Browsing by Author "Nyamudeza, Tariro Salim"

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    Women's rugby at Stellenbosch University: challenging normative constructions of gender in sport
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-12) Nyamudeza, Tariro Salim; Prah, Efua; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The purpose of this thesis is to examine how women playing rugby pose a challenge to normative constructions of gender. The study attempts to examine and understand the experiences of women rugby players at Stellenbosch University, where men’s rugby is an integral part of the University. The aim of this thesis is to capture and reflect on individual stories and experiences of Maties women’s rugby players, together with my own personal experiences as a Maties women’s rugby player, by using qualitative research as the data collection method. The study participants comprised seven women rugby players from the Maties Rugby Club. These interviews demonstrate that a sport such as rugby has still not fully acquired gender equity due to the relative lack of representation of women’s teams when compared to men’s teams. The research was influenced by Kimberlé Crenshaw (1991) on her work on intersectionality (race, gender and sexuality), and how this can be related to how women face discrimination in a sport like rugby. The findings reflect how aspects such as gender, race and sexuality cut across experiential registers of meaning and how female rugby players attain a positive sense of identity amidst structural occlusion and gender-based discriminations.