The feminine image in male dominated sport

Lynn Malone

My name is Lynn and I am a Masters Student, studying Sexuality in Dublin City University, Ireland.
For my study I want to look into what is considered female masculinity. The area I am focusing on is: heterosexual women in male dominated sports such as bodybuilding and how female athletes deal with the battle between stereotyped femininity in society and reality of their sports physiques. As the research that I am gathering is based on personal opinion and open discussion there are no formalities. The discussion and topic provided will not be regarded as an interview or survey and so as this is more personal I will give a personal example.
I'm an avid Rugby player and do a lot of strength training in the gym for the position I play (forward, a main tackler) but find it offensive when people comment negatively on my femininity. In Ireland if a girl plays a certain sport i.e. boxing, rugby, Gaelic football etc. and show masculine traits i.e. muscle mass, roughness etc. they may become stereotyped as butch or mannish. It is merely that, due to external influences some people think that for a woman/girl to show tom-boyishness or masculine traits/characteristics, they are judged as being somewhat un-natural. This is why I have chosen to look at an extreme sport such as female bodybuilding. It is a perfect example of challenging the femininity stereotype. For anyone interested it would be great to get voluntary insights into areas such as:

How athletes deal with the stigma and stereotypes?
What their personal attitudes and experiences are on female masculinity in sport?
Is it important to obtain ones femininity in stereotypically male sports?
What is it that drives a female bodybuilder’s passion for the perfect muscular physique?

It would be appreciated so much if I could get both female and male input into this topic (especially if there are any Irish contributions). I will be using the transcription but will insure anonymity with people’s online names, location or any other personal details. It will be completely anonymous.
Thank you for your time
Lynn

g'em

Lynn the forums aren't here for you to collect research information for your studies. It's a shame because it's a worthy topic.