Mary Louise Adams
Professor | Queen's University
Kingston, ON, CANADA
Professor, Kinesiology and Health Studies
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Biography
Mary Louise Adams is a Professor in the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies and the Department of Sociology at Queen’s University where she teaches courses on sport and culture, the sociology of fitness and the body, and contemporary issues in sexuality. With a background in gender studies and sexuality studies, Mary Louise writes about feminism, gender and LGBTQ issues in sport. She is currently working on a project that looks at the implications – for girls’ lives – of the tremendous expansion of women’s sporting opportunities over the past few decades. Mary Louise is also interested in cultural aspects of fitness and has done both historical and sociological research on walking. She is currently investigating the way digital fitness tracking technologies, like fitbits, are changing the way people understand movement and physical activity.
Industry Expertise (6)
Education/Learning
Leisure / Recreation
Research
Sport - Amateur
Sport - Professional
Women
Areas of Expertise (9)
Sport history
Sport sociology
Gender in sport
Sexuality and sport
Fitness cultures
Physical Activity
Walking - history and sociology
Sexuality Studies
LGBTQ History
Accomplishments (4)
Physical and Health Education & Kinesiology Students’ Association, Excellence in Teaching Award, Queen’s University (professional)
2016-03-29
Award for undergraduate teaching
Women’s and Gender Studies Association Outstanding Scholarship Prize (professional)
2013-05-28
For the book Artistic Impressions
North American Society for Sport History Book Award (professional)
2012-05-29
For the book Artistic Impressions
Taylor & Francis Sport in History Journal Prize 2010 (professional)
2011-05-29
Awarded annually to the best article in the journal of the British Society for Sport History - for "From mixed-sex sport to sport for girls"
Education (3)
University of Toronto: PhD, Sociology of Education 1994
University of Kent at Canterbury: MA, Women's Studies 1988
Trent University: BA, Anthropology/Environmental Studies 1983
Media Appearances (8)
When being healthy is unhealthy: Instagram style fitness is just another reason for women to hate their bodies
The Walrus online
2017-06-13
Comment in an article about "strong is the new skinny" and about the appropriation of feminist ideas by marketers in the fitness industry.
The ice-skating dandies of 18th-century Paris
Atlas Obscura online
2017-01-03
Comment on the way physical activity - like figure skating - is shaped by ideas about class, gender and nationalism.
City recommends course of action for Belle Park
Kingston Whig Standard print
2016-12-18
Comment on future of local golf course and recreational amenities for seniors.
Is it sexist to drool over male Olympians?
AJ+ (Al Jazeera +) online
2016-08-11
Comment on coverage of male athletes at Rio Olympics.
Gay abandon required in frozen closet of male ice skating
Irish Examiner print
2014-02-08
Comment on masculinity and homophobia in figure skating, related to Sochi Olympics.
Green light for golf course group
Kingston Whig Standard print
2014-02-05
Comment on future of local golf course and surrounding greenspace.
Why is the world's gayest sport stuck in the closet?
Buzzfeed online
2014-01-31
Comment on politics of gender and sexuality in figure skating, related to Sochi Olympics.
The frozen closet
Newsweek print
2014-01-30
Comment on politics of gender and sexuality in figure skating, related to Sochi Olympics.
