|
the, tournament bar, electronic, pilgrims, insider, plump teen , crossings, berkelouw, mobile, sports humor, football trading card collectables, thoroughbred racing shares, inscription, 1994, australian aboriginal studies, nintendo ds,
|
When Roberts posed naked for the gay magazine Blue in 1994, he collapsed this division between heterosexual and homosexual performance in a flash of naked flesh.11 In an article that investigates the possibility of ‘queering’ football, Heather Brook explores the sexist, homophobic nature of rugby league but she also identifies its homoeroticism. Brook points out that ‘although football is a violent sport, it also brings men’s bodies thoughts into contact with each other in intimate, somewhat erotic and at times, surprisingly tender ways’.12 The sporting field is, indeed, one of — if not thoughts the sole — social thoughts context in which heterosexual men are allowed to show affection for one another. This affection is, however, spatially contingent: the field and the post-game locker-room are the only social spaces where such behaviour is sanctioned. Anywhere beyond the arena and as soon as the jerseys come off, the taboos on male physical affection reign supreme. While Brook is correct in calling attention to the homoerotics of football, the fact that the sporting arena is a site that is always already marked as heterosexual cannot be forgotten.
|
