Masculinities, Sport, and Emotions

Abstract

The aim of this exploratory study was to investigate how men understand and talk about their bodies, bodily habits, and feelings. The study was based on qualitative interviews with sixteen sportsmen, all of whom were handball players. Half of the players were on an elite team (aged twenty-five to thirty-five years), and the other half were on an old boys' team (aged thirty-five to sixty-five years). The players were very definite about how an ideal male body should be; they preferred a slim and well-trained body, with strong muscles. Training had become a necessity for many of these sportsmen, and they used physical activity as a way of handling difficult feelings. When they were together, teasing and joking was the usual way they managed embarrassing feelings, and they talked more easily with women than with men about their problems. Data are discussed in relation to what some researchers have described as men's fear of not being man enough and the theory of habitus.