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Positioning Participation in the Field of Surfing: Sex, Equity, and Illusion

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Abstract

Surfing, a practice from ancient physical culture, is arguably a social field. The modern form (re)constituted in the early to mid-1900s, repositioned participants in this field, a new doxa employing a patriocolonial female/male sex binary differentiating access to waves, where those with a sex category ‘female’ were either absented as competent athletes or sexually objectified. Today, sex still works strongly to differentiate access to resources. Using a Bourdieusian analytical framework, I explore the logics of practice found in empirical work of an ongoing ethnography of surfing and its history. It reveals a doxa underpinned by (colonial) patriarchy demonstrating illusio, misrecognition and symbolic violence, providing perceptions of participation equity while sustaining and reworking a particular form of patriarchy and its dominant/dominating practices.

Freelance, Australasia.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank elke emerald who provided support to complete this chapter, as well as critique and feedback on my ideas and writing. Also, to the editors Jacquie and Deb for their patience, valuable comments and copyediting.

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  1. Kirikiriroa, Aotearoa, New Zealand

    lisahunter

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  1. lisahunter
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia

    James Albright

  2. The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia

    Deborah Hartman

  3. University of Technology Sdyney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Jacqueline Widin

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lisahunter (2018). Positioning Participation in the Field of Surfing: Sex, Equity, and Illusion. In: Albright, J., Hartman, D., Widin, J. (eds) Bourdieu’s Field Theory and the Social Sciences. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5385-6_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5385-6_12

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-5384-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-5385-6

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