Sociology of Sport Journal, 2007,24,145-164 2007HumanKinetics,Inc.

The First Metrosexual Rugby Star: Rugby Union, Masculinity, and Celebrity in Contemporary Wales
John Harris
KentStateUniversity

Ben Clayton
BuckinghamshireChilternsUniversityCollege
This paper examines media representations of Welsh rugby player Gavin Henson, arguing that through analysis of media discourses we can trace shifting shapes of masculinities in the (post)modern era of sport. Contradiction and inconsistencies are prevalent in the narratives that accompany the equally conflicting images of Henson, who both conforms to and challenges traditional rugby playing masculinities. The paper examines articles from Welsh and British newspapers from a critical (pro)feminist perspective, arguing that Henson transcends boundaries in a way that no rugby player has ever done before and analyzing his place as the first metrosexual rugby star. The study also examines the somewhat problematic concept of metrosexuality within critical (pro)feminist theories of sport and attempts to conceptualize the position and significance of the term. This work brings images of the continual, dialectic process of the (re)defining of gender identities to the study of masculinities, and sport masculinities in particular.

Introduction
In February, 2005, Wales defeated England in a rugby international at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. The star of the game was the Welsh center Gavin Henson who kicked a 44-meter penalty goal to give Wales its first victory against England in 6 years. The victory was the first in a series of five wins that gave Wales its first Grand Slam in the Six Nations tournament since 1978. At 23 years of age, Henson had, according to many commentators, at last fulfilled the promise he had shown for many years. Voted World Under-19 Player of the Year in 2001, Hensons short career as a professional rugby player had been a turbulent one. Many questioned

Harris is with Exercise, Leisure, and Sport, Kent State University, Gym Annex 263E, Kent, OH; Clayton is with Leisure and Tourism, Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College, High Wycombe, UK. 145

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his attitude and whether he could adopt a professional approach to the game. His carefully groomed image meant that he was perceived as a playboy and someone who did not have the application and dedication to make a career at the very highest level. Henson is an important figure in that he is the highest profile rugby player in Wales. Rugby union is central to both masculine and national identity in many parts of Wales, and it is because of this that Henson represents an interesting figure upon whom to examine the shifting and contested nature of postmodern masculinities given that he has almost single-handedly ushered the Welsh game out of the age of scrubbed-scalp, gap-toothed boyos into the new one of Cool Cymru (Henderson, 2005).

Rugby Union and Wales

Wales is a small nation of some 3 million people. It is probably the least well known, and most poorly promoted, of all of the nations that make up the United Kingdom. For example, while Scottish and Irish identities are widely promoted and celebrated in the United States, the Welsh are very much the forgotten nation, despite the fact that many of the signatories on the Declaration of Independence were of Welsh descent and that a number of Presidents of the United States of America also had Welsh ancestry (Davies, 2001). Wales belongs to that category of countries known as stateless nationsplaces where identification with the nation is greater than that to the state of which it is a part (see McCrone, 1998; Smith, 1999). Given the English hegemony, vis--vis the use of the terms Britain and British, notions of British identity are often problematic for the Celtic nations (see Holt, 1989; Weight, 2002). Situated alongside England, the Principality of Wales has always struggled to identify itself in the shadow of a much larger and more powerful neighbor (Curtis, 1986), and in many ways, Welshness is defined in opposition to Englishness (Bowie, 1993). Rugby came to Wales largely through the influence of Englishmen who took the game into the leading public schools of the country (Smith & Williams, 1980; Williams, 1991). During the 19th century, massive inward migration saw the population of Wales experience exponential growth as it became the industrial capital of the world. In the latter part of the 19th century, Wales experienced a higher immigration rate than anywhere else outside of the United States. Whereas mens rugby in England developed around a code of amateurism nurtured by a social elite, in Wales it grew alongside an industrialization of the southern valleys where mass immigration and economic growth were defining features. Holt (1989) suggested that the game helped create an identity both for the new inhabitants of the valleys and also for those outside who needed labels to pin on the new society. The national teams victory over the perceived invincible New Zealand touring team of 1905 cemented the place of rugby union within Welsh culture (Williams, 1991). Smith (1999) described the match as symbolizing national definition in the modern world of sport (p. 78). As rugby matches became televised in color during the 1970s, the Welsh national team enjoyed a period of great success. Their open, attacking style of play made the players recognizable figures in Wales and other parts of the rugby-playing world (see Parry-Jones, 2005). Many of them became household names, and athletes such as Barry John and Gareth Edwards

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became arguably the most famous rugby players in the world, based in part on their performances with the British and Irish Lions. The success of the Welsh team during this period played an important role in promoting images of the nation and became a key marker of Welsh identity (Johnes, 2000; Smith & Williams, 1980), although the successes of these teams were to hang like an albatross around the neck of Welsh rugby for the next 25 years (Williams, 2000, p. 25). A century after Wales famous win against New Zealand, Gavin Hensons penalty kick against England may be read as the beginning of a new era and the (re)defining of Wales in the (post)modern professional rugby world. Victory in this game was the start of a sequence of five wins that gave Wales its first tournament victory since 1994 and its first Grand Slam since 1978. This one performance, as well as the development of his relationship with the singer Charlotte Church over the course of the Six Nations tournament, made Henson into a public figure, (re)presented as a celebrity and the first metrosexual rugby player. While the relationship between sport and the media has received much attention in recent years (e.g., Boyle & Haynes, 2000; Brookes, 2002; Wenner, 1998; Whannel, 2002), there has been little work on the mediated (re)presentation of sport in Wales. Such an omission is strange given the importance of sport, and particularly rugby, to the creation of national and masculine identity in the Principality. It is also important to locate and understand the game in relation to the specific constellation of the socio-cultural, political, and economic conditions shaping masculinities in Welsh culture.

Method
Through an analysis of a host of media sources, this study seeks to locate Gavin Henson in discussions in and around (post)modern masculinities. We are interested in understanding where Henson fits within contemporary discourse related to hegemonic masculinity in Western culture. Sport is a primarily ritualistic arena in which central notions of masculinity are embodied and (re)presented by the players (Whannel, 2002). The media contribute to this, emphasizing the athletes incarnation of cultural values. An exploration of Hensons mediated character is interesting in that it both embodies and rejects central notions of traditional rugby masculinities. We follow an interpretive approach in the design and undertaking of this study. Such an approach recognizes our own interpretation of the media discourse and is not merely a reproduction of news stories. Interpretation is always located, and our aim throughout has been to focus on the (re)presentations themselves rather than search for some unobtainable truth. This aligns itself with a particular form of discourse analysis, which frequently takes an anti-realist posture (Silverman, 2001) and is not restricted to conclusions about discourse itself. Many accounts of discourse analysis, particularly within sociology and cultural studies, have adopted a more critical approach, concerned with rhetoric and ideology and directed toward drawing conclusions about social or societal processes (Fairclough, 1995a; Gee, 1999; Hammersley, 1997; Potter, 2004; Wetherell & Potter, 1992). We aim to contribute to the sociological theorizing on sport through a focus on the particular dynamics and ideologies embedded in sporting culture (Boyle and Haynes, 2000).

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Through tracking and analyzing of media discourse, we aim to present an analytic narrative of the media-driven, cultural significance of Henson in changing gendered power relations, drawing out the intentional or unintentional meaning behind the text (see Cohen & Young, 1981; Fairclough, 1995b; Manning & CullumSwan, 1994). The case of Henson signifies both continuity and change within the particular cultural context of rugby union in Wales, and we aim for a broadly descriptive, interpretive account of Hensons personal and sporting identity. This study does not try to measure the amount of coverage afforded to the player but aims to tease out some of the textual constructions of realities. We use critical, (pro)feminist theories (notably those of Connell, 1987, 2005), and the assumptions at their core, to provide a partial (re)presentation of the media discourse surrounding Henson. The extracts of media text selected for this analysis provided further understanding of the ways in which discourse (re)conceptualizes and problematizes Hensons mediated identity as the first metrosexual rugby star. The extracts were arranged according to particular themes and correlated with critical (pro)feminist literature and conceptualizations of metrosexuality. The analysis, then, is theoretically, rather than empirically, grounded, tracking discursive patterns and employing ideological assumptions to interpret the meaning behind the discourse. It also considers the way in which masculinities are constructed, made factual, justified, and sustained in media accounts of metrosexuality. Many of the articles used in this analysis come from The Western Mail, selfstyled Papur Cenedlaethol Cymru (national newspaper of Wales), and Wales on Sunday. Every edition of The Western Mail and Wales on Sunday was collected over the course of the 2005 Six Nations Championship. Mens rugbys exalted socio-cultural positioning in Wales means that it dominates these publications, and the success of the mens national team in the tournament meant that the sport received even more coverage than it would have if the team had not been performing well. The success of the team, the man-of-the-match performance by Henson in the first game, and the emergence of a relationship between Henson and Charlotte Church1 all combined to move the player, and the sport, beyond the sports pages of the Welsh press and into other areas, including the pages of British newspapers. Other newspapers used include British publications such as The Guardian, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, The Sun, and The Observer. The notion of a British press is somewhat problematic given the Anglo-centric focus of much of its coverage, although the newspapers we used encompass a variety of different perspectives and reflect a broad cross-section of the print media. Hensons visibility within the media grew as he became positioned as a celebrity, and we continued to trace coverage of the player, and particularly his profiling, during significant periods, such as the British Lions tour to New Zealand and through the newspaper serialization of his book. Hensons (2005) autobiography also became a useful source of data for this research, and extracts from it are analyzed within this paper. We acknowledge that the (re)presentations within an autobiographical account will differ markedly from newspaper portrayals of an individual, although the amount of attention afforded to the book by the print media meant that it became an important part of our study.

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Making Men: Rugby and Masculine Identities

Sabo and Panepinto (1990), in their study of American football culture, could have easily been referring to rugby football in Wales with their observation that: Footballs historical prominence in sports media and folk culture has sustained a hegemonic model of masculinity that prioritises competitiveness, athleticism, success (winning), aggression, violence, superiority to women, and respect for the compliance with male authority. (p. 115) In the edited collection on rugby and masculine identity, the contributors to Nauright and Chandler (1996) show how the game lies central to notions of toughness and manliness in a number of cultures across the globe. In many places, the rugby club came to serve as a kind of male preserve (Sheard & Dunning, 1973) where a particular hegemonic form of masculinity was produced and performed. Although such a space was (re)created in many countries, only in Wales and New Zealand did it carry further weight and significance as the national game. Welsh mens rugby (historically at least) celebrates physical strength and loyalty to other men and to a specific territory. Hensons family background is one that is firmly rooted within traditional rugby masculinities. His father and his maternal grandfather had both represented the Maesteg club, although by the time Gavin Henson had emerged as a real rugby talent, the club had experienced a number of poor seasons, and it was not likely that he would play there. Hensons links with the Maesteg club meant that he did not consider joining Bridgend RFC (historically Maestegs biggest rival) when the time came to sign up as a professional player. Instead Henson joined Swansea despite the fact that Bridgend offered much more money for him to play there (Henson, 2005). Parochial and tribal loyalties have been a central factor in the decline of Welsh rugby since the golden days of the 1970s. At important times, such as prior to the 1991 and 1995 World Cup tournaments, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) made changes to the coaching staff. These decisions resulted in the appointments of coaches from clubs who immediately selected a number of their own players to play for the national team. This led to cliques, petty jealousies, and substandard performances on the field of play (see Jones, 2001). The links to a particular territory have decreased somewhat in recent times with the inception of regional teams in Welsh rugby at the start of the 20032004 season, but this process itself was not a smooth one. Aesthetically and socially, Welsh mens rugby is strictly gendered. The game centers on a particular exalted form of masculinity where toughness is highly prized and the success of the national team is inextricably linked to the health of the nation (Johnes, 2000; Tuck & Maguire, 1999). The links between sport and masculinized images of the nation are not unique to Wales. A number of scholars have written about the way(s) in which sport is used to promote national identities (e.g., Bairner, 2001; Boyle & Haynes, 2000; Whannel, 2002), although women remain largely hidden in (re)presentations of the sporting nation (Harris & Humberstone, 2004). There has been much research examining the way(s) in which sport is used

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as a tool to promote manly and masculinized images of the nation (e.g., Clayton & Harris, 2004; Giulianotti, 1999; Harris & Clayton, 2002; Rowe, McKay & Miller, 1998; Whannel, 2002), showing how the modern nation is understood in, and through, masculine phraseology. Militaristic terminology embedded in discourses of strength and power is used to imply that international sport is largely a mans world (see Harris & Clayton, 2002; Rowe et al., 1998). Andrews (1991) describes how rugby came to serve as an important signifier of manliness in the late Victorian era. It could be argued that the sport has assumed an even greater significance to notions of manliness and national identity in contemporary Wales. Shifts in the gender order and the perceived threat to dominant notions of masculinity need to be located and understood here in a Wales suffering from the decline of its traditional industries and widespread unemployment (particularly among males). The massive changes in Welsh society emanating from the closure of the coalfields and associated industries led to a greater focus on a service economy and a perceived feminization of the country. While the nature of the economy meant there were very few women in paid employment in the Principality prior to the Second World War, by 1993 there were almost as many women working for pay in Wales as there were men (Jones, 1999). As notions of masculinity become increasingly destabilized, the role of sport assumes an even greater significance (Messner, 1987).

Theorizing Masculine Identity, Theorizing Metrosexuality

The alleged crisis of masculinity is situated in functionalist notions of an instrumental male role (Parsons, 1951; Parsons & Bales, 1953), which assumes men to be passive recipients of cultural ideologies and, thus, homogenous and archetypical of Connells (1987, 2005) definition of hegemonic masculinity. Connells theorizing emphasizes the unsettling of this dominant male character through history by way of multiple forms of masculinity and, particularly, the tendency of men (and women) to be complicit with cultural hegemony, rather than unconditionally and unproblematically connected to it (Connell, 2005). In this sense, any claims of a crisis have been fueled as much by the forward mobility of sociological conceptualizations of cultural power relations, and the subsequent changes in political and academic writing, as they have by principal economic, political, and social changes. Previously marginalized or ignored groups such as gay men have visibly infiltrated popular Western culture, further unsettling the fragile ideology of hegemonic masculinity. Sport, according to Messner (1987), has become the last bastion of traditional masculine values, but even here the conflict described in Connells (1987) dynamic framework of gendered power is increasingly visible. Academic interest in the association football player David Beckham, for example, has highlighted his transcendence of traditional football masculinities and the media exploitation of these new masculinities (Cashmore, 2004; Cashmore & Parker, 2003; Clayton & Harris, 2004; Whannel, 2002). Based initially on Gramscis (1971) concept of hegemony, Connells (1987) theoretical frame for the examination of gender relations utilizes the humanistic and commonsensical approach of neo-Marxism, centering ideological superstructure

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(culture), rather than state and economic structure. Connells (1987) framework for a gender order in Western cultures, which centers on the concept of hegemonic masculinity, has come under some scrutiny in recent years (Demetriou, 2001; Petersen, 1998). Postmodern theorists have made some significant empirical contributions to the understanding of sport and gender, particularly with regard to the mass mediated male identity (e.g., McKay & Rowe, 1997; Rowe, McKay and Miller, 2001). Jeffersons (2002) prime criticism of hegemonic masculinity lies less in the theorizing of the term itself and more with the subsequent use of the concept as over-sociological, singular, and non-contextspecific. He argues that the relational and relative nature of masculinity is regularly lost or ignored, and hegemonic masculinity becomes too rigid and unambiguous. Similarly, Miller (1998a, 1998b), while acknowledging Connells emphasizing of multiple forms of masculinity and the actual uncommonness of hegemonic masculinity in the gender order, questions the extent to which the concept allows for diversity and historical change. In particular, Miller (1998b) asks how hegemonic masculinity, and the relational concepts of subordinated and marginalized forms of masculinity, can contribute to the understanding of mens bodies and behaviors when nothing they do relates to the overall domination of women or their own self-formation as a gendered group (p. 433). Indeed, some critics of hegemonic masculinity have noted the reductionism and heteronormalizing inherent to Connellian studies of gender (Petersen, 2003; Whitehead, 2002). Where, for example, might we locate metrosexual men in Connells gender order? Many of their commonly understood characteristics may be related to gay masculinities and, thus, categorized within Connells framework as subordinated practice. Conceptualizations of metrosexuality, however, often relate to White, middle-class men, establishing new masculinities by way of the exploitation of working-class men and men of color (see Berila & Choudhuri, 2005). In this sense, metrosexual men may be located within the hegemonic group. Connell (2005) stresses the danger in viewing his multiple masculinities theory as different typologies of men and (re)emphasizes that mens identities are not monadic but always relational and constantly changing by time and context (Connell, 2005; Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). Hegemonic masculinity is not representative of men, or any specific man, but is a changeable (historically and contextually) mark of maleness, which inevitably comes into conflict with male subjectivities (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). As such, hegemonic masculinity remains important to the theorizing of power relations among men as a marker for the legitimation of patriarchy. Indeed, Connells (1987) gender order framework implicitly questions the position of hegemonic masculinity and is developed from an array of theoretical positions. The gender order is a configuration of social practice, initially configured by way of historical structures such as the division of labor, the structure of power, and the structure of cathexis (emotional attachment). It is subsequently maintained by the organization of social resources (particularly the law and the media, but also other institutions and agencies) and the naturalizing of gendered practice (see Connell, 1987). Metrosexuality may be a truly postmodern terman effect of consumerism and media proliferation on Western definitions of masculinity. As such, the term metrosexuality is rather obsolete in contemporary accounts of masculinity theory, which emphasize the multiplicity of masculine identity and the changing nature

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of hegemonic masculinity through history and context and, therefore, refute any notion of a new man. Indeed, metrosexuals are in no way a new challenge to male hegemonymen have always embodied traits and behaviors that appear to contradict the dominant male archetype, and these challenges are all part of what is meant by cultural hegemony (Gramsci, 1971). It is important to state that metrosexuality is more of a media construction, rather than a brand of masculinity. It is a media term attached to mens apparent transcendence of a dominant form of masculinity, which is not a fixed state of maleness and may be transcended with some regularity in Western cultures. The first use of the term metrosexual in 1994 is often attributed to the journalist Mark Simpson, although it appeared much more regularly in public discourse during 2003 when it was applied to sport stars such as David Beckham and the swimmer Ian Thorpe (Williams, 2005). The Age (March 11, 2003) highlighted that a metrosexual adopts many traditionally feminine characteristics and traits, such as a focus on grooming, but hes not gay. Simpson notes that even rugbys gone metrosexual with those Gaultier-esque England tops and Gavin Hensons hilarious hairdos (Williams, 2005). Simpson suggests that a metrosexual has clearly taken himself as his own love-object (Williams, 2005). It is not enough, however, to simply theorize metrosexuality as a label attached to some men by the media; the source or cause of this attachment must be theorized also. In social constructionist perspectives on masculinity, the notion of cathexis has received little attention. Yet it is here that the conceptualizing of metrosexuality may begin and its place within the gender order may be determined. With reference to the structure of cathexis, Connell draws heavily on the work of Freud (1900). Freuds use of the term cathexis referred to emotional energywhether positive of negativebeing attached to an object in the unconscious mind. Connell (1987) used Freuds psychoanalytic work, moving the discussion into the social arena to investigate sexual and emotional relations, attachments, and commitments. As Connell (1994) contends, long before social constructionism became influential in discussions of gender, Freudian psychoanalysis had offered a picture of adult character as constructed through a long, conflict-ridden process, within which the emotional attachment could not be entirely separated from the social. Both mens and womens own bodies can become cathected in their own right (as can other inanimate objects and possessions, such as clothing, make-up, sports cars, and even technology). It is, perhaps, here that we might locate Simpsons characterization of metrosexuality as a dimension of male identity, rather than as a brand of masculinity in itself, as a mans attachment to his body and to the image it presents. The attachment and image of metrosexuality is in tradition with heterosexual masculinitiesstrong, fit, and aesthetically pleasing to the other sexbut the embodiment of the attachment involves routines more traditionally associated with femininity. The identity imperatives that associate Gavin Henson with the term metrosexual are often a legitimation of patriarchy in themselves, so metrosexuality has become associated with White, middle-class men. As Berila and Choudhuri (2005) indicate, the embodiment of gay masculinities by heterosexual, middle-class men may suggest an increased tolerance of White, gay masculinity, while simultaneously subordinating working-class and Black and Asian, gay masculinities. Similarly, Miller (2005) has noted how queerness has become adopted

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by middle-class, professional men, re-signified as metrosexuality, and endorsed as a form of consultancy for a conventional masculine life. The link to the power of cathexis is relatively clear, but as Connell (1987, 2002, 2005) stresses, the display of effeminacies are common to all men when hegemonic masculinity is something of an impossible benchmark. Rather than being able to describe individual men as metrosexual, we may better describe some men as being constructed as metrosexualgiven emphasis by the mediaby way of a seemingly (traditionally) effeminate attachment to their own bodies. However, male team sports, and particularly rugby in Wales, is an arena where hegemonic masculinity thrives, and challenges to it (such as tendencies toward metrosexuality) are censured and ultimately are far less visible. Mens rugby, like all of the traditionally male sports, functions as an ideological enclave of hegemonic masculinity (see Nauright & Chandler, 1996). The game itself celebrates male strength and aggression, with the same ethos of warrior nobility that marked modern sports Hellenic and British folk origins under the protective umbrella of legitimized violence. Moreover, mens rugbys subculture celebrates more subtle contributions to the project of patriarchy, creating for itself a vestigial of the presently recognized circle of legitimacy, combining the celebration of dominant masculinities with the interiorization of women and gay men (see Donnelly & Young, 1988; Pringle & Markula, 2005; Schacht, 1996; White & Vagi, 1990). Schacht (1996) presents an insightful account highlighting how injury and pain are central factors in the subculture of rugby at an American university. His description of how rugby players do masculinity shows how dominant forms of masculinity come to the fore: Rugby players situationally do masculinity by reproducing rigid hierarchical images of what a real man is in terms of who is strongest, who can withstand the most pain, and who relationally distances himself from all aspects of femininity through forms of misogynistic denigration. (p. 562) Players who do not conform to these ideals are often treated with suspicion and contempt. One of the ways in which masculinity can be preserved is through its inscription on a mans competencies as a rugby player. In describing Henson, The Observer (March 13, 2005) notes: He can run, kick, and defend and, as opponents have discovered, they confuse the aroma of Dax wax with flakiness at their peril (p. 41). Howes (2001) research into the professionalization of one of the leading Welsh clubs (Pontypridd RFC) highlights how institutional norms play a significant part in (re-)creating identities among the players. Here masculinity is (re)produced through the ways in which the athletes behave on and off the pitch. Based on his research of association football players, Parker (2001) suggests that the everyday routines of professional players serve to shape masculine identities through official and unofficial institutional norms. Official norms refers to the explicit and regulatory logic of the institution (football club), such as the development of personal integrity, conscientiousness, discipline, and a healthy, professional attitude. As Parker (2001, p. 61) indicates: Such values, in themselves, reflect a masculine working-class legacy, which has come to shape the historical contours of English professional football.

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Rugby union in Wales, although for many years an amateur sport, carries in its history a similar legacy rooted firmly within locality and an ideology of masculine values. Alongside these ideals, however, players also develop in relation to numerous unofficial behavioral norms and values, which collectively inform and encroach upon individual constructions of masculinity. These values emerge from the players experiences concerning heterosexual relations, wealth, and consumption. Moreover, players are also influenced by exposure to, and obligatory involvement in, masculinized humor and behaviors. Hensons (2005) account of the 20042005 season provides evidence of these behaviors within the national squad. His relationship with the singer Charlotte Church and the development of commercial opportunities with companies such as Gillette give further social currency to his value within the context of such unofficial norms.

Heroes and Stars: Rugby and the Postmodern Sport Celebrity

The meanings of a range of sport stars in contemporary culture(s) have provided the focus for much scrutiny in recent years (e.g., Andrews & Jackson, 2001; Cashmore, 2004; Smart, 2005; Whannel, 2002), yet the rugby player has rarely been looked at in such works. The contemporary sport star is, or is at least portrayed as, an idealized model for one or more cultural connotations, which he or she carries through his or her efforts, achievements, and failures as an athlete. Giulianotti (1999) has highlighted how in the postmodern age, many association football players have moved from the category of hero to that of star. Although rugby union has not witnessed the same global growth as association football, the development of a visible discourse focusing on not only heroism, but also stardom, is also visible in the oval-ball game. Arendt (1958) notes that hero was a descriptor attached to each free man who had fought in a war and whose deeds could be recounted in a story. The contemporary sport hero may perform acts of far less significance, but in a political climate that is, arguably, more civilized than it has been in the past, sport may be viewed as a form of war, from which primarily male heroes arise. The male sport hero inevitably parades his qualities of strength, determination, and durability in pursuit of athletic conquest, which the media promptly amplify and render as natural vigor, reproducing and instantiating hegemonic masculinity (Trujillo, 1991). The heroic status, normally established by way of national and masculine identity, is a precondition of sporting stardom and celebrityhood. Rowe (1999) states that the celebrity arises from the culturalization of economics in capitalist society. The media are the arbiters of this celebrity, creating in the consumer market a human desire not only for commodity goods but also for an unattainable lifestyle, which becomes framed in a more structured political discourse (Cashmore, 2004; Smart, 2005; Whannel, 2002). Often it is the political signifiers that endorse media visibility, in turn endorsing the image, which translates into capital accumulation (see for example, McDonald & Andrews, 2001). Given the centrality of rugby union to Welsh male culture, it is inevitable that its leading players are granted heroic status. As the national side experienced an era of almost terminal decline in the professional age, the search for heroes became more pronounced. Perhaps the first star of Welsh rugby was Barry John, who in the

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early 1970s was frequently compared to the football player George Best (see John, 2000). John, described in Wales as The King, played the game at a time when it was an amateur sport. The professionalization (and increased mediatization) of the sport, together with an increased understanding of its marketing potential, means that the positioning of the game has changed markedly. As Smart (2005) perceptively highlights, it is not the case that we no longer have heroes but that they are now in the shadow of a new and more vivid species, the celebrity (p. 9). Turner (2004, p. 3) notes that: The contemporary celebrity will usually have emerged from the sports or entertainment industries; they will be highly visible through the media; and their private lives will attract greater public interest than their professional lives. For Henson, like David Beckham before him, the accolade of sports celebrity came calling because he represented something different, something desirable, and, perhaps, something unattainable (see Cashmore, 2004). Moreover in a world of celebrity he came to constitute part of a celebrity couplingsomething that is much valued within the print media (Morton, 2000). The media establishes Hensons manliness through reference to his talent as a rugby player. While his gelled hair and fake tan may challenge traditional notions of rugby playing masculinity, Henson is a powerful, physical athlete whose approach to the contact element of the game makes him a respected player in the international arena. In addition to his match-winning kick against England, it was the power of his tackling that the press focused on, with Welsh team manager Alan Phillips commenting that: Gavin is such a big powerful person he can look after himself. And it is great to have someone in the midfield who can knock people about. When you see tackles like that it lifts the crowd and his team-mates, and puts fear into the opposition, because they are looking out for him after that. (The Western Mail, February 9, 2005, p. 34) Because his appearance marks him out as different from those of traditional rugby players, Henson has been targeted on the pitch throughout his career. An article in The Independent suggested that when he started taking the field with his highlights and his tan he might as well have painted a bulls-eye on his chest for good measure (October 19, 2005). In his account of the grand slam year, Henson (2005) recalls on-field altercations with Ireland captain Brian ODriscoll and his own Wales teammate Martyn Williams in a regional match. Williams was described as shouting, You dont like it in the face, do you, pretty boy. You cant handle it! (Henson, 2005, p. 196). Yet Henson conforms to traditional rugby playing masculinities by asserting that he relishes the physical side of the game. In describing his tackle on the England center Matthew Tait in the first of the Six Nations games, Henson (2005, p. 11) notes, I like the aggressive side of the game and those tackles give you the chance to get right in someones face. His fake tan, spiky hair, shaved legs, and shiny boots mark him out as different from most other rugby players, but as long as his performances on the pitch are good and the team is winning, then his appearance is rarely treated negatively. Newspaper headlines such as Gav turns heads across Wales (Wales on Sunday, February 27, 2005) and Rugby ace Gavin in Gillettes sights (Wales on Sunday,

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February 13, 2005), highlight how his appearance becomes the focal point above and beyond his competencies as an athlete. Media treatment such as this is regularly reserved for female athletes, where the emphasis on traditionally feminine traits preserves the gender order (Harris & Clayton, 2002). Although many successful female athletes contest male hegemony through their accomplishments in sport, they may remain complicit to the gender order as a whole through their appearance and exploits away from sport. As with many other celebrities, much of Hensons more recent (re)presentations in the print media have been less than positive. In the initial phase of sporting celebrity, the athlete is celebrated for his or her ability and achievements. Yet once a celebrity is established, further celebration is not so newsworthy and controversy or scandal has a much greater value (Whannel, 2002). His exalted status as a celebrity meant that Henson received far more press coverage than any other player on the 2005 Lions tour to New Zealand. Not being selected for the first test match became a news story and was the lead story in The Western Mail (June 21, 2005). A longterm injury, a ban for striking an opponent, and substandard performances on his return to the national team were all further cause for negative (re)presentations of him during the 20052006 season. This meant that characteristics that were once celebrated, focusing particularly on appearance and discourses of celebrity, were now used as the means to criticize the player. The newspaper serialization, and subsequent publication, of his somewhat controversial book (Henson, 2005) also contributed to this. Hensons media character challenges hegemonic masculinity by way of his appearance, yet remains complicit to masculine hegemony through his success and hard-hitting approach in rugby. Complicity is always relational to subordinated patterns of masculinity (Connell, 2005) in that where Henson does not comply with the male archetype, he must be resisting it, hereby becoming open to cultural subordination. Yet we also acknowledge that Hensons metrosexual identity is a vehicle for profiting from a growing male beauty and appearance market. This leads to the inevitable comparisons to the footballer, David Beckham.

Henchurch and the David Beckham of Wales

Hensons style, interest in fashion, changing hairstyles, and pop star girlfriend have led to comparisons with David Beckham. Henson has been described as the David Beckham of Welsh rugby (The Western Mail, December 16, 2004) and the Beckham of Wales (Wales on Sunday, February 13, 2005). Hensons transgression into the glamorized world of mediated celebrityhood could be read as challenging the ideologies that underpin rugby culture and in some ways feminizing the traditionally masculine image of the game. Yet it could also be read as a calculated move to follow Beckhams model of marketing and branding himself. Whannel (2002) has explored the media images of Beckham and the vortextuality of events in his life (the process whereby different media vehicles work with, and off, each other creating a vortex). He has highlighted how images of Beckham have both expressed and challenged dominant assumptions of masculinity. Whannel (2002) describes Beckham as a postmodern sport star, in that he has:

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[Grown] up in an environment in which mens interests in fashion, style, narcissism and the possibility of being objectified have all been nurtured by a decade of the style press (Arena, GQ, FHM), in a period in which sport and fashion have become more closely linked, in which footballers and pop stars gravitate to one anothers glamour, and in which fame has itself become commodified, he is subsumed by his own image. His star persona has become the substance, the marketable objectall that is solid melts into the air, or at least, into magazine pages. (p. 212) There are many similarities between Henson and Beckham that the media highlight on regular occasions. Henson followed in Beckhams footsteps by securing a deal with Gillette. When his autobiography was published, The Western Mail wrote, Gavin Henson is proving yet again that hes got Becks appeal with his first ever book (September 4, 2005). Media interest in Gavin Henson increased due to rumors that he was dating the singer Charlotte Church. Church had greater personal wealth than Henson had and was a higher-grade celebrity. The notion of hegemonic masculinity emphasizes the overt subordination of women by men. Hensons lesser earnings and status in mass culture than his female partner may be considered antithetical to the gender order (and especially the masculinist, sporting gender order) and is open to cultural subordination. This was also the case when David Beckham first started dating Victoria Adams, when the tabloid medias many attacks against Beckham, particularly following his red card against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup, were based upon his transgressions against traditional masculinities, such as earning less money than his partner (see Clayton & Harris, 2004). The combination of sport star and pop singer is seemingly too much for the mass media machine to ignore (see Cashmore, 2004; Morton, 2000). The Henchurch celebrity coupling certainly constitutes a large part of Hensons mediated character and may rationalize much of the media interest in him given that Church was already an established star and prominent celebrity in the Welsh press. The wife or girlfriend of a sport star once fulfilled a role of rarely being seen. In essence, her role may have been described as the manager of the everyday minutiae of the sport stars life and she is, through her looks and submission to the values of a traditional working-class patriarchy, an important component of his masculine guise. In some ways Victoria Beckham reflects this ideological archetype. As a member of the Spice Girls she was an affiliate of the glamorous but ever changing assemblage of celebrity babes, who appear with great consistency in mens magazines (e.g., Loaded, FHM, Front, Arena) and the tabloid media. Beckhams relations with her, particularly his sexual relations, connect him to traditional heterosexual notions of masculinity. The Sun, for example, considered worthy of front-page news the headline Becks: Im an animal in bed (April 29, 2002), and articulated how he and Posh had plenty of romps before she fell pregnant for the second time. A similar text was visible when Hensons groin operation became a topic for discussion in the press with the Wales on Sunday newspaper noting that [t]he nationand Charlotte Churchcan breathe a sigh of relief today after Gavin Henson revealed his groin is in tip-top condition (September 11, 2005). Like many other young female celebrities, Church had also appeared in various states of undress as she tried to move away from her voice of an angel schoolgirl image to one of a sexy, grownup pop star. Victoria Beckham is regularly seen to be supportive, even admiring, of

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her husbands football career. In the build-up to Englands World Cup clash with Argentina, in Japan, The Sun (June 6, 2002) conducted an exclusive interview with Victoria, in which she revealed, among other things, that shes goalie for family kickabouts! This interview, as well as dominating the front page, was given a two-page spread in the newspaper, and the text was concerned with how Victoria was flying the flag for England, but particularly for Beckham. Church undertook a similar role when she interrupted her recording schedule in the summer of 2005 and flew to New Zealand for a short visit to cheer on Henson who was playing for the British and Irish Lions.

Changing Masculinities and Metrosexuality in Rugby Union?

The Henson look has provided a great deal of media focus within magazines and newspapers. Indeed, Hensons metrosexual identity may be largely media constructed, reproducing, with emphasis, images of his cathected body and the perceived effeminacies that are invoked. This coverage is significant for it moves the game outside and beyond the usual limited focus it receives (particularly outside Wales). He may be viewed as the link between the working-class, homophobic stage of rugby and the narcissism of the fashion-orientated rock and pop world, where sexual and gender ambiguity is seemingly fundamental to the image. Hensons move into the glamorized world of fashion and celebrityhood challenges the ideologies that underpin rugby culture, in some ways feminizing the traditionally masculine image of the player. Metrosexuality may be viewed as antithetical to the project of patriarchy, although the way(s) in which it is also embraced and popularized points to a reproduction of patriarchy. Male athletic subcultures have long been associated with homophobia derived, in part, from a deep fear among individuals within those cultures of being branded as homosexual (see Connell, 1987). Metrosexuality of sport heroes may be more culturally acceptable than homosexuality in that heterosexuality is known and often proven, so metrosexuality cannot easily be expelled from the circle of legitimacy of patriarchy. The focus on Henson as a figure of metrosexual identity provides coverage for the player and the game in a variety of arenas: Henson is an icon unlike any ever to grace a Welsh rugby pitch. He gels his hair, shaves his legs and wears gold boots. Twenty years ago, when postmatch celebrations meant drinking a skinful of beers and probably a bottle of aftershave, too, he would have been mocked. Now he is lionizedthe first metrosexual rugby star. (The Observer, March 13, 2005, p. 24) There has been an increased focus on a gym culture in the professional age of rugby. Gym culture itself is linked to the concept of the metrosexual man, although this is often used in place of competitive sport. Size has become a very important issue in professional rugby union, and like many other contact sports, a players identity is linked to a particular physicality. Henson has spent much time in the weight room in order to better prepare himself for the game. As Henson recalled:

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I used to love the physical side of rugby when I was young, the tackling and that. But when you first get to senior rugby, you notice that everyone is a lot bigger than you. It takes a while to catch up and grow. I was still trying to put in the hits, but I wasnt as effective. Ive spent a lot of time in the gym to get bigger. (Thornley, 2005) Henson was described in The Western Mail as a full blown metrosexual who wont leave the house without perfectly styled, spiky hair (September 21, 2005). In describing his preparation for games Henson noted: There are a lot of things I have to do; shave my legs, put a bit of fake tan on, do my hair and have a shave. I do it all in the hotel but it seems to be catching on. Everybody shaves their legs now. I dont get hammered for it though. I think people are in awe of me. But once we cross the line it is all about the rugby, but if my hair does get messed up I put it back in place. Theyre pretty good products I use so its okay. (Thornley, 2005) In his autobiography Henson (2005) also describes giving a Wales teammate grooming tips on how to shave his legs to avoid painful rashes! Rugby has undergone massive changes since the inception of professionalism (see Dunning & Sheard, 2005; Henson, 2005; Jones, 2001; Malin, 1997), and there is now much more of a focus on areas such as fitness and nutrition. The biographies of players from previous eras, including those who had been central to the last golden age for Welsh rugby in the 1970s, are replete with tales of massive drinking sessions (see for example, Bennett, 1981; John, 2000). Hensons (2005) own controversial account of the celebrations that followed Waless first Grand Slam for 27 years highlighted that in some ways there has been little change: It wasnt long before all the players were playing drinking games to get in the mood and not very long at all before I was completely smashed. This was a players only deal. So it was a bit macho and a bit excessive to say the least. (p. 75) Yet the focus on grooming and conditioning suggests that the game has changed markedly. Former Welsh international Gerald Davies, writing in The Times, suggests that Henson has made Welsh rugby turn from a whiff of carbolic soap in a fuggy clubhouse to the dangerous hint of continental cologne in a cocktail bar (October 14, 2005). We must, however, question the very concept of metrosexuality and the degree to which it may be considered a culturalpolitical challenge to traditional rugby masculinities. First, to what extent can we consider metrosexuality to be a state of masculinity? Related to the Freudian concept of cathexis, and the power of the emotional attachment to ones body that influences all men, metrosexuality may only be a symbol of mens development of harmonious and nonharmonious relationships with other (nonhegemonic) masculinities (Kaufman, 1994). In this sense, all men may be considered metrosexual, but the very fact that they are not implies a second element to the cultural conception of metrosexuality. This element, we posit, emerges from consumerism and the selective construction of social knowledge by the media. In this sense, Hensons (and, indeed, Beckhams)

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apparent challenge to conventional masculinity may only be superficial, imposed on the social world by a mass media in the service of a market in flux (see Salzman, Matathia, & OReilly, 2005).

Concluding Remarks
We can learn much about changes in society by focusing upon the prominent sport stars of our age. Sport reflects and celebrates dominant values and ideologies of a particular age and is an arena within which resistances and challenges to these become highly visible. Henson is, without doubt, one of the most important athletes in contemporary Wales. He transcends boundaries in a way that few (if any) other Welsh athletes have ever done before and brings to the study of masculinities, and sport masculinities in particular, visual images of the continual, dialectic process of the defining and redefining of gender identities and relations. We believe that Henson is a worthy site to examine changing notions of masculinity. In some ways he can be perceived as a standard-bearer for the new man, but the term, in itself, implies a crisis of masculinity where none may exist. If anything, we may be witnessing a crisis of (post)modernity, where difference is being consumed, if not celebrated. Perhaps Henson is best described, as a post-new lad man (Whannel, 2002, p. 212), in that he incorporates the disparity of narcissistic pop star and macho rugby player, combining an ethos of style and consumerism with working-class rugby masculinity values of hard work, competitiveness, and proficiency. Of course the fact that Henson is someone who plays what is perceived as the national game is also important and significant. Masculine discourse, particularly as represented through the medium of sport, is inextricably tied to national identity (see also, Harris & Clayton, in press). The notion of Welshness is often positioned in relation to the game of rugby union and the performances of the mens national team. Viewed in this way, it is often hard to separate and distinguish between (re)presentations of masculinity and national identity, as they are viewed as synonymous with each other. Locating such a figure in contemporary masculinity theory is problematic, but, paradoxically, it is this problematization that has come to define Connells (1987, 2005) concept of the gender order. In particular, Connells (2005) emphasis on the omnipresence of complicit masculinities, over the unattainable hegemonic masculinity, implies that the majority of men (if not all men) embody a range of both hegemonic and subordinated masculinities in their day-to-day lives. In this sense, Henson may not be an unusual case, and the concept of metrosexuality may be little more than a masculinist attempt to explain and disparage those male behaviors that fall outside of the circle of legitimacy of patriarchy. An alternative view may be that metrosexuality represents an effect of the dynamic reformulation of patriarchy as it constantly reinvents itself. What makes Henson worthy of academic interest is the way in which his celebrity makes clearer mens normally veiled resistance to hegemonic norms and values. This clearly presents a danger to the ideology of male supremacy. The media is an important site for the purification of ideologies (Connell, 1987), and the medias treatment of Henson suggests that ideological messages about gender in sport are purified not by the omission of images of resistance, but rather by the denigration of these images and the simultaneous celebration of

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images of complicity. Nonetheless, Henson remains a highly visible representation of the transgression of hegemonic masculinity and the continual, dialectic process of the (re)defining of gender identities. Acknowledgments
Thanks to the anonymous reviewers and Dr. Annelies Knoppers for their perceptive and in-depth comments on this paper.

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Notes
1. Charlotte Church is a Welsh singer who first came to national prominence as a child opera star and was described as having the voice of an angel. Churchs maturation and her transformation into a pop singer, and pin-up, became regular features in a range of media. Her choice of boyfriends and alleged drinking capacity became a focus for the tabloid newspapers, who labeled her with the wild child tag. Church began dating Henson in 2005.