Gender verification in sport as a surveillance practice - inside and outside perception.

Jakubowska, Honorata

doi:10.24908/ss.v11i4.4732

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…For such athletes, their non-conformity to orthodox visions of femininity may not preclude them from being socially recognised as women -often accomplished through a direct surveillance of their physical bodies [Jakubowska 2013;Pieper 2016] -but their discursive positioning as 'aberrant' or 'deviant' diminishes the symbolic value of their embodiment of apparently masculine qualities [Tredway 2014]. …”

Section: Martial Arts Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

'Pink Gloves Still Give Black Eyes': exploring 'alternative' femininity in women's combat sports

Channon

Phipps

2017

Martial Arts Studies

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This article considers the gendered significance of women's participation in combat sports, with a specific focus on the performances of femininity by female combat athletes. Against lines of argument which posit that women's enactment of femininity is the result of restrictive, coercive, and ultimately conservative cultural pressures, respondents in two separate studies suggested that a purposeful, selective enactment of femininity, when understood in combination with their fighting ability, signified an important challenge to orthodox understandings of gender. As such, our data suggests that manoeuvring within normative cultural parameters of gender may, ironically, help to stimulate change in its structure of meanings, given that the feminine performances of these fighters ultimately posed symbolic challenges to cultural constructions of ('normal') women as inevitably weaker and inferior athletes compared to men. We therefore advocate that scholars with an interest in exploring the subversion of gender remain mindful of the possibility that such subversive impulses might occur via the appropriation, and re-signification, of some of its more orthodox norms.

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Section: Martial Arts Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

'Pink Gloves Still Give Black Eyes': exploring 'alternative' femininity in women's combat sports

Channon

Phipps

2017

Martial Arts Studies

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“…For instance, women who fail to live up to the expectations of femininities may be challenged for being in the ‘wrong’ bathrooms (Halberstam, 1998). A similar issue is evident in women's sport, whereby athletes may need to prove their right to be in this space, particularly if someone's sex or gender is considered ambiguous, often justified to maintain the principles of ‘fair play’ (Jakubowska, 2013). Sex testing may be used in women's sport when there is suspicion around an individual's masculine appearance and physique, calling into question who is classed as female and the decisions that are made when someone does not neatly fit the definition of ‘femaleness’ (Farham, 2019; Krech, 2017).…”

Section: Findings and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sex testing may be used in women's sport when there is suspicion around an individual's masculine appearance and physique, calling into question who is classed as female and the decisions that are made when someone does not neatly fit the definition of ‘femaleness’ (Farham, 2019; Krech, 2017). This was the case for Caster Semenya, an intersex athlete who initially came under suspicion in sport due to her ‘unfeminine’ appearance (Jakubowska, 2013). It was also apparent for Arman in his quote above, providing the example of a deep voice, a trait often associated with men.…”

Section: Findings and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The practice of 'proving' biological sex is argued to be unethical and a form of surveillance placed on athletes' bodies (Jakubowska, 2013). The practice has been heavily criticised due to the inaccurate assumption there are two mutually exclusive sexes with distinct behaviours, appearances, and styles, reflecting gender essentialism.…”

Section: Sporting Experiences: Cultural Cisgenderism In a Traditional...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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“The spectators ask, is it a boy or a girl? What is it?”: Cultural cisgenderism and trans men's sporting experiences in Iran

Afroozeh

Phipps

Afrouzeh

et al. 2023

International Review for the Sociology of Sport

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In this article, we draw on cultural cisgenderism to analyse the sporting experiences of trans men in Iran. Utilising semi-structured interviews with twelve trans men in different stages of transition, we consider their experiences of women's sport environments, the extent to which cisnormativity is embedded into the culture, and whether their gender identities are accepted. We found that essentialist understandings of sex and gender are evident in sport environments, with gender presentation policed by others, and expectations this should align with ascribed biological sex. While some interviewees’ masculine expressions were valued, others were considered ‘too masculine’ to be eligible to participate in women's sport spaces; this led to restrictions around appearance and clothing, alongside instances of compulsory hormone testing. Finally, for those who were ‘out’ about their gender identity, this often led to hostility from others, including coaches, teammates, and spectators. Overall, this paper provides a critical understanding of trans inclusion in sport spaces in Iran. However, the findings may be useful for anyone working to make sport more accessible, regardless of geographical location.

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“…They explain that social contexts are not neutral spaces free of gender constructs. Jakubowska (2014) discusses the athlete's body as an object of surveillance that operates in a similarly restrictive and binary manner to the upskirting photographs that proliferate on Instagram. Jakubowska writes that the principle of "fair play" in sports has become a surveillance practice when the bodies of the athletes are under scrutiny.…”

Section: Gendered Surveillancementioning

confidence: 99%

Instagram and Gendered Surveillance: Ways of Seeing the Hashtag

Sebastian

2019

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This research examines gendered surveillance on Instagram. The hashtag serves as an affordance across platforms, and this work expands on the literature of the rhetorical functions of hashtags. Rather than focusing on the hashtag itself as the problem, I instead use it as a lens to examine an extant social issue that is beginning to receive attention from the growing body of feminist surveillance research. When Instagram allows certain terms and hashtags to flourish for weeks, months, and even years without removal, this type of rhetoric and image combination functions to socially isolate a particular group in a heteronormative and nonconsensual way that reproduces existing inequalities. Instagram (and also Facebook who owns it) has the opportunity to promote whatever content it chooses and to put forth whatever narrative or rhetorical formation of the world it wants to see. What world does Instagram want?

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Gender verification in sport as a surveillance practice - inside and outside perception.

Cited by 7 publications

References 11 publications

'Pink Gloves Still Give Black Eyes': exploring 'alternative' femininity in women's combat sports

'Pink Gloves Still Give Black Eyes': exploring 'alternative' femininity in women's combat sports

“The spectators ask, is it a boy or a girl? What is it?”: Cultural cisgenderism and trans men's sporting experiences in Iran

Instagram and Gendered Surveillance: Ways of Seeing the Hashtag

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