41058 - Sports and Sexuality

Description

How do we make sense of conflicting reactions to LGBTQ+ identities in sports? Despite the visibility and rise of LGBTQ+ athletes and athletes of color, persistent beliefs in sex essentialism, heteronormativity, and the Western ideal of the desirable body remain intact in mainstream sports culture. This panel will explore the relationship between sports and LGBTQ+ identity through an intersectional and transnational lens. Issues like sex testing have long been a concern in global sports competitions, such as the Olympics, where competitive female athletes, especially those of color, are often subjected to these tests when they do not fit the Western ideal of femininity. Transgender athletes at all levels are attacked or punished, with some sports seeing games forfeited in protest. At the same time, lesbian and bisexual athletes are gaining significant attention and support from fans across various sports, including the WNBA and NWSL. This panel welcomes papers that examine not only identity but also expressions of sexuality in relation to fandom, marketing, and the policing of sports in the U.S. and globally.

Sub Unit

• Section on Sociology of Sexualities / Sports and Sexuality

Presider

• Jinsun Yang, University of Oregon

Individual Presentations

• Erotic Access: Pole Dancing as a Sexual Script - Elizabeth Anne Miller, University of California-San Diego

• The Case for a Transfeminist Analysis of Women’s Rugby - Cameron Michels, Simon Fraser University

• Playing with Femininity: The Feminine Apologetic in Division III Athletics in the Twenty-First Century - Catherine White Berheide, Skidmore College

• Sports Fan Identity and the Stereotypes of Female Fans of Men’s Sports - Andrew Timothy Harber, University of Texas at El Paso

Discussant

• Brandon James Moore, California State University-San Marcos

Session Organizer

• Travers Travers, Simon Fraser University