This chapter offers an autotheoretical account of my experiences as a trans man training for my first amateur bout – one that has yet to come but borne out of a never-ending fight. My chapter is in conversation with autobiography (McBee, 2018), journalistic (Oates, 2006) and ethnographical scholarship addressing the intricacies of pugilistic violence as a response to systemic gender, racial, sexual and economic oppression (Beauchez, 2017; Rutter, 2007).
Boxing draws fighters from marginalized communities. As a trans man, I have fought intense ‘negative’ feelings most of my life – emotions culminating into rage. I joined an amateur boxing club in Ottawa after trying to instigate a street altercation with a stranger. Feeling out of control, I sought refuge with others who also believe fighting solves problems.
Professor Irving is a faculty member in the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies and the Feminist Institute of Social Transformation at Carleton University.
Irving, D. (2023), “Slipping Into the Shadows: Boxing, Affect and Healing Justice”, Greey, A.D. and Lenskyj, H.J. (Ed.) Trans Athletes’ Resistance (Emerald Studies in Sport and Gender), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 59-69. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80382-363-820231005