Abstract
New emerging sports such as snowboarding reflect the possibility for a range of femininities and masculinities to be embodied by participants and in so doing have the potential to be more egalitarian that traditional sports. This article draws on a study conducted on snowboarding to extend the body of knowledge relating to female experiences of sport by focusing on the ways in which gendered performances are negotiated through the practice of ‘jibbing’ to suggest the ways in which such ‘new sports’ may facilitate participation based on factors other than gender. It explored how men and women negotiate the use of snow for jibbing, how this practice reflects wider understandings of gender in sport generally and in new and emerging sports specifically. The study adopted Butler’s notion of gender performativity to evaluate the ways in which participants adopted repetitive acts the ‘performance’ of both girl and boy jibber. Findings suggest male participants often employ paternalistic ways of regulating female participation; ‘performing’ girl jibber is seen as less skilful than boy jibber, reinforcing male dominance on the snow. It was also found that while jibbing provides opportunities for women to participate, this was often in the apprentice or protege role. Jibbing does have a criterion for acceptance, albeit covert, which ultimately works to exclude some participants. In jibbing, however, this was not based on gender.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 239-252 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Asia-Pacific Journal of Health, Sport and Physical Education |
Volume | 3 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Nov 2012 |
Keywords
- gender inequality
- new sports
- jibbing
- snowboarding
- performativity