Exploring how and why women's rugby players 'do' gender over a ten year period

Abstract

The study of women’s rugby offers insight into female participation in a sport once solely confined to men and constructed as one of the last bastions of male preserve (Chase, 2006; Chandler & Nauright, 1999). Despite this attraction, the sport has achieved little scholarly attention. My study attempts to explore doing gender amongst women’s rugby players, by asking in what ways they do gender and why. In an attempt to revitalise the dwindling attention paid to feminist studies of women in sport, I apply inclusive masculinity theory and hegemonic masculinity, going beyond the theorisation of men and masculinity to consider female masculinity. I use personal network recruitment to recruit participants within my own team, Scottish University Women’s Rugby Club. Furthermore, opportunity sampling was applied during the wedding weekend of a past player, facilitating participant observation of current and past players from over a ten year period. Participant observation was succeeded by semi-structured, one-on-one interviews involving six participants representing various stages in the past ten years of the club’s history, allowing for reflection on doing gender over time. Using thematic analysis five key themes were identified; constructing identity in a masculine domain; sexuality in constructing masculinity; maintaining masculinity through excluding feminine players; policing emotional displays; and refuting the embrace of feminised artefacts by rugby men. Each theme illustrates how older and younger players do gender in differing ways and for differing reasons.