This study analyses gender relations amongst high-level judokas. It uses the interactionist paradigm developed by Goffman and takes into account both the actors' history and the context. More precisely, we observed interactions between men and women during training sessions of the pole-hope in Toulouse and carried out interviews with judokas exhibiting various behaviours. Results attest to the existence of differentiated behaviours according to sex throughout the judo session in mixed-sex non-adversarial situations and during the fight when the principle of pride is paramount. Behaviours constitute a sort of out of frame communication, reinforcing gender hierarchy. Moreover, the coeducational fight situation allows us to observe the framing activity of the judokas, the judo framework conflicting with that of gender experience. Indeed, the competitors must position themselves as men or women but also be recognized as judokas. During coed fights, the majority of judokas interpret the situation through the gender framing experience. However, in some particular situations, the judo framework takes precedence. This affects gender differences. In addition, atypical behaviours of certain judokas are associated with the gender roles with which they were socialized. Thus, interactions in judo can be incorporated into matrices of socialization in which actors, each with their own history, build their gender identity by and for the consideration of others.The question of gender construction has been the subject of much research in sports sociology. In particular, a number of works have touched on the experience of women in so-called men's sports (Crosset

This article uses a combination of Bourdieu's concept of habitus theory and an interactionist perspective to examine women's participation in the traditionally `man's world' of boxing. The two major aims of the study were to identify how women entered and stayed involved in boxing and the types of identities that they forged in the process. The data were collected via participant-observation and in-depth interviews with a sample of women boxers and their coaches. It was found that the women's entry into and continued involvement in boxing depends on both disposition and situation. It was also concluded that women boxers occupied an ambivalent position: on the one hand, by definition, they challenged the existing gender order; on the other hand, they also reinforced the status quo by displaying traditional modes of femininity. This tension was related to the modalities of boxers' practice (`hard' or `soft') and their social histories. In short, the process of identity-formation among women boxers was inseparably social and sexual.

In this paper, I illustrate how gender dispositions vary in women’s soccer and women’s boxing in France based on Connell’s (1987) concept of gender régime and Bourdieu’s theory of habitus. Data were obtained through ethnographic observations and biographical interviews with fifty female athletes. The main results showed that the gender dispositions of the interviewed athletes were formed between specific gender regimes and dispositional systems that differed depending on their sport. In addition, gender dispositions constructed during childhood could be reinforced and/or transformed by sport participation. Both in boxing and in football, the gendered behaviors were also dependent upon the forms of capital each athlete was able to mobilize.

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