ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how gender identities are negotiated and developed through sports participation. The notion of normativity is examined as a way to understand the social expectation that is placed on ‘being’ and ‘doing’ gender. The Western ideological positioning that men should be masculine and women should be feminine is scrutinised in connection with sports performance. Physical education, as a site for constructing and developing gender identities is investigated, along with the concept of consumption and surveillance. The social importance of the physical body is explored along with its symbolic and physical place in sport. This chapter provides a valuable insight into how the binary and rigid framework of sport, particularly elite sport, does not easily accommodate deviations from a subscribed normative gender identity. The chapter concludes by addressing the transformative potential of sport to address constraining policies and practices in order to be more inclusive.
