'It's a Form of Freedom': The experiences of people with disabilities within equestrian sport

This paper explores the embodied, gendered experiences of disabled horse‐riders. Drawing on data from five in‐depth interviews with paradressage riders, the ways in which their involvement in elite disability sport impacts upon their sense of identity and confidence are explored, as well as the considerable health and social benefits that this involvement brings. Social models of disability are employed and the shortcomings of such models, when applied to disability sport, are highlighted. The data presented here demonstrates the necessity of seeing disability sport as an embodied experience and acknowledging the importance of impairment to the experiences of disabled athletes. Living within an impaired body is also a gendered experience and the implications of this when applied to elite disability sport are considered

Women training to coach a male sport : managing gendered identities and masculinist discourses

Despite increasing female participation in English football (aka soccer), the sport remains rooted in the values and discursive practices of orthodox masculinity. This is exemplified by the English Football Association (FA), which has been criticized for its ineffective responses to addressing the inclusion and progression of women as players and workers within the organization. Female membership in male-dominated organizations is not readily achieved, given the dominance of masculinist discourses and the risks of overtly challenging these. In this study, we explored the discursive management of gendered and/or footballing identities from interviews with participants in an English regional FA’s women-only football coach education program. All of the participants described the peripheral positioning of women in English football. Analysis identified evidence of both collaboration with and resistance to the dominant masculinist discourses in the accounts of their experiences in football, while also reproducing the most valued footballing identities and knowledge as male. We connect this to the complexities of negotiating and managing gendered identities for women in male-dominated organizations. All of the participants described the value and benefits of women-only coach education and the majority noted they would prefer women-only coach education in future

"It is what it is": masculinity, homosexuality, and inclusive discourse in mixed martial arts

In this paper we make use of inclusive masculinity theory to explore online media representations of male homosexuality and masculinity within the increasingly popular combat sport of mixed martial arts MMA). Adopting a case-study approach, we discuss narratives constructed around one aspirational male MMA fighter, Dakota Cochrane, whose history of having participated in gay pornography became a major talking point on a number of MMA 'fanzine'/'community' websites during early 2012. While these narratives attempted to discursively 'rescue' Cochrane's supposedly threatened masculinity, highlighting both his 'true' heterosexuality and his prodigious fighting abilities, they also simultaneously celebrated the acceptance of homosexual men within the sport which Cochrane's case implied. Thus, we suggest that these media representations of homosexuality and masculinity within MMA are indicative of declining cultural homophobia and homohysteria, and an inclusive vision of masculinity, as previously described by proponents of inclusive masculinity theory

Constructing masculinities in the National Rugby League's footy show

The research uses content analysis and inclusive masculinity theory in order to explore and explain the construction of esteemed and subjugated masculinities within the context of Australia’s National Rugby League’s (NRL) Footy Show. Results suggest that despite previous research on NRL players, which finds inclusive masculinities dominate, this television show instead attempts to construct orthodox versions of masculinity. We suggest that the Footy Show thus occupies a liminal state in regards to masculinities; attempting to portray, construct and endorse orthodox masculinities, whilst showcasing athletes that more closely align with the social trends of inclusive masculinities

'Sexercise': Working out heterosexuality in Jane Fonda’s fitness books

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Leisure Studies, 30(2), 237 - 255, 2011, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/02614367.2010.523837.This paper explores the connection between the promotion of heterosexual norms in women’s fitness books written by or in the name of Jane Fonda during the 1980s and the commodification of women’s fitness space in both the public and private spheres. The paper is set in the absence of overt discussions of normative heterosexuality in leisure studies and draws on critical heterosexual scholarship as well as the growing body of work theorising geographies of corporeality and heterosexuality. Using the principles of media discourse analysis, the paper identifies three overlapping characteristics of heterosexuality represented in Jane Fonda’s fitness books, and embodied through the exercise regimes: respectable heterosexual desire, monogamous procreation and domesticity. The paper concludes that the promotion and prescription of exercise for women in the Jane Fonda workout books centred on the reproduction and embodiment of heterosexual corporeality. Set within an emerging commercial landscape of women’s fitness in the 1980s, such exercise practices were significant in the legitimation and institutionalisation of heteronormativity

Sexual harassment and abuse in sport: The research context

This special issue of the Journal of Sexual Aggression draws on the contributions to a Symposium on ‘Sexual Harassment in Sport – Challenges for Sport Psychology in the New Millennium’, held at the Xth Congress of the International Society for Sport Psychology, Skiathos, Greece from May 28th to June 2nd 2001. The symposium, which was organised by the authors of this editorial, was intended to move forward the international research agenda on sexual harassment and abuse in sport and to examine professional practice issues for sport psychologists. It was clear from the attendance of over 60 delegates at that symposium that international interest in this subject is growing. Further evidence of this came from the attendance of 26 members states – from Azerbaijan to Sweden - at a Council of Europe seminar on The Protection of Children, Young People and Women in Sport, held in Helsinki in September 2001

Exploring the relationship between homosexuality and sport among the teammates of a small, Midwestern Catholic college soccer team.

Despite decreasing homophobia, openly gay male athletes are still rare in organized, competitive teamsports. In this action research, we explore two aspects of homosexuality and sport: (1) the effect of a gay male soccer player coming out to his teammates; and (2) the effect of having an openly gay researcher in the field. This is, therefore, the first-ever first-hand account of an athlete's coming-out process with researchers in the field. Even though this is action research and, therefore, not generalizable, we highlight that this research contributes to the body of literature on sexuality and sport because we document the interactions of straight athletes with a gay player and a gay researcher among the heterosexual players at a small, Catholic college in the American Midwest. We use interviews to show that players were accepting of homosexuality before the beginning of this research and show that discussions with these two gay men further promoted players' perspectives on homosexuality. This led to an increase in the team's social cohesion and a decrease in heteronormativity

Association football and the representation of homosexuality by the print media: a case study of Anton Hysén

In March 2011 Anton Hysén (a semi-professional footballer currently playing in the Swedish fourth division) became only the second association football (soccer) player of any professional disposition to publicly declare his homosexuality whilst still playing the game. This article provides a textual analysis of the print media’s reaction to Hysén coming out and examines whether, in 2011, they portray more inclusive notions towards homosexuality than they did in 1990 when British footballer Justin Fashanu came out. The results advance inclusive masculinity theory as a number of print media sources (mostly British) interview Hysén in the weeks immediately after he came out and publish articles that challenge homophobia. Highlighting a change since 1990, a significant number of articles stress the need for the key stakeholders in football (players, fans, clubs, agents, the authorities and the media) to accept gay players

Thinking the unthinkable: Imagining an ‘un-American,’ Girl-friendly, Women- and Trans-Inclusive Alternative for Baseball

The purpose of this article is twofold: to capture the injustice inherent in the gendered bifurcation of baseball and softball via the prism of critical feminist sport studies; and to begin to imagine a girl-friendly/women-and trans-inclusive future for baseball that is less fertile for cooptation into post-911 United States security state discourses. In this article I link the "unthinkability" of the occupational segregation of baseball in North America to the dominance of the ideology of the two sex system and European disasporic morality. To illustrate the extent of this occupational segregation via the gendered bifurcation of baseball and softball, I draw on feminist sport studies to examine the exemplars or "texts" of three Canadian brother/sister baseball softball duos: Jason Bay and Lauren Bay Regula; Brett and Danielle Lawrie; and Mathew and Katie Reyes

Twelve Not So Angry Men:Inclusive Masculinities in Australian Contact Sports

Sport’s utility in the development of a conservative orthodox ideal of masculinity based upon homophobia, aggression and emotional restrictiveness, is well evidenced in critical masculinities scholarship. However, contemporary research is reflecting a more nuanced understanding of male behaviour in many Western contexts, with men performing softer and more inclusive versions of masculinities. Through exploring the experiences of twelve Australian contact sport athletes, this research establishes findings to support the growing body of inclusive masculinities research. Results show that these men value a softer representation of masculinity based upon pro-gay sentiments and being emotionally open; while often being critical of aspects of orthodox masculinities which male team sport previously promoted