Submission Date

4-26-2025

Document Type

Paper

Department

Sociology

Second Department

Anthropology

Adviser

Catherine Van de Ruit

Second Adviser

Andrea Kauffman-Berry

Committee Member

Catherine Van de Ruit

Committee Member

Lauren Wynne

Department Chair

Lauren Wynne

External Reviewer

Jeffrey Montez de Oca

Distinguished Honors

This paper has met the requirements for Distinguished Honors.

Project Description

Women’s wrestling continues to grow at the high school level, with more young girls joining the sport each year. Yet, as more women join wrestling, a heavily masculine sport, questions about gender preintimation on women’s teams arise. This study asks three questions about the role of gender on women’s teams: 1) Does an individual’s gender identity, in a heavily gendered sport like wrestling, factor into the development of team culture? 2) What, if any, forms of gendered socialization emerge as women enter wrestling? 3) In what way are women socialized because of their gender? Data was gathered via interviews, in which female and male wrestlers from club and varsity teams were repeatedly interviewed. Participants were asked about their experiences in wrestling, their self-perception as athletes, and their difficulties during their wrestling careers. The results indicate that varsity women use misogynistic jokes and male coded language to display their masculinity. In doing so, the varsity women perform dominance which is the basis of wrestling.

Download

Share

COinS