Frizon eller fängelse? : Kvinnliga lagidrottare i heteronormativitetens gränsland

Sammanfattning: Aim The aim of the study is to find out if, and in that case how, the sports movement creates and reproduces norms and values regarding sex and sexuality. Questions to be answered are: Which experiences do non-heterosexual women have of everyday activities in the Swedish sports movement? How are norms on sex and sexuality visible in practice? Are there mechanisms/practices that challenge these norms? Finally, the results are discussed in relation to two policy documents from the National Organization of Sports (RF); “Sports Wants” and “Policy and plan of action against sexual harassment and sexual discrimination within sports”. Method Since the aim was to understand, and not to generalize and quantify, a procedure of qualitative interviews was chosen. Ten non-heterosexual women were interviewed concerning their experiences of the Swedish sports movement. They were active (or had recently been) at different levels in the following sports: basketball, soccer, floor ball, ice hockey, bandy and volleyball. The interviewees were found through advertisements and through a so called snowball method. Results: When it comes to treatment by team mates, leaders and coaches, three main themes are apparent in the interviewees’ narratives: 1) expressive silence 2) discrimination, harassment and insulting behaviour and 3) sports as a free and allowing space. Heteronormative discourses on sex and sexuality are reproduced and confirmed in everyday activities of sports, e.g. through demands of femaleness, denials that lesbian sportswomen exist in the team/club, silence and a focus on SEX when talking about homo- and bisexuality. At the same time, the interviewees are challenging dominant, heteronormative discourses within sports, e.g. through: choosing not to look or act in a traditional female manner, living openly as homosexuals, creating or participating in small communities that give support and function as free spaces and through sending out forbidden glances (e.g. signals of non-heterosexual attraction and flirting). Conclusions: In this study, it emerges how sex and sexuality are constantly “done” in everyday life of sports. The structure of sports, with its clear division between women/men, femaleness/maleness and its strong connection to masculinity, seems to result either in a positive or a negative environment for non-heterosexual female athletes. On one hand, sports can be characterized by strict norms on sex and sexuality, homophobic tendencies, discrimination and insulting behaviours. On the other hand, sports can also be an environment, where norms on sex and sexuality are less tight than in society at large and a place where it is allowed to challenge heteronormative discourses. According to the findings in this study it seems more important to stress your femininity the more “masculine” your sport is considered to be – to a certain limit. After having exceeded this limit you are freer to act in a more unconventional matter. It emerges from the interviewees’ narratives that sports have the potential to be, but seldom are, the open and allowing environment that is described in “Sports Wants”. Neither does it seem as if leaders and coaches are working actively with implementation of the “Policy and plan of action against sexual harassment and sexual discrimination within sports”.