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Openly Gay Athletes

Contesting Hegemonic Masculinity in a Homophobic Environment

University of California, Irvine

This research provides the first look into the experiences of openly gay male team sport athletes on ostensibly all-heterosexual teams. Although openly gay athletes were free from physical harassment, in the absence of a formal ban against gay athletes, sport resisted their acceptance and attempted to remain a site of orthodox masculine production by creating a culture of silence surrounding gay athleticism, by segmenting gay men's identities, and by persistently using homophobic discourse to discredit homosexuality in general. Sports attempt to tolerate gay male athletes when they contribute to the overarching ethos of sport—winning—but try to taint the creation of a gay identity within sport that would see homosexuality and athleticism as compatible. Still, by proving themselves successful in sport, and meeting most other mandates of hegemonic masculinity except for their sexual identity, gay male athletes show that hegemony is not seamless and that there is a possibility of softening hegemonic masculinity in the sporting realm.

Gender & Society, Vol. 16, No. 6, 860-877 (2002)
DOI: 10.1177/089124302237892


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