Masculinity and the negotiation of gender identity on talkSPORT

This project will examine the construction and negotiation of gender relations in contemporary society, focusing on masculine identities and the crisis of traditional modes of masculinity. More specifically, this project contributes to the field by highlighting the role UK sports media play in this process as; while traditional masculinities have remained dominant within the sector (Whannel, 2002), the increasing prominence of women's sport and female pundits presents a threat to this established culture.

The project will take talkSPORT as its case, a major UK sports radio station. Radio broadcast remains a popular medium for sports broadcast in the UK, though studies examining the relationship between the sports radio genre and issues of gender are notable by their absence. The station celebrates present-day Premier League football, whilst simultaneously mourning a 'lost world' of traditional (read: masculinist) footballing culture. The behaviour of its presenters has often been controversial, with drinking and socialising to excess a central theme of the station's ethos. It has also built a strong, predominantly male, following on social media, including independent fan pages and official accounts.

It is through these various, interacting sites that gendered identities are discursively constructed, 'performed' (Butler, 1999), i.e., enacted through the production of media texts and the interpretation of consumers. Media discourses form one part of these highly complex processes. Whilst much work has examined the discursive construction of gendered identities (Bradford et al, 2019; Evans & Chamberlain, 2015 ), less has examined masculinity in sporting contexts. Studies have tended to draw upon the role of 'hegemonic' masculinities within sporting environments, with traits such as aggression, national identity and consumption retaining a position of dominance (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). Such research has often focused on participatory sporting contexts (Clayton and Humberstone, 2006; Cleland, 2016), and whilst journalists and sportsmen have been highlighted as key actors in the construction of masculinities (Donaldson, 1993), relatively little has been done to explore such claims.

Harris and Clayton's (2002) study of sports journalism identifies themes central to the construction of masculinities, whilst in the US, some work has explored the relationship between sports radio and masculinity (Reffue, 2005; Nylund, 2004). Both studies provide useful insights for the proposed study, however, given the very different cultural contexts of sports broadcasting in the US and the UK, the lack of similar research in a British sporting context displays a clear requirement for further research.

The study will also consider practices of production and consumption; within the sports media genre, despite changing societal conditions, men remain predominant in both roles. Sexism within the sports media persists, and women tend to be seen as less 'credible' than men (Mundrick et al, 2016). talkSPORT's schedule and staff roster suggests little female involvement in production, however the changing nature of the gender balance within media production more generally, along with the increasing prominence of women's sport (see Petty & Pope, 2019), presents a challenge to the station's masculinist culture.