Analysis

The male-dominated atmosphere requires female martial artists to manage their emotions, behavior, and appearances.

  • Female martial artists need to find a balance between the masculine and feminine or face criticism form their peers (impression management)
  • They must "do" their gender but in a limited way

Stereotypes and norms appear in the dojo on a regular basis due to years of gender socialization outside of the dojo

  • gender role ideology: refers to the attitudes/beliefs about the appropriate roles/responsibilities/rights of men and women in a society
  • gender socialization begins with the family and continues with other institutions (in this case, the dojo)
  • hegemonic masculinity leads to a series of gender oppression
  • telling male student's to "take it easy" on the female students

Gender is not the only the only aspect that influences how people interact within the dojo.

  • age, rank, comfort and familiarity all relate to gender
  • younger students tended to partner with people of the same gender
  • people at the same rank tended to work together in class regardless of gender
  • gender did not seem to factor in with students who were more familiar with one another (either from inside or outside the dojo or both)