“Slayyyed Head to Toe”: Social Media Discourses of Blackness, Queerness, Gender, and the Women’s National Basketball Association Draft

Abstract

As potential draftees walked the “orange carpet” at the 2022 Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Draft, social media commentary dissected the fashion choices of the women athletes, many of whom were Black, and/or queer, and whose appearances spanned the gender spectrum. Through a critical discourse analysis of 447 tweets using the #WNBADraft hashtag, this study analyzes how social media discourse produced meanings related to gender, race, sexuality, and women athletes. Applying a Black Queer Feminism framework, findings show that WNBA consumers produced discourse that constructed the gaze at WNBA athletes, produced meanings of (Black and queer) womanhood, and established the WNBA as a site of cultural relevance. Study implications include an understanding of the queer gaze toward women athletes, the impact of consumer discourse in women’s sports, and a call for a “love ethic” in sport management scholarship.