The Erotic in Sports

What Is eSports and Why Do People Watch It?

“…The physical attractiveness construct refers to the appreciation of the appearance of people and characters in media, and in the sports context, viewing the players involved in the game, and the degree to which the spectator finds the players physically attractive (Duncan and Brummett, 1989;Guttmann, 1996). As the main play of eSports happens in the confines of electronic systems, one could easily and intuitively assume that the physical appearance of the players would not be an important or visible aspect in eSports.…”

‘Legends’ in ‘Lingerie’: Sexuality and Athleticism in the 2013 Legends Football League US Season

“…(Heywood & Dworkin, 2003: 82) This 'redemption' of female heterosexuality is made possible through effectively combining masculinised and feminised qualities, towards the production of a 'sexy' body which is not reduced solely to that sexual quality, nor constructed as powerless or passive in the process (Baumgartner & Richards, 2000;Carlson, 2010;Klein, 1997). In this respect, the erotic framing of physically powerful women can treat sex and athleticism as equally potent signifiers, mutually coexisting in ways which cast female athletic embodiment as (hetero)sexually desirable in similar ways as to how male athletes' bodies long have beenand continue to be -sexually valued by both women and men (Guttmann, 1996;Pronger, 1990). …”

“…Here, the possibility of feeling empowered either through or regardless of heterofeminine embodiment in such activities troubles the notion that emphasised, heterosexual femininity is always the product of alienating cultural forces which victimise, objectify and exploit women whilst undermining their athletic achievement. Taken alongside an understanding of sports as fundamentally erotic, embodied phenomena (Guttmann, 1996), which bear an ever-present potential for sexual significance in ways which "do not inevitably betoken ideological invasion" (Davis, 2010: 62), the performance of overt, hetero-feminine sexuality by female athletes ought not to be interpreted as disempowering by default.…”

‘As Real As It Gets!’ Producing hyperviolence in mixed martial arts

“…3 Modern sports, according to Riesman and Denney, are distinguished by being more 'abstract', more removed from 'serious' combat (cited in Elias and Dunning 1986: 229). 3 Plumbing the relationship between masculinity and aggression in sport thus is particularly incumbent upon theorists of gender relations (see Guttmann 1996;Messner 1992;Nelson 1994). Contemporary gender dynamics within sports are in a state of flux as women have begun to participate in what were once exclusively male activities, such as ice hockey, college football, rugby, and boxing.…”