" Let's Bang": Constructing, Reinforcing, and Embodying
"Let's Bang": Constructing, Reinforcing, and Embodying Orthodox Masculinity in Women's Full-Contact, Tackle Football A dissertation submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Sociology of the College of Arts and Sciences by Jennifer A. Carter M.A. Webster University December 2006 M.A. University of Cincinnati June 2011 Committee Chair: Erynn Masi de Casanova, Ph.D Abstract If asked to envision a football player in your head, a pretty standard image would likely emerge: a big, strong, muscular man. This image, and the discourse surrounding full-contact, American tackle football, focus on football as a "bastion of manhood;" a space where only the manliest of men will be successful. However, missing from this picture are the many women who participate in tackle football. In examining women's football, this study began by asking: what beliefs and practices constitute women's experiences of gender in tackle football? To answer this question, this project used several qualitative methodologies to examine the lived experiences of women playing football, including more than 300 hours of embodied participant observation, informal interviews, and autoethnography. This study finds that in aligning with expectations of football culture, women engage in a cyclical process in which they construct, reinforce, and embody football masculinity, an aggressive masculinity requiring physical sacrifice, and overt denigration of femininity. The construction of football masculinity requires women to overcome physical and ideological boundaries regarding women's bodies, engage in antifeminine behaviors, and suppress feminine performance throughout the season.
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