When thinking of professional soccer, or football as it is better known around the world outside of the United States, players like Mia Hamm, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Renaldo, and Abby Wambach come to mind. Lovers of the game each have their own favorite player, and if you’re Jesminder Bhamra, your favorite player is David Beckham. In Gurinder Chadha’s Bend It Like Beckham, Jesminder “Jess” is an eighteen year old British-Indian aspiring to be a professional football player despite her family’s orthodox Sikh views. Bend It Like Beckham challenges the ideas of religion and how Indians come to the majority culture.
The story takes place in London, England, where the Bhamra family has settled from the Punjabi region in India. The Bhamra’s are very strict, orthodox Sikhs that want the best for their two daughters: Pinky and Jesminder. The family is busy preparing for Pinky’s (Archie Panjabi) upcoming wedding, but Jess (Parminder Nagra) could care less as she more interested in playing football with the boys in the park even
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In the opening scene of the movie, Jess dreams that she is playing with David Beckham and Manchester United, and the announcers of the game ask Jess’s mom how proud she is of Jess, to which she responds, “Not at all! She shouldn't be running around with all these men showing her bare legs to 70,000 people! She's bringing shame on the family” (Chadha, 2002). Jess’s mom views Jess playing football as dishonorable and unorthodox, even though, according to Jess, Guru Nanak blessed her with her football playing skills. Her parents and Sikh culture tell Jess that she should be behaving like a proper woman. This means learning how to make a full Punjabi meal and serve her future family. Sikhism emphasizes serving and feeding others because rituals aren’t enough to express your
Football is not a game but a religion, a metaphysical island of fundamental truth in a highly verbalized, disguised society, a throwback of 30,000 generations of anthropological time. (“Football Quotes, Great”, par. 12)
Warren St.John reports on the story of one woman who impacted her community in more ways than she probably realized. Luma Mufleh is a young woman originally from Jordan, who came to America for college and moved to Clarkston, Georgia. As a lover of soccer, she worked at the YMCA until she met a group of boys who showed more passion for the sport than anyone she had ever coached before. These kids were the refugees whose families had to move to America to escape wars in their homelands. They were looking for better place to live and economic opportunities. These kids and their families were caught somewhere between the cultures of their native homes and the new ways of life that was presented by America. Luma noticed the natural talent in all of these kids. She noticed the love for the game of soccer in these kids. She made a team called the Fugees. Fugees came from the refugees. Luma trained the kids with the strict discipline like mandatory practice, cardio and tough attitude. She told if someone misses more two game sessions you are off the team (St.John 109). On the field, Luma faced bigger challenges. “When Luma told kids to divide up into the groups for drills, they would instinctively divide themselves according to their ethnic backgrounds or common languages. In scrimmages, boys would overlook open teammates to pass their own kind. And each group, she learned, had its own prejudices toward others” (St.John 60).
Foer vowed to show us how the game of soccer can impact different regions and cultures. He indicated us how these relationships (between different nations and beliefs), while there, are hard to apprehend on the global scale. But trough soccer, these relationships reveal themselves in a hesitant fashion.
Franklin starts by giving reasons why he has used soccer to explain the failure of globalization and also clarifies that his objective is not to argue economic changes and factors, but to address cultural issues. In the first part of How Soccer Explains the American Culture Wars, the author goes into depth that how and why soccer entered into his life and what role his parents played to ensure that their child excelled in the sport. He then talks about the cultural divide in America; the different mindsets of the elite and the working middle class and how individuals from these classes reacted to the introduction of soccer in America in the 1980’s. Moving on, in the second part of his analysis, the author sheds light on the hateful comments of some eminent Americans such as Tom Wier, Jack Kemp, Allen Barra and most importantly Jim Rome. These individuals have openly expressed their hatred for soccer and they believe that it is “not a sport”. To counter claims and criticism made these men, Franklin presents some facts and figures that clearly state that over the years soccer has managed to make its way into the American culture, while the most American sport i.e. Baseball has lost viewership. This section is summed up by differentiating between the stances of two contrasting groups towards globalization. In the last part of the
American Football is a huge spectator sport where offensive and defensive players will use teamwork and perseverance to try and score more points than their opponent. Football is highly respected in America, where boys will try and pursue the dream of playing in the NFL (National Football Association) someday; but if you look at an average neighborhood, you will find that kids and adults of all ages love to go out and throw around the pigskin. (Lerner and Lerner 275). One thing Americans will take pride in is the college and NFL football teams they root for. People sit down with a beer and talk hours upon hours of football and two individuals can get in a heated discussion in the local sports store of whose sports team is better. Surprisingly enough, one will find the most passionate football players at the high school level. Most boys will start their football career as a young child in football programs such as Pop Warner to get a foothold and to get those involved in teamwork and friendships. These programs are usually the start to someone falling in love with the sport and making it a career choice eight years later. Football is one of America’s favorite sports. When fall season comes around, people across America are placing bets, finding out where that new sports bar is, and buying wide screen T.V’s to watch NFL on Sundays. After their team plays, they will go out and reminisce what happened that Sunday. While thousands of fans are still pumped from the NFL games they watched; small towns across America are getting ready to shut down their shops and restaurants to have the chance to make it to the local high schools football game. Ray Glier, a reporter for the New York Times, writes about football in the small town of Appala...
During the late 80’s, Phil Alden Robinson developed a sensational story that revolved around a real life account of a sport tragedy. The viewers were immersed in a touching account of how sport, a social interest, can play a powerful role in human bonding; thus becoming a very spiritual component of life. It in itself has a profound effect on the societies’ spiritual experiences; and just like religion can respectfully be considered a form of spirituality for a modern society, as exemplified in Robinson’s movie ‘Field of Dreams’. This story resonates far beyond the power of dreams, its appeal lies in a vision of a perfect sport and the love for which can inadvertently resolve issues no matter how grand. The plot at first presents itself as a complex; or maybe even a strange series of events, but somehow its scenes string themselves into a moral about redemption and deep interpersonal bonds.
Traditions control how one talks and interacts with others in one’s environment. In Bengali society, a strict code of conduct is upheld, with dishonor and isolation as a penalty for straying. Family honor is a central part to Bengali culture, and can determine both the financial and social standing of a family. Usha’s family poses no different, each member wearing the traditional dress of their home country, and Usha’s parents diligently imposing those values on their daughter. Those traditions, the very thing her [Usha] life revolved around, were holding her back from her new life as an American. Her mother in particular held those traditions above her. For example, when Aparna makes Usha wear the traditional attire called “shalwar kameez” to Pranab Kaku and Deborah’s Thanksgiving event. Usha feels isolated from Deborah’s family [Americans] due to this saying, “I was furious with my mother for making a scene before we left the house and forcing me to wear a shalwar kameez. I knew they [Deborah’s siblings] assumed, from my clothing, that I had more in common with the other Bengalis than with them” (Lahiri ...
The soccer controversy dealing with gendered wage gaps only reinforces the idea that gender is a psychologically ingrained social construct instead of an innate quality, especially in a patriarchal society where women oppression is still prevalent (Risman, 1998). As Hope mentions, “this day and age is about equality and about equal pay. We are pushing that and to be treated with respect.” By conveying this statement, Hope and her teammates are not only expressing their concerns about the gendered pay gap in soccer and in other realms of the work field, but they are also illuminating the existence of a pay gap as a larger sociological problem; a problem where a woman makes 76 cents for a man’s dollar (Sklar, 2012). Similar to other sports like basketball and football, soccer is conventionally portrayed as a manly sport with a great amount of physical contact, rigor, sweat, pain, skill, concentration and will.
The second film we watched was, Bend it Like Beckham, about a British girl of Indian descent who wants to play soccer. The conflict in this film deals with the opposing views of the athletic, modern, westernized-protagonist and her supportive, but more conservative and traditional parents, who worry about their tomboyish daughter who would rather play soccer than learn how to cook a full Indian dinner. The basic theme is the value of embracing your culture as w...
In the world of sport, soccer and football with respect to demographic has had numerous controversies. Although both sport are known famously around the globe, for many years fans from both sides are known for asking, is American football same as soccer? What’s the time limit on both sports? What’s the game objective? Do they use the same ball? However they both have similarities and differences which I will be talking about in this essay.
I believe the question posed by Prebish asking whether sport is a parallel to religion or identical means that sport is very closely related to the same principles. It is an organized institution dealing with faith, discipline, tradition, rituals, and has devout followers, as does the religious institution. When a sport can bring its followers to an experience of the ultimate plateau of complete focus, oneness, devotion, and the quest for salvation, I believe this is identical to religion.
Dealing with the issue of sport and ethnology, three major factors come to mind; prejudice, racism, and discrimination. These factors span across gender, ethnic, racial, religious, and cultural groups. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss how these factors have played a part in the evolution of sport in our society. The first issue tackled in this paper will be racism in sports, followed by prejudice and discrimination.
The amazing game of soccer is played in every continent, and is the world’s most popular sport. It is proven to be one of the number one sports to be played and watched. Because its fans and players are so devoted, the sport continues to grow. Requiring only a ball and open space, the activity is available to anyone, whether rich or poor, male or female, athletic or not. Over the years, soccer has won the hearts of many because of its unique history, many benefits, and notable achievements.
Whether its baseball, basketball, soccer, hockey, or tennis, sports is seen all over the world as a representation of one’s pride for their city, country, and even continent. Sports is something that is valued world-wide which has the ability to bring communities together and create different meanings, beliefs and practices between individuals. Although many people may perceive sports to have a significant meaning within our lives, it can also have the ability to separate people through gender inequalities which can also be represented negatively throughout the media. This essay will attempt to prove how gender is constructed in the sports culture while focusing on female athletes and their acceptance in today’s society.
Sexism is a major theme that is present throughout the film. Jess struggles with her environmental surroundings because she lives in an Indian household and faces many cultural barriers. Jules and Jess have the same share of soccer but their parents give them lack of support. This indicates that their parents want their daughter to become a perfect female daughter who likes girly things than being a soccer player. This theme is expressed through Jess’ mother saying “What family would want a daughter-in-law who can run around kicking a football all day but can’t make round chapatis”. The author