Identity construction of professional woman rugby players

The main purpose of this study is being able to investigate and comment about how woman rugby players understand the process of creating their athlete (femininity) identity. For sub purposes of this research,how national team players who are playing rugby built their identity through their experiences in this field and the sexist practices that they are exposed to in the process of building up womanhood identity were analyzed in the context of physic and power relation. As a qualitative work, a phenomenological figure was used in this research. This study was conducted nine woman national rugby players who aged between 25 and 33 years old.The data of the study was gathered by personal interviews which are half-configured. The datas were analyzed by content investigation method. As a result of the interviews, four main theme were gathered: "Bodies Allowed to Play Rugby", "Gendered Satate of Rugby" , "Structures and Struggling for Existance" and "More Visible Rugby". The datas that we got as a result of the analysis show that rugby sport is a social gendered field. Rugby, as a struggling field, is a field that being a part of it depends on social and physical funds but not economic circulation. Also, the applications of the power practices which are disiplinary draw the attetion. In conclusion, on the one hand, rugby showed us that it is oppressive because women have to rebuild their traditional femininity standards, on the other hand , in terms of struggle against the control tolls on the body, it is a strengthening practice.