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The role of mass media in shaping public opinion
The role of mass media in shaping public opinion
The role of mass media in shaping public opinion
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Kusz examines the emergence of extreme sports in America during the 1990’s, which at first were depicted as purposeless activities for a slacker generation, and then a few years later as super masculine sports that embody ‘traditional American ideals such as pushing boundaries, taking risks and being innovative’. Kusz looks to understand the cause of this change in representation by the media of extreme sports and to do this interrogates the representational politics of extreme sports. Kusz concludes that this shift can be traced back to a post 1960’s crisis of white masculinity. I am interested in this essay as Kusz deals with issues of masculinity and the politics of sport, which is directly relevant to how women fit into and are portrayed
Stereotypes are dangerous in today’s society as they force individuals to compromise safety in order to meet society’s want for entertainment. In “It’s Time to Think About Visors,” Ken Dryden explores the idea that society has pressured athletes to sacrifice safety for performance. Furthermore, he uses first hand experience to warn the public of the consequences that can occur when safety is neglected. Dryden’s experiences show a stunning fact that is people will focus on pleasing others stereotypes of risk in entertainment and inevitably reduce the barriers that separate the individual from danger. Ultimately, resulting in an increased rate of preventable injuries due to the influence of the world around them. In the essay
...out all these different shifts was less than the black man’s self image. The more politics, economics, and also social began to open it was easier for black men to show their manhood where in previous years, they would have been punished.
In Kimmel’s essay “’Bros Before Hos’: The Guy Code” he argues that the influence of society on masculinity is equal to or greater than biological influences on masculinity. In the essay, Kimmel uses various surveys and interviews to validate his argument. He points to peers, coaches, and family members as the people most likely to influence the development of a man’s masculinity. When a man has his manliness questioned, he immediately makes the decision never to say or do whatever caused him to be called a wimp, or unmanly. Kimmel’s argument is somewhat effective because the readers get firsthand accounts from the interviewees but the author does not provide any statistics to support his argument.
Summers, Martin. The Black Middle Class and the Transformation of Masculinity. Chapel Hill: University of Carolina Press, 2004.
It is difficult to pin-point precisely when the phrase extreme sports began to refer to specific modern sports. It goes back to the 1970s when mountain biking and marathon running were two of the most extreme sports. I believe extreme or “action” sports grew into popular past-times in the late 20th century as a way for people to step outside of a somewhat overly conservative comfort zone. Lacking a feeling of danger in their day to day activities, people may have felt the urge to increase their drive for something out of the ordinary. As more people become aware of extreme sports, the activities gain more participants and supporters. As interest and participation in challenging, cutting-edge activities competitors constantly search for something new
In fact, the introduction of new technological entertainment has served as a gateway for the new generation of athlete culture: video games. As a result of the growth of video games, Esports (short for ‘Electronic Sports’) is slowly being integrated into athlete culture worldwide through its spectacular foundations, overwhelming popularity, vast prize pools, and recognition by official authorities. The birth of Esports can contribute most of its discovery to its original roots from the 19th century era (Bellis). To understand the next generation of athlete culture, Esports, it is necessary for individuals to understand the beginnings of the new breed. During the 19th century era video games were often overlooked due to its funky nature, however, the introduction of new technology that allowed individuals to manipulate and control objects was appealing to some (Bellis).
Robert Bly explains that the ideal image of masculinity depicted by our western views is said to be the 50’s males. “These men had a clear image of what a man was, and what his responsibilities of a man were, but the isolation and one-sidedness, of his vision were dangerous.” By the sixties, males became aware of the feminism movement that the 50’s males tried so hard to ignore. With the changing times, the combined influence of feminism and the gay movement has exploded the conception and uniform of masculinity and even sexuality is no longer held to be innate. Men during these movements felt threatened by the newfound power of these individuals and sense of self. The 70’s brought upon an era of the ‘soft’ male, who were not interested in starting wars or harming the earth. Yet they remained unhappy, and lacked energy because they are providers and not procreators. Even through the chain of events in American society, the view of masculinity is still ever
By using critical discourse analysis, I will explore how the media coverage of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics provides its viewers from their home country with a sense of nationalism and pride through the emphasize of physical fitness and athleticism. In additional to that, I will also draw from the Spartans millenarian mentality that also emphasized physical excellence from a young age for competitive purposes. I gather information by reading article of the Sochi Olympics from The New York Times and the NBC network as well as comparing them with Russian newspaper such as The Moscow Times and the Rossiyskaya Gazeta to see what type of strategies and themes are used by both country in conveying nationalism and fitness to their viewers.
Within todays sporting community, certain aspects of sport and its practices promote and construct ideas that sport in general is a male dominated. Sports media often provides an unequal representation of genders. Women athletes are regularly perceived as mediocre in comparison to their male equivalents (Lenskyj, 1998). Achievement in sport is generally established through displays of strength, speed and endurance, men usually set the standards in these areas, consequently woman rarely reach the level set by top male athletes. Due to this, the media significantly shows bias towards male sports while we are ill-informed about the achievements in the female sporting community. On the occasion that a female athlete does make some form of an appearance in the media, images and videos used will usually portray the female in sexually objectified ways (Daniels & Wartena, 2011). This depiction of female athletes can cause males to take focus solely on the sexual assets of the athlete in preference to to their sporting abilities (Daniels & Wartena, 2011). Sexualisation of sportswoman in the media is a prevalent issue in today’s society, it can cause physical, social and mental problems among women of all ages (Lenskyj, 1998).
Politics is the art or science of government or governing, especially the governing of a political entity, such as a nation, and the administration and control of its internal and external affairs. The Olympic Games is an event held every 4 years, which includes a variety of sport activities in which different countries compete against one another. “Sport is frequently a tool of diplomacy. By sending delegations of athletes abroad, states can establish a first basis for diplomatic relations or can more effectively maintain such relations” (Espy 3). One might think that politics and the Olympics have nothing to do with each other, but in fact they do have a lot in common. How did politics affect the Olympic Games in 1936, 1968 and 1972?
The "Femininity/Masculinity" Encyclopedia of Sociology. New York: Macmillan, n.d. 1-21. Web.
Sports, in general, are a male dominated activity; every “real” male is suppose to be interested and/or involved in sports in the American society. However, it is not expected of a female to be interested in sports and there is less pressure on them to participate in physically enduring activities. These roles reflect the traditional gender roles imposed on our society that men are supposed to be stronger and dominant and females are expected to be submissive. As Michael Kimmel further analyzes these gender roles by relating that, “feminism also observes that men, as a group, are in power. Thus with the same symmetry, feminism has tended to assume that individually men must feel powerful” (106).
From the outcome of a vote in congress to a newly suggested policy sports have affected politics for plenty of years dating back to the late 19th Century. Whether it's putting an end to segregation through baseball, the making of a new ally because of soccer, or the boosting of an economy because of a single sporting event there are countless occurrences in which a sport helped better a country. Where there are miracles there are also tragedies, sports can also affect politics negatively, with the tragedies far outweighing the miracles. There have been boycotts from a government, political embarrassment, and the worst, mass killings, all of which happening as a result of sports. The same goes for politics and government affecting a sporting event, there have been games set at a specific location purely to boost the economy of that city, certain teams being chosen to win a sporting event based on them having a disaster occurring recently, or even a country refusing to allow their athletes to compete to solidify their history and what they hope to achieve. As sports affects politics negatively politics can also affect sports negatively, there have been counties killing others during sporting events, countries being dismantled because of sporting events, and even countries refusing to have others participate in a sporting event because of their religion, ethnicity, etc. When asked to describe both sports and politics in one phrase reporter George Vecsey (2012) said “Obama plays it safe for a field goal. Clinton needs to hit a grand slam. McCain is preparing for a marathon. Candidates cannot afford any blunders, like Billy Conn trying to knock out Joe Louis in 1941. Apparently, we sports buffs can...
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.
...ing property prices (working couples), unemployment (women stealing men’s jobs), teenage delinquency (feminists driving men to abandon their sons), reality television (the “feminization” of the culture) and increasing sexual violence (now that women don’t defer to them, men have suffered a violent “identity crisis”)”(4) (Mendes, pg 2).