NAVIGATING SOCIO-CULTURAL CONDITIONS AND GAINING EMPOWERMENT THROUGH BOXING: The Case of Ugandan Women

Historically women have been systematically excluded from contact sport and are directed to other sports that conform with societal norms of femininity and heterosexuality. The use of bodily force in contact sport does not align with the traditionally feminine patterns and expressions. The acceptance of women into boxing disrupts the traditional underpinnings of the sport that utilizes aggression, physicality, and violence as a form of masculinity. Boxing represents acceptable norms that are embedded in societal institutions and culture that perpetuate notions surrounding multiple forms of masculinity and gender inequalities. Boxing is representative of an important form of national identity and historically successful sport in Uganda. Revered across different generations, the sport is associated with socio-economic empowerment. The purpose of this study was to explore how Ugandan women’s participation in boxing impacts gender identities and navigation of socio-cultural conditions. The theoretical framework that guided this research is post-colonial feminist theory; it addresses the multiple intersections of a woman in her natural environment making it ideal to locate the Ugandan women boxers. The study involved 14 participants. Data collection procedures included the use of semi-structured in-depth interviews and observations. Preliminary findings from this study indicate the following themes: boxing culture and invisible women, upward social and economic mobility, and confronting gender norms of the sport. Utilizing a critical feminist theory lens, this study serves as a good site for examining how post-colonial and geo-political practices impact women’s sporting experiences.