Abstract
After reading Steven Ortiz’s The Sport Marriage: Women Who Make It Work, I have a newfound appreciation for the work done by the wives of professional athletes to sustain their marriages. This runs counter to what one might expect based on the myriad reality television shows depicting the lives of this group of women. In this book, Ortiz presents the results of his in-depth studies of sport marriages, showcasing how they are a unique marriage form but also share similarities with the more general case of career-dominated marriages. The introduction to the book provides an excellent framework for understanding the concept of the career-dominated marriage and then lays out the aspects of the sports marriage that will be addressed.
After reading the introduction and before moving on to the other chapters, I would encourage the reader to look next at Appendix A. Appendix A describes the methodology for the studies upon which this book is based, and that context is helpful while reading, as Ortiz often makes reference to Study 1 and Study 2 when presenting quotes or anecdotes from study participants. In terms of the methodology, Ortiz explains that the first study was conducted between 1989 and 1993 and is based largely on in-depth interviews, but also included participant observation and the review of documents and print media. The second study was conducted in 2015 and 2016 and included some follow-up with wives from the first study, but also interviews with new wives.
Issues of access and privacy created particular challenges in the second study that led to a smaller number of interviews. Despite the length of time that had elapsed since the first study, that early study was very thorough and achieved saturation, so the second study largely served to reinforce findings from the earlier study. Understanding the methodology helps to situate the reader as they proceed through the chapters based on themes that arose in the interviews. The description of the methodology and the challenges that arose in gaining access to the field as well as exiting the field would be a great resource for students planning their own fieldwork.
After reading the Introduction and the Appendix, the reader can then turn to the content chapters that present the various aspects of sports marriages. The overarching theme throughout the book is that of work. Ortiz uses existing concepts of interactional work, such as boundary work, and introduces new ones as well. The first chapter discusses the marital teamwork that is constructed as couples navigate sport marriages. Chapter Two describes how the sports wives must maintain a certain appearance and thus engage in image work covering both their physical appearance and their conduct to avoid damaging their husband’s or the team’s public image.
The third chapter explains the code work that is done by wives and athletes to maintain a code of conduct while on the road for games. Wives face pressure to conform to an unwritten and unspoken code of conduct while traveling with the team except when those of high status within the team can engage in code-busting. The fourth and fifth chapters address the concept of control work both within the marriage and between the wife and mother-in-law. Each person uses their control over resources or access to resources to navigate these relationships. Finally, the concept of suspicion work is introduced in Chapter Seven through a discussion of the culture of infidelity in professional sports. In an occupational world where their husbands have easy access to sexual encounters, wives must manage their fear of infidelity if they wish to sustain their marriage.
One of the major takeaways from this book is stated at the very end of the concluding chapter, as Ortiz reflects on what advice the wives in his study would give to women considering becoming involved in sport marriages. Ortiz states, “the role of wife in the sport marriage is a full-time, unpaid job that could be said to require lots of overtime” (p. 209). The work required goes beyond managing a household while the husband is embroiled in his sports season to managing oneself in a myriad of ways to conform. The women must take a back seat to the husband’s career, a career that is fraught with uncertainty as players may be released from teams, get traded to new cities, or suffer a devastating injury.
This book is very accessible and could be used as a monograph in sociology of sport classes or for classes on the family or on gender. Ortiz does an excellent job introducing the theoretical concepts and then illustrating them with the comments of his interviewees. I would also recommend this book for classes on social psychology due to the strong focus on the types of interactional work in which the wives are engaged.