Purpose: The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual, and queer/questioning students normally occupy a marginalized and at-risk position in classes and especially in physical education. In this paper, the authors explore the ways in which queer tango can contribute to counteracting heteronormativity and opening up students to new interactions and identifications through the performance of different gender performances in Physical Education and Sport Tertiary Education. Method: A queer tango session was carried out with 111 university students (91 men and 19 women aged 19–22 years). Data were obtained from interviews, video records, and open questionnaires about the practice. Results: The findings reveal that the performance of dance roles that are contrary to the heteronormative order reinforced both heteronormativity and queer embodiments in Physical Education and Sport Tertiary Education. Conclusion: An isolated activity is not enough, and more queer pedagogical practices should be introduced in order to make meaningful changes to mainstream students’ ideology and behaviors.
This paper explores how trans people who make transitions negotiate their gendered bodies in different moments of this process, and how their narrative storylines are emplotted in physical activity and (non)organized sports (PAS) participation. A qualitative semi-structured interview-based study was developed to analyze the stories of eight trans people (three trans women, two trans men, and three nonbinary persons) who participated in PAS before and during their gender disclosure. A thematic analysis was conducted to identify the patterns in the transition process and the structural analysis of the stories from the interviews. Three transition moments (the closet, opening up, and reassuring) were identified from the thematic analysis. Most participants showed difficulties in achieving their PAS participation during the two earlier moments. The predominance of failure storylines was found particularly in men, while success was more likely to appear in women because their bodies and choices fitted better with their PAS gender ideals. The nonbinary trans persons present alternative storylines in which corporeality has less influence on their PAS experiences. The knowledge provided on the moments and the stories of transition help to explain trans people’s (non)involvement in PAS and to guide policymaking and professional action in PAS fields.
1 December 2020 in Revista Internacional de Medicina y Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte
The cultural conception of sport as a predominantly male activity has hindered the participation of some social groups such as women, transsexual or intersex people. The sexed nature of sport is based on physiological differences between women and men, and a supposed women disadvantage. Thus, sex controls are established for women and then trans and intersex people's access to sport is hampered. In this study we reconstruct, based on the regulations and the international socio-historical context, the evolution of the participation of transsexual and intersex people in contemporary competitive sport. Likewise, the application and management of these norms in the Spanish context is deepened, supported by three cases of Spanish transsexual and intersex athletes. The discrimination and humiliation suffered by these persons enforce to maintain a critical vision of the sports policies hitherto created.
Este estudo explora como um grupo de mulheres com incapacidade (n = 6) experimenta e percebe a prática da atividade física em um ginásio adaptado. Foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas como instrumento de coleta de dados qualitativos e uma análise temática indutiva. Os resultados foram agrupados em torno de quatro emergentes categorias temáticas: aptidão e autonomia pessoal; papel paliativo de exercício; bem-estar psicológico; relação social e apoio. Ele destaca a experiência bem sucedida dos participantes, que é dominada por uma avaliação positiva dos processos de autorregulação, concepção social-relacional da atividade física e a relevância do ginásio adaptado como facilitador ambiental e social.