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Abstract

This research explores the lived experiences of women in the male-dominated world of climbing through a feminist phenomenological lens. Drawing on in-depth interviews with self-identified Turkish women climbers, the study examines how their bodily experiences in climbing are shaped by and respond to broader social structures. Traditional phenomenology often overlooks socio-cultural factors like gender, race, and class. To address this gap, I adopted a feminist phenomenological framework that centers women's embodied knowledge. This approach helped me to integrate a gendered lens to examine how women’s personal bodily experiences are shaped by broader social structures. The findings revealed that in the context of Turkish climbing culture, dominant gender norms persistently position men as gatekeepers, shaping women’s sense of access, agency, and belonging. Participants expressed how climbing spaces are often governed by masculinist ideals that constrain women’s movement and expression. While climbing often reproduces existing gender hierarchies for Turkish women, it was also clear that it opens space for counter-narratives and resistance. Turkish women climbers actively negotiate and at times resist these norms through everyday embodied practices. They described complex relationships to their environments and communities, revealing how climbing becomes a way to challenge expectations around femininity, strength, and confidence. Conclusively, this research contributed to a deeper understanding of female embodiment in sport and expanded the field of feminist sport studies by centering voices from underrepresented cultural contexts.