In Robert Lipstye’s piece, “Jock Culture,” he argues that everyone seems to assume that if you’re not into some sort of sport or anything involving physical activity, you are not really of much use at all. He tries resolving this issue by trying to understand this spectrum of stereotypes. Lipstye’s piece first appeared in The Nation, a newsmagazine usually focused on politics in 2011 special sports issue. Since then, the situation isn’t as bad as it used to be on the way everyone has seem to put into this stereotype of what they have to do because of their gender.
The purpose of Lipstye’s purpose in “Jock Culture” was to bring awareness to myths of masculinity and power that lies within sports and why those myths are inevitable. He brings up how Pukes—those found among hippies, smokers, protestors, and English majors (305)—are seen as slobs, losers and feminine. While the Jocks [found in sports or some type of aggressive physical activities] were these knights in shining armor that were brave, goal-driven, and socially acceptable (305). Thankfully, we have changed a bit on how we view the spectrum of genders over
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the course of five years. We haven’t fully accepted that men can be just as fragile as women. We seem to be stuck in an era where women should stay at home while men be outdoors finding ways to come back with food to maintain their family. In today’s age, we are seeing men go into art more and expressing their passion freely without having people judge them as much. Of course there are those Debby downers that live in the 1800s that can’t seem to process that we are in the 21st century. Back then, only women were allowed to act and show passion for anything that involved some sort of art because it wasn’t considered masculine. In all [but the last movie of] Peter Pan, were played be females. Now, you see men on dancing, painting, acting, publishing books like if it was never prohibited. Leonardo DiCaprio from the Titanic, James Patterson and all of the books he’s ever written and won New York’s bestsellers, and so many more. Not only that but you also see women outside of the kitchen and going outside working for their own stuff themselves without the help of a male figure. We see them as attorneys, doctors, sales reps, and having equal opportunities at the same education and [almost but not exactly] the same success as men. Although this is a huge leap, we still have a lot to go. It seems that society has a hard time trying to adjust to these changes that our younger generation has easily accepted. They—society—tells us to do what makes our hearts sparkle but then they stomp on our parade of success because it isn’t done correctly or simply because they don’t seem too excited to watch us one up them. Lipstye points out that we are born in this world where as soon as we’re able to walk, we are put in this abusive place where instead of learning how to be courageous and to respect one another, we are put in a pit of volatile actions such as bullying, aggressiveness and this disgusting devotion “win-at-all costs attitude” that literally kills you inside (307). In all honesty I feel as though they think that the right thing to do to their child is to put them in a sport. What parents need to understand is that while they think that what they think they are doing is doing no harm to their child, it’s really hurting them because of the fact that their child will think that the only way to please them is to do what their parents want them to do not because they actually enjoy the sport. Not only that but that adults need to realize that sports aren’t everything. That there is a more we should worry about than the size of a football stadium (308-309) and how long practice should be because failure is not an option.. Now this doesn’t mean that it’s only in sports. This “Jock Culture” is found in any work area. In the work career, you see that there are people given the star treatment while those who try are given nothing in return. It seems that we have it ingrained to our brains that we need to go big or go home if not just don’t try at all. We are pushed to try everything in order to find success but we can’t seem to appreciate those who have tried their best. So how is it that we are given this false unconditional positive regard and having to settle with not being good enough? When will society stop gassing us up with false hope and then burning our hopes to ashes when we attempt to do what we have been dreaming for? We are so focused on pushing others to do their best but can’t seem to find the same amount of energy when they have excelled to do what they could possibly dream of. It seems that we are too caught up on football to even care about anybody else’s passions unless they are born with this crazy talent that is extremely unlikely unless you were put to learn at the youngest age possible. Which is highly unlikely since most kids aren’t allowed in school until a certain age. We also seem to have this issue where nowadays we just stay at home and watch tv and behave in the same way as the shows we watch.
If you see a girl that watches Bad Girls Club, you’ll see that she will act tough like she’s from the streets. In all reality, she’s probably the total opposite. If you let your child watch violent shows or play violent video games, the child is most likely to behave aggressively towards others (i.e. Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiment). Like all experiments, there’s always that on oddball. For example, some of the athletes participating in the Olympics (308) could be English majors, instrumentalists, psychologists etc. That doesn’t make them any less important. If anything, they have been taught to not only work their body but to also stretch their knowledge and to not hide who they truly are and to pursue whatever career they
want. It seems to me that there is given this exaggerated amount of money to sports that could be spent in the education funds for future generations. It’s almost like we’re giving away our future to something that honestly isn’t really doing anything to help us move forward in life. We are all going to end up relying on robots—if we even get that far—and living in a spaceship because of how awful we are treating this earth and our opportunities to make it a better place for not only us but future generations to come. Maybe Wall-E isn’t just a movie but also telling us of our future. If we don’t put an end to this now we are going to be put in a position where we will have to choose between probably the two worst options and we will have no choice. I mean, come on. We have probably the worst two candidates to vote for our president. We either choose an arrogant spray tanned rich Hitler that wants to exterminate anything that isn’t white, or someone who is about equally as bad as Bush.
Platt, Larry. New jack jocks: rebels, race, and the American athlete. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2002.. 56-60
In the article “Jocks vs. Pukes.” By Robert Lipsyte the article is about people getting categorized as either Jocks or Pukes. Jocks are brave, manly, ambitious, focused, patriotic, and goal-driven while the Pukes are woolly, distractible, girlish, and damaged by their lack of confidence that nothing mattered as much as winning. Jock culture is important to people therefore, more girls are joining sports. In addition, they are more successful when they play as a team. When Pukes are interested in joining a sport they usually get rejected. Kids are usually influenced into the Jock Culture when their parents or coaches expose them to the best athletes and arenas. However, Boys were always taught to be tough, stoical, and to take any risk to win.
Society has always had the idea that males should participate in masculine activities and females in feminine activities. These activities define the lifestyle that person would have. It was also believed that if a male was not involved in masculine activities, that male was not a man. Sports is a field that has been dominated by males in the past years, and more recently has had a lot of females take part in it. But does playing a sport define one’s masculinity? Michael Messner, the author of Boyhood, Organized Sports, and the Construction of Masculinities, discusses the effect sports has on upcoming young men of different races. The effect of being introduced to a sport at a young age allowed males of different races to gain a sense of masculinity,
The influence of sports activities on boys’ identity and socialization experience remains a major interest in gender studies today. Michael A. Messner wrote an article called Boyhood, Organized Sports, and the Construction of Masculinities. The article examines the way sports focus and define what it is to be a masculine, studies variation in sports’ influences across social classes, and depicts lessons sports participation impacts for relationships beyond sports. Each area Michael A. Messner examined directly relates to three key concepts of psychology theories. The concepts consist of observational learning (social learning), conformity, and social identity. The research methods in the article are also a major factor contributing to the
Coakley, J. J. (2007). Sports in society: issues & controversies (9th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
...ennis, basketball, soccer, and martial arts—have come from the days of cheerleading and synchronized swimming when she was growing up in the ’70s.” Disparities in media coverage and over-sexualized female athletes on magazine covers is something that needs to come to an end because of its effects on both male and female viewers, young and old, athletes and non-athletes. Both female and male athletics influence young people and shape their personality and morals as they mature. Retired WNBA player, Lisa Leslie credits her participation in basketball with shaping her character, as well as her career. “Sports can also help teenagers during an awkward time in their development.” (“Women’s Athletics: A Battle For Respect”). The solution is to come together as a society and identify how to balance the respect for female and male athletes in the media.
One Generation Later, by Huffman, S. Tuggle, C. & Rosengard, D.S, explore the relevant discrepancies in media coverage. The authors assert that more boys than girls indulge in sports activities in school. Studies have examined the impact of Title IX on media coverage given to female athletes as opposed to male athletes to determine if there has been a shift away from negative social stereotypes that are traditionally associated with women’s sports participation toward a more socially accepting view of the female athlete. This has become a huge source of concern. Male students take active part in sports activities.
Unintentionally, a lot of us have been boxed into institutions that promote gender inequality. Even though this was more prominent decades ago, we still see how prevalent it is in today’s world. According to the authors of the book, Gender: Ideas, Interactions, Institutions, Lisa Wade and Myra Marx Ferree define gendered institutions as “the one in which gender is used as an organizing principle” (Wade and Ferree, 167). A great example of such a gendered institution is the sports industry. Specifically in this industry, we see how men and women are separated and often differently valued into social spaces or activities and in return often unequal consequences. This paper will discuss the stigma of sports, how gender is used to separate athletes, and also what we can learn from sports at Iowa State.
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).
It goes without saying that a person's gender, racial and social origins influence their participation in sports. Particular races and genders often dominate certain sports. African Americans, for example, tend to dominate football and basketball, while Caucasians tend to dominate ice hockey. The same holds true for gender as well. Football is an entirely male dominated sport, while horseback riding, gymnastics and figure skating are much more female oriented. How and why did these divisions come about? Determining the origin of gender goes beyond the scope of this paper, however one can speculate about how gender classifications and stereotypes affect one's role in the sports arena.
After-school athletics is typically presented as a productive outlet for students to engage with one another and learn within a team environment. However, through an intersectional lens it should be taken into question whether playing sports is enjoyable or even possible without reaping the benefits of gender, heteronormative, and numerous other privileges. Reflecting on my own personal experience of playing high school basketball, I take a closer look as to how it was shaped by the many facets of intersectionality and privilege. In analyzing my experience, I will argue why sports is a constant force in reproducing gender binaries and oftentimes baneful to those who do not conform to heteronormativity.
Coakley (2009) starts off the chapter by introducing how participation in organized sports came about and how gender roles played a major role early on. He describes how most programs were for young boys with the hope that being involved would groom them to become productive in the economy. Girls were usually disregarded and ended up sitting in the stands watching their sibling’s ga...
Krane, V. (2001). We can be athletic and feminine, but do we want to? Challenging hegemonic femininity in women's sport. Quest, 53,115-133.
Women’s participation in sport is at an all-time high and has almost become equal to men’s, however. Sports media does not fail to show this equality and skews the way we look at these athletes. Through the disciplines of sociology and gender studies, it can be seen that despite the many gains of women in sports since the enactment of Title IX, “traditional” notions of masculinity and femininity still dominate media coverage of males and females in sports, which is observed in Olympic programming and sports news broadcasts. Sociology is a growing discipline and is an important factor in the understanding of different parts of society. Sociology is “a social science that studies human societies, their interactions, and the processes that preserve and change them” (Faris and Form P1).
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.