Stereotypes In Sports Essay

The idea of sport matters. From casual or competitive, to amateur or professional, the practice of sport has existed alongside the dated sociological institutions of government, medicine, family, or law. Gladiators in the Roman Empire entertained thousands in ancient stadiums like the Colosseum, while Native American created and practiced games like stickball or lacrosse across what is now the United States. Since the origin, sport has become more organized and regulated. There are now thousands of categories and subcategories of sports, ranging from physical sports like wrestling, to motorized sports like Formula One racing, to even electronic sports like the popular video game League of Legends. Sport has now merged into the world of business

and industry and is also a key feature in education and media.
Sports have always been an important facet of society, yet they have only been analyzed sociologically recently. The field first gained significant study and research in the 1970s, however of course, new and fascinating findings are still being revealed today. Because sport is like any other institution of society, it is unfortunately imperfect and unequal. One of the newer focuses in this field is the idea of gender and racial inequality within the world of sport that affect social mobility and access to the different social resources. This is particularly unsettling, because sports at their most basic level are meant to be simple and entertaining activities that exist to provide excitement and healthy competition. At the same time, however, the idea of inequality in a social institution – even if it is sport – is not all that surprising or unfamiliar. Stratification, exclusion, resource hoarding, exploitation, and other mechanisms of social inequality are present and very evident in other social institutions or structures like education, politics, and religion. That being said, this still doesn’t negate the fact that inequality – specifically in the institution of sport – is a problem that must be dealt with.
Because this is a sociological analysis, it is important to first define sport and examine the different ways in which sociologists study sport. In Sociology of Sports: An Introduction, Tim Delaney and Tim Madigan define sport as “institutionalized, structured, and sanctioned competitive activity beyond the realm of play that involves physical exertion and the use of relatively complex athletic skills” (pg. 13). It could be argued, however, that sport is not limited to just physical or athletic ability but can extend to any competitive activity that share the same norms and rules and are implemented by specific skills, whether athletic or not. Under this definition, new developments like “E-sports” would in fact be considered a sport, while under Delaney and Madigan’s definition, they would not be considered a sport. Delaney and Madigan point out that listing sports and defining what is and is not a sport is relatively unimportant however, especially when analyzing sport sociologically, as greater and more relevant problems and discussions arise.
As any institution is, sport is also deeply rooted in social theory. Social theories are the many ways in which sociologists study or analyze an idea. The four most notable of these theories that are applied to sports are Functionalism, Symbolic Interactionism, Conflict Theory, and Feminist Theory. In terms of Functionalism, the institution of sport has several key functions within a society. It serves and functions as a means for entertainment, competition, play, exercise, interaction, socialization, and much more. Sports are a key component of any and every society and that is why they exist. They are a form of expression, communication, and social display. Of course, sport is also not without conflict. Sociologists apply conflict theory to sport, examining sport as a resource or product that is distributed by corporations and power elites to the general public by means of written and unwritten rules and laws. Conflict theory argues that sports divide society rather than unite it. Meanwhile, the theory of Symbolic Interactionism views sport and its many components as symbols that different individual actors and groups interact with. For example, sport can be a symbolic expression that tells a story. Society often sees sport as a symbol for personal achievement, overcoming adversity, determination and will, and human goodness. On a large scale, the Olympic Games are a symbol for national pride, friendly competition, and peace among countries, supporting the theory of Symbolic Interactionalism.
The final theory – and one that will be focused for the function of this essay – is Feminist Theory. This theory focuses on the patriarchal elements and gender differences of a society that alienate and exclude women and other out groups. Many sociologists are critical of this theory because they argue it focuses on only one realm of society, gender, and excludes other aspects like race or class. This is in fact problematic if one is to sociologically examine an institution, however the different aspects of society such as race, class, and gender are often fluid and interchangeable, and therefore should be studied together. It could be argued that if a person is to examine one of these, they should examine them all.
Sport is deeply involved in gender. In the United States, society has made great strides and effort to bring gender equality to the world of institutional, structural, and organized sports. Madigan and Delaney write that “In 1971, there were nearly 3.7 million boys playing varsity high school sports, but just 295,000 girls. A number of lawsuits followed and women’s participation rates soared in the 1980s and 1990s” (pg. 33). In schools and colleges, there are now both women and men sports teams with a great number of athletes participating in a number of team and individual sports. As a whole however, sport remains a vastly unequal institution that is for the most part male dominated. There are several stereotypes regarding women in sports that limit and exclude them from the same opportunities that men have access to.
Historically, in the beginning sports were exclusively created and played by men.

From a very young age, boys are encouraged to compete, play, and engage in many sports while girls are encouraged to pursue and limit themselves to other, more “civil” or “friendly” activities like hopscotch or jump rope. Girls are often stereotyped by other boys as “less athletic” and “weaker”. Boys make fun of other boys for “throwing like a girl” or “acting like a sissy”. Even in online and electronic sports, women are stereotyped and underrepresented. This stereotyping at the most basic and early levels carries over and exists throughout sports today. Sports are categorized and labelled from the very beginning as either masculine or feminine. Boys are encouraged to play high contact physical sports like football and wrestling, while girls are encouraged to perform in less physical sports such as cheerleading or volleyball. Yet sport participation has shown to be beneficial and crucial activity, as Sandra Hanson points out in her publication, “Young Women, Sports, and Science”. Hanson writes that “from a Critical perspective, sports may be a particularly valuable resource for young women (perhaps even more so than young men) because the worlds of competition (whether in sports or in other areas) and male networks have often excluded women”, and that, “women who do participate in sports most likely benefit from the same socialization, integration, status, and recognition that benefit male athletes” (pg.

156).