Nicholas Miller, 43, who plays outside center for the team, also appreciates that people who hold stereotypical views of homosexual men may be surprised by a gay rugby team. Part of the reason Nicholas Miller enjoys rugby, he says, is that it's a rough sport that gay men are 'not expected to play.' After he came out, Ballard says, he felt a certain freedom: to hold on to the traditionally masculine parts of himself, like playing rugby, but also to express himself in other ways - ways that might have been off limits while still in the closet. I'm emotional.'Īnd that's at the heart of modern gay masculinity - it's a spectrum. It's all in your head and what kind of attitude you bring to the pitch - and to me, that's masculinity.'īut when the conversation broadens from definitions of masculinity on the rugby field, Ballard says, 'I would say in a lot of ways, I definitely carry myself as a man, I feel like I'm a man, but I definitely have feminine qualities. It's not, like, how buff they are or how big they are, or whatever. 'What makes or breaks a rugby player is their attitude,' says Jeremy Ballard, 33.
it's OK to be who you are.Īfter practice, a few players stop to talk about masculinity - and what that concept means to them. So many different shades of masculinity, and I've learned that. Just because somebody listens to Mariah doesn't mean that they're not going to kick your ass on the field. There's all different types and shades of masculinity.
