Montserrat Martin-horcajo

Generating Female Freedom Among Women?s Relationships in Rugby Union: Narratives of Sexual Difference Montserrat Martin-horcajo

Women's rugby relationships are generally analysed from the point of view of men's rugby, otherwise they are overlooked. The overall aim of this study is to make sense of women's rugby experiences in terms of feminine friendship, relationships they forge and develop through on-field play and the informal culture surrounding the game. This research was conducted and written from the perspective of an active participant as both observer and ?research subject?. Within the framework of sexual difference theory according to Irigaray and Italian feminism, it is a dialogue between the main concepts which ground this theory and qualitative data gathered from personal experiences and in-depth interviews. Sexual difference theory makes sense of women's rugby relationships as it allows one to approach women's experiences in rugby from the premise that women are not required to imitate or reverse men's rugby meanings in order to make sense of their experiences. In short, one of the central aims of this research is to challenge the belief that men's rugby experiences are neutral and abstract and, therefore, can be unproblematically applied to women's rugby.