Browsing by Author "Bowley, Barbara Anne."

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Boys, sport and the construction of masculinities : an ethnographic study of sporty year-eight boys in a single-sex private school in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
(2016) Bowley, Barbara Anne.; Bhana, Deevia.
Sport in South African schools plays a vital role in the development of some boys’ masculine development and construction. The focus of this qualitative research is on year-eight boys who play sport in a single-sex private independent school in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This study investigates the influential role that sport plays in the social construction of their young masculinities. It is an ethnographic study conducted in 2012 and early 2013 in which I gained information and insight into the lives of the boys and the social factors that influenced the construction of their gendered masculine identities. Information and data for this study is generated from a year and a half long participant observation as well as interviews with the boys. With sport being an integral part of how they construct themselves, the purpose of this study is to examine in detail how they use sport to create masculine identities. During the complex construction of these masculine identities, the boys in this research battle with issues of race, class and sexuality; all of which are intertwined in their construction. I argue that there is a hierarchy of masculinities and a pecking order of power relations and those who do not meet the hegemonic (dominant) ideal are relegated to the position of subordinate ‘other’. The key question for this research that I have addressed is how boys come to invest in sport in schools and in what ways these decisions impact on their masculine identities. The boys’ peer group has a powerful influence in the formation of their masculinity so how the boys are seen by their peers and seniors is of enormous importance. They carefully choose and participate in certain sports that will bestow social status, gain acknowledgement and as a result, attain power among their peers. The study found that while sport afforded the boys a certain hierarchy within the broader context of the school community, these boys also competed amongst themselves to create a hierarchy within the dominant group of sporty boys to gain power over one another. I draw on critical masculinity studies and race theories and use social constructionist perspectives to provide an understanding of their investment in sport and how the socially constructed nature of masculinity is affected by their investment in sport. While the official practices of the school are to encourage participation in sport and much of the focus in South Africa is about encouraging sports, this research argues that the meanings that these boys ascribe to sport is gendered, racialised and sexualised. viii The findings show that the body plays an important role in the aspirations of a dominant masculine identity. The boys were consciously aware of the limitations of the body but also understood that the body is an integral part of the construction of masculinity. Homophobic taunts and put downs were used by the boys as symbolic markers to assert their heterosexual positions, gain power and reinforce their positions of dominance. The interviews reveal a number of footholds for understanding the importance that sport plays in the lives of these boys and more importantly, the ways in which sport and masculine power intertwine and become integral to the success of boyhood. Ethnographic research also shows that while sport is an area of unity and cohesiveness, amongst these boys sport is also an area of exclusion and marginalisation. Despite the importance that sport plays in many boys’ lives and the fact that sport may act as structures to create positive masculinities, this study reveals that sport is also an area where many boys become isolated and rejected.
Constructions of masculinity among young sporty boys : the case of KwaZulu-Natal Preparatory School's first rugby team.
(2007) Bowley, Barbara Anne.; Morrell, Robert Graham.
This study is an analysis of the manner in which preparatory school boys construct their masculinities through the sport of rugby. The study is based on interviews with the entire First XV rugby team of Connaught Prep School. Sport and rugby in particular are seen as an important cog in the masculinity-making process for men but this is also true for young boys. Rugby in South Africa is regarded as a sport that real men play. Historically played primarily by white men, it remains a marker of hegemonic masculinity. In their involvement in the Connaught Prep.s First XV, boys affirm the importance of the sport, act out the values associated with the sport and display the skills required to play the sport successfully. The thesis argues that sport, and in particular, rugby, is a central feature of boys. constructions of masculinity. Due to the physical nature of rugby and the hype that surrounds and the support that is given to the sport, it has become part of the hegemonic culture of boys at Connaught Prep School. But hegemonic masculinity is not fixed; it is contested and changes. The 1st XV rugby team and its members are an important part of the process that gives content to the masculinity that is hegemonic at Connaught Preparatory. The boys try and live up to the ideals of masculinity that they see on television, hear from and see in their fathers and find in other boys. In selecting a set of sporty values, these boys perpetuate rugby as the preferred sport and a rugged school boy masculinity as the hegemonic made gender identity of the school. While the 1st rugby team try to aspire to the ideal hegemonic masculinity at the school, they cannot meet the ideal rugby masculinity and this renders them vulnerable. They are vulnerable to physical injury and also to the humiliation of heavy losses against rival teams. Susceptible to these conditions makes their construction of masculinity a delicate and fragile situation to be in. While the boys contribute to hegemonic masculinity they also, at times, undermine it by contributing to a counter hegemonic masculinity. These are the boys that stress playing sport for fun (rather than winning), are caring, and develop friendships through the sport. The findings of this study, brings to light the importance of sport in the development of a young boys. masculinity and the vulnerable and fragile situation these boys find themselves in as a result.