‘We wear dresses,we look pretty’: The feminization and heterosexualization of netball spaces and bodies

Abstract

Since its introduction in New Zealand during the early 20th century, netball has been considered ‘unambiguously for women’ and it continues to represent one of the few team sport environments not characterized by the interests and participation of men. Yet, despite a long history as the ‘good game for girls’, there is an ongoing and complex relationship between netball and heteronormative femininity in New Zealand that has gone largely unexplored among contemporary studies of sport. In this paper, I take inspiration from French philosopher and social theorist Henri Lefebvre’s theory of the production of space in order to examine this relationship, and particularly the geography of social relations in netball. Drawing upon insights obtained via historical and media analysis, observations and interviews with 16 women players, I demonstrate how netball is (re)produced as feminized and heterosexualized space, and thus, how this sport works to inscribe women’s moving bodies with a dominant, normative and culturally valued version of femininity. To conclude, I discuss how the findings of this paper and Lefebvre’s spatial theory may be useful for thinking further about the gendered nature of this sport and women’s everyday lived experiences.