Gender Regimes of the Social Space of Equestrian Sport

The sports space is historically masculine. Participation of women in sports practices can be expressed in the feminization of sports, the decline of its status and other social phenomena. The last half-century has seen the spread of gender-neutral sports, which involve the equal participation of women and men. The uniqueness of the work is that it is studied the self-representation of sportsman in the sport without gender differences at the level of training and competition. In this work, biographical projects of horsemen and equestrian riders will be analyzed. The study is aimed at understanding how gender regimes of equestrian sport affect the internal perception of athletes of their gender identity. The empirical basis for the study was 12 in-depth interviews with athletes engaged in equestrian sport. Analysis of the material showed that athletes reproduce one gender regime, which can be characterized as masculine. Within the framework of equestrian sports, masculine behaviors are built that are perceived as "successful." As a result, a social agent, regardless of age and sex, from the moment of involvement in sports, it is necessary to take data, role-playing in order to succeed.