Circus aerialism as gendered labour

Circus aerialism is a unique form of physical work and gender performance, sharing similar physical demands with sport. Drawing on interviews with 31 circus aerialists in Canada, we seek to understand the relationship between gendered labour and circus aerialism. Despite opportunity for strategic navigating of gender roles and gender manoeuvring, it appears that roles made available for women in circus aerialism continue to be linked to the reductionist archetypes of womanhood: the sexy, dangerous woman or the pretty woman. Our respondents reported feeling liberated to explore gender, while constrained by gender scripts. We argue that the aerialist’s performance is a site of profitability, a dynamic that can both challenge and reproduce gender scripts dep­ending on gendered cultural context. Our findings contribute to sociologies of gender and gendered labour by revealing the role of gender scripts and their negotiation in this gruelling form of work.