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ACTIVE citizens
This theme explores the politics of sporting bodies in public.Who gets to be active and in public? How have clothing inventors worked with or around restrictive social conventions and narrow assumptions built into being active in public space? Sport is firmly linked to citizenship. It is often seen as a symbol of national identity and has been predominantly male and, as a result, is imbued with glorified discourses of heroism, strength, daring, risk and triumph. For centuries, women and others who do not conform to these narratives, have been excluded and marginalised in sporting contexts; more often encouraged to witness and support from the margins rather than participate at the centre. In order to partake, they have had to challenge and resist prevailing ideas that many sports and physical activity are inappropriate and incompatible with their gender/femininity.
This theme reveals how individuals with far less access to normative sporting identities and clothing, have invented remarkable work-arounds to participate in active public life. Because they have largely been ignored by top-down institutions and retailers, the archive holds a vast range of surprising and original sporting and active identities emerging from the ground up. The most interesting of these are combination, concealed and convertible sporting outfits. These less obvious forms of active wear become sites for negotiation around what is possible and experimental sites for new practices, expanded expressions and citizenship claims.Examples of patents to be explored in this theme:convertible cycle wear, combination athletic wear, concealed sporting costumes (such as cycling, walking, mountaineering dress).