNN Business. 
• Graves, W. Here’s how Donald Trump might ban trans athletes from competing in sports. December 18, 2024. PBS News. 
• Nasir, N. & Peterson, B. The darker side of the rise of women’s sports: With more visibility comes more online harassment. December 18, 2024. Associated Press.
• Christovich, A. How Women’s Sports Could Change in the Next Trump Era. November 14, 2024. Front Office Sports. 
• Nasir, N. For female athletes of color, scrutiny around gender rules and identity is part of a long trend. August 5, 2024. Associated Press.
• Nasir, N. For women athletes of color, outsized scrutiny over gender is nothing new. August 4, 2024. PBS News.
• Grabenstein, H. Are the 2024 Paris Olympics gender equal? That depends how you measure it. August 2, 2024. PBS News.
• Bowman, E. Paris Games are being hailed as the ‘gender-equal’ Olympics. Let's take a closer look. July 31, 2024. NPR.
• Baxter, K. Bob Iger and Willow Bay on the verge of buying majority stake in Angel City FC for $250 million. July 2, 2024. Los Angeles Times.
• Armour, N. You can root for Caitlin Clark without tearing other players down. June 23, 2024. USA Today.
• Francis, M. Female play-by-play broadcasters are on the rise in men's sports. So is the criticism. June 15, 2024. NBC News.
• Jaracz, J. In Paris, the Olympics will achieve gender parity, but it's still too soon to celebrate. June 3, 2024. Stacker
• Schrotenboer, B. Why this WNBA draft is a landmark moment (not just because of Caitlin Clark). April 16, 2024. USA Today
• Blackistone, K. Women’s basketball is surging. Are we sure this time its different. April 9, 2024. Washington Post. 
• Schrotenboer, B. Can Caitlin Clark’s surge be sustained for women's hoops? 'This is our Magic-Bird moment.’ April 4, 2024. USA Today
• Stroozas, S. As women’s sports rise, Minnesota’s first women’s sports bar takes its shot. February 29, 2024. Mprnews.
• Armour, N. The thin-skinned men triggered by Taylor Swift at Chiefs' NFL games need to get a grip. January 21, 2024. USA Today.
• Armour, N. Jason Kelce showed his strength on the field and in being open with his emotions. Jan. 16, 2024. USA Today.