‘Guys don’t whale away at the women’: etiquette and gender relations in contemporary mixed-doubles tennis

Abstract

This article examines recent developments in etiquette in contemporary mixed-doubles tennis (MDT), to position different behavioural expectations for men/women in the broader context of shifting gender relations. Content analysis of coaching guides published from the 1960–1980s revealed that historically rooted gender distinctions in terms of court positioning, tactics, and playing roles/expectations were reaffirmed, continuing to undermine and marginalize females yet privilege males based on assumed innate differences in physical attributes. Etiquette norms in this era were compared to those found in the early twenty-first century (2000–2010s), through content analysis of online forums/blogs for recreational and elite-level MDT. It was found that while gendered tactics related to court positioning and playing roles were sustained, an important shift in etiquette norms related to chivalry occurred, but was not comprehensively accepted among all players. This development was attributed to third-wave feminist challenges to male chivalry, alongside the burgeoning ‘crisis of masculinity’ that increasingly pushed men towards adopting a ‘hybridized masculinity’ to assuage public critiques of hegemonic/orthodox masculinity in sport.