Bruising: A Boxer's Story

by Mischa Merz

'Bruising' is the story of Merz's long love affair with the art of boxing - from throwing and receiving her first punches - to competing in an Australian amateur title fight and beyond. Boxing opens her to new ideas about what it means to be a woman, it tests her courage as well as her physical limitations and connects her with others in unexpected ways. It provides her with the thrilling and often hilarious background against which to examine myths about feminine virtue and physical weakness.

'Bruising' was short listed for the Dobbie Award in 2001, and this latest edition is updated with new material based on a trip to New York where Merz spent time training with the women at one of America's oldest and most famous boxing gyms.

Paperback

First published March 1, 2011

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really great book about boxing in Australia in the early 2000s. However what I liked most about it was the ideas, discussions and quotes from studies relating to gender stereotypes, femininity, patriarchy and women in sport but also in society. Often I found myself thinking: ‚wow I haven’t thought of it this way!‘

One of my favorite quotes was e.g.:

We started talking about her twin role as aggressor and nurturer.
'I love that contradiction,' she said. 'I like shocking people. This is a great shock. I've got this little baby and I'm nice and gentle, and then I'll turn around and have a boxing match. People don't know how to take and it's always been like that no matter what I've been doing. I've always jolted people out of their comfortable little worlds.'

[Sev · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t end up reading it all. It wasn’t holding my attention. Though there was some interesting parts.