Together with his colleague Fiona Spotswood, Martin Hurcombe is seeking contributions for the above panel which we are intending to propose for the 16th Annual Conference of the International Society for Cultural History, ‘Embodied Histories: Cultural History of, in, and through the Human Body’, to be held 4-6 September 2024, University of Potsdam, Germany.
The relationship between sporting practices and gender is well established. Much has been written, for example, about the role that team sports (and notably various football codes) played in the construction of a particularly virile form of masculinity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Other forms of sporting practices of this era, such as athletics, shooting, horse riding and gymnastics, have been considered intrinsic to the development of martial masculinity. Representational practices have been central to these attempts to define often idealised forms of masculinity; in so doing, they have also served to constrain or even prevent women’s participation in a range of sports. Thus, for example, while representations of the male sporting body might signify strength and speed, those of female sporting bodies might signify grace and elegance. Historically, many representational practices of sporting bodies have therefore tended to support an established and binary gender order, subordinating the female sporting body to a supposedly superior and idealised male counterpart. The increased visibility and participation of women in sport at all levels since the late twentieth century has begun to challenge earlier representational practices. More recently still, debates around the representation of trans and non-binary athletes in competitive sports have brought the construction and consolidation of binary gender identities through sport to the fore. Consequently, the established representational practices of the broadcast media and the press are also coming under increased scrutiny both from academics and the wider public.
This panel seeks to examine specifically how the representation of sporting bodies throughout the ages has contributed to the development and gendered understanding of particular sports cultures. The panel organisers therefore invite proposals exploring the representation of gender, its construction and/or contestation in a range of representational practices, including but not limited to: art, cinema, journalism, literature marketing, photography, print media, and social media. Proposals exploring any period of history, sport or geographic region are welcome. Proposals should be no longer than 300 words and include the paper’s title, the name of the author, their institutional affiliation and email address. Proposals for papers should be email to Professor Martin Hurcombe at m.j.hurcombe@bristol.ac.uk by Friday 17 November 2023.
Contact Information
Professor Martin Hurcombe
University of Bristol, UK
m.j.hurcombe@bristol.ac.uk
