Who da' Man ?: Black Masculinities and Sporting Cultures

Abstract

This book offers a highly original approach to Black masculinities and sport in Canada. The book will be especially exciting for those interested in decolonisation, culture, and the intersection of identity, sport, and politics. Who Da Man attempts to account for the ways that Black Diasporic identifications intersect with the dominant misogyny and homophobia in contemporary men's sporting cultures. Abdel-Shehid suggests that thinking about diaspora in the making of contemporary Black sporting cultures provides a more comprehensive framework than that which looks at sport solely within the framework of nations and nationalism. He further argues that Canadian hegemonic ideas and practices typically marginalise blackness and Black peoples. Thus, the author suggests, Black masculinities in sport are often connected to diasporic locations. These connections can be either empowering or disempowering, requiring careful analysis to achieve full understanding of how things are being perceived, projected, and therefore implemented. Who Da Man offers a feminist and queer reading of Black masculinity, and suggests that thinking about Black sporting masculinities means paying attention to the ways that these larger discourses of racism, exclusion, and diaspora shape Black masculinities. Moreover, the book asks to what extent homophobia and misogyny within men's sporting cultures influence contemporary understandings of Black masculinity.

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