Amplifying joy: celebrating the queerness of women's sport

Erica V. Bennett and Vikki Krane

Chapter 16 in Reimagining the Gendering of Sport, 2025, pp 188-205 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: How is it that queer athletes on women's teams are publicly coming out and more visible than ever, while there is also continued homonegativism in many sport contexts? This is the paradox of women's sport today. Through a queer feminist lens, we discuss historic queer resistance and homonegativism in women's sport. We then explore contemporary spaces for openly queer athletes. While queer joy sensibilities are on display, much research continues to focus on the role of homonegativism. A primary focus on discrimination, however, limits our understanding of the complexities and breadth of experiences, from the languishing to thriving of queer athletes. We show how adopting queer joy sensibilities when examining queer experiences in women's sport makes space for counter stories of queerness to emerge, thereby creating opportunities to move through sport spaces in affirming ways. With queer joy, women's sport athletes circumvent heteronormativity, manage oppression, and reclaim agency of their identities and experiences. Ultimately, queer joy guides us to a reimagined sport world where embracing sexual and gender difference is the norm.

Keywords: Queer joy; Queer athletes; Lesbian athletes; LGBTQ; Women's sport; Homonegativism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035310203
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