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‘These chicks go just as hard as us!’ (Un)doing gender in a Dutch CrossFit gym

Authors :
Schrijnder, Suzanne
van Amsterdam, Noortje
McLachlan, Fiona
Organizational Culture and Change
UU LEG Research USG Public Matters
Organizational Culture and Change
UU LEG Research USG Public Matters
Source :
International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 56(3), 382. SAGE Publications Ltd
Publication Year :
2020
Publisher :
SAGE Publications, 2020.

Abstract

CrossFit is a relatively new fitness movement/sport, where women and men train together in the same space, performing the same athletic movements and gender equality is celebrated in CrossFit marketing, promoting equal opportunities for men and women. This paper explores how the much emphasized gender-equality narrative in CrossFit unfolds in gender performativity in a Dutch CrossFit gym. To this end, we draw from an ethnographic case study through which we examine the gendered narratives and bodily gestures of CrossFitters. Using Butler’s heterosexual matrix, we found that gender ideologies emerge in explicit and implicit narratives, materials and organizational structure, and embodied performances in the CrossFit gym. CrossFitters, on the one hand, explicitly challenge gender norms and create a space where women can undertake behaviour that is traditionally considered masculine. However, traditional gender norms, including heterosexual desire, are nonetheless implicitly reproduced through performances, narratives and organizational structures present in CrossFit.

Details

ISSN :
14617218 and 10126902
Volume :
56
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
International Review for the Sociology of Sport
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....9975f056bb6e367980ae8dc9b715c1a0