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Building on research that has examined sport as a ‘gendered’ site, there has been growing recognition of the importance of exploring how the relationship(s) between gender and disability are played out in sport. DePauw and Gavron (2005) highlight the parallels between the women’s and disability sport movements. The parallels include; specific cultural and attitudinal similarities; medical restrictions to participation in sport; socialisation via and into sport and other common barriers to sport participation. Sport as the domain of the elite and the masculine has played a key role in preserving social order and gender segregation. The ‘masculinity’ of sport has excluded women from full participation (Anderson 2009). Similarly the ‘physicality’ of sport has tended to exclude disabled individuals (DePauw 1997). Traditional ideas about the body and the processes that objectify the body – which have been themes within both the disability and women’s movements – arguably gain greater significance in the context of sport (DePauw and Gavron 2005).

Even though women share with men many of the effects of impairment and disability, they can experience them and be affected by them in very different ways (Hargreaves 2000). For instance, women generally fare worse socially and economically in comparison to men (Hardin 2007). Feminist writers within disability studies have been amongst the strongest critics of research founded upon homogeneous assumptions concerning disabled people as a ‘group’ (Garland- Thomson 1994; Morris 1996; Thomas 1999; Wendell 1996). Such approaches can commonly be seen in disability work that is guided by medical and social model perspectives. These studies fail to recognise how varied and unique people’s experiences are. Ultimately, the key message from critical feminist writers is – disability is always gendered (Morris 1991; Thomas 1999; Traustadóttir and Kristiansen 2004). Thomas (2004b) argues that the prism of gendered locations and gender relations invariably refracts the forms and impacts of disablism. Sport is a gendered activity that not only welcomes men more readily than women, but also able-bodied athletes more than disabled athletes (Hargreaves 2000).

Research investigating women’s participation in disability sport has focused on a broad range of areas including; how women manage their identities/body image and the role of physical activity in this process (Anderson 2009; Guthrie 1999; Guthrie and Castelnuovo 2001; Sands and Wettenhall 2000); how women are socialised into sport and physical activity, and the support mechanisms they utilise (Anderson et al. 2008; Ruddell and Shinew 2006); the perceived opportunities and barriers to participation (Hargreaves and Hardin 2009; Odette et al. 2003;

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Rolfe et al. 2009) and how women overcome perceived constraints to participation (Anderson et al. 2005; Ashton-Shaeffer et al. 2001; Goodwin and Compton 2004; Henderson et al. 1995) However, these studies have predominantly utilised quantitative approaches. For instance, in attempting to examine how female wheelchair athletes understand their body image and to encourage ‘positive’ perceptions, Sands and Wettenhal (2000) implemented a psychological intervention program. The results indicated that after a cognitive behavioral intervention the participants’ self-esteem and physical self-perceptions ‘improved’. Not only does this study use questionnaires to understand participants’ multifaceted experiences, it implies a medical understanding of disability that attempts to help people adjust to their ‘tragic’ circumstances. Personal experience should be a central tenet to understanding people’s lives (Thomas 1999). The majority of the research has failed to address and incorporate critical literature from disability studies. There has been limited focus on the individual and their unique identities and social perceptions.

Moreover, there have only been a handful of studies, focused on the interaction between gender and disability in the context of sport (Blinde and McCallister 1999; Hardin 2007; Sherrill 1993). The previous research discussed in this review has demonstrated the lack of empirical work that has focused on gender and gendered relations in this context. The writers above argue that being ‘disabled’ and being a ‘woman’ operate to create a ‘double disadvantage’, and this argument can also be seen outside of sport (Habib 1995; Lloyd 1992; Lonsdale 1990). Blinde and McCallister (1999) argue, “the everyday experiences of women with disabilities are viewed as more problematic than those of both women without disabilities and men with disabilities” (p.309). Hardin and Hardin (2005) also emphasised the ‘double exclusion’ perspective in the context of sport. However, these understandings do not incorporate the complexity of relations between gender and disability and how these mediate people’s experiences (Seal 2012). Morris (1996) asserts that such writings do not empower her as a disabled woman because individuals are positioned as the passive victims of a ‘double oppression’. Vernon (1999) argues the effects at an intersection of different ‘stigmatised identities’ (e.g. black, female, disabled) can be experienced simultaneously, singularly, if at all, depending on the context.

It is imperative to explore the intersection of gender, disability and sport as these interact in dynamic ways. Hargreaves (2000) argues that dominant images of gender have discouraged disabled women from competing in disability sport. In line with the theoretical developments I discussed in the previous section, research needs to recognise the emergence of ‘new femininities’ and the fluid nature of such contestations between identities/ways of identifying. The way in which negotiations are mediated by the presence of ‘disability’ should also be considered. Previous work has already demonstrated the rejection of ascribed disabled

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identities (Huang and Brittain 2006; Watson 2002). Consequently, such ways of identifying cannot be assumed. A key aspect of my research has been on how the women involved identify themselves – as disabled, athletes, both or neither? Moreover, gender needs to be considered in these fluid negotiations as a force that interacts in various ways across different contexts and interactional spaces.

What has also been missing from studies that have focused on women in disability sport is a picture of how they experience and negotiate their day-to-day lives. This means not only focusing on their views in relation to their sporting experiences, but also generating an understanding of their lives outside of this context in relation to wider social and cultural factors. Recently, Kavanagh (2012) explored the life history of one female Paralympian who became paralysed from the neck down after a motorcycle accident. This demonstrates that research is starting to look more closely at the experiences of women involved at the highest levels of disability sport. However, the work was linked with an ‘affirmation model’ of disability, with an emphasis on the role of sport in enhancing a person’s sense of self. I believe this places too much focus on sport as a space for resistance and empowerment, which does not critically address the part it plays in wider social perceptions of disabled people and athletes specifically.

My work fills the ‘gap’ in current research by specifically focusing on the life histories of women competing at the elite-level of disability sport and addressing how they negotiate their lives in relation to wider factors. By using a qualitative approach that is aimed at foregrounding the stories the participants tell, I can explore their own unique perspectives. This approach also answers Smith and Sparkes’ (2012) call for researchers in the field of disability sport to expand the range of qualitative methods being used in order to help generate new insights. The work of Andrew Sparkes and Brett Smith has helped to foreground the ‘gendered’ experiences of disabled male sports competitors. They have published widely on how men negotiate spinal cord injuries and the ‘stories’ they tell about their experiences (Smith and Sparkes 2004, 2005; Sparkes and Smith 2002, 2003). However, this is not reflected in relation to women involved in disability sport, at any level or within any specific setting. The limited scope of previous research in this area leaves many questions unanswered and fails to engage with the people living out these realities and moments.

Symbolic interactionism as a theoretical framework has me allowed to get closer to these ‘voices’ and understand the dynamic and interactive nature of identities, and how these are embodied in different interactional encounters. Allen-Collinson and Hockey (2007) have used symbolic interactionism as a theoretical perspective to explore how long distance runners negotiated their identities during a period of injury. This work demonstrates the processual nature of self and identity, actively developed and negotiated via interactional work between the social actor and

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others, in an intersubjective, ongoing social process. By adopting this approach in my own work, I can explore the ‘micro’ relations that shape the participants’ experiences, whilst recognising how wider social and cultural factors are mediating those interactions. It also allows me to bring the body back into these spaces and explore the corporeal reality of the ‘impaired’ body (Thomas 2007).

It is important to account for the fatigue, discomfort and pain that can be part of competitive sporting cultures. The normalisation and routinisation of pain have been noted in various sporting ‘subcultures’ (Allen Collinson and Hockey 2007). Prus (1996) offers a succinct definition of a subculture:

“The term subculture signifies a way of life of a group of people. Subcultures are characterised by interaction, continuity and outsider and insider definitions of distinctiveness. It is useful to envision subcultures with respect to the perspectives characterising their members and the identities people achieve as participants” (p.85).

The concept of subculture has focused routinely in interactionist writings and can be found in different sports or leisure pursuits. Tendencies towards such pain ‘perspectives’ have been highlighted in the literature across a spectrum of physical activities, from classical ballet (Turner and Wainwright 2003) to boxing (Wacquant 1995). Differences have also been recorded in relation to gender (Young 2004). In such scenarios athletes learn to define sacrifice and pain as unavoidable aspects of competitive sport (Allen Collinson and Hockey 2007). However, Safai (2003) notes the hazards of these types of practice.

In relation to my study, literature around the routinsation of pain and injury in the context of sport is relevant for the experiences of disabled athletes competing at the elite-level. Work in the field of disability studies, which has built on critiques of the medical/social models, has illustrated the need to bring people’s experiences of impairment and pain back into understandings of disabled bodies (Paterson and Hughes 1999; Reeve 2012; Thomas 1999). In using a social-relational conceptualisation of disability it is important to account for the ‘coporeal’ body as well as the ‘social’ body. This is particularly relevant in the context of sport, where previous research has already demonstrated how experiences of pain and discomfort, along with pleasure and joy, are embedded within (sub)cultural understandings. The interaction of physical impairment and athletes’ perceptions of this in disability sport has not been addressed within sports studies literature.

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