Playing for power? rugby, Afrikaner nationalism and masculinity in South Africa, c.1900–70

Inclusive masculinity theory and the gendered politics of men's rugby

“…Thus, the sexual degradation of women, and the broadcasting of heterosexual proclivity, are behaviors described as being central to the establishment of oneself as heterosexual, and therefore masculine. Schacht (1996) shows that both of these socio-negative attitudes dominate within the American university rugby team he studied; something supported by numerous other rugby investigations on both sides of the Atlantic (Dunning and Sheard 1979, Donnelly and Young 1988, Grundlingh 1994, Light and Kirk 2000, Muir and Seitz 2004. Thus, rugby men are normally described as embodying orthodox masculinity -a form of masculinity that is predicated on homophobia, misogyny, physicality, and bravado (Pronger 1990).…”

Sport Mobility and Circuits of Power: The Dynamics of Football Migration in Africa and the 2010 World Cup

“…The role that football has played in this regard is important. In the early history of South Africa, games such as rugby and cricket were patronised by the country's white populations, although even these were laced with the political acrimony typifying the divisions between white Afrikaans and English speakers, and also reflected the dominant practices of masculinity of the day (see Grundlingh, 1996). Football, on the other hand, became the game of passion among the black people.…”

Political Analysis of South Africa's Hosting of the Rugby and Cricket World Cups: Lessons for the 2010 Football World Cup and Beyond?

“…Cricket, because of its elitist image and purportedly gentlemanly status, was seen as the embodiment of British identity (Stoddard and Sandiford, 1998), whilst rugby was to gain ascendancy as the chosen sport of the fledgling Afrikaans community , Grundlingh, 1996Allen, 2003). Thus, cricket and rugby were often seen as a means of creating unity amongst the Whites and of maintaining social distance from the rest of the population, as South Africa often showed what was described as 'common frontier behaviour insisting upon "religious, moral and cultural barriers between itself and its neighbours"' (Merrett and Nauright, 1998, p. 57).…”