Perceptions of Masculinity among Male Varsity Rugby Players at Queen’s

Abstract

Existing literature on the topic of sport and masculinity has suggested that male varsity athletes model more hegemonic masculine norms (Messner, 2002). In fact, athletic participation has been found to be a predictor of misogynistic and homophobic attitudes (Steinfeldt et al., 2011). It has been argued that these attitudes are further enforced by the fact that the social power possessed by male athletes receives institutional support, which can in turn influence the social and sexual cultures on university campuses (Sanday, 2007). Contact team sports have a reputation for reinforcing hegemonic masculinity more than other sports do (Messner, 2002). Rugby is a particularly aggressive and male-dominated sport (Maxwell & Visek, 2009), however the majority of studies on varsity athletics and masculinity use data from American colleges and focus on contact sports that are historically more prominent in North America such as football and hockey (Steinfeldt et al., 2011; Messner, 2002; Boeringer, 1996). I hope to add to the existing body of research by focusing exclusively on rugby at a Canadian University. To do so, I will conduct interviews with 5 men who are current players on the Queen’s varsity rugby team. I will perform a content analysis on the transcripts of the interviews to assess how male varsity rugby players at Queen’s University understand and express masculinity. I intend to distribute my findings to Queen’s athletic administrators and rugby coaching staff. The findings may contribute to leadership training that addresses gender issues in athletics at Queen’s.