Rugby madness and the social sciences

I was in Edinburgh this weekend visiting a friend, and I hadn’t realized the rugby was on. It was a Scotland v Wales match, and apparently it was pretty important. Full disclosure: I don’t care about rugby at all. I can appreciate the game though when I’m in the actual city it’s being played in and surrounded by all the insane fans.

Being in town for the rugby got me thinking about all kinds of issues though. There was a lot of thishappening in town...

Welsh rugby fan in the streets of Edinburgh

Most rugby fans and players I know tend to display some interesting behaviors that could be looked at from an anthropological sense. I started to look into the history of rugby and its origins as a ball game whose rules were solidified by the seven UK public schools. I was going to write a summary of this history, but I was too bored by it- sorry.

I was interested by the idea of rugby as a sport that defines masculinity through displays like controlled violence, the sport-alcohol nexus, and other aspects of gender performance. I know that lots of women play rugby as well, and I’m sure they wouldn’t agree that it is just a masculine sport in any way. Most sports share the same merited values such as courage, integrity, composure, mental fitness and physical fitness, which the participating athletes aim to achieve.

In light of my experiences this weekend, I was quite curious to see what social scientific analysis had been done on masculinity, rugby, and gender roles. In light of the recent focus in the UK on the need to encourage women in sports, I thought I’d highlight some interesting articles I read on the subject of sports and gender.

*Eric Dunning (1986). ‘Sport as a Male Preserve: Notes on the Social Sources of Masculine Identity and its Transformations’. Theory, Culture & Society. 3: 79-90.

*Melissa A. Fallon and LaRae M. Jome (2007). ‘An Exploration of Gender-Role Expectations and Conflict among Women Rugby Players’. Psychology of Women Quarterly. 31: 311-321.

*Catherine Palmer (2011). ‘Key Themes and Research Agendas in the Sport-Alcohol Nexus’. Journal of Sport and Social Issues. 35: 168-185.