Are women fighting for acceptance in the boxing world? A study on the development of women’s participation in boxing, and boxers’ attitudes toward this development Abstract Women’s participation in boxing has grown in the past decades and seems to continue to grow. However, there have not been much research on this phenomenon. This study investigates the mechanisms behind the development of the increase of female participation in boxing, as well as the effects of the entrance of women in a field that had been considered as the ‘bastion of masculinity’. Quantitative data collected among both male and female boxers in the Netherlands, as well as qualitative data collected only among female boxers in the Netherlands are used for investigating this. The results show that the changed position of women in general, and the reduction of gender roles in society have caused women to participate more in fitness boxing. Fitness boxing seems to be more accepted by male boxers when compared to professional boxing, as fitness boxing is seen more as a new ‘gender neutral’ and ‘aggression-free’ type of work-out, while professional boxing is being related to aggression and masculine characteristics. This might explain the low participation of women in professional boxing. Key words Boxing, fitness boxing, technical boxing, female participation, feminization, emancipation, sports, masculinity, gender roles, attitudes. Amella Mesic (1263539) Department of Sociology, Tilburg University, the Netherlands Supervisor: Bram Peper Second reader: Ioana van Deurzen 1. Introduction “My dad told me: "wow, you can fight. Women can fight." And that was a big win for me. I proved to Muhammad Ali that women can fight. Because he didn't think that we could”. - Laila Ali (daughter of Muhammad Ali) In recent years, the popularity of boxing has increased (Sports & Fitness Industry Association, 2015). Not only men are participating more in box sports, females are boxing more too. The development of women’s participation in boxing had not been without struggle, as boxing had been characterized as the ‘bastion of masculinity’ for a long time (Lindner, 2012). This prohibition and discouragement of women to occupy spaces that were ‘masculine’, goes way back in the history of western society (Krane, Choi, Baird, Aimar, & Kauer, 2004). Boxing, among other sports such as soccer and rugby, was considered as a sport in which behaviours and bodily forms that are typically associated with masculinity (i.e. physical power, strength, and aggression) are encouraged and rewarded (Lindner, 2012). The quote of Laila Ali illustrates that in the professional boxing world too, women did not ‘fit in’. Despite, women have entered those spaces and started participating more in boxing. This development gradually changed society’s view upon female boxers. However, women had to fight within and outside ‘the ring’ to accomplish this. Before World War I it was not socially accepted for women to box. Women’s boxing was banned in most countries and female boxers could only participate in illegal matches (Halbert, 1997). During World War I however, female boxers were accepted slightly more, as women could demonstrate their physical capabilities and its usefulness during this period (Sammons, 1988). A few decades later, during World War II, the popularity of boxing kept growing (Hargreaves, 2002). After World War II, the period of growth had been exchanged for a period of opposition of women’s boxing, partly because women were encouraged to return to their ‘traditional’ female roles (Aiken, 2016). In the 1970s women’s boxing flared in popularity again, and the social standards towards it became more positive. In that period, many fights of professional female boxer Cathy ‘Cat’ Davis had been broadcasted on the television (Jennings, 2014). She became popular outside the boxing world and she became a symbol for the feminist movement (Aiken, 2016). However, when it was announced in the 1980s that Davis’ matches might had been fixed, women’s boxing declined again in popularity. It did not take long before a new and significant turning point in the development of women’s boxing participation emerged: in 1988 Sweden was the first country to lift the ban on women participating in (amateur) boxing (Jennings, 2014). After Sweden, many countries followed. Women’s participation in boxing reached its peak in popularity in the 1990s. This development went alongside another developed: the growing popularity of women’s sports in general which was related to the establishment of the Women’s National Basketball League as well as the FIFA Women’s World Cup of 1999 (Aiken, 2016; Spencer & McClung, 2001). 1 In the years that followed, women’s participation in boxing kept increasing and some female boxers entered and were accepted in the professional boxing world (e.g. Laila Ali) (Women Boxing Archive Network, 1998). In 2012 women’s boxing had even been included in the Olympic context for the first time in the modern Olympic Games’ history (Lindner, 2012). Sports help to change the image and status of women (Riordan, 1985). The fact that women were included in the Summer Olympics of 2012 to compete in a sport that had been considered as ‘purely male’ (i.e. boxing), might have been a symbolic sign of social emancipation of women (Riordan, 1985). Since the recent development of more female participation in boxing, there has been some –but not much – research that investigated the mechanisms behind and the effects of this development. Most studies on the mechanisms and effects of the higher participation of women in boxing have a theoretical nature and only a few studies conducted empirical research. The studies (e.g. Hargraeves, 2002) focusing on theoretical explanations of women’s participation in boxing argue that women start boxing in order to protect themselves or in order to meet the standards of ‘an ideal body’. However, those studies do mostly not have a comprehensive theoretical framework, and have not tested their framework empirically. Other studies on the contrary (e.g. Pfister, 2010) did make use of a more comprehensive theoretical framework and tested it empirically in order to explain the effects of women’s participation in boxing. Those studies argue that women’s participation in boxing challenges the views about gender and identity, as women are involved in activities that have always been considered as ‘typically’ male. This causes a ‘gender gap’ within the boxing world: women do not have an equal treatment in terms of resources, opportunities and portrayal (Fink, 2014). These expectations had been empirically confirmed in those studies. However, those empirical studies have a lot of limitations, among which the limited sample size can be considered as the most important one. The scarcity in research on this topic is a shortcoming in sociological literature, as conducting research on this topic might be of importance for several reasons. Firstly, participation of women in boxing might be a sign of female emancipation in society, as indicated earlier. The emancipation of women involves the replacement of subordination with independence (Shorter, 1973). This is an important topic in sociology, as women’s emancipation has been an important factor in the transition to a modern egalitarian society (Wilkins, 2004). Therefore, women’s participation in boxing has an indirect interface with one of the key topics in sociology: stratification and inequality. Investigating the role of boxing in women’s emancipation gains knowledge of this topic from a new perspective. Secondly, a lot of literature on sports sociology assumes male standards (Hargreaves, 2002). This indicates that it was not common to investigate women in a ‘typically’ male domain. As society is changing and more women are participating in sports, and specifically in boxing, it is necessary that literature is being supplemented with studies that are characterised by ‘neutral’ standards, not ‘male’ standards. In the Netherlands, the popularity of boxing in general is increasing, and female’s boxing participation is increasing too (Elling, Schootemeijer & van den Dool, 2017). However, there has only been conducted 2 descriptive research on this topic in the Netherlands: theories have not been tested and the effects and mechanisms of female participation in boxing have not been investigated either. Despite, the value of boxing seems to be recognized in the Netherlands: the Dutch Institute for Martial Arts and Society developed a programme in which Dutch youth can regulate their aggression and increase their social resilience through boxing (NIVM, 2016). Boxing is being seen as a pedagogical instrument that fosters personal development among youth. Using boxing as a ‘tool’ might be a result of the increasing popularity in boxing, not only among men but among women too. Besides, the popularity of boxing among Dutch women has increased to such an extent that 48 ‘Pink Boxing’ gyms – which only have active female members – are located in the Netherlands. As the popularity of boxing has increased to such an extent, and as boxing is used as a ‘tool’ among Dutch youth, society’s view on female boxing participation might have transformed. Due to these developments in the Netherlands, investigating Dutch boxers is interesting. Therefore, the mechanisms behind and the effects of women’s participation in boxing in the Netherlands will be investigated in this study. Before formulating the research question, it is important to make clear how ‘boxing’ is defined. Boxing is one of the different forms of martial arts. Examples of other forms of martial arts are: judo, karate, taekwondo, and kickboxing. Boxing is a type of sports in which people practice the art of attack and defence with the fists, while people practicing kickboxing are also allowed to kick with their feet. Within the boxing world, a further distinction is made between professional (or technique) boxing and fitness (or casual) boxing. Both types rely on the same techniques, but differ in their objectives.