‘It made me feel powerful’: women’s gendered embodiment and physical empowerment in the martial arts

Towards the “Undoing” of Gender in Mixed-Sex Martial Arts and Combat Sports

“…(Jack, 34, kung fu) Therefore, finding ways in which to encourage men to overcome their aversion to "hitting women" is considered important in the development of training environments which help talented female martial artists to improve their abilities, especially so in the absence of suitable female training partners or competitive opponents. Similar to how women's subjectivity can be altered through the physicality of MACS training [47,54], this changing of men's minds was thought to principally occur following first-hand, physical experience of the abilities of women who, given the chance, were able to demonstrate the potential toughness and strength which any martial artist might possess.…”

Negotiating female judoka identities in Greece: A Foucauldian discourse analysis

“…We would also 606 like to stress mainstream research's role in the reproduction of gender dynamics and stereotypes 607 (Kavoura et al, 2012). Being subjected to such gender stereotypes, female martial artists do not 608 problematize normative views of male superiority (Velija et al, 2013). 609…”

Gender, Media, and Mixed Martial Arts in Poland

“…Several researchers of women's combat sports have adopted McCaughey's (1997) notion of 'physical feminism' to argue in favour of women embodying the strength, toughness and fighting skills required of MMA practitioners/other martial artists (Channon & Jennings, 2013;Noel, 2009;Velija et al, 2013). While such embodiment can be experienced as profoundly empowering by individual women, it also challenges broader stereotypical notions of female weakness and passivity, whilst troubling the normative discursive connection between sports such as MMA and masculinity.…”