Traditionally, there was significant segregation between Eastern and Western culture, especially regarding sports and physical activities. Eastern culture typically refers to Asia and India and the Western world includes countries such as Australia, The United States of America and England (Wikipedia, Eastern World, 2015). Australia, for example, has gained majority of its sporting influence from England. However, with evolving technologies this definitive segregation has dissolved to bring countries closer together, resulting in shared cultures and with that, the adoption of a variety of different sports. A more universal and accepting approach to sport has been developed. In society today we do share in the knowledge and participation of …show more content…
The traditional activities of peaceful meditation and martial arts have been overthrown by the mass devotion to western sports such as football, cricket and soccer. Western culture varies dramatically to the neutral, peaceful perceptions of eastern sports. Typically, sport in this side of the world is fuelled by success and the ultimate goal to be the best in the world. For example, the cultural origins of Australian sport link back to England. In this colonial period, sport was played only by the wealthy upper class. Their arrogant mindset of superiority could be a source of our now modern goal to continually be the best. Nonetheless this competitive notion can be beneficial to the country, Australia particularly. The strive to be the best, as a nation, builds unity. In bringing all citizens together for a common cause sport can establish national pride on a huge scale. For example the passion and devotion of Australians at the time of the ashes is solely due to our desire to beat our "mother country" and defy our typical underdog status. The two cultures vary in the fact that the Eastern world asks for their physical activities to be recognised as ancient traditions and build pride through heritage whereas the Western world utilises sports and physical activity to gain superiority and in doing so, create unity through …show more content…
Their martial arts and combative techniques such as judo and tae kwon do were centred around mental perseverance and discipline (Spicer J, 2016.) The culture viewed this as significantly more important than strength and power. Physical activity in eastern culture was regarded as an art, something of beauty that benefits the body in its entirety, connecting mind, body and spirit. This perception is dissimilar to the views upheld by western society. Western ways of thinking about the body revolved around physical beauty and sexual appeal. Professional athletes are viewed as physically fit and having the ideal body shape. This creates the desire for others to train to tone muscles and lose weight to ultimately aesthetically improve their looks. For example women training to look like professional swimmers such as Stephanie Rice. Where eastern culture saw importance in harmonising all aspects of the body, western culture placed emphasis on physical strength and power. Again, with the influence of globalisation this distinct perceptions have merged. The western world has realised the importance of mental fitness and relaxation and the eastern world has developed a greater desire for the ideal body shape. An example of this change can be seen in the rising number of sports psychologists, as mental health is now seen as just as important as physical health
The following commissioned report was compiled for the Health Studies Faculty of Brisbane Girls Grammar. The purpose of this report is to evaluate the nature of women’s sport, not only in society, but also at the Brisbane Girls Grammar School.
Prettyman, S. S., & Lampman, B. (2006). Learning culture through sports: exploring the role of sports in society. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Education.
From the United States to Hispanic countries like Spain, the countries share their love for the same sports even though they are oceans apart. While they have their similar interests, sports interests differ in each of the countries as well. Without sports in the world, our cultures we know and love would be completely different and dull. They help shape our cultures and the people within them. Sports like soccer, football, and baseball are sports that we know and love in Hispanic and American countries. We all know what they are, but the way they are played, their histories, and our passions for these sports differ and correspond.
Social-class played an important role in sports. It dictated who could participate in what sports and to what level of participation. The terminal factor associated with social class was money. Money was the means to obtain the equipment necessary to partake in the sports. Without money, one couldn't perform organized sports. Furthermore, this issue was only limiting the already restricted minorities. Barriers between social-classes resulted in sports also being separated by social-class. The middle-class and upper-class took on sports such as football and boxing. They could afford the equipment for the organized sports. However, the lower-class didn't have much money, so they made do with what they had. One "sport" that was exclusively a lower-clas...
At times I was dangerously thin, and my arms have always been longer than they should be for someone of my height. Nonetheless, my body has never gone under scrutiny and in fact, was common and celebrated among male basketball players. This is one of the many benefits of my male privilege. Female athletes, on the other hand, are subjected to a contradictory ideal that they should maintain a strong athletic body for the sport they play, yet also remain thin and appeal to the sexual ideal men hold them to. Nita Mary McKinley states in, Weighty Issues: Constructing Fatness and Thinness as Social Problems, “The construction of ideal weight parallels the construction of the traditional ideal woman and ideal weight becomes gendered” (99). This is unfair to the female athlete as it creates a conflict between physically exceling in their sport and being sexually discriminated against by men. As a male, there is practically no sexual consequences I suffer from that pertain to the body type I maintain. One of the most publicly scrutinized athletes for her body shape is tennis legend Serena Williams. Male sports writers in their attempts to objectify Williams, have shared their thoughts on how she is too strong and too muscular to sexually appeal to men. Serena has since reclaimed her sexuality by posing in ESPN Magazine’s body issue, along with appearing in Beyonce’s “Formation” music video. American celebrity culture, European fashion culture, and international advertising are all responsible for the development of thin female body types being the most sexually desired among males in America. It is important to apply locational context and recognize that other female body types are celebrated throughout other cultures. For instance Fatema Mernissi confesses, in Size 6: The Western Women’s Harem, “In the Moroccan streets, Men’s flattering comments regarding my particularly generous hips have for decades led me to
Dancers often times have many pressures put on them, which can lead to physical and emotional damage. These damages occur through the pressures from the media, parents, teammates, and the stereotype that society has placed on dancers. One of the hardest pressures that dancers have to overcome is the pressure from the media. The media places harsh, rigid, and false ideas of dancers on to the mass public. Constantly bombarded by commercials, magazine ads, posters, etc., the idea of being thin and beautiful is what the society thinks of as the “norm”.
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.
Taking all this into consideration the goal of my paper is not to discourage you from working out, but rather inform you in the realities of weight lifting. The media and society continues you to fill out heads will lies about weightlifting weather its gender stereotypes and just the belief that one can achieve the stereotypical perfect body. There should be a greater understanding of how the media incorrectly portray weight lifting, working out, the idea of the perfect body and how society.
Aboriginals have inhabited Australia tens of thousands of years before any European powers had reached the land. Aboriginals lived simply lives and valued the lands which they lived on. Lifestyles of Aboriginals were threatened with the arrival of British colonizers in the late 1700s and early 1800s, who tried to integrate them into their society. The colonizers also saw the Aboriginals as a backwards, inferior people who were unable to develop. The notion that Aboriginals are inferior to whites may have caused the impacts Aboriginals have had in shaping modern Australia to be overlooked. This effect appears to be apparent in the development of Australian sport, however, Aboriginals have played a significant role in shaping Australian Rules
Bodybuilding still gave them a sense of empowerment that not only influence them to compete but also affect other aspects of their lives. For example, empowerment was a critical factor in enabling women to see they had the ability to change and shape their individual worlds. In the midst of social constraint, female bodybuilder exert control over their lives through the conscious decision of becoming bodybuilder through shaping and changing their bodies. Female body building become a form of agency. And through that they develop the strengths to try out other things in life. In this study, just like the other one many competitors reported a feeling in self- worth. Competitors also reported feeling more confident too. However, with anything there are both benefits and costs to do what you love and in this study it took note to how the cost of being a bodybuilder can affect your physical and mental
In the article, “Athletes and Coaches Report Mental Health is Slightly More Important Than Physical Health in Overall Performance; Both Agree That More Communication is Needed to Address Mental Health Concerns.”, the Minds in Motion Depression Awarenes Campaign conducted a survey and found that the athletes and coaches believed that “mental health shares an equal, and/or slightly greater role than physical health, in defining peak athletic
Sports may have impacted our culture much more then we thought it would, and keeps impacting. Sports have affected some of the most important aspects of life, such as jobs and money. It has also affected things as little as who we look up to and how we dress. Culture means “the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively.” The definition of sports is “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.” So when we put two and two together we get a a nation or world that has changed due to sports. Back in the mid and late 1900’s sports were used to see whose way of life was better. As time went on and keeps going on, we
Referring to slide two Nelson Mandela once said that “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than government in breaking down racial barriers.” Sport is one of the biggest and strongest unifiers in the world. Although there may be certain issues within a country or the world such as political affiliations, gender, race and ideologies, sport always seems to bring people closer regardless of the current issues at hand.
Sports throughout history have shown close ties and relations to values and cultures of a society. Sports and competition have adapted and grown as the world and people have grown and developed. Sports are often seen as simple consequence of the industrial revolution. The Impact of increased urbanization, better communication and transportation, as well as more time and income for specialization, all led to the creation of sports. (szymanski). In essence As the public sphere grew so did the concept of sport. (Szymanski). Even the impact colonization had on spreading sports, shows the congruence between the development of society and development of modern sports. What make sports very unique is that they always bring about a sense of culture
Sports, a very popular past time today, have been around since ancient times. Greek Olympic Games featured events from chariot races, javelin throws, to wrestling. In addition, a game similar to soccer was played in China by the second century BC. In England, a violent rugby type game was even played to settle feuds between villages. With the development of the industrial revolution and the creation of the first public schools, sports decreased in violence and were played more recreationally and constructively. Basketball was invented to help the youth in New England spend their energy in the winter months. Since the early 1900’s sports have been a key experience in the United States (“History of Sports”). I have played sports for many years, and the experience has helped me grow significantly as an individual.