This Sporting Life: The intersection of hegemonic masculinities, space and emotions among rugby players

Abstract

Through an ethnographic study of rugby players, this research shows how when men enter a physical space, they are bound by codes that define what sort of masculinities and emotions they ‘should' perform in order to denote cultural legitimacy. The article investigates how different spaces on and off the rugby field influence how different masculinities are performed. Rugby players enact fleeting and relative masculinities as they move in and out of the multiple hyper‐masculine spaces they encounter on game day. The codes of masculinity dictated by these different spaces are manifest in the men's bodies and in their emotions.