Blood time: A qualitative analysis of masculinity in a community college wrestling team

Research suggests sport participation may be conducive to male violence outside of a sports setting. Participants in four year university sports which exemplify masculinity through heavy-contact have been shown to be at particular risk to exhibit violent behavior. However, community college athletes in such sports have been left unexamined. An in-depth qualitative method is used to gain a deeper understanding of the social dynamics within community college wrestlers. This study also examines the confrontational experiences of community college wrestlers both on and off the mat. The analysis of interviews and field data suggests living the wrestling life has implications for the ways in which masculinity is performed. My analysis found (1) that the sport of wrestling is part of a historically ongoing practice to legitimate violence. Also, (2) The devotion spent on these acts by community college wrestlers propagates a confidence in self-defense towards physical and verbal attacks and (3) an overarching theme of dispositions toward conflict situations emerged, one that defends the use of violence when identity is attacked.