The arena of masculinity : sports, homosexuality, and the meaning of sex
Brian Pronger (Author)
"Sports are perhaps the most visible expression of the ideals of masculinity in our society, and figure as a training ground on which young boys are taught what it means to be a man. Given the involvement of sports with masculinity, the homosexual athlete becomes a paradox, and the recent explosive growth of gay sporting leagues, a cultural puzzle. Pronger explores the paradoxical position of the gay athlete in a straight sporting world, examines the homoerotic undercurrent subliminally present in the masculine struggle of sports, and explicates the growth of gay sports in the framework of the developing gay culture."--Back cover
Print Book, English, 1990
First edition View all formats and editions
St. Martin's Press, New York, 1990
xii, 305 pages, 48 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm
9780312050535, 0312050534
21558869
Eros
Gender
Orthodoxy: the heterosexual myth
The homoerotic paradox
The social construction of homosexuality
The triad of gay sensibility: de-emphasis, irony, change
Athletic allure
The meaning of fucking
Desiring men
Power play
Muscles
The jock strap
Image-making
Sport and the homoerotic paradox: looking, hard-ons, responding
Gay culture: shared sensibilities, fem, camp, butch, gay culture in gay sports, gay pride and the gay games, the ghetto
Integrity and coming out of hiding
Who's who: the gay gaze
Integration