Boxing, Masculinity and Identity: The 'I' of the Tiger

Kath Woodward

Nov 2006 · Routledge

About this ebook

Boxing is infused with ideas about masculinity, power, race and social class, and as such is an ideal lens through which social scientists can examine key modern themes. In addition, its inherent contradictions of extreme violence and beauty and of discipline and excess have long been a source of inspiration for writers and film makers.

Essential reading for anyone interested in the sociology of sport and cultural representations of gender, Boxing, Masculinity and Identity brings together ethnographic research with material from film, literature and journalism. Through this combination of theoretical insight and cultural awareness, Woodward explores the social constructs around boxing and our experience and understanding of central issues including:

• masculinity
• mind, body and the construction of identity
• spectacle and performance: tensions between the public and private person
• boxing on film: the role of cultural representations in building identities
• methodologies: issues of authenticity and ‘truth’ in social science.

Ratings and reviews

It is not surprising that this book is available for free. Who would pay hard-earned money for such feminist drivel? This text is all about the bottomless feminist disappointment rooted in lack: its lack of being male. No matter how the author cranks out pseudo-scholarly word after word, she cannot avoid the reality that, ultimately, her book is merely a complaint about her and other women's lack of masculinity. The words, so commonly found in "women's" or "gender" studies texts, such as "hegemony," "agency," "identity," and "masculinities" (as opposed to "masculinity"), underscore the author's pitiable sense of inadequacy: when all is sad and done, she is female, rather than male. It's clear she is quite uncomfortable with that reality, but what is one to do? Depending on one's level of such discomfort and desperation, one could go into a "transgender" state, with its accompanying hormonal injections and alterations of appearance. However, doing that results in a veritable assault on femaleness and femininity, states and qualities that a reasonable person would assume feminists would wish to avoid. To get to the bottom line: read this book if you are a mindless, estrogen-poisoned, toxic female, anti-male academic feminist. If you are any sort of normal purpose, don't waste your time with it.

Universe is Very Masculine and Straight Forward

I love it

About the author

Kath Woodward is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the Open University, UK where she is also chair of the Introduction to the Social Sciences course, which has been taken by more than 60,000 students since the year 2000. Her particular research interest lies in gender identities, culture and the media.