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Rugby has traditionally existed as a leading definer of masculinity in British culture, which has included overt homophobia. However, cultural attitudes toward homosexuality have improved rapidly in the 21st century. To assess the impact of wider societal change on gay rugby teams, we employed a multiple methods investigation across five gay rugby teams in England. Results show that, whereas athletes once played for these teams to escape homophobia in broader rugby culture, this is no longer true. Affiliation with gay clubs is now primarily for social purposes, and gay rugby clubs now protect the physical safety of gay men from being less prepared to play the game, whereas before it was safety from homophobia. This research shows that gay rugby clubs have undergone an organizational shift in response to the increased social acceptance of sexual minorities.

This article develops a theoretical framework to understand how sexuality can be institutionalised through debates about marriage equality. We first examine 13 Australian sporting organisations concerning their support for marriage equality and sexual minority inclusion before showing they drew cultural capital from supporting episodes of equality exogenous to their organisation, while failing to promote internal inclusion. We use online content analysis alongside the identification of institutional speech acts within policy to analyse results through three conceptual lenses: Ahmed’s (2006) institutional diversity work, Ogburn’s (1922) cultural lag, and Evan’s (1966) organisational lag, from which we propose a hybrid, Organisational Cultural Lag, as a theoretical tool within social movement theory.

Diversity and representation in sport governing bodies has become an issue for both public discussion and academic debate in recent times. Previous work has primarily centered on gender inequalities within the forever changing masculine terrain of sport. However, no work has yet examined the representation and participation of young people in the decision-making structures of sporting bodies. This paper holds up England’s Rugby Union for organizational analysis, using the notion of homologous reproduction as a heuristic framework. In doing so, it explores the reproduction of this governing body for the systematic exclusion of young people in decision-making processes over the last few decades. This framework is then twined with Article 11 of the United Nation’s Convention for the Rights of the Child, to make the case that the RFU desires homologous reproduction in order to avoid dealing with what youth are currently concerned with –head injuries. Given such a high proportion of rugby’s participants being under twenty-five years of age, we conclude the lack of young people within the decision-making process represents a form of willful discrimination.

This is the first research to assess the prevalence of same-sex kissing among college-attending, heterosexual men in the United States. We utilized a mixed-method study of 442 quantitative surveys and 75 in-depth interviews with participants from 11 universities in order to understand the frequency, context and meanings of same-sex kissing. We found that the prevalence of kissing on the cheek among these participants was 40%, and kissing on the lips 10%. Both types of kisses were predicted by positive attitudes toward gay men and both types of kissing were generally described as non-sexual expressions of affection. We situate these empirical results within contemporary theoretical debates about masculinities and contend that the meanings associated with heterosexual masculinity are undergoing a profound shift in U.S. culture. This trend of same-sex kissing needs further attention to fully understand these shifts and the emerging homosocial and tactile experiences of young American men.

While a number of investigations have examined how gay Muslim men view homosexuality in relation to religious Western homophobia, this research constitutes the first account of the experiences of self-identified gay men living in an African, Muslim nation, where same-sex sex is both illegal and actively persecuted. We interviewed 28 gay men living in Tunisia in order to understand how they assimilate their sexual, religious and ethnic identities within a highly homophobic culture. Utilizing notions of homoerasure and homohysteria (McCormack and Eric Anderson ,b), and examining the intersection of identity conflict and new social movement theory, we highlight four strategies that participants use to negotiate the dissonance of living with conflicting identities in a context of religious homophobia: (1) privileging their Islamic identities and rejecting homosexuality as a legitimate sexual identity; (2) rejecting Islam and accepting homosexuality as a legitimate sexual identity; (3) interpreting Islam to be supportive of homosexuality; and (4) creating a non-penetrative homosexuality to be compatible with literal Qur'anic interpretations. We discuss the multiple difficulties these men face in relation to religious intolerance and ethnic heteronormativity, and reflect upon the possibilities and obstacles of using Western identity politics towards the promotion of social justice within a framework of growing homohysteria.

There is limited research about homosociality and physical tactility between men in the early to middle decades of the twentieth century. This research utilizes 27 in-depth interviews with heterosexual British men aged between 65 and 91 in order to explore their masculinity and homosociality, then and today. Participants were interviewed about (1) their recollections of masculinity and same-sex friendships aged 18; (2) their awareness of, and attitudes towards, homosexuality at this age; and (3) their current views regarding today’s heterosexual male’s gendered behaviours, inclusive of their kissing, cuddling and loving other men. Results show that men born between 1924 and 1951 lived in absence of, or desire for, homosocial affection. Even today they look upon the display of inclusive masculinities by today’s male youth with disdain. We suggest that their antipathy towards homosociality is reflective of elevated cultural homophobia and homohysteria of their youths.

In December 2013, British Olympic diver Tom Daley announced that he had begun dating a man but was still attracted to women. In doing so he became the highest profile male athlete to disclose that he has bisexual attractions. This article provides a textual analysis of the British print media's reaction in the week after Daley's ‘coming out’ announcement and examines whether the portrayal of him is consistent with the inclusive response to gay male athletes who have come out of the closet in recent years. Results indicate almost unanimous support for Daley's decision to come out. However, highlighting the processes of bisexual erasure, much of the print media labelled Daley as gay—rather than bisexual. This article thus highlights that the print media is ostensibly supportive of male sexual minority athletes, but the evidence we present suggests that the media are simultaneously significant in erasing bisexuality as a legitimate sexual orientation. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

The present study provides the first known qualitative examination of heterosexual undergraduate men’s conceptualization and experiences of the bromance, outside research on cinematic representations. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 30 undergraduate men enrolled in one of four undergraduate sport-degree programs at one university in the United Kingdom, we find these heterosexual men to be less reliant on traditional homosocial boundaries, which have previously limited male same-sex friendships. Contrary to the repressive homosociality of the 1980s and 1990s, these men embrace a significantly more inclusive, tactile, and emotionally diverse approach to their homosocial relationships. All participants provided comparable definitions of what a bromance is and how it operates, all had at least one bromantic friend, and all suggested that bromances had more to offer than a standard friendship. Participants described a bromance as being more emotionally intimate, physically demonstrative, and based upon unrivalled trust and cohesion compared to their other friendships. Participants used their experiences with romances and familial relations as a reference point for considering the conditions of a bromance. Results support the view that declining homophobia and its internalization has had significantly positive implications for male expression and intimacy. Conclusions are made about the bromance’s potential to improve men’s mental health and social well-being because participants indicate these relationships provide a space for emotional disclosure and the discussion of potentially traumatic and sensitive issues.

This mixed-method research is the first examination of the frequency and context between straight male kisses in the United States. We utilize 442 quantitative surveys and 75 in-depth interviews among a racially diverse group of participants from 11 universities in order to understand the extend and purpose of this behavior. Overall, we found that 40% of participants had kissed another man on the cheek and 10% on the lips. Both types of kisses were generally described as non-sexual expressions of affection, occurred between friends in a range of contexts, and were predicted by positive attitudes toward gay men. Thus, we contend that same-sex kissing occurred in a greater range of contexts than previously found. We situate these findings within broader theoretical debates about masculinities and the meanings associated with heterosexual masculinity in US culture.

This study examines the practice and perception of receptive anal eroticism among 170 heterosexual undergraduate men in a US university. We analyze the social stigmas on men’s anal pleasure through the concept of homohysteria, which describes a cultural myth that the wrongdoing of gender casts homosexual suspicion onto heterosexual men. For men’s anal eroticism, this means that only gay, emasculated or gender deviant men are thought to enjoy anal pleasure. We suggest, however, that decreasing homohysteria has begun to erode this cultural ‘ban’ on anal stimulation for straight men. Our data finds self-identified straight university-aged men questioning cultural narratives that conflate anal receptivity with homosexuality and emasculation. We also show that 24 percent of our respondents have, at least once, received anal pleasure. These results suggest that cultural taboos around men’s anal pleasure may be shifting for younger men and the boundaries of straight identity expanding. We call for further research to clarify how anal erotic norms are shifting among men of different racial, geographic, socioeconomic, and age demographics, and to determine how these shifts may foster more pluralistic and inclusive views of gender and sexuality.

Following recent research evidencing that young men are redefining the essential components of what it is to be a man, this paper draws on qualitative interviews with 22 elite-level, English Premier League academy level football (soccer) players to investigate their performances and understandings of masculinity in relation to decreasing homohysteria. Even in this gender-segregated, near-total institution, these working-class, non-educationally aspiring adolescents evidence an attenuated performance of 'maleness' and improved attitudinal disposition toward homosexuality. Congruent with insights developed by inclusive masculinity scholars, respondents maintained emotional closeness and physical tactility with male teammates and friends. These more inclusive attitudes and homosocial behaviours were, however, slightly more conservative than in other recent research. We close by explaining this variation with reference to theoretical apparatus' provided by Goffman and Bourdieu to advance theoretical debates about social class and masculinities.

The research uses content analysis and inclusive masculinity theory in order to explore and explain the construction of esteemed and subjugated masculinities within the context of Australia’s National Rugby League’s (NRL) Footy Show. Results suggest that despite previous research on NRL players, which finds inclusive masculinities dominate, this television show instead attempts to construct orthodox versions of masculinity. We suggest that the Footy Show thus occupies a liminal state in regards to masculinities; attempting to portray, construct and endorse orthodox masculinities, whilst showcasing athletes that more closely align with the social trends of inclusive masculinities.

Although a considerable degree of research has examined the intersection of masculinities, sexualities and sport in the West, this is the first article to address male homosexuality in sport within a Muslim context. To analyze the intersection of sport, masculinities and homosexuality we interview Ghazi, 20, a competitive male bodybuilder in Tunisia. We utilize his narrative to illustrate the similarities and differences between the construction of stigma in both the West and that of Muslim culture in Tunisia. Primarily, we highlight the profoundly negative representation of homosexuality in Tunisia, and the broader Islamic social world, and how it affects the construction and development of masculinity for this Muslim, gay athlete. We utilize Anderson’s notion of homohysteria to help situate the relationship between the expression of femininity and social perceptions of homosexuality in Tunisian culture, comparing it to the Western zeitgeist three decades earlier.

Sport within the Muslim context, including in the location of this study, Tunisia, remains an institution designed for the promotion of a heterosexual form of masculinity and the degradation of both femininity and women's athleticism. Unlike recent advancements in the West, homosexuality remains viewed almost entirely negatively by the political, religious, and social debates in Muslim cultures. This overt hostility has almost entirely erased any visible gay culture within Muslim sports. It is within this context that this study finds importance. It represents the first-ever examination into the lives of lesbian Muslim athletes, in either a Muslim majority or non-majority state. Conducted on three lesbian athletes living in the Islamic country of Tunisia, we show that each is out of the closet to varying degrees but that homophobia within their sports-even on majority lesbian teams-remains rife. We discuss the coping strategies these athletes invoke to negotiate their sexual orientation in this highly homophobic nation and homohysteric sporting culture.

This research uses 30 interviews with sport-based employers in the United Kingdom to examine how men’s teamsport participation reproduces men’s advantage in sport-related occupations during hiring for sport employment positions. Not only does formalized gender segregation in sport provide men with vital social networks less attainable to women, but teamsport competition experience, through gendered notions of what counts as ‘teamwork’, being a ‘team player’, and ‘leadership qualities’, also provides an illusory image of employment competency implicitly gendered as masculine. Results illustrate how men’s privilege of ‘teamsport hegemony’ occurs at the moment of social reproduction through expectations of social role congruity in leadership as well as how patterns of gender segregation within sport contribute to occupational segregation impeding women’s equality. We offer policy prescriptions to address the problem.

On the 50th anniversary of the ISSA and IRSS, a leading international scholar on masculinities and sport, Eric Anderson, assesses developments in the field by focusing on changing masculinities and homophobia studies within the sociology of sport. Anderson reflects on how early understandings about sport’s social roles were anchored in moral panics over homosexuality in companion with the growth of industrialization. In his assessment, Anderson considers how the work of Connell and others on ‘hegemonic masculinity’ reseated thinking about masculinities and their dynamic in sporting cultures. In response to the challenges of masculinities and homophobia in sport studies, Anderson situates the development of an inclusive masculinity theory that posed that the historical situation and social factors concerning homophobia in sport were beginning to change in ways that serve to secure and broaden understandings of masculinity. Noting research centred in the Western sporting cultures and focusing on white men, Anderson sees future needs for research examining the intersection of decreasing homophobia according to race, geography, age and other confounding variables.

In 2010, this journal published an early exposition of inclusive masculinity theory. Since then, the theory has been widely adopted within both the sport and masculinities literature. Furthermore, a large number of other scholars not using the theory have also documented and labelled new masculinity types. There has also been refinement of Inclusive Masculinity Theory, alongside theoretical critiques. In this article, we provide an overview of the genesis of the theory and its refinement, before considering and responding to published and unpublished critiques of the theory. We then suggest future directions for research.

A textual analysis examined US media framing of National Basketball Association (NBA) player Jason Collins’ coming out as the first ‘active’ gay athlete in one of the four most popular US professional men’s team sport leagues. We analyzed all articles on Collins published over a four-day period in the five most circulated US newspapers and five most trafficked USA-based sport websites after he came out publicly, and then analyzed those same publications over a three-day period following his signing with and playing for the Brooklyn Nets as an openly gay player. Journalists framed Collins’ self-outing as a landmark for US sport, noting that both sport and the USA are now far more accepting of sexual minorities. The few media members and athletes who criticized Collins or homosexuality were framed as antiquated outliers. Sports journalists continued to frame Collins as a hero after he signed with the Brooklyn Nets. Upon his return to the NBA nearly 10 months after coming out, prominent African-American basketball players and Collins’ teammates with Brooklyn were quoted as equating homophobia with racism in offering their support for Collins. Overall, media framed sport as an inclusive, accepting institution for gays, countering most previous research on homosexuality in sport media.

On the world’s most utilised video-sharing social n etworking site, YouTube, Charlie McDonnell ( Charlieissocoollike ), Dan Howell ( Danisnotonfire ), and Jack and Finn Harries ( JacksGap ) are Britain’s most popular video-bloggers (vlogge rs). With more than two million regular subscribers to each of their channels, alon g with millions of casual viewers, they represent a new form of authentic online celebrity. These young men, whose YouTube careers began as teenagers, do not espouse a tradit ional form of masculinity; they are not sporty, macho, or even expressly concerned with bei ng perceived as heterosexual. Instead, they present a softer masculinity, eschewing the ho mophobia, misogyny, and aggression attributed to boys of previous generations. These b ehaviours are theorised using Anderson’s Inclusive Masculinity Theory. Drawing on analysis o f 115 video-blogs (vlogs), along with an in-depth interview with Charlie McDonnell, this art icle examines how these young men developed and exhibit their inclusive masculinities and attitudes, which we postulate are a reflection of dominant youth culture. Keywords: authenticity, celebrity, inclusive mascul inity, popularity, vlogging, YouTube

Drawing on 90 interviews with men who identify as bisexual from London, Los Angeles and New York, this article examines how bisexual men from three different age cohorts remember first experiencing bisexuality, how they sexually identify today, and how this is changing with younger groups of men. By using an innovative recruitment strategy, the majority of participants are not affiliated with bisexual community groups or counseling services. Thus, it provides insight into how bisexuals outside of these specific institutional settings feel about their sexual identities. Findings support Savin-Williams’s (2005) contention that sexual identities are becoming less central to the lives of younger generations, who use them in more pragmatic and strategic ways.

Drawing on 90 interviews with openly bisexual men from three metropolitan cities, this research explores experiences related to relationships. In using a comparative cohort research design, the authors demonstrate the presence of a generational effect, with members of the youngest cohort finding that their partners grant the greatest legitimacy to their bisexual identities. The authors also show that men of the older cohort maintained more heteronormative attitudes than men in the younger cohort, particularly concerning marriage and children. Finally, the authors find that though openly bisexual men located in three metropolitan cities were accepting of nonmonogamy for others, they were not largely practicing it themselves.

In this article, we conduct a generational study of measuring progress towards the inclusion of homosexuality in professional sport. We accomplish this by interviewing an openly gay football player, Anton Hysén, in the year 2017, using the precise same questions about the relationship between his homosexuality and sport that were asked of the first openly gay professional footballer in 1992, Justin Fashanu. We thus measure difference in attitude according to the 25 years that have elapsed between the interviews. Our results emphasize two themes: First, the near-total acceptance of being gay within professional football today, compared to 25 years ago; and second, the social praise that is levied upon today’s openly gay sportsmen, compared to the social stigma placed upon Fashanu.

This chapter provides the objections to the Bio-Amazons project. But the Bio-Amazons project is not only part of sex-equalising programme; it also expresses secular, science-based libertarian model according to which the deliberate adaptation of our biological nature is individuals' prerogative, not God's or any other worldly authorities'. The chapter focuses on potential for Bio-Amazons is increasingly necessary as science, particularly sports medicine, is advancing so fast that prospect of genetically transforming sex-related physiological traits in athletes might become a reality in a relatively near future. It also provides an answer to the criticism that genetic engineering of women athletes amounts to a misuse of medical expertise and resources, as these women are not sick but rather healthy individuals who wish to enhance their physical traits. The fact that both women and the disabled have always tried to emulate the performance standards of fully physically capable males in elite sports, speaks in favour of extending that possibility to both groups.

This chapter outlines how the foundations of football led to a culture of hostility. It shows how the last three decades has seen significant change for sexual minorities in English football. The chapter addresses multiple rationales behind the continued absence of openly gay footballers in the English Premier League. The emergence of football as an organised sport can be traced to the mid-19th century and the impact of the industrial revolution. Claims that sports like football would masculinise boys re-emerged in the 1980s, as the HIV/AIDS crisis took effect on British society. Whilst no academic research examining attitudes toward homosexuality among professional football players exists, the case of Justin Fashanu, who came out as an openly gay player in 1990, is clear evidence of homophobia in football. The experiences of Fashanu clearly reflected broader cultural attitudes toward homosexuality at the time in which he came out.

Drawing on in-depth interviews with 15 openly bisexual male youth from sixth forms across the UK, this article documents positive experiences of bisexual male youth in school: participants had positive coming out experiences and did not encounter significant discrimination or harassment because of their sexual identity. Participants attribute this to the inclusive environments of their schools and local cultures. Examining the narratives of two participants who had negative experiences, this article also highlights continued issues for bisexual youth in schools. It thus advances our understanding of contemporary bisexual lives in educational institutions, and contributes to debates about whether sixth forms are more inclusive spaces than secondary schools for bisexuals.

Generations of scholars have examined the variety of correlates of attitudes and behaviors of heterosexual men toward gay men. There has also been substantial exploration of the impact of homophobia on gay men and its gendering of heterosexual men. However, less research exists into the effects of the liberalization of sexual attitudes on these groups. In this forum, we call for scholarly engagement with a relatively new arena of masculinities studies: the impact of decreasing homophobia on socially acceptable gendered behaviors among heterosexual males in the U.S. We offer homohysteria as a concept to examine the social impact of heterosexual male’s fear of being thought gay; suggesting that homohysteria is an effective heurism for investigating micro- and macro-level processes relating homophobia to masculinity. Our thesis is that as homohysteria declines, heterosexual males are able to engage in homosocial relationships characterized by a number of positive traits, including: the social inclusion of gay male peers; the embrace of once-feminized artifacts; increased emotional intimacy; increased physical tactility; the erosion of the one-time rule of homosexuality; and a rejection of violence. We focus solely upon heterosexual males and their attitudes toward gay males because these are the demographics of the participants in the empirical research in this area. We then highlight eight key areas where further research could both develop homohysteria as a concept and enhance understanding of social life.

Homophobia and the avoidance of same-sex intimacy have traditionally been considered defining characteristics of heterosexual masculinity. They have not only subjugated gay men, but have maintained negative health implications for heterosexual men as well. However, in response to decreasing homohysteria, researchers from the United Kingdom found that 89% of British undergraduate heterosexual men have engaged in a particular type of same-sex kiss. This research seeks to examine whether this cultural shift, and corresponding homosocial intimacy, is evident among Australian undergraduate men. Among the 90 heterosexual men interviewed, 29% report having engaged in at least one same-sex kiss. Results indicate a changing relationship between the construction of Australian heteromasculinity and the avoidance of same-sex behaviours.

Much of the literature concerning sexual minorities describes various forms of social mistreatment, alongside the psychological ill effects of minority stress. However, bisexual individuals are often described as having additional burdens compared with other sexual minorities. We conceptualise the collective of these social problems as ‘bisexual burden’, and examine for it through the lived experiences of 15 openly bisexual girls (aged 16–17) from sixth form colleges throughout the UK. We show that, among this cohort, decreasing cultural stigma attached to sexual minorities results in participants being more accepted by their heterosexual and gay peers, compared to previous literature, mostly without the negative components of bisexual burden. We find that when mistreatment does occur, it does so immediately after she comes out; however, this diminishes quickly due to the cultural unacceptability of homo/biphobia in these settings.

In this research, interviews were conducted with 10 US newspaper sport journalists to gauge their experiences and attitudes toward issues and coverage of open and closeted gay men in sport, sport media, and within society. Concerning closeted athletes, most of these journalists are reluctant to report on athletes’ non-normative sexual orientation, even if that means a competitor could scoop them on a story about a major athlete being gay. Most of these reporters believe that US sport fans are ready for openly gay athletes in professional men’s team sports, but that locker rooms might be slower to adapt. Despite these progressive attitudes and more than 220 years of collective professional media experience, none of these journalists ever worked with a sports reporter who was openly gay to all of their colleagues. Therefore, it was not surprising that most believed sport journalism would be a challenging career for openly gay men, particularly if those individuals also did not conform to gender-normative notions of masculinity.

Sociologists who have examined the issue of lesbians in American sport in the 1980s and 1990s normally found overt and covert mechanisms of social discrimination. However, homophobia has been on a rapid decline over previous decades, and studies show attitudes toward female homosexuality in sport have improved since the research conducted on lesbian athletes in the mid-1990s. This article uses data collected between that epoch and current studies to analyze athletic narratives of openly lesbian team sport athletes in 2002. We find no universal pattern for the treatment of openly lesbian athletes existed in this era of decreasing homohysteria. However, as with gay men in sport at the time, athletic capital influenced who came out, and heterosexism was prominent.

Adolescent masculinity in the 1980s was marked by the need to distance oneself from the specter of “the fag.” In this homohysteric culture, compulsory heterosexuality and high rates of anti-gay sentiment necessitated that adolescent boys distance themselves from anything associated with femininity. It was this zeitgeist that brought Connell’s hegemonic masculinity theory to the vanguard of masculine studies. However, homohysteria has diminished among adolescents today. Accordingly, in this article, I foreground research extracts from multiple ethnographies on groups of 16-year-old adolescent boys in order to contextualize the repeated and consistent data I find throughout both the United States and the United Kingdom. In explaining how the diminishment of homohysteria promotes a “One-Direction” culture of inclusive and highly feminized masculinities, I suggest that new social theories are required.

Although the body images of straight and gay men have received extensive research attention, there has been little consideration of bisexual men’s perceptions of body image. In this qualitative investigation of openly bisexual men from both the United Kingdom and Australia, men discuss their perceptions of body image, masculinity and sexuality. The findings show that the ideal body described resembles the mesomorphic body image suggested to be ideal by research into both gay and straight men’s perspectives on body image. However, the participants differentiated between what they termed a ‘masculine’ body and a ‘gay’ body, with the latter being viewed as undesirable. Thus, concerning perceptions of the male body, the bisexual men in this study participate in the cultural conflation of masculinity and heterosexuality, illustrating a degree of internalised homonegativity.

This research provides the first-ever quantitative account of Brit - ish university athletes' attitudes toward having a gay male teammate. We use a four-year longitudinal study to investigate athletes' attitudes concerning gay men in their sporting spaces. Using questionnaires of 216 male athletes from all university sports offered upon entry (2006), and then again upon exiting the university (2009), we show that attitudinal dispositions of homophobia have decreased from minimal (upon entrance) to non-existent (upon exit). We find that the strength of one's athletic identity is associated with lesser degrees of support for gay teamsport athletes upon entering the university, but that this effect does not emerge upon exiting. We highlight the study's results, situating them within inclusive masculinity theory, and discuss how results might vary at other institutions.

American football has long been central to the construction of masculinity in the United States. Of the multiple masculine scripts promoting professional players’ hegemonic masculine status, sacrificing one’s body for the sake of sporting glory is a key tenet. Sport journalists have traditionally used their media platform to reify this social script, an act which simultaneously promotes their own masculine capital. However, this article investigates a crack in this hegemonic system. Through a media analysis of the reporting on Aaron Rodgers’ self-withdrawal (after hitting his head) from an important National Football League (NFL) game, we argue that increasing cultural awareness as to the devastating effects of concussions, in the form of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, combined with a softening of American masculinity is beginning to permit some prominent players to distance themselves from the self-sacrifice component of sporting masculinity. Concerning concussions, we conclude major sport media are beginning to support the notion of health over a masculine warrior narrative.

In this article we examine the masculinities of heterosexual men in English university dance club settings. We highlight that multiple influences shape perceptions of gender and sexuality—influence...

In this longitudinal ethnographic research, we report on 7 years of hazing rituals on two separate men’s sports teams at one university in the United Kingdom. Using 38 in-depth interviews alongside naturalistic observations of the initiation rituals, we demonstrate that hazing activities have changed from being centered around homophobic same-sex activities to focusing on extreme levels of alcohol consumption. We show that whereas same-sex activities once occurred paradoxically to prohibit them, today these initiations open up the possibility of same-sex behaviors for young men in the life stage of emergent adulthood.

Male teamsport athletes have traditionally been described as some of the most homophobic and femphobic men in North American culture. However, in this ethnographic research of an education-based soccer team at a small Catholic university in a rural part of Middle America, I use inclusive masculinity theory to highlight that a softer version of masculinity is in operation. I use participant observation and 22 in-depth interviews to show that these men are gay friendly, that they avoid fights, and that they use reciprocal disclosure and homosocial tactility to emotionally bond. Although the type of masculinity the men on this team exhibit retains some orthodox behaviours, it is nonetheless far removed from the traditional model of hegemonic masculinity commonly attributed to teamsport athletes found in American institutes of sport and education.

This article is constructed around a keynote address given at the Bisexual Research Convention, held in London 2010. The keynote was delivered by sociologist Eric Anderson, on behalf of himself and the other authors of this article. The keynote reflected upon a body of ongoing research, funded by the American Institute of Bisexuality and collected by this team of researchers, into the changing relationship between men and homophobia. It first contextualizes 20th-century attitudes toward homo/bisexuality before showing a declining significance of biphobia and homophobia in men's lives today. In accordance with the keynote, this article draws from preliminary findings of multiple ongoing studies of bisexual men in the United States and the United Kingdom.

In this article I report findings from interviews with 26 openly gay male athletes who came out between 2008 and 2010. I compare their experiences to those of 26 gay male athletes who came out between 2000 and 2002. The athletes in the 2010 cohort have had better experiences after coming out than those in the earlier cohort, experiencing less heterosexism and maintaining better support among their teammates. I place these results in the context of inclusive masculinity theory, suggesting that local cultures of decreased homophobia created more positive experiences for the 2010 group.