Going against certain norms makes me feel less like a child. I remember being the one of the weakest people in fifth grade. The norms of being a cool boy included having the ability to perform well at “real” sports. I place in the category of “nerds”, which is something some people perceive as “free homework help”. One day, I am invited to play wiffle ball with my friends. I observe the good players throw the ball up to the right altitude and take a bold swing, sending the ball several meters away and making the usual “pok” sound. This can’t be too hard, I thought. I head out and throw the ball lightly into the air. Suddenly, the bat feels heavier and I swing it as hard as I can. I miss and the ball lands on the floor. FIRST STRIKE! declared
the opposing team. I take a big breath, toss the ball into the air, and take another huge swing, which misses again. SECOND STRIKE!! the other team stated. Some kids begin to giggle and I overhear some kids saying: I’m glad he’s not in our team. Some of my team members give me a sharp stare and I comfort them: It’s okay, it’s only a game. I’m beginning to smell funny due to the sweat that comes from the exhaustion and fear that I will make the team lose. I throw the ball up and swing. Several months fly by and I am at middle school. After a few months in middle school, I discover that these ideas on fame are inconsistent; the best way to continue is to decide my own path instead of following trends because being a kid means sticking with certain guidelines, but being older means breaking some of these rules.
groups of people apart from others only fuel the inequality as each group fights over control of the available resources (Vahabi, 2009). As it applies to sport, conflict theory can be observed in the colossal stadiums built by society elite to house the equally expensive teams used for monetary benefit that is without equal reward (Woods, 2011). This theory is furthered by the unobtainable participation of both athletes and spectators in respect to economic and social status.
I crawled in the store Walmart on a busy Sunday like if I was a baby or even a toddler. This I would consider to be a norm violation because normally a young teen is not seen walking and crawling like a little baby. Immediately I had many people including teenagers and adults looking at me as if I had a mental illness. There were various times when I would wobble like if I was learning how to walk and then I would fall. A worker at the store came over to see if I needed help, but the way she was speaking to me was very slow and sounded out most words. I denied help and continued to do my norm violation. To me it was absolutely astonishing how many time I got criticized. I did not get to hear all the criticism, but the ones I did hear were harsh. The comments went from just stating if I was dumb to stating that I was a “stupid retarded kid on drugs”. However, when I was doing this act I also seen a couple of little toddlers doing almost the same crawl and wobble but the difference was that many parents thought it was a “cute” act. While my walk and wobble was just despicable and unacceptable. I cannot deny that I never thought the same about a person committing a norm
Differences and inequalities in relation to sport can be based on several elements such as race, gender, class, or disability. We will explain how different sort of evidences from DD102 support the claim made by Kath Woodward that 'Sport reflects and creates differences and inequalities' (Woodward, 2014, p. 73). This essay will look at how the Oscar Pistorius example demonstrates how rules are created in sport. The evidence will highlight differences between disable and body-able. Following that, we will consider barriers that prevent some social groups from participating in sport, namely people with disability and women. Then we will explore number based evidences supporting the claim that sport reflects and creates class differences and inequalities
Growing up in the suburbs of a small township in Morris County, I never really felt like I stood out among my peers. I normally would just blend in, always just a face in the crowd. And for about half of my childhood that was the story. I attempted to go out for the town’s recreational peewee soccer team as a five year old, because my mother believed that I was some super soccer star in the making. And being the incredibly unathletic, roly poly, chicken nugget shaped, child I was, I ended up getting nailed flat in the forehead with the soccer ball and almost had a concussion. And from that moment in my life, I was firm in my belief that sports would not be my forte. However, when I about six I could not pronounce music, so I instead said “moogoo”, and
As most children did, I had the choice to play whatever sport I wanted. Considering my height, 5’10, most would assume that I played either basketball or volleyball. No one expected me to play tennis, and was surprised when I said that I did. During my elementary years, I played softball for seven years, and when I hit eighth grade, I decided to play tennis. My decision came about because of my sister. I had always followed closely in her footsteps because I looked up to her a lot, so when I saw she was playing; I wanted to try it out too. I had never really thought about what it would be like to play tennis. I didn’t hate it, or really know what it would be like to play it. And little did I know that playing would demand so much time, energy, and effort.
The discussion of superior has been brought up numerous times throughout the history of time. Whether it is superiority over a species, subject, or attribute people tend to render something better than other. In today’s modern age with a “peaceful” global world trying to be put into place, we have tried to eliminate superiority between others humans and promote equality. The elimination of superiority has also reared its head in business over time in the United States with the extinguishing of monopolies. Even though the United States has tried to “lead the charge” in trying to terminate superiority and inequality inside their country, men’s superiority still reigns as relevant in some aspects inside the country. Men superiority is still spotlighted in sports and in the government in the United States.
The Health and fitness industry have many ethical issues involved which was very interesting to me. I have never purchased a membership at a health club, but from the reading I learned a lot about how they operate. It amazed me that health clubs push their sales representatives to get 200-300 new members a month (Amend, 1992). This is a large amount of people for such a short amount a time, which means some members are not fully aware of the fine print of the membership agreement. Also the reading mentions that more than half of instructors at these clubs do not have valid certification (Copeland et al, 1988),. This is unethical because the members pay each month for the service of a qualified staff member to assist them in exercise and fitness. Safety of the members could also be at risk working out with a non-qualified trainer. Learning how these companies do business make me want to hold off as long as possible to join a gym.
Social justice in sports is key to having relationships in sport as well as in a career. To understand this, people need understand the definition of social justice. Social justice is defined by John Rawls as basic liberties that should be given to all people. When this is fully understood, people should examine the idea of giving benefits to the weakest people in the community (Robinson, 2015, p. 1). When one applies the definition of social justice to sports, it brings out the many flaws that the sports demonstrate. The significance of social justice in sports brings attention to issues of gender, race, age and ability, and social class, and how they should be rather than how they are currently seen.
The reactions of people when you break a social norm can vary quite drastically. Sometimes the reactions are quite large and other times they are rather subtle. The reactions typically vary based on what norm you break and how strong of a norm it is. In the case of invading people’s personal space, I did not receive and intense reactions. All of the reactions I received were subtle. Not ma...
"Money makes the world go 'round." Sports could not exist without the presence of money. You have high paid athletes asking for multi-million dollar contacts, while at the same time you have doctors not even making close to that amount. There are corporations buying out sports teams, buying stadiums, and buying everything that has to do with sports. Someone may ask why they do this. Sports are one of the most profitable industries in the world. Everyone wants to get their hand on a piece of the action. Those individuals and industries that spend hundreds of millions of dollars on these sports teams are hoping to make a profit, but it may be an indirect profit. It could be a profit for the sports club, or it could be a promotion for another organization (i.e. Rupert Murdoch, FOX). The economics involved with sports has drastically changed over the last ten years. In the United States, we spend about 13% of all money on sports and entertainment. Sports has obviously done its job; entertained and drained money out of our pockets.
Based on my working thesis, there are a few unstated assumptions that can be made. One of these unstated assumptions is my belief that sports are very beneficial for children. This can be assumed due to me still saying children should still play these sports, even with all the studies that have recently come out about potential injuries. Another unstated assumption in my working thesis is that these high impact sports do have many negative effects. That is why I claimed they should only be played because of better equipment and more rule changes changing the game. A third unstated assumption from my working thesis is that I, unlike many other people, have hope these high impact sports will stick around. I hope they will just be a lot different
In Lisa Strick essay, “So What’s so bad about Being So-So? Lisa talks about our competitive nature and the need to be the best. Sometimes competition gets in the way of us being able to following through on a hobby, sport or activity without being given the side eye because we aren’t great that activity. Stick feels as though she let her son down because she didn’t start him in soccer at an early age like the other kids. She states, “ I’m sorry, son, I guess I blew it” (p. 204). She states this after the other kids made fun of her own son; “We don’t want that dodo on our soccer team… He doesn’t know a goal kick from a head shot” (p.204). Kids can be ruthless and not care what they say. Hearing someone say that we suck can make you not want to continue to try.
Personal Standards in Sports: What About It? In today’s world, we see professional sports players as idols; role models that can do no wrong. What about when they do something like criminally wrong?
The sports of today have changed the way the players play the game. Starting on the professional sports level, bad sportsmanship behaviors, like the use of steroids or "throwing" a game or a match in an effort to please the sports gambler trying to get their big pay-off, has trickled down through the college level and even down to the high school level. One person recalls the days when athletes played their sport for the love of the game, because it is what they lived for. They remember when they were younger, sitting in their grandfather's lap and watching the Atlanta Braves (in the days of Dale Murphy, Bob Horner, Glenn Hubbard and other great names in Braves history) running out on the diamond every game. In fact, they quoted country artist, Collin Raye, saying [I've been] "a Braves fan even through the rotten years". Watching these games, they remember looking up at their grandfather’s face and seeing the look he had in his eyes by watching these guys play their sport from the heart. Now, years later, sports have been threatened by strikes. The athletes playing now aren't playing because they love to, but now it's more about the money and how much they can make. Sports of today are tainted and don't come from the heart. The kids today need to be taught what it was like "in the good ole' days" and how playing sports teaches an individual about how to work with other people and how to pull together as a family.
Jeff Kemp, a retired professional NFL quarterback, once stated, “Sports teach positive lessons that enrich America even while revealing its flaws” (Kemp). Athletics offer so much more than the joy of game day and the thrill of a win. Being involved in sports holds the key to a world filled with passion, excitement, and once in a lifetime opportunities. There is nothing better than seeing the student section arrive in full force or hearing the school fight song chanted before kickoff. However, when life moves on and leaves sports behind, the lessons it has instilled in athletes never disappears. The play calls may be foggy and the jersey will be too tight, but what was innocently learned in the jersey shines out at an older age. Although life lessons can be learned through everyday activities, lessons such as teamwork, self-confidence, and dealing with failure are only truly learned through sports by young athletes.