Eric Anderson PhD

* Forthcoming Articles are not yet accessible, but all other articles can be downloaded here.

Forthcoming.  Inclusive Masculinities of University Soccer Players in the American Midwest

Gender and Education

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.

Forthcoming.  Homosexuality and Sport: Exploring the Influence of Coming out to the Teammates of a Small, Midwestern Catholic College Soccer Team

Sport, Education and Society

Despite decreasing homophobia, openly gay male athletes are still rare in organized, competitive teamsports (Anderson 2005). In this action research, we explore two aspects of homosexuality and sport: 1) the effect of a gay male soccer player coming out to his teammates; and 2) the effect of having an openly gay researcher in the field. This is therefore the first-ever first-hand account of an athlete’s coming-out process with researchers in the field. Even though this is action research and therefore not generalisable, we highlight that this research contributes to the body of literature on sexuality and sport because we document the interactions of straight athletes with a gay player and a gay researcher among the heterosexual players at a small, Catholic college in the American Midwest. We use interviews to show that players were accepting of homosexuality before the beginning of this research, and show that discussions with these two gay men further promoted players’ perspectives on homosexuality. This led to an increase in the team’s social cohesion and a decrease in heteronormativity.

2011. Male Team Sport Hazing Initiations in a Culture of Decreasing Homohysteria

Journal of Adolescent Research

2011.  The Decreasing Significance of Stigma in the Lives of Bisexual Men

Journal of Bisexuality

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 paper. 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 and, 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 both the United States and the United Kingdom.

2011.  Masculinities and Sexualities in Sport and Physical Cultures: Three Decades of Evolving Research

Journal of Homosexuality

This article traces the foundation of the study between sport and physical cultures, masculinities and sexualities; principally by examining the homophobic zeitgeist by which the academic discipline was formed. I show that the intense homophobia of the mid 1980s waned throughout the 1990s, and that during the new millennium, researchers found more inclusive forms of heterosexuality. Indeed, research on masculinities and homophobia today shows that even in the traditionally conservative institution of sport, matters have shifted dramatically. This has resulted not only in improved conditions for sexual minorities, but it has also promoted a culture of softer, more tactile and emotional forms of heterosexual masculinities. These studies, alongside those within this special edition, highlight the necessity of developing new ways of theorizing the changing dynamics between masculinities, sexualities and physical cultures in the next decade. 

2011.  Updating the Outcome: Gay Athletes, Straight Teams, and Coming Out at the End of the Decade

Gender & Society

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 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.

To listen to a special podcast  interview with Eric Anderson about this article, produced by Gender & Society, click here.

2011. “Aren't We All a Little Bisexual?”: The Recognition of Bisexuality in an Unlikely Place

Journal of Bisexuality

The hypermasculine subculture of men’s teamsports has traditionally been characterized by the one-time rule of homosexuality, where one same-sex sexual experience is normally equated with a homosexual orientation. Thus, men have been polarized into sexual identity categories, erasing bisexuality as a legitimate or viable category of sexual identification. However, in this research we examine the perspectives on bisexuality among 60 male soccer players from three strategically selected U.S. universities, showing that these athletes accept bisexuality as a legitimate and non-stigmatized sexual identity. We find that they intellectualize an understanding of bisexuality in highly complex ways. We also highlight that while only a very small minority have engaged in same-sex sexual behaviors, at some level, most players recognize some degree of bisexuality in their own identities. We suggest that these results are a product of increased exposure to and contact with homosexual persons, leading to decreasing cultural homohysteria, finally resulting in increasingly open discussion and complex understanding of sexual behaviors and identities that were once erased or stigmatized in men’s teamsport culture. 

2011.  "I Kiss Them Because I Love Them": The Emergence of Heterosexual Men Kissing in British Institutes of Education

Archives of Sexual Behavior 

In this article, we combined data from 145 interviews and three ethnographic investigations of heterosexual male students in the U.K. from multiple educational settings. Our results indicate that 89%have, at somepoint, kissed another male on the lips which they reported as being non-sexual: a means of expressing platonic affection among heterosexual friends. Moreover, 37% also reported engaging in sustained same-sex kissing, something they construed as non-sexual and non-homosexual. Although the students in our study understood that this type of kissing remains somewhat culturally symbolized as a taboo sexual behavior, they nonetheless reconstructed it, making it compatible with heteromasculinity by recoding it as homosocial. We hypothesize that both these types of kissing behaviors are increasingly permissible due to rapidly decreasing levels of cultural homophobia. Furthermore, we argue that there has been a loosening of the restricted physical and emotional boundaries of traditional heteromasculinity in these educational settings, something which may also gradually assist in the erosion of prevailing heterosexual hegemony.

2011. An Investigation of Ethnicity as a Variable Related to US Male College Athletes’ Sexual-Orientation Behaviors and Attitudes

Ethnic and Racial Studies

While most often forbidden by university policy, homophobic attitudes and intolerance of gay/lesbian athletes may still exist within intercollegiate athletic departments. Against this backdrop, this study examines attitudes toward sexual orientation from a sample of Division I & III male university athletes (N = 397) from four universities in the Southeastern United States. The study’s primary research questions are: a) Utilizing ethnicity as the independent variable, what are the sampled male athletes’ attitudes toward sexual orientations? and b) Is there a relationship between male college athletes’ ethnicity and their sexual-orientation attitudes? Using the frameworks of Social-Script and Critical-Race Theories, this article, discusses the results’ significance for university athletic administrators, faculty, and college athletes.

2010.  'It's Just Not Acceptable Any More': The Erosion of Homophobia and the Softening of Masculinity at and English Sixth Form

Sociology 

This ethnographic research interrogates the relationship between sexuality, gender and homophobia among 16-18 year old boys in a co-educational sixth form in the south of England. Framing our research with inclusive masculinity theory, we find that, unlike the elevated rates of homophobia typically described in academic literature, the boys at ‘Standard High’ espouse pro-gay attitudes and eliminate homophobic language. This inclusivity simultaneously permits an expansion of heteromasculine boundaries, so that boys are able to express physical tactility and emotional intimacy without being homosexualised by their behaviours. However, we add to inclusive masculinity theory by showing the ways in which boys continue to privilege and regulate heterosexuality in absence of homophobia: we find that heterosexual boundary maintenance continues, heterosexual identities are further consolidated, and the presumption of heterosexuality remains. Accordingly, we argue that even in inclusive cultures, it is necessary to examine for the processes of heteronormativity.

2010.  "At Least With Cheating there is an Attempt at Monogamy:" Cheating and Monogamism among Undergraduate Heterosexual Men

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 

In this qualitative research, I first use hegemony theory to describe the cultural forces that position monogamy as the only privileged form of committed sexual relationship coupling available to undergraduate heterosexual men. I then interview forty heterosexual male students for their experience with monogamy and cheating, finding that the hegemonic mechanisms of subordination and stratification that stigmatize nonmonogamy consequently result in an absence of consideration of the problems associated with monogamy. I use cognitive dissonance theory to explain participants’ desires for simultaneously wanting monogamy and nonmonogamy, calling this dissonance ‘the monogamy gap.’ Data suggest that participants who cheat do so not because of lost love, but instead cheating represents an attempt to rectify conflicting desires for monogamy and recreational sex.

2010.  Establishing and Challenging Masculinity: The Influence of Gendered Discourses in Organized Sport

Journal of Language and Social Psychology 

This study examined how coaches and players constructed and regulated masculinity in organized sport. Using participant observation, we examined the role of discourses in the construction and regulation of sporting masculinity within a semi-professional British football (soccer) team. Two predominant discourses were present: (a) masculinity establishing discourse, and (b) masculinity challenging discourse; heuristic tools to understand the use of toxic language in the construction and maintenance of masculinity. Coaches frequently used discourses that drew on narratives of war, gender, and sexuality in order to facilitate aggressive and violent responses for enhancing athletic performance. However, we also found that these discourses have limited influence beyond the playing field, highlighting the segmentation of the sporting and social identities of these players, and a loosening of the traditional and empirically-evidenced ability of sports to socialize men into narrow forms of masculinity.

2010.  Comparing the Black and Gay Male Athlete: Patterns in American Oppression

Journal of Men's Studies

In this article, we examine the political stratifications of society by race and sexuality, and the processes by which sport helps subordinate members of each group. In applying social movement theory to gay and black men in sport, we highlight the historically similar patterns of oppression levied upon each group. We develop a four stage social movement theory model that may be useful in predicting the future patterns of homophobic discrimination, as openly gay athletes gain prominence in sport. We then discuss the intersectionality of race and sexuality with respect to sporting men, and argue that further research is necessary to understand the relatedness of these two seemingly disparate categories. Finally, we issue a political call for black sports leaders to actively participate in supporting the gay liberationist project.

2010. The Reproduction of Homsexually-Themed Discourse in Educationally-Based Sport Teams

Culture, Health & Sexuality 

In this qualitative research, we use one year of participant observation and 12 in-depth interviews of the men on a highly-ranked University rugby team in England in order to nuance the theoretical understandings of the re-production of homosexually-themed discourse in organised sport. Data collected through this ethnographic investigation is used to inductively theorise the complex relationship between language, homosocial masculine relationships and organised sport. In examining the political, intentional and inadvertent effects of these men’s discourses, we define and discuss the notion of gay discourse as a form of heteronormativity that is distinct from the well-established traditional use of homophobic discourse. Highlighting that homosexually-themed discourse is best understood as a continuum, we stress the importance of context in interpreting the meaning and effect of discourse when used in men’s teamsport settings.

2010.  Intersectionality, Critical Race Theory, and American Sporting Oppression: Examining Black and Gay Male Athletes

Journal of Homosexuality 

This article examines the influence of the racial categories of white and black, and the sexual categories of gay and straight, on sporting American men. The effect of the intersection of these cultural categories is discussed by investigating the exclusion of athletes who are both black and gay, as well as highlighting the culturally perceived differences of (straight) black and (white) gay men. However, the analysis accounts for more than just difference, examining the commonalities of oppression between these discrete identity groups. We use the research on black athletes to call for further empirical study on gay athletes. It is argued that Critical Race Theory and intersectionality offer complex and nuanced understandings of these oppressions which, when theorizing is left solely to the realm of poststructuralism, can otherwise be missed.

2010. Inclusive Masculinity Theory and the Gendered Politics of Men's Rugby

Journal of Gender Studies

This ethnographic research uses one year of participant observation and 24 interviews to examine the construction of masculinity among teammembers within a highly successful rugby squad, at a high ranked academic university in England. We find that the players and coaches share a sporting field in which variations in their gendered belief systems are sharply contested. Teammates believe their coaches to be exhibiting an out-of-date, orthodox version of masculinity, and instead of adopting their coaches’ perspectives on masculinity, players take a more inclusive approach to masculinity making. The players on this team—all of whom identify as heterosexual—contest three fundamental principles of orthodox masculinity: homophobia, misogyny, and excessive risk-taking. These men do not degrade women or gay men in any measureable manner, and they are emotionally supportive of each other when ill or injured. We suggest that these results require a new way for theorizing about masculinity, and we therefore propose inclusive masculinity theory to frame our data and discuss our participants’ complicated association with the political project of adopting more inclusive attitudes toward masculinity.

2009.  John Amaechi: Changing the way Sport Reporters Examine Gay Athletes

Journal of Homosexuality

In 2007, John Amaechi became the first former National Basketball Association (NBA) player to publicly announce he was gay. Former NBA star Tim Hardaway made a series of homophobic remarks a week later. A textual analysis was used to analyze narratives on Amaechi’s revelation and/or Hardaway’s comments published in 50 international newspapers. Four dominant themes emerged from the data. While most of these themes supported narratives that gay males remain unwelcome in men’s team sports, all were challenged consistently, thus, showing the fluidity of hegemonic masculinity and the increasing societal acceptance of gays and gay lifestyles. Moreover, print media writers exhibited little homophobia and frequently called for more acceptance of asculinity and the increasing societal acceptance of gays and gay lifestyles. Moreover, print media writers exhibited little homophobia and frequently called for more acceptance of gays, particularly within sport.

2009.  The Maintenance of Masculinity among the Stakeholders of Sport

Sport Management Review

In this article, I use feminist and hegemony theorizing to explicate how sport and its ancillary organizations and occupations have managed to reproduce its masculinized nature despite the gains of second wave feminism that characterizes the broader culture. I show that contemporary sporting institutions largely originated as a political enterprise to counter the first wave of feminism, and describe how gender-segregation and self-selection permits sports’ gatekeepers to near-exclusively draw upon a relatively homogenous group of hyper-masculine, over-conforming, failed male athletes to reproduce the institution as an extremely powerful gender-regime. I suggest that, because orthodox notions of masculinity are institutionally codified within sport, it will take more than affirmative action programs to bring gender equality off the pitch; it will also require gender-integration on the pitch.

2009.  Investigation of Male College Athletes’ Attitudes toward Sexual-Orientation

Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics

Multiple studies have found homophobic cultures within intercollegiate athletic departments. Accordingly, intolerance of gay/lesbian athletes (while most often forbidden by university policy), may still exist. Many “straight” athletes feel gay/lesbian/bi-sexual (GLB) athletes do not “belong” in college sport. In addition, female sport participants are frequently assumed to be lesbians. Within this social milieu, this study surveyed 698 male and female college athletes from four Division I & III universities in a traditionally conservative region, the Southeastern United States, to determine their attitudes toward sexual orientation. The primary research questions were: (a) “What are college-athletes’ attitudes toward sexual orientation?” and (b) “Is there a significant relationship between athletes’ gender and expressed attitudes toward sexual orientation?” Specifically, this study focused on an examination and discussion of male college athletes’ attitudes toward sexual orientation. Results confirm a relationship between athletes’ gender and their sexual-orientation attitudes, specifically the existence of a higher degree of sexual prejudice among male college athletes. This research reveals that while homophobia is quickly eroding - even in the American South - there still exists a need for both expanded research of college athletes’ sexual-orientation attitudes as well as an expansion of educational programs for male college athletes, college athletic administrators and faculty, since 28% of male athlete respondents still reported being homophobic.

2008.  “Being Masculine is not about who you Sleep with…:” Heterosexual athletes contesting Masculinity and the one-time rule of homosexuality

Sex Roles

Using in-depth interviews and participant observations, I examine how two groups of heterosexual high school U.S. football players alter differently the construction of heterosexuality and masculinity after joining collegiate cheerleading. First, I show that informants from both groups make masculinity accessible to gay men before next describing how they reconcile heterosexuality with limited forms of same-sex sex. Forty-percent of the heterosexual men I interview confirm engaging in same-sex sex, although they differently frame the requirements for it. I suggest these findings have various meaning for the relationship between sexuality and masculinity, as both somewhat strengthen and contest the borders of heterosexuality and masculinity. These findings beckon consideration as to how the relationship among sport, sexuality, and homophobia is changing. 

2008.  ‘I used to think women were weak:’ Orthodox Masculinity, Gender-Segregation, and Sport

Sociological Forum

This article explores the cultural and structural forces that help influence the reproduction of sexist, misogynistic and anti-feminine attitudes among men in teamsports. It first shows how the segregation of men into a homosocial environment limits their social contact with women and fosters an oppositional masculinity that influences the reproduction of orthodox views regarding women. However, this research also shows that when these same men compete in the gender-integrated sport of cheerleading, they positively reformulate their attitudes toward women. These findings therefore suggest that gender-integrating sports might potentially decrease some of the socio-negative outcomes attributed to male teamsport athletes, possibly including violence against women.

2008.  Inclusive Masculinity in a Fraternal Setting

Men and Masculinities

This ethnographic research uses 32 in-depth interviews and two years of participant/observation on a large chapter of a national fraternity in order to examine the construction of masculinity among heterosexual men. Whereas previous studies of masculine construction maintain that most men in fraternities attempt to bolster their masculinity through the approximation of requisites of hegemonic masculinity, this research shows that there also exists a more inclusive form of masculinity institutionalized within the fraternal system: one based in social equality for gay men, respect for women, racial parity, and one in which fraternity men bond over emotional intimacy.

2006.  Using the Master’s Tools: Resisting Colonization through Colonial Sports

International Journal of the History of Sport

This ethnographic research analyzes the relationship between colonial sports and traditional Navajo culture.  It finds that while the Navajo have fully inrained colonial sports into their culture, they have not necessarily adopted the colonial meanings of individualism and dominance associated with those sports.  Sports like basketball and baseball are shown to provide the Navajo with recreation and entertainment; but most significantly, they seem to provide the opportunity to compete directly against Euro-Americans in an ostensibly equal arena. By occasionally beating white teams at their own game, this research shows that colonial sports are actually used as a form of resistance against colonial culture.  Still, this research shows that standout athletes find themselves caught between a sport that promotes superstardom and a culture that rejects it, a social location that is difficult for these athletes to navigate.

2005.  Orthodox & Inclusive Masculinity: Competing Masculinities among Heterosexual Men in a Feminized Terrain

Sociological Perspectives

Using in-depth interviews and participant observation from sixty-eight male cheerleaders and four selected cheerleading teams, this research examines the construction of masculinity among college-age heterosexual male cheerleaders. Whereas previous studies of men in feminized terrain have shown that hegemonic processes of dominance and subordination influence most men to bolster their masculinity through an approximation of orthodox masculine requisites, this research finds that heterosexual men in collegiate cheerleading today exhibit two forms of normative masculinity.  One form retains most tenets of orthodox masculine construction, while the other is shown to be more inclusive.  Men who subscribe to this inclusive form of masculinity do not respond to their transgression into feminized terrain in the same manner as has been shown in other investigations of men in feminized arenas because they are shown to accept feminine behavior and homosexuality among men.  The emergence of this more inclusive form of masculinity is attributed to many factors, including the structure of the sport, the reduction of cultural, institutional, and organizational homophobia, and the resocialization of men into a gender-integrated sport.

2002.  Gays in Sport: Contesting Hegemonic Masculinity in a Homophobic Environment

Gender & Society

This research provides the first look into the experiences of openly gay male team sport athletes on ostensibly all heterosexual teams.  Although openly gay athletes were free from physical harassment, in the absence of a formal ban against gay athletes, sport resisted their acceptance and attempted to remain a site of orthodox masculine production by creating a culture of silence surrounding gay athleticism, by segmenting their identities, and by persistently using homophobic discourse to discredit homosexuality in general.  Sports attempt to tolerate gay male athletes when they contribute to the overarching ethos of sport—winning—but try to taint the creation of a gay identity within sport that would see homosexuality and athleticism as compatible.  Still, by proving themselves successful in sport, and meeting most other mandates of hegemonic masculinity except for their sexual identity, gay male athletes show that hegemony is not seamless, and that there exists the possibility to soften hegemonic masculinity in the sporting realm.