ABSTRACT
In 2005, I was invited to speak to several dozen radio sports personalities and shock jocks about my book, In the Game: Gay Athletes and the Cult of Masculinity. One morning I was talking to Deter, an on-air radio personality from a city far from the liberal comfort of Los Angeles or London, where I split my time. Deter looks like a typical sports fan. His attire is sloppy, and other than an emerging belly, he looks like he once ran track, or maybe hit a ball of some sorts. Deter tells me that he is intrigued with my research on the changing nature of heterosexual masculinities and the decreased gay-male phobia I fi nd in competitive teamsport environments. Like every sportscaster on whose show I appear, he is clear to preface that he has no problems with gay men, or gay athletes by extension (cf. Nylund 2007). But of the dozens of sportscasters who interviewed me about my research during that autumn, Deter stands out because he tells me that he has several gay friends. He even tells me that he is a staunch supporter of gay rights. After a few minutes of off-air conversation however, Deter says, “My on-air personality is quite different.” Deter informs me that he is known for his brash, brazen and (much to my surprise) homophobic on-air sentiment. “It’s an act,” he says. And, just a minute before we go on air, he asks if I’m willing to “roll with it.”
