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Nikki Wedgwood

The University of Sydney, Sydney School of Health Sciences, Faculty Member

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Nikki Wedgwood, PhD, is a senior lecturer in the School of Health Sciences at the University of Sydney. Her research interests include gender, embodiment, sociology of sport, disability and life history research.

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Lingnan University

University of Tasmania

Gabriela Spector-Mersel

Aswathy Chandragiri

BITS Pilani

BITS Pilani

Agata Rupińska

Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu

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Papers by Nikki Wedgwood

Deploying Hegemonic Masculinity: A Study of Uses of the Concept in the Journal Psychology of Men & Masculinities

Psychology of Men & Masculinities, 2023

Questions about men and masculinities have arisen in psychology before, but it is only recently t... more Questions about men and masculinities have arisen in psychology before, but it is only recently that a distinct research field has emerged. This field has made use of the concept of "hegemonic masculinity"; but in what way? The 26 papers published in Psychology of Men & Masculinities (PMM) from 2000 to early 2022 that mention this concept were examined. Over this period both the pattern of authorship and the balance of methods have changed. Most of the empirical work involves either quantitative scale-based studies or, increasingly, qualitative studies with smaller groups but more intensive methods. Considered as a whole, this literature convincingly documents the diversity of masculinities to be found among groups of men within the USA. There is a tendency to define hegemonic masculinity as a set of personal traits, rather than as a position in a structure of gender relations involving the subordination of women. Problems arise about the relation of hegemony to violence, and about the costs versus benefits of occupying a hegemonic position among men. Some directions in which the research field might develop are suggested, including greater attention to postcolonial perspectives in psychology. Public Significance Statement Research on men and masculinities has value for education, health work, counseling, and public policy. For this knowledge to be most effective, careful conceptualization and links with other fields of knowledge are needed. This article reviews all the research about hegemonic masculinity published in Psychology of Men & Masculinities, brings together its findings, corrects some misunderstandings, and suggests useful directions for the future.

An Eye Opening Experience: A Critical Turning Point in the Life of a Young Woman with a Visual Impairment

by Russell Shuttleworth and Nikki Wedgwood

Journal of Social Inclusion, 4(1): 5-23, 2013 http://www104.griffith.edu.au/index.php/inclusion/article/view/249

Research on social inclusion often focuses on social exclusion. However, in order to gain greater... more Research on social inclusion often focuses on social exclusion. However, in order to gain greater insights into ways to facilitate social change, it is equally important to research the social inclusion of those normally excluded. Indeed, while one important purpose of studying disabilism is to catalogue and critique all its forms, another critical purpose is to better understand how disabilism can be resisted and/or ameliorated at individual and/or societal levels. Thus, it is equally important to understand when, why and how disabilism does not negatively impact the lives of people with impairments as well as when it does. This paper presents a single case study of Lynette, a young woman with a severe visual impairment who has a life- Journal of Social Inclusion, 4(1), 2013 6 changing experience in an inclusive environment. In particular, it explores the impact of exclusive and inclusive contexts on Lynette's identity development as she transitions to adulthood. By juxtaposing Lynette's experiences of exclusion with those of inclusion, it highlights contexts in which there is a critical mass of people with impairments living alongside able-bodied people as a possible antecedent/impetus for greater social inclusion of people with impairments in society more generally.

An Eye Opening Experience: A Critical Turning Point in the Life of a Young Woman with a Severe Visual Impairment

Journal of Social Inclusion 4(1) 2013, Aug 2013

Research on social inclusion often focuses on social exclusion. However, in order to gain greater... more Research on social inclusion often focuses on social exclusion. However, in order to gain greater insights into ways to facilitate social change, it is equally important to research the social inclusion of those normally excluded. Indeed, while one important purpose of studying disabilism is to catalogue and critique all its forms, another critical purpose is to better understand how disabilism can be resisted and/or ameliorated at individual and/or societal levels. Thus, it is equally important to understand when, why and how disabilism does not negatively impact the lives of people with impairments as well as when it does. This paper presents a single case study of Lynette, a young woman with a severe visual impairment who has a life-changing experience in an inclusive environment. In particular, it explores the impact of exclusive and inclusive contexts on Lynette’s identity development as she transitions to adulthood. By juxtaposing Lynette’s experiences of exclusion with those of inclusion, it highlights contexts in which there is a critical mass of people with impairments living alongside able-bodied people as a possible antecedent/impetus for greater social inclusion of people with impairments in society more generally.

Wedgwood, N. (2014). Hahn vs Guttman: Revisiting 'Sports and the Political Movement of Disabled Persons’. Disability & Society, 29(1): 129-142.

Wedgwood, N. (15 Nov 2013). “My biggest disability is I’m a male!” The role of sport in negotiating the dilemma of disabled masculinity’. In J. Hargreaves and E. Andersen (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Sport, Gender and Sexuality. London: Routledge.

By providing training in the embodiment of masculine ideals, sport is one of the primary practice... more By providing training in the embodiment of masculine ideals, sport is one of the primary practices in which young men construct their gender identities. The particular importance of sport in masculinity construction is that ‘[w]hat it means to be masculine is, quite literally, to embody force, to embody competence’ (Connell, 1983: 27). Sport thus ritually celebrates physical abilities as well as male superiority. Men with impairments embody a contradiction between dominant forms of masculinity (skilful, powerful) and impairment (reduced physical abilities/power). The participation in sport by men with impairments highlights this contradiction, thus can provide important insights into how this ‘dilemma of disabled masculinity’ (Shuttleworth, Wedgwood and Wilson 2012) is negotiated. This chapter adds to the nascent research on masculinity, disability and sport, which thus far has focused on adult men, despite the fact that adolescence is a critical and formative phase of gender identity development. Through the use of life history case studies of three adolescent men with a range of impairments—congenital and acquired, mild to moderate— it considers the impact of both able-bodied and disability-specific sport on their lives, not just as a physical activity but as a powerful social institution. In particular, it explores whether playing sport is a form of cultural capital in the construction of a masculine identity for young men with impairments.

The Dilemma of Disabled Masculinity

A much-cited point by those who study the intersection of gender and disability is that masculini... more A much-cited point by those who study the intersection of gender and disability is that masculinity and disability are in conflict with each other because disability is associated with being dependent and helpless whereas masculinity is associated with being powerful and autonomous, thus creating a lived and embodied dilemma for disabled men. This article maps and critically evaluates the conceptual development of this dilemma of disabled masculinity, tracing how several developments in the fields of disability studies and the critical study of men and masculinities have shaped sociological understandings of disabled masculinity. We suggest that, while social science scholarship has increasingly moved beyond a static understanding and toward a dynamic view of the articulation and interaction between masculinity and disability, there are nevertheless several problems that require attention. The most critical issue conceptually is that the focus of study has been more on masculinity and how it intersects with ‘disability’ as an almost generic category, rather than on how masculinity (or masculinities) intersect(s) differently with various types of impairment. Thus, though there is quite a bit of research on the dilemma of disabled masculinity for men who acquire a physical impairment post-childhood and for groups of men with diverse impairments studied as if they were a homogenous group, less research has been conducted with men who have specific impairments, particularly early-onset, intellectual or degenerative impairments. In this paper we urge researchers to open up the concept of intersectionality to accommodate a range of differences in bodily, cognitive, intellectual and behavioral types (impairments) in their interaction with various masculinities and to show more explicitly how context and life phase contribute to this dynamism.

A Person with Abilities: The Transition to Adulthood of a Young Woman with a Severe Physical Impairment

Whilst it is one thing to say disablism negatively impacts the lives and well-being of people wit... more Whilst it is one thing to say disablism negatively impacts the lives and well-being of people with impairments, it is another altogether to tease out how this happens in everyday life. This article explores the potential of combining sociological theories
and method with a psychosocial framework as an interdisciplinary approach to studying the transitional experiences of people with impairments. Using a single life history case study of Ella, a young woman with a severe physical impairment, it clearly illustrates that the impact of disablism on transition is contextual and mediated by a combination of socio-historical factors. It highlights, in particular,
the constant tension between agency and structure—revealing that Ella’s levels of personal agency to challenge or undermine disablism varied from one social context to another and from one life phase to the next.

Can anybody play? An introduction to the sociology of sport and disability.

Sir Ludwig Guttman—pioneer of the use of sport in the physical, psychological and social rehabili... more Sir Ludwig Guttman—pioneer of the use of sport in the physical, psychological and social rehabilitation of people with spinal cord injuries—believed competition with able-bodied sportspeople would create a better understanding between the disabled and able-bodied and help the disabled in their social reintegration. Thus, from its earliest days disability sport has been credited with promoting the social inclusion of people with impairments into able-bodied society. Yet, the Paralympic movement (of which Guttman was a founding father), has ironically always been separate from, or at most parallel to, able-bodied sport. Thus sport is not necessarily socially inclusive – it can also be alienating, excluding and disabling. This is because sport is not just a physical activity but is also a powerful social institution. Sport(s) arise out of specific social and historical contexts, thus are often developed in accordance with the interests of dominant social groups and thereby reproduce broad social structures like gender, ethnicity, class and ableism. In the case of the Paralympics, this was primarily the medical profession, rather than the disability rights movement or disability athletes themselves. Though wartime politics and economics also played a defining role, the Paralympic Movement was profoundly shaped by its origins as a form of rehabilitation within the medical model of disability, with a long history of top-down, paternalistic rule, beginning with Guttman. Though sport ritually celebrates physical abilities (as well as male superiority) and thus is imbued with ableism, the sporting arena can also be the site of subversion, challenges or resistance to unequal power relations and even simultaneous reproduction and resistance, thus sports are deeply contradictory and also have the potential to transform culture. The broad question then, for sports sociologists and sports providers alike, is: In what ways does sport reproduce and/or challenge ableism? With this question in mind, and based on the premise that in many ways a sociological understanding of sport is far more powerful in the hands (or minds) of sports providers than that of sociologists, this chapter looks at the role of sport in the lives, not just of the minority of youth with impairments who play sport, but also the majority who do not. In the process it will briefly introduce some sociological concepts including: embodiment, governmentality, medical and social models of disability and hegemonic masculinity. The chapter is organised around several themes – social inclusion, gender and the body/empowerment – and concludes with a consideration of some of the implications for physical educators.

Can anybody play? An introduction to the sociology of sport and disability.

Sir Ludwig Guttman—pioneer of the use of sport in the physical, psychological and social rehabili... more Sir Ludwig Guttman—pioneer of the use of sport in the physical, psychological and social rehabilitation of people with spinal cord injuries—believed competition with able-bodied sportspeople would create a better understanding between the disabled and able-bodied and help the disabled in their social reintegration. Thus, from its earliest days disability sport has been credited with promoting the social inclusion of people with impairments into able-bodied society. Yet, the Paralympic movement (of which Guttman was a founding father), has ironically always been separate from, or at most parallel to, able-bodied sport. Thus sport is not necessarily socially inclusive – it can also be alienating, excluding and disabling. This is because sport is not just a physical activity but is also a powerful social institution. Sport(s) arise out of specific social and historical contexts, thus are often developed in accordance with the interests of dominant social groups and thereby reproduce broad social structures like gender, ethnicity, class and ableism. In the case of the Paralympics, this was primarily the medical profession, rather than the disability rights movement or disability athletes themselves. Though wartime politics and economics also played a defining role, the Paralympic Movement was profoundly shaped by its origins as a form of rehabilitation within the medical model of disability, with a long history of top-down, paternalistic rule, beginning with Guttman. Though sport ritually celebrates physical abilities (as well as male superiority) and thus is imbued with ableism, the sporting arena can also be the site of subversion, challenges or resistance to unequal power relations and even simultaneous reproduction and resistance, thus sports are deeply contradictory and also have the potential to transform culture. The broad question then, for sports sociologists and sports providers alike, is: In what ways does sport reproduce and/or challenge ableism? With this question in mind, and based on the premise that in many ways a sociological understanding of sport is far more powerful in the hands (or minds) of sports providers than that of sociologists, this chapter looks at the role of sport in the lives, not just of the minority of youth with impairments who play sport, but also the majority who do not. In the process it will briefly introduce some sociological concepts including: embodiment, governmentality, medical and social models of disability and hegemonic masculinity. The chapter is organised around several themes – social inclusion, gender and the body/empowerment – and concludes with a consideration of some of the implications for physical educators.

Doin It for Themselves! A Case Study of the Development of a Women's Australian Rules Football Competition

Women have wanted to play Australian Rules football throughout the game’s history, yet given it r... more Women have wanted to play Australian Rules football throughout the game’s history, yet given it ritually celebrates male superiority, few have actually played the game. This paper looks at the socio-historical circumstances leading to the eventual establishment of a women’s league, based on media coverage and interviews with current and former members. By focusing on their association with two men’s football organizations – one that helped them get started, and the other that allowed them to use their men’s clubs as home bases for their women’s teams – it also explores the extent to which playing a male-dominated game means having to play on male-defined terms.

Just one of the boys? A life history case study of a male physical education teacher

Studies of physical education teacher training have already established that hegemonic forms of m... more Studies of physical education teacher training have already established that hegemonic forms of masculinity are reinforced and reproduced both in the hidden curriculum (Flintoff, 1997) and the informal student culture (Skelton, 1993). Given this, an important feminist concern is whether male PE teachers whose own masculine identities are anchored in their athletic prowess simply ‘teach’ their young male charges to construct hegemonic forms of masculinity through PE and school sport and/or whether they necessarily marginalize and inferiorize female students. This paper provides a life history case study of a male PE teacher’s role both in reproducing and challenging gendered norms in his capacity as coach of a schoolboy and schoolgirl Australian Rules football team.

Aussie Rules! Schoolboy football and masculine embodiment

… Australian Masculinities. Melbourne: Pluto Press, S, Jan 1, 2003

Kicking like a boy: schoolgirl Australian rules football and bi-gendered female embodiment.

Sociology of Sport Journal, Jan 1, 2004

Männlichkeitsforschung: Männer und Männlichkeiten im internationalen Forschungskontext

Handbuch Frauen-und …, Jan 1, 2008

... geschlechtstypische Machtverhältnisse – auch körperlich in Gestalt bestimmter Gesundheitsprob... more

For the Love of Football

Journal of Sport & Social Issues, Jan 1, 2008

The sexual attraction of some women specifically to sportsmen is such a taken-for-granted and com... more The sexual attraction of some women specifically to sportsmen is such a taken-for-granted and commonplace phenomenon in Western society it receives little academic attention. This article first examines the handful of studies that have considered the relationship between heterosexual desire and Australian Rules footballers. Second, it reviews the few sociological studies of the groupies and wives of elite sportsmen. The article concludes that the social construction of sexual desire is an important but neglected element of the reproduction of the gender order. It is suggested that the concept cathexis may provide a useful conceptual framework for illuminating the ways in which women's heterosexual desires affect the maintenance, reproduction, and/or subversion of the existing gender order. F or many years, I have been fascinated by the sexual attraction of some women specifically to men who play Australian Rules football-a full-contact sport that, like gridiron in the United States and ice hockey in Canada, is culturally exalted as epitomizing hegemonic masculinity. I have known women who went to pubs and nightclubs frequented by professional footballers in the hope of meeting and dating them. One young woman, whose father had been an elite footballer, confessed she could not go out with a man unless he played football. After years of trying, she eventually met a semiprofessional player and developed an unsatisfactory relationship in which he made it clear that she came second to football and was not actually his girlfriend because he did not have time for a relationship. A woman in her 50s and married to an ex-footballer told me she finds a man much more sexually attractive, that his cheekbones even look higher, when she knows he is a footballer. Her daughter, now in her 30s, had for many years been unsuccessfully seeking to meet (and hopefully marry) an elite footballer. A university friend in conversation with a group of young women at a social function asked one, "What do you do?" (enquiring after her occupation), and the young woman replied collectively for the group, "We all go out with Panthers" (Panthers is a pseudonym for a team in Australia's premier football competition). More recently, when studying a high school boys'Australian Rules team, I observed a small number of "groupies" who regularly attended home matches dressed alluringly and taking more interest in the players than the actual games (Wedgwood, 2003, p. 198). Yet the sexual attraction of some women specifically to sportsmen is such a taken-for-granted and commonplace

Connell's theory of masculinity - its origins and influences on the study of gender

Journal of Gender Studies, Jan 1, 2009

Far From Ideal: Everyday experiences of parents and teachers negotiating an inclusive early childhood experience in the Australian context’. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education. 28, 1: 18-30.

Topics in Early …, Jan 1, 2008

Teenage Girls' Perceptions of Participation in Sport: A Research Project

The Transition of Adolescents with Chronic Health Conditions from Paediatric to Adult Services

We Have Contact!: Women, Girls and Boys Playing Australian Rules Football: Combat Sports, Gendered Embodiment and the Gender Order

Deploying Hegemonic Masculinity: A Study of Uses of the Concept in the Journal Psychology of Men & Masculinities

Psychology of Men & Masculinities, 2023

Questions about men and masculinities have arisen in psychology before, but it is only recently t... more Questions about men and masculinities have arisen in psychology before, but it is only recently that a distinct research field has emerged. This field has made use of the concept of "hegemonic masculinity"; but in what way? The 26 papers published in Psychology of Men & Masculinities (PMM) from 2000 to early 2022 that mention this concept were examined. Over this period both the pattern of authorship and the balance of methods have changed. Most of the empirical work involves either quantitative scale-based studies or, increasingly, qualitative studies with smaller groups but more intensive methods. Considered as a whole, this literature convincingly documents the diversity of masculinities to be found among groups of men within the USA. There is a tendency to define hegemonic masculinity as a set of personal traits, rather than as a position in a structure of gender relations involving the subordination of women. Problems arise about the relation of hegemony to violence, and about the costs versus benefits of occupying a hegemonic position among men. Some directions in which the research field might develop are suggested, including greater attention to postcolonial perspectives in psychology. Public Significance Statement Research on men and masculinities has value for education, health work, counseling, and public policy. For this knowledge to be most effective, careful conceptualization and links with other fields of knowledge are needed. This article reviews all the research about hegemonic masculinity published in Psychology of Men & Masculinities, brings together its findings, corrects some misunderstandings, and suggests useful directions for the future.

An Eye Opening Experience: A Critical Turning Point in the Life of a Young Woman with a Visual Impairment

by Russell Shuttleworth and Nikki Wedgwood

Journal of Social Inclusion, 4(1): 5-23, 2013 http://www104.griffith.edu.au/index.php/inclusion/article/view/249

Research on social inclusion often focuses on social exclusion. However, in order to gain greater... more Research on social inclusion often focuses on social exclusion. However, in order to gain greater insights into ways to facilitate social change, it is equally important to research the social inclusion of those normally excluded. Indeed, while one important purpose of studying disabilism is to catalogue and critique all its forms, another critical purpose is to better understand how disabilism can be resisted and/or ameliorated at individual and/or societal levels. Thus, it is equally important to understand when, why and how disabilism does not negatively impact the lives of people with impairments as well as when it does. This paper presents a single case study of Lynette, a young woman with a severe visual impairment who has a life- Journal of Social Inclusion, 4(1), 2013 6 changing experience in an inclusive environment. In particular, it explores the impact of exclusive and inclusive contexts on Lynette's identity development as she transitions to adulthood. By juxtaposing Lynette's experiences of exclusion with those of inclusion, it highlights contexts in which there is a critical mass of people with impairments living alongside able-bodied people as a possible antecedent/impetus for greater social inclusion of people with impairments in society more generally.

An Eye Opening Experience: A Critical Turning Point in the Life of a Young Woman with a Severe Visual Impairment

Journal of Social Inclusion 4(1) 2013, Aug 2013

Research on social inclusion often focuses on social exclusion. However, in order to gain greater... more Research on social inclusion often focuses on social exclusion. However, in order to gain greater insights into ways to facilitate social change, it is equally important to research the social inclusion of those normally excluded. Indeed, while one important purpose of studying disabilism is to catalogue and critique all its forms, another critical purpose is to better understand how disabilism can be resisted and/or ameliorated at individual and/or societal levels. Thus, it is equally important to understand when, why and how disabilism does not negatively impact the lives of people with impairments as well as when it does. This paper presents a single case study of Lynette, a young woman with a severe visual impairment who has a life-changing experience in an inclusive environment. In particular, it explores the impact of exclusive and inclusive contexts on Lynette’s identity development as she transitions to adulthood. By juxtaposing Lynette’s experiences of exclusion with those of inclusion, it highlights contexts in which there is a critical mass of people with impairments living alongside able-bodied people as a possible antecedent/impetus for greater social inclusion of people with impairments in society more generally.

Wedgwood, N. (2014). Hahn vs Guttman: Revisiting 'Sports and the Political Movement of Disabled Persons’. Disability & Society, 29(1): 129-142.

Wedgwood, N. (15 Nov 2013). “My biggest disability is I’m a male!” The role of sport in negotiating the dilemma of disabled masculinity’. In J. Hargreaves and E. Andersen (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Sport, Gender and Sexuality. London: Routledge.

By providing training in the embodiment of masculine ideals, sport is one of the primary practice... more By providing training in the embodiment of masculine ideals, sport is one of the primary practices in which young men construct their gender identities. The particular importance of sport in masculinity construction is that ‘[w]hat it means to be masculine is, quite literally, to embody force, to embody competence’ (Connell, 1983: 27). Sport thus ritually celebrates physical abilities as well as male superiority. Men with impairments embody a contradiction between dominant forms of masculinity (skilful, powerful) and impairment (reduced physical abilities/power). The participation in sport by men with impairments highlights this contradiction, thus can provide important insights into how this ‘dilemma of disabled masculinity’ (Shuttleworth, Wedgwood and Wilson 2012) is negotiated. This chapter adds to the nascent research on masculinity, disability and sport, which thus far has focused on adult men, despite the fact that adolescence is a critical and formative phase of gender identity development. Through the use of life history case studies of three adolescent men with a range of impairments—congenital and acquired, mild to moderate— it considers the impact of both able-bodied and disability-specific sport on their lives, not just as a physical activity but as a powerful social institution. In particular, it explores whether playing sport is a form of cultural capital in the construction of a masculine identity for young men with impairments.

The Dilemma of Disabled Masculinity

A much-cited point by those who study the intersection of gender and disability is that masculini... more A much-cited point by those who study the intersection of gender and disability is that masculinity and disability are in conflict with each other because disability is associated with being dependent and helpless whereas masculinity is associated with being powerful and autonomous, thus creating a lived and embodied dilemma for disabled men. This article maps and critically evaluates the conceptual development of this dilemma of disabled masculinity, tracing how several developments in the fields of disability studies and the critical study of men and masculinities have shaped sociological understandings of disabled masculinity. We suggest that, while social science scholarship has increasingly moved beyond a static understanding and toward a dynamic view of the articulation and interaction between masculinity and disability, there are nevertheless several problems that require attention. The most critical issue conceptually is that the focus of study has been more on masculinity and how it intersects with ‘disability’ as an almost generic category, rather than on how masculinity (or masculinities) intersect(s) differently with various types of impairment. Thus, though there is quite a bit of research on the dilemma of disabled masculinity for men who acquire a physical impairment post-childhood and for groups of men with diverse impairments studied as if they were a homogenous group, less research has been conducted with men who have specific impairments, particularly early-onset, intellectual or degenerative impairments. In this paper we urge researchers to open up the concept of intersectionality to accommodate a range of differences in bodily, cognitive, intellectual and behavioral types (impairments) in their interaction with various masculinities and to show more explicitly how context and life phase contribute to this dynamism.

A Person with Abilities: The Transition to Adulthood of a Young Woman with a Severe Physical Impairment

Whilst it is one thing to say disablism negatively impacts the lives and well-being of people wit... more Whilst it is one thing to say disablism negatively impacts the lives and well-being of people with impairments, it is another altogether to tease out how this happens in everyday life. This article explores the potential of combining sociological theories
and method with a psychosocial framework as an interdisciplinary approach to studying the transitional experiences of people with impairments. Using a single life history case study of Ella, a young woman with a severe physical impairment, it clearly illustrates that the impact of disablism on transition is contextual and mediated by a combination of socio-historical factors. It highlights, in particular,
the constant tension between agency and structure—revealing that Ella’s levels of personal agency to challenge or undermine disablism varied from one social context to another and from one life phase to the next.

Can anybody play? An introduction to the sociology of sport and disability.

Sir Ludwig Guttman—pioneer of the use of sport in the physical, psychological and social rehabili... more Sir Ludwig Guttman—pioneer of the use of sport in the physical, psychological and social rehabilitation of people with spinal cord injuries—believed competition with able-bodied sportspeople would create a better understanding between the disabled and able-bodied and help the disabled in their social reintegration. Thus, from its earliest days disability sport has been credited with promoting the social inclusion of people with impairments into able-bodied society. Yet, the Paralympic movement (of which Guttman was a founding father), has ironically always been separate from, or at most parallel to, able-bodied sport. Thus sport is not necessarily socially inclusive – it can also be alienating, excluding and disabling. This is because sport is not just a physical activity but is also a powerful social institution. Sport(s) arise out of specific social and historical contexts, thus are often developed in accordance with the interests of dominant social groups and thereby reproduce broad social structures like gender, ethnicity, class and ableism. In the case of the Paralympics, this was primarily the medical profession, rather than the disability rights movement or disability athletes themselves. Though wartime politics and economics also played a defining role, the Paralympic Movement was profoundly shaped by its origins as a form of rehabilitation within the medical model of disability, with a long history of top-down, paternalistic rule, beginning with Guttman. Though sport ritually celebrates physical abilities (as well as male superiority) and thus is imbued with ableism, the sporting arena can also be the site of subversion, challenges or resistance to unequal power relations and even simultaneous reproduction and resistance, thus sports are deeply contradictory and also have the potential to transform culture. The broad question then, for sports sociologists and sports providers alike, is: In what ways does sport reproduce and/or challenge ableism? With this question in mind, and based on the premise that in many ways a sociological understanding of sport is far more powerful in the hands (or minds) of sports providers than that of sociologists, this chapter looks at the role of sport in the lives, not just of the minority of youth with impairments who play sport, but also the majority who do not. In the process it will briefly introduce some sociological concepts including: embodiment, governmentality, medical and social models of disability and hegemonic masculinity. The chapter is organised around several themes – social inclusion, gender and the body/empowerment – and concludes with a consideration of some of the implications for physical educators.

Can anybody play? An introduction to the sociology of sport and disability.

Sir Ludwig Guttman—pioneer of the use of sport in the physical, psychological and social rehabili... more Sir Ludwig Guttman—pioneer of the use of sport in the physical, psychological and social rehabilitation of people with spinal cord injuries—believed competition with able-bodied sportspeople would create a better understanding between the disabled and able-bodied and help the disabled in their social reintegration. Thus, from its earliest days disability sport has been credited with promoting the social inclusion of people with impairments into able-bodied society. Yet, the Paralympic movement (of which Guttman was a founding father), has ironically always been separate from, or at most parallel to, able-bodied sport. Thus sport is not necessarily socially inclusive – it can also be alienating, excluding and disabling. This is because sport is not just a physical activity but is also a powerful social institution. Sport(s) arise out of specific social and historical contexts, thus are often developed in accordance with the interests of dominant social groups and thereby reproduce broad social structures like gender, ethnicity, class and ableism. In the case of the Paralympics, this was primarily the medical profession, rather than the disability rights movement or disability athletes themselves. Though wartime politics and economics also played a defining role, the Paralympic Movement was profoundly shaped by its origins as a form of rehabilitation within the medical model of disability, with a long history of top-down, paternalistic rule, beginning with Guttman. Though sport ritually celebrates physical abilities (as well as male superiority) and thus is imbued with ableism, the sporting arena can also be the site of subversion, challenges or resistance to unequal power relations and even simultaneous reproduction and resistance, thus sports are deeply contradictory and also have the potential to transform culture. The broad question then, for sports sociologists and sports providers alike, is: In what ways does sport reproduce and/or challenge ableism? With this question in mind, and based on the premise that in many ways a sociological understanding of sport is far more powerful in the hands (or minds) of sports providers than that of sociologists, this chapter looks at the role of sport in the lives, not just of the minority of youth with impairments who play sport, but also the majority who do not. In the process it will briefly introduce some sociological concepts including: embodiment, governmentality, medical and social models of disability and hegemonic masculinity. The chapter is organised around several themes – social inclusion, gender and the body/empowerment – and concludes with a consideration of some of the implications for physical educators.

Doin It for Themselves! A Case Study of the Development of a Women's Australian Rules Football Competition

Women have wanted to play Australian Rules football throughout the game’s history, yet given it r... more Women have wanted to play Australian Rules football throughout the game’s history, yet given it ritually celebrates male superiority, few have actually played the game. This paper looks at the socio-historical circumstances leading to the eventual establishment of a women’s league, based on media coverage and interviews with current and former members. By focusing on their association with two men’s football organizations – one that helped them get started, and the other that allowed them to use their men’s clubs as home bases for their women’s teams – it also explores the extent to which playing a male-dominated game means having to play on male-defined terms.

Just one of the boys? A life history case study of a male physical education teacher

Studies of physical education teacher training have already established that hegemonic forms of m... more Studies of physical education teacher training have already established that hegemonic forms of masculinity are reinforced and reproduced both in the hidden curriculum (Flintoff, 1997) and the informal student culture (Skelton, 1993). Given this, an important feminist concern is whether male PE teachers whose own masculine identities are anchored in their athletic prowess simply ‘teach’ their young male charges to construct hegemonic forms of masculinity through PE and school sport and/or whether they necessarily marginalize and inferiorize female students. This paper provides a life history case study of a male PE teacher’s role both in reproducing and challenging gendered norms in his capacity as coach of a schoolboy and schoolgirl Australian Rules football team.

Aussie Rules! Schoolboy football and masculine embodiment

… Australian Masculinities. Melbourne: Pluto Press, S, Jan 1, 2003

Kicking like a boy: schoolgirl Australian rules football and bi-gendered female embodiment.

Sociology of Sport Journal, Jan 1, 2004

Männlichkeitsforschung: Männer und Männlichkeiten im internationalen Forschungskontext

Handbuch Frauen-und …, Jan 1, 2008

... geschlechtstypische Machtverhältnisse – auch körperlich in Gestalt bestimmter Gesundheitsprob... more

For the Love of Football

Journal of Sport & Social Issues, Jan 1, 2008

The sexual attraction of some women specifically to sportsmen is such a taken-for-granted and com... more The sexual attraction of some women specifically to sportsmen is such a taken-for-granted and commonplace phenomenon in Western society it receives little academic attention. This article first examines the handful of studies that have considered the relationship between heterosexual desire and Australian Rules footballers. Second, it reviews the few sociological studies of the groupies and wives of elite sportsmen. The article concludes that the social construction of sexual desire is an important but neglected element of the reproduction of the gender order. It is suggested that the concept cathexis may provide a useful conceptual framework for illuminating the ways in which women's heterosexual desires affect the maintenance, reproduction, and/or subversion of the existing gender order. F or many years, I have been fascinated by the sexual attraction of some women specifically to men who play Australian Rules football-a full-contact sport that, like gridiron in the United States and ice hockey in Canada, is culturally exalted as epitomizing hegemonic masculinity. I have known women who went to pubs and nightclubs frequented by professional footballers in the hope of meeting and dating them. One young woman, whose father had been an elite footballer, confessed she could not go out with a man unless he played football. After years of trying, she eventually met a semiprofessional player and developed an unsatisfactory relationship in which he made it clear that she came second to football and was not actually his girlfriend because he did not have time for a relationship. A woman in her 50s and married to an ex-footballer told me she finds a man much more sexually attractive, that his cheekbones even look higher, when she knows he is a footballer. Her daughter, now in her 30s, had for many years been unsuccessfully seeking to meet (and hopefully marry) an elite footballer. A university friend in conversation with a group of young women at a social function asked one, "What do you do?" (enquiring after her occupation), and the young woman replied collectively for the group, "We all go out with Panthers" (Panthers is a pseudonym for a team in Australia's premier football competition). More recently, when studying a high school boys'Australian Rules team, I observed a small number of "groupies" who regularly attended home matches dressed alluringly and taking more interest in the players than the actual games (Wedgwood, 2003, p. 198). Yet the sexual attraction of some women specifically to sportsmen is such a taken-for-granted and commonplace

Connell's theory of masculinity - its origins and influences on the study of gender

Journal of Gender Studies, Jan 1, 2009

Far From Ideal: Everyday experiences of parents and teachers negotiating an inclusive early childhood experience in the Australian context’. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education. 28, 1: 18-30.

Topics in Early …, Jan 1, 2008

Teenage Girls' Perceptions of Participation in Sport: A Research Project

The Transition of Adolescents with Chronic Health Conditions from Paediatric to Adult Services

We Have Contact!: Women, Girls and Boys Playing Australian Rules Football: Combat Sports, Gendered Embodiment and the Gender Order