Contents

Acknowledgments

Prologue

Introduction

The Research Project

The Book Ahead

Chapter 1

KO Gym, Gender and Masculinity

KO Boxers

Studies of Boxing

Gender, Masculinity and Patriarchy

Masculinity

Hegemonic Masculinity

Patriarchy

Social Class

Chapter 2

Constructing an Authentic Boxing Experience

Motivations to Box

Staging the Authentic Experience

Props

Real Training

Emphasizing Technique

Sparring

Chapter 3

The Symbolic Value of Suffering

Chapter 4

Real, but Not Too Real: A Hierarchy of Reality

A Hierarchy of Reality

Stigma

The Psycho-Squad

Chapter 5

Middle-Class Jobs and a Working-Class Sport

Boxing as the Antithesis of Work

The Satisfaction of Boxing in Comparison to the World of Work

The Physicality of Boxing

Individualism

Control

Objective Results

Finding the “Real Me” at KO Gym

Status Leveling

Chapter 6

The Women of KO Gym

Motivations for KO Gym’s Women Boxers

Gender Distancing

A Female Trainer in a Man’s World

Chapter 7

The Gendered World of KO Gym

A Gendered Gym Code

Inter-Gender Matchups

The Masculine Measuring Stick

A Gendered Meritocracy?

Chapter 8

Emotions and Emotional Control in Sparring

Learning to Spar

Regulating Intensity

Emotional Control

Emotion-Work Strategies

Collective Strategies

Individual Strategies

Getting into the Right Frame of Mind

Depersonalizing the Sparring Session

Self-Talk

Chapter 9

Middle-Class Masculinity at KO Gym: A Compensatory Gender Project

Work and Risk

Boxing as a Compensatory Gender Project

Strategic Social Comparisons

The Contradictions of Compensatory Masculinity at KO Gym

Boxing at KO Gym as [Middle-Class] Cultural Capital

Defensive Othering and the Reproduction of Gender Inequality

Sport and the Reproduction of Gender Inequality

The Meaning of Sports

Conclusion

Appendix A

My Own Status and Positioning at KO Gym

Appendix B

Interview Demographics

References

About the Author

Index

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