Page 178 - Sport Culture and the Media

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sexualized manner, this explicit function of the image of the sportsman has
been slow to emerge (Rowe 1995). The reasons for this tardiness in exploiting an
obvious commercial opportunity have (as noted earlier) often been stated: sport
is a traditional domain where men can look at and even touch or embrace other
men without homophobic stigmatization. Furthermore, the archetypal ‘expert’,
straight male sports fan ‘officially’ views the male sports body in technical
rather than aesthetic or erotic terms; the body is an instrument of supreme

Sportsmen licensed to cuddle other men – and to advertise television
Picture by Darren Pateman, courtesy of the Newcastle Herald