Rhetoric, Sport, and Queer/Theory: Gender and Athleticism in Queer Sports
Abstract
This dissertation examines three case studies that draw on the queer potential of
performances of gender and athleticism that challenge the gender binary in sport. For
generations, sport has served as a social institution that divides athletes based on social
constructions of sex and gender. In doing so, performances of gender in sport have come to be
equated with performances of athleticism. This means that male athletes are expected to perform
male athleticism and female athletes are expected to perform female athleticism. This
dissertation looks for places within sport that represent a queer potential for disruption of the
gender binary. By viewing individual performances of gender and athleticism that do not meet
socially accepted performances of male and female athleticism as unstable differential relations,
we can begin to destabilize the gender binary in sport. Using the case studies of Outsports, the
sport of quidditch, and figure skater Johnny Weir, I argue that although there are places in sport
that function as antagonisms, which have the potential to destabilize the gender binary, to some
extent, they are still bound by normative understandings of sex, gender, and sexuality. Within
each case study, I explore the ways in which gender norms are constantly policed by the sport
community and work to establish difference as a determinate identity, rather than unstable
differential relations.
The work in this dissertation reveals the strength of the hegemonic discourses that
surround sport, particularly in relation to sex, gender, and sexuality. Despite the queer potential
of each case study, the male perspective dominates sports and reinforces the commitment to a
gender binary. The commitment to the gender binary in sport will remain the downfall of most
attempts to queer sport because we are always limited to gendered and sexed categories of male
and female. This is further compounded by the addition of sexuality to athletic identity. As the
narratives used by Outsports show, coming out as a gay athlete is not novel or even disruptive.
The inclusion of gay athletes into mainstream sports confines sexuality to the already gendered
structure of sport. By participating in these hegemonic institutions they are further entrenching
the negative impacts of the system, privileging those LGBTQ athletes who can serve as token
examples of inclusion. With that in mind, I offer three critical implications for this research.
First, I argue that these case studies suggest a move towards a queer understanding of
athleticism. Second, as I have already eluded to, even in moments of queer resistance, sport still
privileges the male identity. Third, I explore the implications of moving sport research into the
field. Using the sport of quidditch, I argue that sport research could benefit from expanding the
scope of the text by examining identity construction at the level of performance.
Citation
Rigda, Ryan S (2018). Rhetoric, Sport, and Queer/Theory: Gender and Athleticism in Queer Sports. Doctoral dissertation, Texas A & M University. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /174096.