Download or read book The Arena of Masculinity written by Brian Pronger and published by St. Martin's Griffin. This book was released on 2011-04-01 with total page 502 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sports are perhaps the most visible expression of the ideals of masculinity in our society, and figure as a training ground on which young boys are taught what it means to be a man. Given the involvement of sports with masculinity, the homosexual athlete becomes a paradox, and the recent explosive growth of gay sporting leagues, a puzzle. Pronger explores the paradoxical position of the gay athlete in a straight sporting world, examines the homoerotic undercurrent subliminally present in the masculine struggle of sports, and explicates the growth of gay sports in the framework of the developing gay culture.