Study Evaluates Effects of Policing Gender, Sexuality in Sports

Dr. Laura WernickHyper-surveillance and policing of sexual and gender norms with anti-LGBTQ+ language in sport marginalizes LGBTQ+ individuals, according to the study “Policing Gender and Sexuality in High School Sports.”

The study analyzes how gender, sexual orientation, and race play an intersecting role in the development of youth self-esteem and how “toxic masculinity” interacts with those identities.

“This toxic masculinity doesn’t just harm queer and trans youth, it harms the wellbeing of everyone,” said Dr. Laura Wernick, an associate professor at the Fordham Graduate School of Social Service, who co-authored the study with Dr. Derek Tice-Brown, an assistant professor at Fordham.

“The irony of using the policing of masculinity here is that it’s actually having the opposite effect,” continued Wernick. “It’s bringing these kids down; it’s making them less strong and less resilient.”

The study asserts that certain youth populations may be particularly at-risk for being confronted with negative experiences that lead to poor developmental outcomes concerning adolescents’ identity, language, and self-esteem. It found that the self-esteem of cisgender white boys may be most negatively impacted by anti-LGBTQ+ language. But not all athletes benefit equally from sports participation as girls experienced the biggest bump in self-esteem.

Wernick found that, while sports can help build self-esteem and offer physical and social benefits, their environments can also perpetuate harmful norms like toxic masculinity.