TY - JOUR

T1 - Middle Aged Men in Lycra and the performative irony of watching Tour de France

AU - Wagner, Ulrik

AU - Frydendal, Stine

AU - Hybholt, Maria

N1 - CURIS 2023 NEXS 009

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Middle Aged Man in Lycra (MAMIL) is a cultural phenomenon associated with agendered and conspicuous practice that can be inclusive by attracting individuals not previously engaged in physical activities as well as exclusive due to its gender and socioeconomic conformity. Inspired by the works of Linda Hutcheon and Judith Butler, we argue that the MAMIL is an ironic figure constituting a complex and multifaceted character deeply embedded in a particular cultural context. By analyzing a TV advertising spot for Tour de France 2021 which embraces the MAMIL, the purpose of this study is to illustrate how ironic communication is productive as it leads to multiple performativities of irony. We identify four performativities in the spot which are: Irony as a way to cope with an aging male body; Irony as a way to identify with competitive elite sportsmen; (Self-) irony as enabling an exclusive male community and masculinity through humor; and Irony as legitimizing mass media consumption of cycling. We argue that the irony reaches beyond a mere humorous stance and serves a legitimizing and preservative function of road cycling as a male-dominated terrain.

AB - Middle Aged Man in Lycra (MAMIL) is a cultural phenomenon associated with agendered and conspicuous practice that can be inclusive by attracting individuals not previously engaged in physical activities as well as exclusive due to its gender and socioeconomic conformity. Inspired by the works of Linda Hutcheon and Judith Butler, we argue that the MAMIL is an ironic figure constituting a complex and multifaceted character deeply embedded in a particular cultural context. By analyzing a TV advertising spot for Tour de France 2021 which embraces the MAMIL, the purpose of this study is to illustrate how ironic communication is productive as it leads to multiple performativities of irony. We identify four performativities in the spot which are: Irony as a way to cope with an aging male body; Irony as a way to identify with competitive elite sportsmen; (Self-) irony as enabling an exclusive male community and masculinity through humor; and Irony as legitimizing mass media consumption of cycling. We argue that the irony reaches beyond a mere humorous stance and serves a legitimizing and preservative function of road cycling as a male-dominated terrain.

KW - Faculty of Science

KW - Performativity

KW - Road cycling

KW - Advertising

KW - Masculinity

KW - Situated knowledge

U2 - 10.1177/21674795221148988

DO - 10.1177/21674795221148988

M3 - Journal article

VL - 11

SP - 1102

EP - 1120

JO - Communication and Sport

JF - Communication and Sport

SN - 2167-4795

IS - 6

ER -