Ninth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

In 1987, Joyce Carol Oates, an author and boxing enthusiast declared that “raw aggression is thought to be the peculiar province of men, as nurturing is the peculiar province of women. The [woman] boxer violates this stereotype and cannot be taken seriously-she is parody, she is cartoon, she is monstrous.” Indeed, the presence of women in boxing has always invoked controversy. For most of the 20th century, women’s boxing was a prohibited activity until women took their battle to the courts, and argued for their right to fight. I was one of those women. In 1999, the Boxing Union of Ireland refused me the right to box professionally. Their decision had nothing to do with my ability or was due to any medical reason. It was based on paternalistic and gender based assumptions and I challenged their decision in an industrial tribunal. In 2001, I won my case and I felt vindicated but unfortunately change can be a slow and conflictual process. I mistakenly thought the opportunities would come rolling in, but nothing changed. The law had upheld my right to fight, but it was unable to deliver real substantive material change. Therefore my paper will examine the legal measures women boxers in the USA, UK and Ireland have used to advance their calls for equality and using my own personal experience, I will interrogate whether the law is capable of delivering meaningful change for women in boxing.