Pretty Powerful? Self-representation of top German, British and Russion Female Olympic Boxers on Instagram

For a long time, boxing clubs were exclusively male spaces, but
this has changed in recent decades; women have taken up the
sport and begun to establish themselves within its structures.
However, there is a tension between their embodiment as boxers
and the traditional embodiment of women. While researchers
have long noted a ‘female apologetic’—that is, athletes feeling the
need to compensate for their athleticism by emphasising their
femininity—recent research shows that new notions of femininity
are emerging that combine strength and elements of traditional
femininity. Informed by Bartky’s theory, a visual narrative inquiry
is conducted to examine Instagram accounts of members of the
German, British and Russian national Olympic boxing teams. Five
narratives are identified that are central for all three countries but
also reveal national differences. The study shows that boxers have
agency in terms of their self-representations and their conceptions
of alternative femininities