‘It’s what we’ve always done’: the netball dress, tradition and white femininity in Australia

<p dir="ltr">Netball, a sport historically played and controlled by women in Australia, has long been identifiable by the iconic, albeit evolving, uniform of the netball dress. However, in 2022, amidst a broader shift in the conversation around women’s uniforms, Netball Australia announced new, more expansive uniform guidelines. In this context I examine the historical and contemporary tensions of the netball dress in Australia. As a feminine-coded activity with roots in British imperialism, netball and the netball dress offer insights into the implicit and explicit expectations of (racialized) femininity imbued in active women’s uniforms and clothing (Horton et al. 2016; Marfell 2019). Adopting a critical whiteness and intersectional feminist lens, and drawing on interviews with netballers, I consider the significance and impacts of the netball dress in shaping and upholding a particular version of white femininity in the Australian netball context.</p>