Drawing on ethnographic research and popular representations of boxing in the media, this book considers the relationships between the portrayal of the sport and its practice, alongside complex sociological constructs of identity and gender. This work is aimed at those interested in the sociology of sport and cultural representations of gender.

Boxing is infused with ideas about masculinity, power, race and social class, and as such is an ideal lens through which social scientists can examine key modern themes. In addition, its inherent contradictions of extreme violence and beauty and of discipline and excess have long been a source of inspiration for writers and film makers. Essential reading for anyone interested in the sociology of sport and cultural representations of gender, "Boxing, Masculinity and Identity" brings together ethnographic research with material from film, literature and journalism. Through this combination of theoretical insight and cultural awareness, Woodward explores the social constructs around boxing and our experience and understanding of central issues including: masculinity; mind, body and the construction of identity; spectacle and performance: tensions between the public and private person; boxing on film: the role of cultural representations in building identities; and methodologies: issues of authenticity and 'truth' in social science.

1. Introduction
2. Masculinity on the Ropes? Boxing and Gender Identities
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Gender identities: masculinities
2.3 Identities, concepts and formulations
2.3.1 Technologies of the self-regulating bodies
2.3.2 Storied selves
2.3.3 Psycho-social selves: dealing with the real
2.4 Boxing: histories and meanings
2.4.1 Racialization and the politics of race
2.4.2 Honour, war and masculinity
2.4.3 High life, low life, discipline and regulation
2.4.4 Is boxing for men?
2.5 Conclusion
3. Outside In, Inside Out: Routine Masculinities
3.1 Introduction: knowing boxing masculinities
3.2 Producing knowledge: methodologies
3.2.1 Accessing routines
3.3 Public spaces: personal spaces
3.3.1 Empirical research: knowing the field
3.3.2 Inside, outside: objective, subjective
3.3.3 Reflection and situatedness
3.3.4 A synthetic approach to the attraction of boxing
3.4 Conclusion
4. Boxing Bodies and Embodied Masculinities
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Beautiful bodies: broken bodies
4.3 Embodied identities
4.3.1 Women and men and gendered bodies
4.4 Boxing embodiment: I am my body
4.4.1 Merleau Ponty's phenomenology of perception
4.4.2 Bourdieu, physical, capital and illusio
4.4.3 Techniques of the self: inscribed bodies?
4.5 Body practices and practised masculinity
4.5.1 Body-reflexive practices
4.6 Conclusion
5. Public Stories, Personal Stories: Heroes, Celebrity and Spectacle
5.1 Introduction
5.2 The ring as frame
5.3 Women: now you see them, now you don't
5.4 Heroes and legends
5.4.1 Local heroes, family ties
5.4.2 Boxing stories, boxing networks
5.5 Boxing as carnival
5.5.1 Celebrity and carnival
5.5.2 Excess and carnival
5.6 Spectacles of violence
5.7 Excess and the unconscious
5.8 Conclusion
6. When the Going Gets Tough: Going to the Movies
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Out of the ring into the mainstream
6.3 Representation, film and fantasy
6.3.1 Do we need psychoanalytic film theories?
6.3.2 Fantasy and realtiy?
6.3.3 Sexuality: beautiful bodies?
6.3.4 The homosocial and the homoerotic
6.4 Heroic narratives
6.4.1 Expressions of anger: 'race', 'ethnicity' and 'class'
6.4.2 I could have been a contender
6.5 Watching the films: can you take it?
6.6 Conclusion
7. Conclusion: I Could Have Been a Contender
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Pre-emptive masculinities
7.3 Routine masculinities
7.4 Conclusion
Bibliography