A New Spin on Gender: How Parents of Male Baton Twirlers (Un)Do Gender Essentialism

in Sociology of Sport Journal
Trenton M. Haltom*,1
View More View Less
  • 1 University of Nebraska-Lincoln
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.2019-0077
First Published Online:
21 Apr 2020
In Print:
Volume 37: Issue 4
Page Range:
283–290
Restricted access

Purchase article

USD  $24.95

Student 1 year online subscription

USD  $67.00

1 year online subscription

USD  $89.00

Student 2 year online subscription

USD  $126.00

2 year online subscription

USD  $169.00
Subscribe to this Journal

  • Purchase article

    USD  $24.95

  • Student 1 year online subscription

    USD  $67.00

  • 1 year online subscription

    USD  $89.00

  • Student 2 year online subscription

    USD  $126.00

  • 2 year online subscription

    USD  $169.00

Families and sports are spaces for “doing” and “undoing” gender. The author presents qualitative interviews with 30 American men who recall their parents’ involvement in the gender atypical sport of baton twirling. The author analyzes the data using “doing” and “undoing” gender as well as “hard” and “soft” essentialism frameworks. Mothers are often supportive of their sons’ twirling, contributing to “undoing” gender and relaxing “soft essentialism.” Fathers do not see baton twirling as a normative pathway to manhood or masculinity, thus reinforcing “hard essentialism.” Fathers often take on an absentee role in their sons’ twirling. In rare cases, fathers “do” gender by reformulating their sons’ twirling into a more recognizable sport. Findings consider how parents navigate gender when sons cross gendered boundaries in sports and the consequences for gender inequality.

The author is with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.

Address author correspondence to Trenton M. Haltom at tmhaltom@huskers.unl.edu.

Sociology of Sport Journal

Cover Sociology of Sport Journal

  • Adams, M.L. (2011). Artistic impressions: Figure skating, masculinity, and the limits of sport. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press.

  • Bemiller, M. (2005). Men who cheer. Sociological Focus, 38(3), 205–222. doi:10.1080/00380237.2005.10571266

  • Blakemore, J.E.O., & Hill, C.A. (2008). The child gender socialization scale: A measure to compare traditional and feminist parents. Sex Roles, 58(3–4), 192–207. doi:10.1007/s11199-007-9333-y

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Butler, J. (2004). Undoing gender. New York, NY: Routledge.

  • Charmaz, K. (2014). Constructing grounded theory (2nd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.

  • Chimot, C.C., & Louveau, C.C. (2010). Becoming a man while playing a female sport: The construction of masculine identity in boys doing rhythmic gymnastics. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 45, 436–456. doi:10.1177/1012690210373844

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Connell, R.W. (1987). Gender and power. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

  • Connell, R.W. (2005). Masculinities (2nd ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press.

  • Creswell, J.W., & Poth, C.N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). New York, NY: Sage.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Deutsch, F.M. (2007). Undoing gender. Gender & Society, 21(1), 106–127. doi:10.1177/0891243206293577

  • Eitzen, D.S. (2016). Fair and foul: Beyond the myths and paradoxes of sport. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

  • Endendijk, J.J., Groeneveld, M.G., van der Pol, L.D., van Berkel, S.R., Hallers-Haalboom, E.T., Mesman, J., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M.J. (2014). Boys don’t play with dolls: Mothers’ and fathers’ gender talk during picture book reading. Parenting Science and Practice, 14(3–4), 141–161. doi:10.1080/15295192.2014.972753

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Fenstermaker, S., & West, C. (2002). Doing gender, doing difference: Inequality, power, and institutional change. New York, NY: Routledge.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Fredricks, J.A., & Eccles, J.S. (2005). Family socialization, gender, and sport motivation and involvement. Sport Psychology, 27, 3–31.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Grindstaff, L., & West, E. (2006). Cheerleading and the gendered politics of sport. Social Problems, 53(4), 500–518. doi:10.1525/sp.2006.53.4.500

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Haltom, T.M. (2019). Give us a twirl: Male baton twirlers’ embodied resistance in a feminized terrain. In C. Bobel & S. Kwan (Eds.), Body battlegrounds: Transgressions, tensions, and transformations. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Haraway, D. (1988). Situated knowledges: The science question in feminism and the privilege of partial perspective. Feminist Studies, 14(3), 575–599. doi:10.2307/3178066

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hayoz, C., Klostermann, C., Schmid, J., Schlesinger, T., & Nagel, S. (2019). Intergenerational transfer of a sports-related lifestyle within the family. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 54(2), 182–198. doi:10.1177/1012690217702525

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hindsley, M.H. (1940). Band pageantry. Music Educators Journal, 27(3), 17–18, 62–63.

  • Idle, T., Wood, E., & Desmarais, S. (1993). Gender role socialization in toy play situations: Mother and father with their sons and daughters. Sex Roles, 28(11/12), 679–691. doi:10.1007/BF00289987

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Jackson, C. (1998). Women as leaders of collegiate bands, 1850–1980. College Music Symposium, 38, 118–125.

  • Jacobs, J.A. (1996). Gender inequality and higher education. Annual Review of Sociology, 22, 153–185. doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.22.1.153

  • Kane, E.W. (2006). “No way my boys are going to be like that!” Parents’ responses to children’s gender nonconformity. Gender & Society, 20(2), 149–176. doi:10.1177/0891243205284276

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • McHale, S.M., Crouter, A.C., & Whiteman, S.D. (2003). The family contexts of gender development in childhood and adolescence. Social Development, 12(1), 125–148. doi:10.1111/1467-9507.00225

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Mennesson, C. (2009). Being a man in dance: Socialization modes and gender identities. Sport in Society, 12(2), 174–195. doi:10.1080/17430430802590979

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Merriam, S.B., & Tisdell, E.J. (2016). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Messner, M.A. (1992). Power at play: Sports and the problem of masculinity. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

  • Messner, M.A. (2009). It’s all for the kids: Gender, families, and youth sports. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

  • Messner, M.A. (2011). Gender ideologies, youth sports, and the production of soft essentialism. Sociology of Sport Journal, 28, 151–170. doi:10.1123/ssj.28.2.151

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Piedra, J. (2017). Masculinity and rhythmic gymnastics: An exploration on the transgression of gender order in sport. Masculinities and Social Change, 6(3), 288–303. doi:10.17583/mcs.2017.2733

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Pronger, B. (1990). The arena of masculinity: Sports, homosexuality, and the meaning of sex. London, UK: GMP Publishers LTD.

  • Pugh, A. (2013). What good are interviews for thinking about culture? Demystifying interpretive analysis. American Journal of Cultural Sociology, 1(1), 42–68. doi:10.1057/ajcs.2012.4

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Risman, B.J. (2009). From doing to undoing: Gender as we know it. Gender & Society, 23(1), 81–84. doi:10.1177/0891243208326874

  • Robison, N.L. (1980). Baton twirling. New York, NY: Harvey House.

  • Sartell, D. (1965). Who’s who in baton twirling 1965. Janesville, WI.

  • Schrock, D., & Schwalbe, M. (2009). Men, masculinity, and manhood acts. Annual Review of Sociology, 35, 277–295. doi:10.1146/annurev-soc-070308-115933

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Scott, J., & Alwin, D. (1998). Retrospective versus prospective measurement of life histories in longitudinal research. In J.Z. Giele & G.H. Elder Jr. (Eds.), Methods of life course research: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • West, C., & Zimmerman, D.H. (1987). Doing gender. Gender & Society, 1(2), 125–151. doi:10.1177/0891243287001002002

  • Wheeler, S. (2012). The significance of family culture for sports participation. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 47(2), 235–252. doi:10.1177/1012690211403196

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Wheeler, S., & Green, K. (2014). Parenting in relation to children’s sports participation: Generational changes and potential implications. Leisure Studies, 33(3), 267–284. doi:10.1080/02614367.2012.707227

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • World Baton Twirling Federation. (2018). Membership countries. Retrieved from https://www.wbtf.org/Membership/Countries.

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 963 404 19
Full Text Views 114 35 0
PDF Downloads 73 37 0