Beckham’s Sa’Wrong: Fashioning a more flexible masculinity and the softening of soccer

Hodge, Chris (2018) Beckham’s Sa’Wrong: Fashioning a more flexible masculinity and the softening of soccer. In: Fashion and Photography: An Inclusive Interdisciplinary Project, 29th - 30th June 2018, Palermo, Italy.

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Abstract

This Paper describes a journey in research which crosses both geographical and gender boundaries to explore different contemporary expressions of masculinity in relation to male football dress and fashion. From the island of Flores in Indonesia all the way to the fashion billboards of Times Square, New York city, this paper will examine the feminisation of football culture and the deification of its most glamorous stars. Using popular football cultural references and materials gleaned from a hyper-masculine past and combining local & global craft techniques, I set out to explore the new feminisation of football through the removal of boundaries in men’s sports dressing and creating a more fluid approach which celebrates & deifies the modern football fashionista. Exploring movement and kinetic strength and juxtaposing the semiotics of hyper -masculinity against more recognised feminine forms and fabrications. Rethinking Men’s traditional sports dress, through reinterpretation of sports kit and counterfeit designer garments, and introducing other global craft practices, this paper will focus in on the investigation of masculine semiotic codes in fluid dress, especially as an investigation of the erosion and transformation of the world of the traditionally hegemonic universe of men’s soccer. The paper will focus on the Global Sports persona of David Beckham as an archetype of all that represents the ‘New Man’ and a living illustration of the embodiment of “Flexible masculinity”.

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