Girl Fight: Apologetic Behaviors among Female Mixed Martial Arts Fighters as a Reaction to Social Stigmatization, Stereotyping, and Labeling of Sports Participation Janet Martin Department of Sociology

Ezzell elaborates on the collective identity of ‘heterosexy-fit’ and apologetic behavior for stigma management among female rugby players asserting that:

The sport offered identity resources for women, because of its hyper-masculine structure and style of play. These same aspects of the game, however, exposed the players, as women, to sexist and homophobic stigma from outsiders. In response to these conditions under which they interacted, the players worked to create seemingly contradictory (collective) identity that was simultaneously tough, fit, feminine, and heterosexual (2009:112).

Themes in the responses to the questionnaire suggest that female MMA fighters have similar experiences negotiating hyper-masculinity in MMA while maintaining a ‘heterosexy-fit’ identity influenced by feminine appearance and behavior. One respondent stated, “I do not consider myself masculine, I am very petite and I believe if you train like a pro you will look like a pro.” One respondent describes how she strikes a balance in appearance and toughness, “I am feminine; it’s said I am attractive, hetero [sexual], but if the situation requires I can kick your butt.” Another respondent offered this explanation:

I'm definitely different on the mat than off the mat. On the mat, I'm dressed and focused on my training. When I'm there, I'm only worried about my physical and mental focus on getting better. People often don't recognize me or they say I look different off the mat for sure. I'll even act different. Like a girl, some would say. Sometimes I may even wear girly outfits, and maybe even some jewelry and make-up to offset the image I may give on the mat. Sometimes it feels like I have to prove I can be girlie.

Another aspect of new apologetic behavior is managing homophobic stigma. One respondent explained, “I love martial arts and competing, but people do assume things about me and my personal life.” Another respondent added, “It does concern me that people would stereotype me as being homosexual.” Also respondents noted factors such as dress, hair style, body build, body posture, muscularity, and mannerisms as reinforcing stereotypes, such as “lesbian,” “butch,” and “dyke” in both sport-related public performance and public/intimate interactions.

Female athletes may act in ways that are both complicit and resistant to dominant gender norms. Apologetic behavior includes performative acts “of complicity to a conservative version of femininity—emphasized femininity that marks women as different from the hegemonic masculine ideal” (Butler, 1990:126). Davis-Delono et al. also theorize that “apologetic behavior is also a way for some female athletes to find greater acceptance and rewards in some situations (2009:144).

The most common apologetic behaviors were linked to efforts to look feminine and to avoid homosexual labeling. My findings support the position that most female athletes feminize their athletic participation and that they continue to apologize by constructing a feminine appearance to convey a heterosexual image. My research suggests that female athletes who participate in sports that are linked with particular aspects of hegemonic masculinity and lesbianism may engage in more apologetic behavior.

This research suggests that homosexual women in sport may resist “gender and sexuality domination” via Broad’s concept of “unapologetic, gendered queer resistance” (2001:199). As in Broad’s research, the non-heterosexual respondents do not as often perform a defensive apologetic femininity. Some appear to choose to transgress gender, perhaps in an attempt to destabilize the heterosexual/homosexual binary, and to confront the stigmatization and stereotyping of female athletes head on through their participation in MMA.

This research illustrates some of the assumptions that female athletes negotiate sport participation by simply apologizing; some female athletes are, however, more subversive in their sport participation than the literature on female apologetic behavior in sport would suggest. Questions are raised by this research on the subject of unapologetic versus. apologetic behavior in a sport context: Do female MMA fighters who identify as homosexual or bisexual utilize unapologetic, gendered queer resistance when negotiating their sports participation? Do female MMA fighters who identify as heterosexual utilize a strategy of defensive feminine apologetic assimilation tactics to gain access to sport participation by making a claim to ‘true womanhood’? Does Broad’s concept of unapologetic, gendered queer resistance in sport serve as the underpinning for Ezzell’s new apologetic behaviors? If so, how do female athletes enact resistance to hegemonic masculinity, compulsory heterosexuality, and hegemonic femininity that socially institutionalize sport?

Limitations and Delimitations

This research examines only apologetic behavior of female MMA fighters, a subpopulation of female athletes; results therefor may not apply to other female athletes. There is no existing sampling frame of female MMA fighters from which to draw a random sample, so my nonprobability sampling method poses limits to generalizability of findings. The possibility existed for non-MMA fighter and men to respond to my questionnaire. Also, social desirability bias may have lead subjects to self-censor their responses. An additional potential limitation in my quantitative research is the potential for non-sampling error in calculating my numeric data for statistical analysis.

Existing research on apologetic behaviors among female athletes focuses on female athletes who have been primarily participants in common team sports such as basketball, soccer, volleyball, softball, and rugby. This research contributes to extant literature by focusing on female MMA fighters. Mixed Martial Arts fighting is viewed as a hyper-masculine sport and contrasts with the more socially-accepted female team sports studied in previous research. This research is the first to examine apologetic behavior among female MMA fighters and only the second study to explore apologetic behavior among female athletes quantitatively. Female MMA fighters engage in a significant level of apologetic behavior, which is consistent with the findings of previous research of female athletes. Female MMA fighters who are lesbian or bisexual engage in lower levels of apologetic behavior than their heterosexual female counterparts. These data raise questions about sexual orientation as a variable related to the engagement in apologetic behavior not considered by previous research. Further research needs to be conducted to examine unapologetic, gendered queer resistance in negotiating athletic identity and socially-accepted norms of femininity and heterosexuality. This research adds to the conversations of sport as a male dominated social institution, women’s participation in sport as deviant, stereotyping of female athletes, stigmatization of female athletes; and apologetic behaviors among female athletes.

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