Social Construct of a Pool Hall
Billiards, or more commonly referred to as pool has been played for many decades. In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century it was played by those of upper class standing in their homes. Over the twentieth century pool shifted roles, becoming part of middle and lower class society. With the class change, pool also moved out of the home and into bars and halls. Pool has been forever transformed; today there are three main groups of pool players to be found in pool halls; professional players: blue collar players, and teenage players.
Non-pool players hold a very stereotypical view of what makes up a pool hall and its patrons. It tends to be a bar, full of drunkenness and fighting. Gambling, smoking, and trashy women standing next to their men. As one mother of five children stated in her interview, "it's motorcycle people." Here she was referring to the type of people who go to pool halls. And while she has never been herself, nor does she plan to go, she describes her motorcycle people as wearing, "leather jackets with fringe over dirty white t-shirts." These stereotypes could be possible for the lack of families and older couples who would go to pool halls. As with many stereotypes, this one is also inaccurate, of the three groups, the description of a "motorcycle person" does not fit in.
To define the groups of pool players, I studied a pool hall in Waterford, Michigan. This pool hall is located on the Waterford border with Pontiac, right off the main highway, in a collapsing business district. This area has seen its better days; it is now falling down the economic ladder. Now it resembles many inner cities of America. The hall is tucked back in off the highway, next ...
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...oup that should be left unrecognized, the women. Players from the lower groups do not strive to become members of the professional players, as professional players do not wish to move down in the ranks. The order is set; there are very few transfers between the groups.
The three groups: the professional players, the blue-collar players, and the teenagers, have forever transformed the atmosphere of the pool hall. While many stereotypes exist concerning what a pool hall is, many are not true. It is not full of "motorcycle people," nor is it a drunken scene as depicted in movies. It is a place of social construct, such as everything in society.
Works Cited
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“The athletic craze began in the late nineteenth century when American’s were looking for some recreational activities to add to their daily lives during the Depression. In the cities, industrial wage earners frequented play grounds. They went dancing at the dance halls and had fun at the amusement parks. People that lived in rural areas simply rode bicycles, played baseball or football. “
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While the 1920s was the era really known for sports in America, the love of the games did not diminish going into the next ten years. Throughout the 1930s, the three mainstream sports are still the three in the common era: baseball, basketball, and football (Hatcher). Out of thos...
Music has been around since the dawn of time, ever since man first inhabited this planet we have learned to communicate in ways other then conventional speaking. Different Cultures all have there own specific way of communicating through music. Music is basically broken into two specific groups Eastern Music and Western Music. Eastern music is mainly derived from the orient and India. While, Western music first emerged from Europe. Western music has developed in many ways since the middle ages through its form, sound, and message.
Jennifer. “Gender Relations and Alcohol: An Examination of The Cocktail Waitress: Women’s work in a Man’s World.”. December 9th, 2001. www.geocities.com/wellesley/6265/papers/gender/cocktailwaitress.html
Jiobu, Robert M., “Racial Inequality in a Public Arena: The Case of Professional Baseball”. Social Forces , Vol. 67, No. 2 (Dec., 1988), pp. 524-534 Oxford University Press
Jarvie, G. (2012). Sport, Social Division and Social Inequality. Sport Science Review. 20 (1-2), 95–109.
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