Modernization and decline were matters of intense debate and concern in the Britain of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Among the many strands that made up the debate were the issues of gender and masculinity. This article examines them by means of a close reading of texts taken from the often-overlooked field of creative writing and film. In both the novel and film of This Sporting Life, attention is turned to questions of sporting heroism, social class and change, and, particularly, male-female relationships. The texts reveal a radical perspective on the problems of British society, seeing sport and the social and cultural conditions that sustain it as a conservative force to be confronted in the drive to modernize.
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