Download or read book Boxing Masculinity and Identity written by Kath Woodward and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2006-11-10 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Boxing is infused with ideas about masculinity, power, race and social class, and as such is an ideal lens through which social scientists can examine key modern themes. In addition, its inherent contradictions of extreme violence and beauty and of discipline and excess have long been a source of inspiration for writers and film makers. Essential reading for anyone interested in the sociology of sport and cultural representations of gender, Boxing, Masculinity and Identity brings together ethnographic research with material from film, literature and journalism. Through this combination of theoretical insight and cultural awareness, Woodward explores the social constructs around boxing and our experience and understanding of central issues including: masculinity mind, body and the construction of identity spectacle and performance: tensions between the public and private person boxing on film: the role of cultural representations in building identities methodologies: issues of authenticity and ‘truth’ in social science.
Download or read book Boxing Masculinity and Identity written by Kath Woodward and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2006-11-10 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Boxing is infused with ideas about masculinity, power, race and social class, and as such is an ideal lens through which social scientists can examine key modern themes. In addition, its inherent contradictions of extreme violence and beauty and of discipline and excess have long been a source of inspiration for writers and film makers. Essential reading for anyone interested in the sociology of sport and cultural representations of gender, Boxing, Masculinity and Identity brings together ethnographic research with material from film, literature and journalism. Through this combination of theoretical insight and cultural awareness, Woodward explores the social constructs around boxing and our experience and understanding of central issues including: masculinity mind, body and the construction of identity spectacle and performance: tensions between the public and private person boxing on film: the role of cultural representations in building identities methodologies: issues of authenticity and ‘truth’ in social science.
Download or read book A History of Boxing in Mexico written by Stephen D. Allen and published by University of New Mexico Press. This book was released on 2017-09-15 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The violent sport of boxing shaped and was shaped by notions of Mexican national identity during the twentieth century. This book reveals how boxing and boxers became sources of national pride and sparked debates on what it meant to be Mexican, masculine, and modern. The success of world-champion Mexican boxers played a key role in the rise of Los Angeles as the center of pugilistic activity in the United States. This international success made the fighters potent symbols of a Mexican culture that was cosmopolitan, nationalist, and masculine. With research in archives on both sides of the border, the author uses their life stories to trace the history and meaning of Mexican boxing.
Download or read book Prizefighting and Civilization written by David C. LaFevor and published by University of New Mexico Press. This book was released on 2020-05-01 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Prizefighting and Civilization: A Cultural History of Boxing, Race, and Masculinity in Mexico and Cuba, 1840–1940, historian David C. LaFevor traces the history of pugilism in Mexico and Cuba from its controversial beginnings in the mid-nineteenth century through its exponential rise in popularity during the early twentieth century. A divisive subculture that was both a profitable blood sport and a contentious public spectacle, boxing provides a unique vantage point from which LaFevor examines the deeper historical evolution of national identity, everyday normative concepts of masculinity and race, and an expanding and democratizing public sphere in both Mexico and Cuba, the United States’ closest Latin American neighbors. Prizefighting and Civilization explores the processes by which boxing—once considered an outlandish purveyor of low culture—evolved into a nationalized pillar of popular culture, a point of pride that transcends gender, race, and class.
Download or read book Amateur written by Thomas Page McBee and published by Scribner. This book was released on 2019-05-14 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction *Shortlisted for the Lambda Literary Award in Transgender Memoir/Biography *Shortlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize One of The Times UK’s Best Memoirs of 2018, BuzzFeed’s Best Nonfiction of 2018, Autostraddle’s Best LGBT Books of 2018, Book Riot’s Best Queer Books of 2018, and 52 Insight’s Favorite Nonfiction Books of 2018 A “no-holds-barred examination of masculinity” (BuzzFeed) and violence from award-winning author Thomas Page McBee. In this “refreshing and radical” (The Guardian) narrative, Thomas McBee, a trans man, sets out to uncover what makes a man—and what being a “good” man even means—through his experience training for and fighting in a charity boxing match at Madison Square Garden. A self-described “amateur” at masculinity, McBee embarks on a wide-ranging exploration of gender in society, examining sexism, toxic masculinity, and privilege. As he questions the limitations of gender roles and the roots of masculine aggression, he finds intimacy, hope, and even love in the experience of boxing and in his role as a man in the world. Despite personal history and cultural expectations, “Amateur is a reminder that the individual can still come forward and fight” (The A.V. Club). “Sharp and precise, open and honest,” (Women’s Review of Books), McBee’s writing asks questions “relevant to all people, trans or not” (New York Newsday). Through interviews with experts in neuroscience, sociology, and critical race theory, he constructs a deft and thoughtful examination of the role of men in contemporary society. Amateur is a graceful and uncompromising look at gender by a fearless, fiercely honest writer.
Download or read book Fighting for a Gender ed Identity written by Travis D. Satterlund and published by . This book was released on 2018-06-28 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fighting for a Gender[ed] Identity is an ethnographic exploration into the increasingly popular world of white collar boxing. Travis Satterlund, a sociologist, spent over a year and a half researching a boxing gym and its participants, toiling alongside gym members, learning the boxing trade, sweating and enjoying the doses of macho from banging heads with fellow pugilists. He learned how to throw a variety of punch combinations; how to defend and parry punches; how to take a punch; he learned of the hard work, commitment, and dedication necessary to become even an average boxer; and, most importantly, he learned about the culture of KO Gym and its members. While expecting to find a gym filled with young, working-class, non-white menlike he saw on television and in movieshe was surprised when he initially arrived at KO Gym. Though there were indeed diverse, young men at the gym who trained seriously for competitions, the place was also filled with white menboth young and middle-agedwho were also training. Moreover, there were a couple of women training, and the two trainers were white, one of whom was a woman. This countered his expectations and piqued his interest. Satterlund wanted to learn about these mostly white boxers that he would later learn were almost entirely middle to upper middle-class. What brought them to the gym? What did they get out of it? Sociologically, what was happening? This book reveals that gym members used the cultural meanings associated with boxing as resources to construct boxing as an activity from which they could derive gendered identity rewards. As such, Satterlund shows how authenticity of the gym was socially constructed to meet these identity rewards and also to resolve these dilemmas. Moreover, while most of the men at the gym had secure middle-class jobs, these jobs were not the primary basis for their feelings of self-worth, especially in relation to their identity as men. In essence, then, the boxing gym offered a means for the men to compensate for their inability to signify power, control, and toughness in their professional lives. Women also sought identity rewards from boxing and had reasons to want to signify masculine qualities. For them, too, boxing was a way to signify agency and strength. Yet, they also faced dilemmas in seeking to distance themselves from other feminine women without being viewed as too masculine. At the same time, however, social class complicated matters considerably, creating other issues for both the men and the women. Satterlund thus uses the context of KO Gym and its membership to analyze the many nuances of these gender identity-related issues, focusing not only on how social class both disrupts and facilitates how a gendered space is created, but how gender inequalities are created, maintained and reproduced in white collar boxing.
Download or read book Fighting for a Gender ed Identity written by Travis D. Satterlund and published by Nova Science Publishers. This book was released on 2017 with total page 115 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Author Biography: Travis Satterlund, PhD, JD, is a sociologist with expertise in qualitative research methods. As a NIAAA Ruth L. Kirschstein post-doctoral research fellow at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health, he studied prevention science, research ethics, and methodological and analysis strategies. Dr. Satterlund has been the lead researcher on a number of state and federally funded grants, and has published extensively in peer-reviewed scholarly journals in the field of sociology, public health, and law, including articles in Preventing Chronic Disease, Sociological Perspectives, and Tobacco Control. Dr. Satterlund has also published a book on public school students' rights in the wake of the safe school movement, and teaches sociology courses at Columbia College. Book Description: Fighting for a Gender[ed] Identity is an ethnographic exploration into the increasingly popular world of "white collar" boxing. Travis Satterlund, a sociologist, spent over a year and a half researching a boxing gym and its participants, toiling alongside gym members, learning the boxing trade, sweating and enjoying the doses of macho from banging heads with fellow pugilists. He learned how to throw a variety of punch combinations; how to defend and parry punches; how to "take" a punch; he learned of the hard work, commitment, and dedication necessary to become even an average boxer; and, most importantly, he learned about the culture of KO Gym and its members. While expecting to find a gym filled with young, working-class, non-white men--like he saw on television and in movies--he was surprised when he initially arrived at KO Gym. Though there were indeed diverse, young men at the gym who trained seriously for competitions, the place was also filled with white men--both young and middle-aged--who were also training. Moreover, there were a couple of women training, and the two trainers were white, one of whom was a woman. This countered his expectations and piqued his interest. Satterlund wanted to learn about these mostly white boxers that he would later learn were almost entirely middle to upper middle-class. What brought them to the gym? What did they get out of it? Sociologically, what was happening? This book reveals that gym members used the cultural meanings associated with boxing as resources to construct boxing as an activity from which they could derive gendered identity rewards. As such, Satterlund shows how authenticity of the gym was socially constructed to meet these identity rewards and also to resolve these dilemmas. Moreover, while most of the men at the gym had secure middle-class jobs, these jobs were not the primary basis for their feelings of self-worth, especially in relation to their identity as "men." In essence, then, the boxing gym offered a means for the men to compensate for their inability to signify power, control, and toughness in their professional lives. Women also sought identity rewards from boxing and had reasons to want to signify masculine qualities. For them, too, boxing was a way to signify agency and strength. Yet, they also faced dilemmas in seeking to distance themselves from other "feminine" women without being viewed as too masculine. At the same time, however, social class complicated matters considerably, creating other issues for both the men and the women. Satterlund thus uses the context of KO Gym and its membership to analyze the many nuances of these gender identity-related issues, focusing not only on how social class both disrupts and facilitates how a gendered space is created, but how gender inequalities are created, maintained and reproduced in white collar boxing. Target Audience: Academic libraries, Sociology of Sport courses, Sociology of Gender courses, Men and Masculinities courses
Download or read book Contesting Identities written by Aaron Baker and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Publisher's description: Since the earliest days of the silent era, American filmmakers have been drawn to the visual spectacles of sports and their compelling narratives of conflict, triumph, and individual achievement. In Contesting Identities Aaron Baker examines how these cinematic representations of sports and athletes have evolved over time--from The Pinch Hitter and Buster Keaton's College to White Men Can't Jump, Jerry Maguire, and Girlfight. He focuses on how identities have been constructed and transcended in American society since the early twentieth century. Whether depicting team or individual sports, these films return to that most American of themes, the master narrative of self-reliance. Baker shows that even as sports films tackle socially constructed identities such as class, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and gender, they ultimately underscore transcendence of these identities through self-reliance. In addition to discussing the genre's recurring dramatic tropes, from the populist prizefighter to the hot-headed rebel to the "manly" female athlete, Baker also looks at the social and cinematic impacts of real-life sports figures from Jackie Robinson and Babe Didrikson Zaharias to Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan.
Download or read book Fat City written by Leonard Gardner and published by New York Review of Books. This book was released on 2015-09-08 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fat City is a vivid novel of allegiance and defeat, of the potent promise of the good life and the desperation and drink that waylay those whom it eludes. Stockton, California is the setting: the Lido Gym, the Hotel Coma, Main Street lunchrooms and dingy bars, days like long twilights in houses obscured by untrimmed shrubs and black walnut trees. When two men meet in the ring -- the retired boxer Billy Tully and the newcomer Ernie Munger - their brief bout sets into motion their hidden fates, initiating young Ernie into the company of men and luring Tully back into training. In a dispassionate and composed voice, Gardner narrates their swings of fortune, and the plodding optimism of their manager Ruben Luna, as he watches the most promising boys one by one succumb to some undefined weakness; still, "There was always someone who wanted to fight."
Download or read book Boxing written by Kasia Boddy and published by Reaktion Books. This book was released on 2013-06-01 with total page 644 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout history, potters, sculptors, painters, poets, novelists, cartoonists, song-writers, photographers, and filmmakers have recorded and tried to make sense of boxing. From Daniel Mendoza to Mike Tyson, boxers have embodied and enacted our anxieties about race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. In her encyclopedic investigation of the shifting social, political, and cultural resonances of this most visceral of sports, Kasia Boddy throws new light on an elemental struggle for dominance whose weapons are nothing more than fists. Looking afresh at everything from neoclassical sculpture to hip-hop lyrics, Boddy explores the ways in which the history of boxing has intersected with the history of mass media. Boddy pulls no punches, looking to the work of such diverse figures as Henry Fielding and Spike Lee, Charlie Chaplin and Philip Roth, James Joyce and Mae West, Bertolt Brecht and Charles Dickens in an all-encompassing study that tells us just how and why boxing has mattered so much to so many.
Download or read book Big Little Man written by Alex Tizon and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2014 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A journalist presents an intimate assessment of the mythology, experience, and psyche of the Asian-American male that traces his own experiences as an immigrant under the constraints of American cultural stereotypes.
Download or read book The Criminology of Boxing Violence and Desistance written by Jump, Deborah and published by Policy Press. This book was released on 2020-04-01 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Can the boxing gym be recognised as an effective space for supporting desistance? Exploring the psychosocial manifestations of boxing, this enlightening study reviews conflicting evidence to determine boxing’s place in the criminal justice system. Drawing upon the empirical insights, with case studies of participants’ backgrounds and their motivations for taking up the sport, Jump measures the value of the discipline, as well as the respect and fraternity that some claim boxing provides for young men. This is a perceptive addition to the debate about sport’s role in criminal desistance that delves deep into themes of masculinity and violence.
Download or read book Man Alive written by Thomas Page McBee and published by Canongate Books. This book was released on 2017-05-25 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If he is to become a man, what sort of man should Thomas Page McBee be? To find out, McBee must confront the suffering he has endured at the hands of men: the abuse he endured as a child from his father, and the violent mugging which almost killed him as an adult. Standing at the brink of the life-changing decision to transition from female to male, McBee seeks to understand these examples of flawed manhood, and reclaim his body on his own terms. Powerful, uplifting and profound, Man Alive is a story about transformation; about freedom, and love, and finding the strength to rebuild ourselves as the people we are meant to be.
Download or read book Fairest written by Meredith Talusan and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-05-26 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Finalist for the 2021 Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Nonfiction "Talusan sails past the conventions of trans and immigrant memoirs." --The New York Times Book Review "A ball of light hurled into the dark undertow of migration and survival." --Ocean Vuong, author of On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous A singular, beautifully written coming-of-age memoir of a Filipino boy with albinism whose story travels from an immigrant childhood to Harvard to a gender transition and illuminates the illusions of race, disability, and gender Fairest is a memoir about a precocious boy with albinism, a "sun child" from a rural Philippine village, who would grow up to become a woman in America. Coping with the strain of parental neglect and the elusive promise of U.S. citizenship, Talusan found childhood comfort from her devoted grandmother, a grounding force as she was treated by others with special preference or public curiosity. As an immigrant to the United States, Talusan came to be perceived as white. An academic scholarship to Harvard provided access to elite circles of privilege but required Talusan to navigate through the complex spheres of race, class, sexuality, and her place within the gay community. She emerged as an artist and an activist questioning the boundaries of gender. Talusan realized she did not want to be confined to a prescribed role as a man, and transitioned to become a woman, despite the risk of losing a man she deeply loved. Throughout her journey, Talusan shares poignant and powerful episodes of desirability and love that will remind readers of works such as Call Me By Your Name and Giovanni's Room. Her evocative reflections will shift our own perceptions of love, identity, gender, and the fairness of life.
Download or read book The Pussycat of Prizefighting written by Andrew M. Kaye and published by University of Georgia Press. This book was released on 2007-04-01 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1926, Atlanta's Theodore “Tiger” Flowers became the first African-American boxer to win the world middleweight title. The next year, he was dead. More than an account of Flowers's remarkable achievements, the book is a penetrating analysis of the cultural and historical currents that defined the terms of Flowers's success. Through the prism of prizefighting, the author reveals the personal cost African-Americans faced as they attempted to earn black respect while escaping white hostility.
Download or read book Seconds Out written by Alison Dean and published by Coach House Books. This book was released on 2021-05-25 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kicking ass and taking notes—what it’s like to be a woman in the ring. Alison Dean teaches English literature. She also punches people. Hard. But despite several amateur fights under her belt, she knows she will never be taken as seriously as a male boxer. “You punch like a girl” still isn’t a compliment — women aren’t supposed to choose to participate in violence. Her unique perspective as a 30-something university lecturer turned amateur fighter allows Dean to articulately and with great insight delve into the ways martial arts can change a person’s — and particularly a woman’s — relationship to their body and to the world around them, and at the same time considers the ways in which women might change martial arts. Combining historical research, anecdotal experience, and interviews with coaches and fighters, Seconds Out explores our culture’s relationship with violence, and particularly with violence practiced by women. "An important addition to women’s martial arts scholarship, Dean provides personal insight into the radical space women occupy in sport fighting. Seconds Out is a must-read for all fighters looking for mentors in the complicated world of martial arts." —L.A. Jennings, author of Mixed Martial Arts: A History from Ancient Fighting Sports to the UFC "Dean brings a fresh new female voice to the topic of combat sports." —Trevor Wittman, renowned MMA trainer, UFC analyst, and founder of ONX Sports "Trained in the discipline and art of both fighting and literature, Dean combines both with style. She honors the fighters, writers, and historians who have come before her and definitively ends the idea of women fighters as a novelty. Seconds Out is a must-read for anyone who feels the call of the bell and reverence for a good fight." —Sue Jaye Johnson
Download or read book Fight Sports and American Masculinity written by Christopher David Thrasher and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2015-06-14 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout America's past, some men have feared the descent of their gender into effeminacy, and turned their eyes to the ring in hopes of salvation. This work explains how the dominant fight sports in the United States have changed over time in response to broad shifts in American culture and ideals of manhood, and presents a narrative of American history as seen from the bars, gyms, stadiums and living rooms of the heartland. Ordinary Americans were the agents who supported and participated in fight sports and determined its vision of masculinity. This work counters the economic determinism prevalent in studies of American fight sports, which overemphasize profit as the driving force in the popularization of these sports. The author also disputes previous scholarship's domestic focus, with an appreciation of how American fight sports are connected to the rest of the world.
