"Barbie Dolls" on the Pitch: Identity Work, Defensive Othering, and Inequality in Women's Rugby

Abstract

This paper analyzes strategies used by women in a collegiate, male-defined sport (rugby) to deal with identity dilemmas. Players challenged conventional notions of passive femininity through tough play, yet encountered sexist and homophobic stigma from outsiders. Rather than resisting and rejecting the power of this stigma, they engaged in defensive othering—subordinates distancing themselves from other subordinates and reinforcing the legitimacy of a devalued identity in the process. Specifically, the women identified with dominants, engaged in normative identification, and propped up dominants. Their identity work resulted in a "heterosexy-fit" identity that ultimately reinforced heterosexism and gender inequality.

gender, identity, othering, sport, inequality