Playing with Femininity: The Feminine Apologetic in Division III Athletics in the Twenty-First Century

• In Event: 41058 - Sports and Sexuality

Abstract

In the United States, sports have traditionally represented an idealized expression of masculinity, thereby posing a dilemma for women and girls who played sports. Felshin (1974b) first identified the feminine apologetic in 1974 as the way that women and girls accounted for their involvement in sports in the face of public disapproval. As a result of being held accountable for doing gender, throughout the twentieth century, women athletes often engaged in the feminine apologetic by emphasizing their feminine appearance.

This paper analyzes 60 interviews with women Division III athletes to explore the degree to which they engaged in a feminine apologetic. In particular, I examine whether these women were concerned with emphasizing a feminine appearance with how they fixed their hair and what they wore during competitions.

Fifty years after the passage of Title IX, women athletes remained keenly aware of the negative stereotypes associated with playing sports, especially the lesbian stigma, and that appearing feminine was a way to counter them. Many, although not all, of these women Division III athletes mentioned the pressure to appear feminine even during competitions, often commenting on their hair and what they wore. Some mentioned how they resisted this pressure and instead focused on their athleticism.

Some, particularly those interviewed in 2023 and 2024, invoked the seemingly gender-neutral phrase, “look good, feel good, play good,” to explain their focus on their appearance. This phrase might be a way to reframe the feminine apologetic’s emphasis on appearing feminine as a way to build confidence on the field rather than as a way to do femininity. The interviews did reveal that over the last fifteen years a growing number of athletes rejected the need to appear feminine and embraced the “gross and sweaty” appearance that accompanies intercollegiate athletic competition.

Author

• Catherine White Berheide, Skidmore College