Artistic Impressions: Figure Skating, Masculinity, and the Limits of Sport

by Mary Louise Adams

In contemporary North America, figure skating ranks among the most 'feminine' of sports and few boys take it up for fear of being labelled effeminate or gay. Yet figure skating was once an exclusively male pastime - women did not skate in significant numbers until the late 1800s, at least a century after the founding of the first skating club. Only in the 1930s did figure skating begin to acquire its feminine image. Artistic Impressions is the first history to trace figure skating's striking transformation from gentlemen's art to 'girls' sport. With a focus on masculinity, Mary Louise Adams examines how skating's evolving gender identity has been reflected on the ice and in the media, looking at rules, technique, and style and at ongoing debates about the place of 'art' in sport. Uncovering the little known history of skating, Artistic Impressions shows how ideas about sport, gender, and sexuality have combined to limit the forms of physical expression available to men.

Genres: Nonfiction, Figure Skating, Sports, History

320 pages, Paperback

First published February 19, 2011

Reviews

[Surreysmum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Between a recommendation on the skatefans list and the picture of Jeff Buttle on the front, I was encouraged to hunt this down in the University library, and I'm glad I did. It has, I think, two clear virtues: it includes a very interesting history of the sport from contemporary documents, but with the specific focus of gendered attitudes, gendered rules and gendered commentary; and it clarifies within a framework of thought the confused and frustrated feelings that many of us have about the limitations that this sport/art inflicts on both men *and* women in terms of gender roles. Adams does not at all pretend to objectivity in her own cultural biases, which are lesbian feminist. I haven't read enough recent scholarship, or social sciences scholarship to know whether this is the new trend in academic writing? In my day, so much "I" would definitely have been frowned upon. However, this method has the advantage that when the reader feels no longer able to follow all the way - into, for instance, a complete condemnation of gendered roles - at least we have the sense of an individual (the author) with whom we disagree. And frankly, I disagree with her an infinitesimal amount in comparison with my disagreements and dismay with those careless, bigoted idiots (both within and without skating) who perpetrate the "skating male=gay male=bad" three-way false equivalency.

Recommended for anyone who was perplexed or annoyed by the Stojko trend in the '90s, and for anyone who likes skating history in general.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slightly dated ( it only gets up to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics), this scholarly work is an interesting look at the construction of gender and gender roles using Figure Skating as the lens. While mostly focused on men's skating, the author also posits that women skaters are also negatively impacted by the classifications allowed in skating, being forced into the role of the princess, the ingenue, or the vamp, as though there were no other ways for women to behave.

The book suffered from some amount of repetition of the main thesis, and would likely only be interesting to someone with a fairly deep knowledge of skaters or a lot of time to watch their programs on YouTube. Still, the book effectively argues that we as a society choose what it means to be masculine or feminine, and therefore we can change our definitions.

[Ryan Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is absolutely delightful! Instead of being a checkout-variety biography of various figure skaters, the book intelligently analyzes the impact of masculinity in the sport of figure skating and explores how a sport that was once a "gentlemen's club" affair evolved into the sport it is today. The book explores the sport's evolution through a historical lens and it is a must-read for any knowledgeable skating fan.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a real disappointment; I thought it was going to be a biography of various figure skaters but it appears to be someone's master's thesis or doctoral dissertation, as it reads more like a textbook. It mostly focuses on skating history, particularly the changing emphasis on male and female skaters, from many years ago and only a few mentions are made of skaters from the past 15 years. Well-written for what it is, though.

**#108 of 120 books pledged to read/review during 2016**

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

My review in IFS: http://www.ifsmagazine.com/articles/5...