Murray Drummond

The Natural An Autoethnography of a Masculinized Body in Sport

Stories about individual’s lives in relation to sport, and the body have intrigued me. This is due in part to my significant involvement in sport throughout my life and its central role in shaping my masculine identity. I have been particularly interested in autoethnographies as a means through which such stories are conveyed. It is the intense personal meaning that has captivated me most. I often contemplated the capacity to tell my story of a life so heavily invested in sport. The following article is an autoethnography of my body involved in elite level sport. I use a life historical approach to articulate the way in which my body became the focus of my existence within sport and how this impacted my masculine identity. This is a story about my life, and my body in sport. I invite the reader to share my story in the desire that it will elicit a similar response to those engendered in me when I am engaged with a meaningful story.

Methods and methodologies: investigating gay men's body image in Westernized cultures

In the period from 2000 to 2007, 45 peer-reviewed articles have been published regarding body image in gay men from Westernized cultures. Despite that academic focus on gay mens bodies, little attention has been paid to the methods and methodologies used to generate that knowledge. This article conducted a systematic literature review of the peer-reviewed articles published during that eight-year period so as to engage in an analysis and critique of the methods used in gay male body image research. Emergent themes from the review included the need for improved recruitment methods, the precarious role of the Internet in body image research, a need for clarity regarding the definition of homosexuality and bisexuality, a lack of longitudinal data, the need for psychometric standardization, and openness regarding methodology on the part of qualitative research. Suggestions for future research are discussed.

Homosocial intimacy among Australian undergraduate men

Homophobia and the avoidance of same-sex intimacy have traditionally been considered defining characteristics of heterosexual masculinity. They have not only subjugated gay men, but have maintained negative health implications for heterosexual men as well. However, in response to decreasing homohysteria, researchers from the United Kingdom found that 89% of British undergraduate heterosexual men have engaged in a particular type of same-sex kiss. This research seeks to examine whether this cultural shift, and corresponding homosocial intimacy, is evident among Australian undergraduate men. Among the 90 heterosexual men interviewed, 29% report having engaged in at least one same-sex kiss. Results indicate a changing relationship between the construction of Australian heteromasculinity and the avoidance of same-sex behaviours.

Men, Masculinities, and Murder-Suicide.

Murder-suicide (M-S) is a complex phenomenon that can involve a multifaceted set of interrelated biological and social factors. M-S is also sexed and gendered in that the perpetrators are most often male and their underpinning motives and actions link to masculinities in an array of diverse ways. With the overarching goal to describe connections between men, masculinities, and M-S, 296 newspaper articles describing 45 North American M-S cases were analyzed. The inductively derived findings revealed three themes: (a) domestic desperation, (b) workplace justice, and (c) school retaliation. Cases in the domestic desperation theme were characterized by the murder of a family member(s) and were often underpinned by men’s self-perceptions of failing to provide economic security. Workplace justice cases emerged from men’s grievances around paid-work, job insecurity, and perceptions of being bullied and/or marginalized by coworkers or supervisors. The school retaliation cases were strongly linked to “pay back” against individuals and/or society for the hardships endured by M-S perpetrators. Prevailing across the three themes was men’s loss of control in their lives, hopelessness, and marginalized masculine identities. Also evident were men’s alignments to hegemonic masculinities in reasserting one’s masculine self by protesting the perceived marginalization invoked on them. Overall, the findings give pause to consider the need for men-centered M-S prevention strategies to quell the catastrophic impacts of this long-standing but understudied men’s health issue.

Parents in youth sport: what happens after the game?

Characteristic issues surrounding parents in youth sport include examples of negative verbal and non-verbal behaviour demonstrated during competition. Numerous studies have done well to highlight while parents possess a great potential for positively influencing the sport experience, they can also exert a considerable negative influence by engaging in a range of non-preferred and inappropriate behaviours. There is certainly a need to further understand the nature of the sport-parenting paradigm given that encouraging and supportive parental involvement is a critical factor in promoting enjoyment and intrinsic motivation among participants. This is particularly important given that childrens preferred parental behaviours are temporally dependent. That is, different types of parental involvement are preferred before, during and after competitive sport. However, one aspect of parental involvement in youth sport which has been largely overlooked is the post-game setting. Drawing on qualitative data derived from focus groups and individual interviews with 86 parents and children involved in junior Australian football, this paper reveals an aspect of the sport-parenting role which can further enhance or undermine the youth sport experience. Specifically, it reveals an intriguing insight into the way that parents engage in ‘debriefing’ childrens performances—representing a challenge for parents who strive to engender a positive and supportive influence in youth sport. While the concept of sport-parenting receives much attention within the competitive setting, this paper argues that in order to enhance the quality of parental involvement in youth sport, much can be learnt from exploring ‘what happens after the game’.

Emphasizing the child in child health literacy research

Child health literacy is a ‘hot topic’ of late, as researchers and practitioners work to attain an equitable and healthy future. Health literacy emphasizes the wide range of skills that people need to access, understand, evaluate and use health information to promote good health. In light of the recognition that health literacy is an important determinant of health for adults, addressing child health literacy early on is essential to maximize future health outcomes. Meeting children’s specific needs arguably includes the delivery of information that can be easily accessed and understood by younger age groups. While much academic discourse pertains to the importance of building parental health literacy, there is less literature that explicitly focuses on child-centred health literacy. On the premise that health literacy is an asset, this paper provides an argument for investing in children’s health literacy by working with children to encourage meaningful contributions in research and practice.

The (limited) impact of sport policy on parental behaviour in youth sport: a qualitative inquiry in junior Australian football.

It is well documented that parents can comprise a significant positive influence in the youth sport setting. Parents are often acknowledged for providing support and encouragement in addition to the necessary financial and logistical support that enables sporting opportunities. However, there is also a concern that parents possess the potential to negatively influence the participatory experience. While this sociocultural phenomenon has received much academic attention in the international community, the impact of sport policy on parental behaviour has been largely overlooked. This paper is one of several to emerge from a larger qualitative study on parental influence in the junior Australian football experience in South Australia. Drawing upon rich qualitative data derived from focus groups and individual interviews with parents (n = 34), children (n = 52) and coaches (n = 16), this paper examines their attitudes and perceptions toward the code of conduct in junior Australian football. The results indicate that wider social and cultural imperatives can impact the meaning and significance of the code of conduct policy for encouraging positive parental behaviour. The implications for sport providers and policy-makers include a consideration for adopting a ‘top-down’ approach to address issues of parental behaviour in children’s and youth sport.

Interviews with Boys on Physical Activity, Nutrition and Health: Implications for Health Literacy

Abstract This paper draws on focus groups with young Australian males across a range of social demographics and ages in primary school years (5–12 years). It investigates the role of physical activity and dietary behaviours in the lives of young males. The paper will articulate the way in which young males come to perceive physical activity and dietary behaviours, including broader constructions of health, within the context of their lives. Understanding the decision making of young males’ around physical activity and dietary behaviours will play a significant role in the health outcomes of adult men by through improved targeted health education and health promotion programs for this cohort.

Idealised media images: The effect of fitspiration imagery on body satisfaction and exercise behaviour

Recent studies have documented a shift in the cultural ideal of physical attractiveness, with women subscribing to a visibly toned ideal that emphasises health and fitness. The present study experimentally investigated the impact of athletic and muscular fitness-idealised images compared to traditional thin ideal images on womens body dissatisfaction and exercise behaviour, under the framework of Social Comparison Theory. Participants were 106 female undergraduate students randomly assigned to view one of three sets of images (thin ideal, athletic ideal, or muscular ideal) followed by a bout of exercise. Acute exposure to athletic ideal and thin ideal images led to increased body dissatisfaction, but exposure to muscular ideal images did not. Relative to thin ideal images, fitness-idealised images did not motivate participants to engage in higher levels of exercise suggesting that this type of fitness inspiration might not motivate actual exercise behaviour.

A socio-cultural exploration of parental involvement in junior Australian Rules football

The junior Australian football landscape has been frequently linked to reports of undesirable parental behaviour, yet sufficient understanding around this potential socio-cultural issue remains limited. In light of this paucity, the study presented within this paper makes a unique contribution to the broad field of parent–sport literature by offering an insight into the self-perceived nature of parental involvement in junior Australian football. This research draws on in-depth qualitative data obtained during three separate focus group interviews from 15 parents of junior Australian football participants in South Australia. Participants provided rich, descriptive information which, through a thematic content analysis, led to the emergence of six principal themes. This paper considers two of those key themes which concern the diverse, yet equally significant relationships within the junior Australian football experience – (a) the parent–child relationship, and (b) the parent–parent relationships. This research not only provides the reader with an insight into the tensions around parent-oriented relationships in junior Australian football, but underlines the need for greater academic attention toward understanding this socio-cultural issue.