Being “Macho” and Play Rugby. A Study about Masculinities and Men’s Sociability in Dominant Sectors of La Plata

Abstract

The central problem to discuss in this article is the construction of masculinities among a group of men who practice rugby as a sport associated with a distinctive and selective character (related to class position) in the city of La Plata, and in Argentina. From an ethnographic approach -fundamentally- the representations that a group of rugby players has on their own practice, on their ways of being and acting like a man will be analyzed. The hypothesis of this work is that rugby is a space of moral, social and cultural distinction in La Plata, and a place where a dominant male model is produced and reproduced, where the exaltation of virility is an attribute showed positively between the group of men who try, at all times, to keep their manliness; it is the guarantee to support legacy linked to gender and the way of establishing a different space of sociability and distinctive. Strength, vigor, courage and bravery articulate the imaginary of a real man in the field of rugby in Argentina.