Speakers
Description
This presentation explains the development and use of a novel material method for understanding how gender relations are negotiated by women boxers. The entanglement between the material items of a boxer’s kit bag and the gendered culture of boxing is explored with a particular focus on the active nature of gender embodiment. Using the items contained in their boxing kit bag, participants ‘kitted up’ as they normally would in preparation for an agreed event – training session or competition – whilst talking about each item as they did so. This method was developed to explore the sensory, embodied experiences that women boxers have with their kit and how objects act as active agents in the negotiation of identity. Visual and audio data was collected using a semi-structured conversation. Thematic analysis of the kit bag, verbal transcripts and the images recorded of the interaction between the boxers, their kit and the researcher were conducted. The presentation will offer a critical analysis of 5 preliminary themes identified in this work: (i) purposeful desexualization (ii) protection (iii) focus/intention (iv) confidence and empowerment (v) women aren’t small men. By foregrounding the material in our methods and analysis, we can attend to the importance of things, how they affect us and what impact they have on our sense of self. Using a novel approach to data collection can advance knowledge of complex and contested gender relations in female boxing which has implications for practice and policy.
