Boyhood, Organized Sports, and the Construction of Masculinities
Author(s)
Messner, Michael
Abstract
Based on in-depth interviews with 30 male () former athletes of differing race and class, feminist theories of the social construction of gender are used to explore the relationship between the construction of masculine identity and boyhood participation in organized sports. Family, peer group, and community relationships are examined as key contexts within which young Ms become committed to athletic careers. It is argued that organized sports are initially experienced as a context in which Ms seek non-intimate connection with others. Yet the competitive, hierarchical structure of athletic careers encourages young Ms to develop a sense of “conditional self-worth,” and ultimately exacerbates their already existing internalized ambivalence toward intimacy with others. It is concluded that similarities and differences in the construction of masculinities through athletic careers demonstrate an elective affinity between personality and social structure – i.e., between their masculine identities under construction and sport as a gendered institution
