Revise, resubmit and reveal? An autoethnographer’s story of facing the challenges of revealing the self through publication

This article presents a story of writing, revising and publishing an autoethnography of sporting injury. Using extracts from peer review comments and personal reflections both on these reviews and on the process more broadly, I show that although autoethnography can be a very challenging, even troubling, experience for the author, it can also be rewarding and empowering when editors and reviewers offer supportive and constructive comments and suggestions. I argue that greater consideration needs to be given to the aftermath of publication of autoethnographic accounts and call for wider debate about the ethics of asking authors to reveal more about their personal lives and weaknesses in the pursuit of academic goals. The article offers would-be autoethnographers one account of the writing, revising and publishing process in order to explore a number of relevant issues that arise when an author chooses an autoethnographic approach for conducting and presenting research

Like a hawk among house sparrows: Kauto star, a steeplechasing legend

The concept of ‘icon’ has been applied to numerous athletes as a result of their sporting achievements, likeable public personas, and stories of triumph, resilience and courage. The cultural role of the horse as icon, hero, celebrity and national luminary, however, is lacking within the literature. In this article we extend this human concept to apply to the racehorse Kauto Star, who was heralded by many as the saviour of British racing in the early twenty-first century. We argue that the narrative surrounding Kauto Star had all the essential ingredients for the construction of a heroic storyline around this equine superstar: his sporting talent; his flaws and ability to overcome adversity; his ‘rivalry’ with his stable mate; his ‘connections’ to high profile humans in the racing world; and, the adoration he received from the racing public. Media representations are key elements in the construction of sporting narratives, and the production of heroes and villains within sport. In this paper we construct a narrative of Kauto Star, as produced through media reports and published biographies, to explore how this equine star has been elevated beyond the status of ‘animal’, ‘racehorse’ or even ‘athlete’ to the exalted position of sporting icon

Listening to horses: Developing attentive interspecies relationships through sport and leisure

The involvement of nonhuman animals in human sport and leisure raises questions about the ethics of animal use (and sometimes abuse) for human pleasure. This article draws on a multispecies ethnography of amateur riding in the UK to consider some ways in which human participants try to develop attentive relationships with their equine partners. An ethical praxis of paying attention to horses as individual, sentient beings with intrinsic value beyond their relation to human activities can lead to the development of mutually rewarding interspecies relationships and partnerships within sport. However, these relationships always develop within the context of human-centric power relations that position animals as vulnerable subjects, placing moral responsibility on humans to safeguard animal interests in human sport and leisure

Strong, active women: (Re)doing rural femininity through equestrian sport and leisure

Horse-riding is a popular leisure activity within rural Britain. Straddling two masculinised social contexts – rural, land-based society and sport/physical recreation – horse-riding is a feminised, yet mixed-sex, milieu. This article presents data from an ethnography of the social world of horse-riding to consider how women within this context do and redo gender in ways that may begin to challenge ideas about what women are and are capable of, within rural and sporting contexts. Equestrianism is revealing about elements of rural life, particularly the role of women and women’s leisure. Women’s active leisure in the countryside has been rendered largely invisible for decades, yet women’s sport/physical recreation forms an important part of rural leisure worlds. This study of women and horse-riding offers examples of how feminine identities help shape the rural leisure landscape in ways that begin to redefine gender relations and gender identities within the British countryside in small, yet potentially significant, ways

Clothes make the rider? Equestrian competition dress and sporting identity

Tailored jackets, long boots and white gloves are clothes not normally associated with sport, yet they make up required competition dress within equestrianism. The modern equestrian sports of dressage and showjumping have their origins in the military and on the hunting field, and this highly formal, masculine style persists in contemporary equestrian circles. Perceived by many non-participants as archaic, comical and distinctly unsporty, equestrian competition dress requirements have remained relatively unchanged for a century and are one factor (amongst many others) that visibly marks equestrianism as different to most other sporting practices. This paper draws on an ethnographic study of equestrian sport in Britain in order to consider how participants today relate to and experience formal competition dress in the course of regular sporting activities. Formal competition dress is an important aspect of individual sporting identity for contemporary riders and is understood by participants to represent the unusual ethos of equestrian sport

Confident, focused and connected: The importance of mentoring for women’s career development in the events industry

The events industry is female-dominated numerically, yet men continue to occupy the majority of senior roles and positions of influence. A variety of factors contribute to this persistent glass ceiling, including shortage of female role models, lack of confidence, inflexible working hours, and limited professional networks. Mentoring has been shown to begin to address some of these challenges women may face in progressing to senior positions. This paper reports on research conducted on a formal industry-wide mentoring programme for women that aims to pair female professionals with leading industry figures in a supportive, collaborative and focused programme of development activities. Drawing on data from 37 interviews with mentees on the programme, conducted over the course of one year, the article considers if and how mentoring can help empower women in the events industry to aim high and proactively advance their careers. Findings suggest that mentoring can have positive effects on women’s confidence, ability to plan professionally, and build supportive and enabling networks. The study shows the value of a structured, formal programme for mentoring activities and suggests that, although mentoring alone will not redress gender inequality in the events industry, it provides a valuable and effective mechanism for individual career development and empowerment

Holidays with my horse : Human-horse relationships and multispecies tourism experiences

More people are choosing to include their ‘pets’ and companion animals in their holidays, but provision for and understanding of nonhuman travellers remain limited. Multispecies tourism provides opportunity for the creation of rich, personally meaningful experiences that are key to satisfaction, but also has potential for producing stress and disappointment. The limited field of multispecies tourism tends to focus on dogs, whereas this paper considers some of the different issues raised when humans and horses holiday together. Auto/ethnographic vignettes of human-horse partnerships ‘on holiday’ are used to consider questions of interspecies trust and relationships as enacted through tourism, and to reflect on some of the complexities and contradictions inherent in these practices. These tourism activities prompt consideration of what makes a ‘good’ holiday and for whom, as well as some of the power relations inherent in multispecies tourism

The event workforce: Understanding job satisfaction, stress and job experience in the events industry

Job satisfaction is key indicator in relation to organisational commitment, intention to stay and workplace motivation. This report presents findings from an online survey designed to assess levels of job satisfaction within the events industry. The survey was distributed through a variety of networks, including via the Association of British Professional Conference Organisers (ABPCO), resulting in 98 responses. Findings illustrate that levels of satisfaction within the events industry are generally high, with job variety, co-workers, supervisors and travel opportunities highly valued. Respondents indicate lower levels of satisfaction with pay, promotion opportunities and levels of stress. Specific human resource management (HRM) practices may be used to mitigate some of these issues and results indicate the importance of tailoring practices to career stage and family circumstances of the individual employee

Smiling assassins, brides-to-be and super mums: The importance of gender and celebrity in media framing of female athletes at the 2016 Olympic Games

The Olympic Games offer a rare opportunity for women in sport to receive broad media interest, with recognisable and familiar athletes receiving higher levels of attention by journalists during this media-event. This article reports on a case study of representations of three female athletes within the British print press during the 2016 Olympic Games. Nicola Adams (boxing), Charlotte Dujardin (dressage) and Jessica Ennis-Hill (heptathlon) were all gold medallists in 2012, so already had some celebrity in Britain prior to 2016, which journalists built on during the Games. Representations of these athletes were found to be highly ambivalent, praising their athletic achievements whilst simultaneously undermining their prowess through questioning the sport, level of competition, and individual athletic performances. Analysis illustrates the importance of celebrity and visibility to female athletes in receiving mainstream media attention, but such interest remains ambiguous and understated

Mentoring for gender equality: Supporting female leaders in the hospitality industry

The hospitality industry struggles with problems with staff motivation, commitment and retention, whilst also having an entrenched glass ceiling that limits career opportunities for many women. Mentoring is a useful function to support and develop staff, and may be particularly important for helping women overcome gendered barriers to progression. This paper reports on a year-long qualitative study of a women’s mentoring programme in the hospitality industry in the UK. Drawing on data from 71 interviews with a sample of 13 mentors and 14 mentees, the findings illustrate the persistent gendered obstacles women experience as they try and negotiate careers in masculinist hospitality organisations. The mentoring programme offers individual support for the mentees, and also begins to challenge gendered discourses of success in hospitality careers, illustrating that mentoring has an important role to play in both career development and in confronting gender inequality in the hospitality industry