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Homophobia in football essay
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Here we are, living in twenty first century in Great Britain, one of the most diverse and accepting countries in the world, a place where people from all backgrounds and upbringings are largely accepted into their wider communities. Sounds like a nice place to me, but why if we as a nation really are all so accepting does our national sport, football, have no openly gay players participating in the higher divisions.
In fact you have to look as far down as the sixth tier of competition in the English football pyramid to find Britain’s only openly gay football player, 23 year old Liam Davis who plays for conference north side Gainsborough Trinity. (Alistair Magowan, 2014)
It is not as if there are no gay footballers out there, as of May 2013 there were
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(Scraton,S and Flintoff,A, 2002,p81)
There have been cases in other sports where athletes meet and partake in sporting activities in an aim to raise respect and understanding for homosexuality in sport. (Federation of Gay Games, 2014) Such events should be supported and could be a key into more homosexual athletes coming out.
Possibly the most important tool for the tackling of homophobic abuse in football is for any victims of homophobic abuse to speak out and tell their stories, however small or large scale the incident might be. This must also be backed up by any heterosexual witnesses, who should also try to maintain environments where there is no such thing as homophobic abuse. (Brown,1991, p.205)
Whist coming out as gay may seem a risk for many in a largely heterosexual society I believe the key to solving this problem is for more gay people to come out and share their stories.
There is a suggestion that gay sporting clubs and organisations helping to overcome prejudices, by building bridges with the gay communites. ( Jarvis,N, 2006,
This research paper will determine whether professional athletes deserve a second chance to play in professional sports after inappropriate behaviors. Professional athletes are considered idols and are often held to higher standards. Society has become concerned with so many of today’s athletes making the evening news for their unsuitable behaviors.
In the past decades, the struggle for gay rights in the Unites States has taken many forms. Previously, homosexuality was viewed as immoral. Many people also viewed it as pathologic because the American Psychiatric Association classified it as a psychiatric disorder. As a result, many people remained in ‘the closet’ because they were afraid of losing their jobs or being discriminated against in the society. According to David Allyn, though most gays could pass in the heterosexual world, they tended to live in fear and lies because they could not look towards their families for support. At the same time, openly gay establishments were often shut down to keep openly gay people under close scrutiny (Allyn 146). But since the 1960s, people have dedicated themselves in fighting for
Stop for a moment and think what if homophobia didn’t really mean what we think it means. What if it really meant the opposite? Michael S. Kimmel’s essay “Masculinity as Homophobia” explains that homophobia is actually the fear of being perceived as gay. Yes, this might come as a shock to some people, but let’s see why this actually might make sense. This essay discusses that men in order to look as manly as possible, they act in very different ways, and sometimes they even exaggerate their behaviors (103). According to Kimmel men are afraid of being humiliated by other men and they would rather jeopardize their health just to preserve their masculinity (105). The author states that society has a great impact on how one should behave in order to be perceived e real men. That’s why I deeply agree with Kimmel’s general idea that homophobia is actually the fear of being
We live in a society in which there are people of different race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation etc. people are free to choose whatever path they want to follow and especially with sexual orientation. People know what path they way want to follow at an early age whether they heterosexual, meaning that they are straight or if they are homosexual which means that they are lesbian, transgender, or queer/questioning. In this paper, Ally Training will be discussed as being educational, how heterosexism plays a part in homosexual’s lives, the coming out process, the multicultural world, concerns that homosexual faces, and religion.
Her ideas challenged my previous opinion in that I believed that in order for a transgender athlete to play for their non-biological sex was solely to undergo a complete sex. Prior to researching this topic, I was unaware of other methods such as hormone therapy that were available to transgender athletes. Through Castillo’s informative article, I was able to understand that other options are available in order to maintain the fairness and equality throughout athletics. While Castillo argues that transgender athletes must complete at least one year of hormone therapy, Canadian Blogger, Keph Senett, argues otherwise. In her essay, “Where Do Transgender Athletes Fit Into Sports?” which was published in newsletter Matador Network, Senett argues that transgender athletes must complete a full sex change before even considering competing for the opposite sex. Senett’s article did not add much more to my original opinion, nor did it challenge it in any
However, depending on their environment or the quality of one’s relationship to another person; the individual’s sexuality can be discussed with those closest to them. When their sexual orientation is revealed or “outed”, the individual has both opportunities such as accepted by families and peer groups and problems such as dealing with homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in their homes, schools and the communities in the presence of others and their opinions; making them feel let down, abandoned and dejected. According to Kathryn Dindia’s article “Going Into and Coming Out of the Closet: The Dialectics of Stigma and Disclosure” those who identify as bisexual, lesbian, gay or transgender are subject to stigma of AIDS or mental illness because “...the stigma is difficult or impossible to conceal, whether to reveal or conceal is an issue for the discreditable…”(85). Stating the individuals who came out as the “discreditable”, as have noted when the individual decided to reveal their sexual orientation they have ordeals such stereotypes, hatred, microaggressions and stigma. The chapter speaks into social sense unlike the next reading “Out of the Closets and Into the Courts”, Ellen Andersen narrates coming out in a more legal manner. During the Counterculture Movement and the 1970’s, Andersen pointed out and stressed “...gay men and lesbians needed legal representation…”(17) as well as protection by law enforcement, although earlier said the Stone wall Riots was provoked by acts of police brutality and the court system. Especially in American society, the book additionally states that the Gay Rights
This is exemplified in another game produced by Nintendo in their instalments to the Animal Crossing series. The feminine giraffe character, Gracie is a celebrity fashion designer who occasionally communicates to the player. In the Japanese titles of the game series, Gracie is labelled as a male yet in the western version of the game, they have the same game model, yet they are labelled as a female. This illustrates how through translation, ‘deviant’ themes such as transsexuality and/or being transgender is changed to “please the western audience”. Through the preceding examples of Birdo and Gracie, it is clear to see the fact characters who identify as LGBT are being hidden by game companies to attempt to appeal to the mainstream audience, in doing so stripping away any sense of relatability queer individuals have to these characters. This is supported in a quote from my questionnaire that I conducted, a respondent stated that they “don’t see enough games with gender neutral or non-binary characters.” In addition to that, 100% of non-binary respondents to my questionnaire stated that they are not pleased with the way their genden identity is represented in video games. Due to the underrepresentation of non-binary and gender queer characters in video games, individuals
Sexual assault, abuse, and rape by athletes is a devastating crime. These crimes by themselves are horrendous, but when committed by athletes there are many different factors involved. Through extensive research this paper will show contributing factors that may result in assault, abuse, or rape by athletes. Special treatment for athletes throughout their career, belief in sexual male dominance, and the role of alcohol are all important factors. Other crucial factors are the attitudes and responses of: society, juries, victims, coaches, and athletes. This paper will explore all these issues and show that changes need to be made in all the areas to combat the growing percentages of sport assault, abuse, and rape against women.
The false accusations of many male cheerleaders being gay serve no purpose but to bring the cheerleader down. They love to do what they do and when someone labels them differently, it undermines what the cheerleader actually does. Male cheerleaders exhibit qualities that women do not, which gives men an advantage in certain cases. The misleading information of men joining the cheerleading squad to impress a girl also shows that people do not understand that everybody has different interests and how they chose to express that interest. The fact that a cheerleader is male should not affect how a person’s intelligence is measured, but their work ethic should reflect the grades of the person. Just because of the way society has placed genders on certain sports should not be the reason to judge someone as dumb, gay, or having interest for something fueled by someone other than themselves. So in the words of Megan Barlly, male cheerleaders are the “powerhouses [that] bring a whole new element to the sport”
The act of "coming out" is a complex political tool. Its use is open to ambiguous possibilities, ranging from subverting social order to reinforcing those power structures. Of course, it is undoubtedly an empowering act for many non-heterosexual persons to identify themselves as such. Even if the categories of "heterosexual" and "homosexual" are entirely socially constructed (as Michel Foucault argues), that does not mean that they are not real categories of thought that shape the way we live our lives. Indeed, my computer is entirely constructed, but is still undeniably real. Since many non-heterosexual people do live their lives identifying differently from heterosexual people, they may find "homosexual" (or a similar label) an accurate description of their identities and daily lives, however socially contingent that description is. That said, I do not wish to make a judgement call on whether or not someone should or should not come out. Rather, I wish to examine the complicated space represented by "the closet" and the multifarious effects that "coming out" has on the larger social structure.
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.
In the sports world, homosexual athletes are often forced to hide their sexual orientation and to keep it as a private matter. This is mainly due to the hegemonic masculinity associated with playing sports. Homosexuality is considered the direct opposite of this and therefore is not associated with sports. Also the way athletes talk to each other in the locker room makes it more difficult for gay athletes to come out. Guys jokingly call each other homophobic slurs or pump their chest by talking about women to express their masculinity. Female athletes, unlike their male counterparts, are considered to be more free to talk about their sexual orientation. But, there still exists the misconception that women who participate in sports are assumed to be gay. In college and professional men’s sports it is beginning to become more common for athletes to be more open to talking publically about their sexual orientation. This brings up the question as to whether or not things are changing in our society so that the acceptance of gay athletes will be more common. More acceptance by our overall society as a whole will lead to more gay athletes – both male and female – feeling free to step forward and be open about their sexual orientation.
“The unprecedented growth of the gay community in recent history has transformed our culture and consciousness, creating radically new possibilities for people to ‘come out’ and live more openly as homosexuals”(Herdt 2). Before the 1969 Stonewall riot in New York, homosexuality was a taboo subject. Research concerning homosexuality emphasized the etiology, treatment, and psychological adjustment of homosexuals. Times have changed since 1969. Homosexuals have gained great attention in arts, entertainment, media, and politics. Yesterday’s research on homosexuality has expanded to include trying to understand the different experiences and situations of homosexuals (Ben-Ari 89-90).
An issue that has, in recent years, begun to increase in arguments, is the acceptability of homosexuality in society. Until recently, homosexuality was considered strictly taboo. If an individual was homosexual, it was considered a secret to be kept from all family, friends, and society. However, it seems that society has begun to accept this lifestyle by allowing same sex couples. The idea of coming out of the closet has moved to the head of homosexual individuals when it used to be the exception.
During the game is just as hard, the player has to focus on playing the game as well as listening to more homophobic slur in the game. And after the game is just like before the game acting like fit the perfect mold of an athlete. Being a closeted athlete is not easy, since homophobia is such a common aspects of sports. And the expectation with sports to