Jonalysis

A friend of mine urged me to watch a short program of Russian figure skaters Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov. The pair had already performed the program in 2011 Skate Canada. The pair reprised the program in 2011 Trophée Eric Bompard. I had the chance to watch a recording of the latter.

Maxim Trankov wore a pair of trousers made of black, leather-like material. I always enjoy watching a masculine, athletic man in a pair of shiny black pants, so I was pleased that my friend had alerted me. However, it wasn’t until the end of the recording that something really caught my attention: as the last slow-motion clip from the Russians’ program, the director showed a close-up of Tatiana Volosozhar’s face — and Maxim Trankov’s shiny crotch.

More images like this and the popularity of figure skating broadcasts is sure to increase.

In her book Artistic Impressions: Figure Skating, Masculinity, and the Limits of Sport, Mary Louise Adams makes an interesting point about leather-like materials in the costumes of male figure skaters:

Anxieties over men’s costumes are based on some kind of Liberace-stereotype of gay men. They ignore the fact that almost any masculine image can be assimilated by or associated with gay cultures. – - – In the 1990′s, when some skaters tried to mark their masculinity in an aggressive fashion by sporting tight black t-shirts, studded wrist cuffs, and (fake or real) leather trousers, they were simply trading one set of gay signifiers for another. Indeed, when I have presented video clips of men’s skating to gay audiences, some viewers have argued that skating’s leather-clad, tough guys fit more easily into a contemporary gay image than do skaters wearing satin shirts or beaded boleros.