An Exploration of the Gendered Culture of Mountain Biking in Nova Scotia by Sherry Huybers Withers Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia November 2015 © Copyright by Sherry Huybers Withers, 2015 DEDICATION PAGE For All of My Families My immediate family, the Withers and the Arbuckles, who love and support me like no others. For my family of friends who add to the enjoyable moments I treasure. For my mountain bike family who understand my passion. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES vii ABSTRACT viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 12 2.1 SPORT EXPERIENCES OF CANADIANS 13 2.2 DEFINING ALTERNATIVE SPORTS AND MAINSTREAM SPORTS 17 2.3 THE GENDERING OF SPORT 20 2.3.1 Gendering of Mainstream and Alternative Sports – Distributive Research 20 2.3.2 Gendering Of Mainstream and Alternative Sports – Categoric Research 26 2.3.3 Gendering Of Mainstream and Alternative Sports – Relational Analyses 29 2.3.4 Hegemonic Masculinity and Sport Participation in Mainstream Sports 31 2.3.5 Hegemonic Masculinity and Sport Participation in Alternative Sports 35 2.3.6 Hegemonic Masculinity and Risk Taking and Injury in Alternative Sports 40 2.4 THE GENDERING OF MOUNTAIN BIKING 42 2.4.1 Gender, Mountain Biking Injuries, and Mountain Biking Participation 43 2.4.2 Studying the Culture of Mountain Biking 47 2.4.3 Evolving Equipment and Developing Subcultures 50 2.4.4 From Grass Roots To Institutionalization 56 2.4.5 Extreme Reality or Not 59 iii CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 62 3.1 ORIENTING THE RESEARCH STUDY 62 3.1.1 Paradigmatic Position 62 3.1.2 Ontological, Epistemological, Theoretical, and Philosophical Positions 63 3.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 66 3.3 PHENOMENOLOGICAL APPROACHES 66 3.3.1 Descriptive (Husserlian) Phenomenology 68 3.3.2 Interpretive (Heideggerian) Phenomenology 70 3.3.3 Situating Myself in the Research Process 75 3.4 METHODS 79 3.4.1 Participant Selection 79 3.4.2 Recruitment Strategies 82 3.4.3 Data Collection and Management 83 3.5 DATA ANALYSIS 87 3.5.1 Getting Into the Hermeneutic Circle 87 3.5.2 Organizing the Data 89 3.5.3 Apprehending the Essential Themes 91 3.6 ENSURING RIGOUR 93 3.7 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS 97 CHAPTER 4: “A PECKING ORDER” – COMPETING TO BE THE COCK OF THE RIDE 98 4.1 COMPETING FOR HEGEMONY 100 4.1.1 Performing Masculinity to Gain and Maintain Status in the Gender Hierarchy 103 iv 4.1.2 The Neverending Story of Competition 109 4.2 THE EMBODIMENT OF MASCULINITY 113 4.2.1 Bodies as Both Objects and Agents of Social Practice 114 4.2.2 The Materiality of Bodies in Social Process 116 4.2.3 Benefitting from the Patriarchal Dividend Without the Extreme 120 4.3 WOMEN AND THE GENDER ORDER 122 4.3.1 Strategies of Social Closure 124 4.3.2 To Be or Not To Be Queen Bee 134 4.3.3 Queen Bees Don’t Cry 139 4.3.4 Chapter Summary 142 CHAPTER 5: “RIDING BECAUSE THEY LOVE IT” – CHALLENGING THE GENDER HIERARCHY 146 5.1 PRACTICING ALTERNATIVE MASCULINITIES 147 5.1.1 The Ideal Mountain Biker, Ideally 148 5.1.2 “Doing Gender” Differently 151 5.2 WOMEN AND FAMILY CHALLENGING THE GENDER REGIME 154 5.2.1 Women Creating Their Own Space 156 5.2.2 Moms and Their Mountain Biking Families 160 5.3 A WELCOMING AND CONNECTED COMMUNITY 165 5.3.1 Mountain Biking for the Social Aspect 165 5.3.2 Mountain Biking for Fun and Flow 168 v 5.3.3 Chapter Summary 171 CHAPTER 6: DISCUSSION 173 6.1 THE CONTEXTS OF SOCIAL PROCESSES MAINTAINING HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY 177 6.2 THE CONTEXTS OF SOCIAL PROCESSES CHALLENGING THE MASCULINE GENDER HIERARCHY 185 6.3 MOUNTAIN BIKING FOR FUN AND FOR FLOW: TRANSCENDING GENDER PERFORMANCE? 192 6.4 THE NECESSITY OF FUN AND FLOW IN SPORT POLICY AND SPORT DEVELOPMENT 198 REFERENCES 211 APPENDIX A: Sample Recruitment Poster/Notice 227 APPENDIX B: Screening Interview 228 APPENDIX C: Interview Guide 229 APPENDIX D: Participant Consent Form 231 APPENDIX E: Transcriptionist Confidentiality Agreement 237 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Participant Information 82 vii ABSTRACT Inclusiveness and safety are two key values recognized by Canadian Sport Policy to be the foundation of participation in sport. Despite these values, inequitable participation and risk-taking practices are attributed to the masculinization of mainstream sport. Less is known about the culture of alternative sports, and more specifically the sport of mountain biking and the gendered practices of mountain bikers. Using the qualitative methodology of hermeneutic interpretive phenomenology, this study explored the experience and practices of four women and four men mountain bikers in Nova Scotia, Canada to better understand the complex gendered culture of this sport. Data revealed that a masculine gender hierarchy with hegemonic masculinity being the most valorized ideal was the prominent gender order in this heterogeneous sport community. Participant narratives highlight practices that create and perpetuate patriarchal gender relations that contribute to the privileging and marginalizing of some participants, while also putting others at risk of injury. In contrast to such practices, some participants engaged in practices that challenged hegemonic masculinity. These alternative practices of masculinity allowed for inclusivity with the establishment of multiple styles of mountain biking and the creation of women-only and family-oriented spaces. These developments resulted in the culture of mountain biking becoming fragmented into subcultures. The gendered practices of each subculture can be placed along a continuum with highly competitive participants actively demonstrating hegemonic masculinity being at one extreme. At the other extreme are participants who are developing a welcoming, connected, non-competitive community and practicing alternative versions of masculinity. Specific mountain biking contexts are associated with practices that either maintain or challenge the masculine gender hierarchy and provide insight into the gendered culture of the sport and more specifically, the role of competition. The ideology of competition as conquest characterized hegemonic masculinity and perpetuated the masculinized culture of mountain biking. In contrast, the concept of flow was highlighted as an intrinsic performance that transcended the performance of gender. Findings led to recommendations on how sport providers can implement healthier conceptions of competition to maximize the enjoyment, participation and safety of sport through the achievement of flow as the optimal experience in sport. viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many thanks go to Joan Evans for your extraordinary supervision. You have gone far beyond what any doctoral student would expect from an excellent supervisor. You are the Super Hero of supervisors and the leader of my Dream Team Committee! Joan, Lori Livingston and Laurene Rehman are indeed a perfect doctoral committee. All of you have provided an endless supply of support, guidance, encouragement and wisdom. You have all challenged me to think in so many different ways. Your individual expertise has been invaluable and has taught me how interdisciplinary work can be so extremely rewarding. I will always be grateful for how each of you has gone above and beyond to help see me through this dissertation! To the participants of this study, I feel privileged that you shared your personal stories and feelings with me. Your enthusiasm for helping me with this project was truly inspiring. My heartfelt thanks go to all of you for generously giving of your time. Your joy of mountain biking has only made my love of the sport grow deeper. Thank you to Shirley (Shirl) Wheaton for your great transcribing talents but also for your overall support. You, along with Jane Conrad and Cheryl MacDonald, make visiting the office a most joyous experience. Along with the comic relief, you are all so helpful in making a person’s day much less stressful. Speaking of comic relief, I must also thank Howard Matheson for making me laugh on so many occasions and for ensuring that I wouldn’t starve. My family and friends have been the greatest encouragers and the biggest pains in the butt. I don’t know how many times I have heard, “When are you finishing your PhD?”. Although annoying, that question always told me that you cared. I am so grateful that none of you gave up on me. Mom and dad, the answer is still “soon” and yes, I will always be a student. I can’t forget Duke and LuLu and their favorite Auntie Jeanne for all the walks, hikes, and runs. You have helped maintain my sanity. Endless belly rubs for Duke, total attention for LuLu, and continuous sunshine and heat for the best sister in the world, Jeanne (who is older than me). Finally, Wendy and the boys (Rorey and Aiden) deserve my deepest thanks. I am so very grateful to Wendy for always supporting me in this 10 year endeavor. Your love and patience have been my biggest motivators. I am also so very lucky to have Rorey and Aiden. You both are truly great guys who can always make me laugh. All my love to the three of you! ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION “This sport is embraced as lifestyle and passion, not just as a quick adrenaline fix or simply exercise.” (Snider, 2011) “Flow. The flow of a good piece of singletrack. Social flow, sometimes lubricated with tasty bevvies. Spiritual flow that allows one to merge in a meaningful way with the natural surroundings. Mental flow that encourages the release of tension and negativity. Bodily flow, where you, the bike, and the ground interact as a single unit. The shared appreciation of flow is mountain bike culture.