Over the years, how have sports reflected and reinforced traditional binary understandings of biological sex (male/female) and gender (masculinity/femininity)? How influential are sports and athletes in shaping social views on sexuality and gender? Be sure to offer specific examples to support your points. Limit: 9 responses
Danielle Price
ReplyDeleteDr. Burns
MSS420
4/1/22
Blog 7
Throughout sports, biological sex, and gender have been reflected and reinforced, specifically through the nature of the sport. Football is a huge example of this due to the aggression used in the sport. For example, “a former University of Indiana men’s basketball player” claimed that the coach had choked him. This coach has had a history of violent behavior, and A.J. Guyton condoned this behavior due to the sport involved. A.J. Guyton stated that “you’re going to be challenged by a coach that pushes you to the limit. It’s all a process of a boy becoming a man” (Why masculinity persists in). This statement clearly reflects “a common belief that conflict, aggression, and toughness are core to both manhood and success on the court” (Why masculinity persists in). This suggests that because this is football, the coach’s aggressive behavior should be taken lightheartedly due to the fact that this was done to a male football player. This also shows how masculinity is viewed by some within this field. However, in more recent times we are trying to move away from traditional views on masculinity or femininity, and biological sex assumptions like the one previously mentioned. In 2019, Megan Rapinoe along with her team won the Women’s World Cup France Final. Rapinoe is a lesbian and has no problem “playing with and against trans women athletes and has demanded an end to discriminatory anti-trans policies in international sports” (Keating). This proves that athletes such as Rapinoe are trying to create change. Further, there is even an image and was shown live of Rapinoe kissing her wife at the time after the huge win. Shifting away from traditional ways of thinking regarding gender and sexuality is changing because of athletes like her and is a normal part of our society.
Typically, “to participate in competitive sports, individuals have to “align themselves as female or male and join the corresponding team,” but for transgenders this is difficult because they have shifted their gender identity from what was assigned at birth (Braumüller). So, for the sports that require biological sex and gender to match this can become tricky hence why athletes and society as a whole are trying to shift away from binary understandings. It is also difficult for those that identify as binary to adjust to this change because some feel that “transgender athletes are often blamed for challenging the binary sex-segregated system of elite and recreational sports, having unfair physical advantages, and calling fairness and the level playing field of sports into question” (Braumüller). Overall sports have and continue to reflect and even reinforce traditional binary understandings of sex and gender, but as time goes on athletes with their own identities are influencing social views on this subject.
Works Cited
Braumüller, Birgit, et al. “Gender Identities in Organized Sports-Athletes' Experiences and Organizational Strategies of Inclusion.” Frontiers, Frontiers, 1 Jan. 1AD, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2020.578213/full.
Friday, B. K. |. (2021, June 29). Why masculinity persists in American sports. Global Sport Matters. Retrieved April 1, 2022, from https://globalsportmatters.com/culture/2021/06/11/american-sports-nfl-perpetuate-manhood-toxic-masculinity/
Keating, Shannon. “Lesbians Won the Women's World Cup.” BuzzFeed News, BuzzFeed News, 15 Sept. 2021, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/shannonkeating/megan-rapinoe-womens-world-cup-finals-champions.
Ethan Carrion
ReplyDeleteSports have been a male dominated field for several reasons. One of these reasons that is commonly brought in defense of the male domination of sports in the physical superiority of men. As mentioned in “Comparing Athletic Performances: The Best Elite Women to Boys and Men”, a research paper from Duke University, “…there is an average 10-12% performance gap between elite males and elite females.”. Given the evidence this point seems irrefutable, but I believe as a society we are looking at this comparison all wrong. The reason this data point is supposed to support the argument in favor of men’s sports is because we, supposedly, want to watch the highest-level performances all the time. I find this argument weak. My main counter point is that as a society, humans do not all watch sports for the same reasons. If it was true that everyone in the world only cared about the highest-level performances, then there would be no reason for performance enhancing drugs to be illegal in professional sports. I then argue that female athletes have just as much ability to develop any given sport as men do. Intellectually men and women are at least equals and history has shown that the innovations made in sport by ideas have consistently trumped physical superiority. Most people still subscribe to the initial idea I mentioned that we should only care about physical ability in sports. The athletic commissions and commentary teams have continued to enforce these ideas. The data that is focused on is strictly quantitative which limits credits to the more creative aspects of sports. Additionally, any time a woman makes a great accomplishment in sports it is downplayed due to the “level of competition”. Women such as Serena Williams, Amanda Nunes, and Megan Rapinoe have all had historic accomplishments in relation to their sports that many people do not acknowledge as valid. Even the presentation of women’s and men’s sports are drastically different. As expressed in Michael Serazio’s “The Power of Sports” the information on women’s sports in rarely if ever highlighted in the way that men’s sports are. To quote the book directly, “Almost as pernicious, [in reference to the way female athletes are portrayed] in terms of audience-building, has been the persistent contrast between the hype and glitz accorded to men’s athletics versus the ‘dull matter of fact’ style that usually delivers women’s.” How are women’s sports supposed to gain notoriety when the people presenting the sport barely even want to be there.
I would now like to return attention back to the athletes I mentioned before, Serena Williams, Amanda Nunes, and Megan Rapinoe. I would like to highlight the profound impact that these athletes have had outside of their respective sports. As detailed in “Lesbians Won the Women’s World Cup” by Shannon Keating, the impact of women’s sports on the LGBTQ+ community has been remarkable. Megan Rapinoe, Ali Krieger, and Ashlyn Harris become the first openly gay athletes to win the World Cup. Amanda Nunes became the first openly gay athlete to win a UFC championship, the first openly gay athlete to win two UFC championships, and the first athlete ever to simultaneously defend two UFC championships. And, of course, Serena Williams has done so much for women, girls, and the black community. All of these women have one so much for representation. These women have shown girls all around the world that they can make history just like the guys, if not better, and that impact cannot be understated.
DeleteCitations:
Keating, S. (2021, September 15). Lesbians won the Women's World Cup. BuzzFeed News. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/shannonkeating/megan-rapinoe-womens-world-cup-finals-champions
Serazio, M. (2019). The power of sports: Media and spectacle in American culture. New York University Press.
Comparing athletic performances: The best elite women to boys and men. Comparing Athletic Performances: The Best Elite Women to Boys and Men | Duke University School of Law. (n.d.). Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://law.duke.edu/sports/sex-sport/comparative-athletic-performance/#:~:text=If%20you%20know%20sport%2C%20you,and%20that's%20ultimately%20what%20matters.
Sports are and always have been separated by men and women. This isn’t so simple when it comes to the politics surrounding gender identity and biological sex. From a young age, kids are taught to be tough if they want to play sports, but it is often overlaid with masculine traits. The traditional binary understandings of biological sex and gender is seen in the country’s favorite sport, football. Football is a perfect example of a sport where “not only does participation in youth football begin the development of a value system that centers on traditional manhood, but it provides a venue where boys can perform masculinity” (Friday). The idea that in football, an athlete must exude his masculine talents to be able to perform to the best of his ability to be able to play the game of football. This sport has created a space that is anti-women and anti-femineity. Athletes that grow up playing in such a masculine atmosphere will be guided to resent feminine traits within their sport or themselves. This is unhealthy and a good reflection of toxic masculinity embedded in men's sports. Sports continues to be an unwelcoming atmosphere for women due to this white, straight man mindset many sports fans are stuck in. Sydney Carter, A&M women’s basketball coach, was given a lot of media attention when it came to her outfit for Game 22 of this season. Carter was wearing a white turtleneck and pink leather pants. Her outfit sent people into a frenzy questioning her ability as a coach and her desire to be respected while wearing such an outfit. Sydney Carter is a retired professional player who works for her collegiate team as a development coach and assisting recruiting coordinator and random people on social media are questioning her basketball knowledge because of an outfit considered too fashionable for a woman coaching on the court. There is a huge masculine shadow over sports where people think it is okay to get upset over a woman doing well in her career by wearing pink pants and heels. This is the recognition that a young black woman doing well in her career gets in the media, because she wore pink leather pants. Coaches of male sports are put in the media all the time, paid well, and given more opportunities than the women coaches in different sports.
ReplyDeleteSports and athletes will always be important in shaping social views on sexuality and gender because sports are universal. Sports can be played, watched, and enjoyed by so many people. When sports are providing that defining line between men and women in the separation of their athletic competition, many people look towards sports to continue to define it in the changing views on gender and sex. Trans athletes are now adding a confusing layer for sports organizations because of the distinction that has been placed on genders in the past. The discussion of where transgender athletes should compete is a political debate. In Iowa, Governor Kim Reynolds signs a law that bans transgender girls and women from competing in sports according to their identity. Where sports are such a crucial part of growing up and creating an identity, gender and sexuality has a huge influence on social views but where it is now undetermined, people are forming their own opinions.
part. 2
DeleteFriday, Brendon Kleen |. “Why Masculinity Persists in American Sports.” Global Sport Matters, 29 June 2021, https://globalsportmatters.com/culture/2021/06/11/american-sports-nfl-perpetuate-manhood-toxic-masculinity/.
Gerlock, Grant. “Transgender Girls and Women Now Barred from Female Sports in Iowa.” NPR, NPR, 3 Mar. 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/03/03/1084278181/transgender-girls-and-women-now-barred-from-female-sports-in-iowa.
Justich, Kerry. “Texas A&M Coach Sydney Carter Responds to Outfit Criticism: 'I'm Unapologetically Myself Every Day'.” Yahoo!, Yahoo!, https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/texas-am-coach-sydney-carter-responds-to-outfit-criticism-174538060.html.
Joey O’Donoghue:
ReplyDeleteSports have certainly represented and reinforced binary understandings of biological sex. There are a multitude of controversial topics that can be dove into regarding the subject of male and female sports, but biology is not a problem.
For starters, sports are separated by biology, and this is a just system. Biological males have certain physical advantages that give them an edge in sports. According to an article from Fox News, Dr. Debra Soh states, “Individuals who are born male are on average larger, stronger, and faster than individuals born female” (Soh 2021). Due to higher levels of testosterone present in males, they will biologically be able to build more muscle mass than most women can. And, men can also reach heights that a lot of females will not attain. Therefore, sports are separated by biology to enhance a fair and competitive environment, and this scientific concept of physical advantages present in biological males is reinforced through society. This is rightful, but where an issue stems is how sports reinforce gender and sexuality roles, which is detrimental to our society.
The environment and gender roles perpetuated in sports is quite frankly, horrible. Not only is this evidently detrimental to women, but it is harming men as well. According to Michael Serazio in The Power of Sports, “ The NFL, in particular, cultivates that macho mentality where ‘being soft’ is an infinitely worse transgression than ‘being crazy, crude, or barbaric’” (Serazio 2019). There certainly is validity in this statement, as there is so much pressure on males in the locker rooms and in practice not to show emotion. They are meant to show strength, and words relating to women or homosexuals are used as insults to men when they cannot do certain tasks. This reinforces gender roles and can even lead to men acting like “barbarians'' to retain their “masculinity” rather than maturing as an actual human being. Between coaches, sports journalists, commentators, etc., the disparity between language used/directed toward men versus women has perpetuated this environment for years. According to an article from Global Sports Matters by Brendon Kleen, “By calling Prescott’s admission of depression and grief a “weakness,” Bayless linked lapses in traditional tough-guy masculinity to an inability to lead and perform as a football player” (Kleen 2021). As if Skip Bayless couldn’t get any worse, he referred to Dak Prescott’s depressive symptoms as weak. And, he says that because of this weakness, Dak had been playing worse. This link has harmed the environment for males and forced them to suppress their emotions. And yet, this is relatively common in adults that speak with young athletes in sports. Mental health issues are such a severe struggle, and young men are not given an environment to feel comfortable opening up about them or seeking help. They are continuously taught to not show emotion and to “act tough”, when in reality this is mentally destroying males. Additionally, players that cry and show emotions on the field, as they should, are ridiculed by people on social media. Lebron James and Tom Brady have constantly been labeled “cry babies” for showing emotion. When you scrutinize this, it is quite disgusting, as it reinforces the ideas that men should not appear weak by showing emotion. But, everyone should feel comfortable having emotions and not being a robot. This environment in sports has hindered the development of young male athletes, created a gender barrier, and reinforced stereotypical gender roles.
DeleteReferences
Kleen, B. (2021, June 29). Why masculinity persists in American sports. Global Sport Matters. Retrieved April 5, 2022, from https://globalsportmatters.com/culture/2021/06/11/american-sports-nfl-perpetuate-manhood-toxic-masculinity/
Serazio, M. (2019). The power of sports: Media and spectacle in American culture. New York University Press.
Staff, F. N. (2021, May 29). Biological males have athletic advantage over females, 'it's not fair': Dr. Debra Soh. Fox News. Retrieved April 5, 2022, from https://www.foxnews.com/media/biological-males-athletic-advantage-females-not-fair-debra-soh
Dalton Rice
ReplyDeleteIt has been said forever that sports have mirrored American society to a tee. This ideal mostly follows that of baseball and college football, two cult favorites that could both be argued as America’s sport. At a surface level, both baseball and football are built for men and well, played by men. There is a female counterpart to baseball, that being softball, but to this day not a single woman has played in a MLB game even though there is no ban in place (Narizhnaya). The NFL has also never seen a female player and it took until this past FBS season when Sarah Fuller, a Division 1 soccer player at Vanderbilt, for a woman to play in a game. While Fuller’s few snaps were heavily criticized and more than likely a PR move in my eyes for the university after a 2020 Title IX scandal that went seemingly under the radar within the football program (Sparks), history was made for the first time in the long lifespan of college football. However, here we are four months into 2022 and it seems like not much has changed in the world of sports. Non-white hires in the NFL bring draft pick compensation and the WNBA and virtually every women’s sport is still irrelevant in the eyes of the public, how have things not changed even with the rapid growth of activism?
There is a very simple answer to that question and that is money. The NCAA, ESPN and literally every service or site that shows sports bury their coverage of women’s sports and blame it on lack of interest. How can you expect interest if you hide the games behind a paywall like ESPN+ or in the triple-digit channels that will quite literally never catch an eyeball unless you are passing by the old fashion way, scrubbing through channels vertically. Advertisers pay more money to get their content on during NBA, NFL, NCAAMBB games because they know that the Pelicans vs. Rockets will be on primetime television over the women’s Final Four.
As young boys, we play football outside during recess aspiring to be our favorite players we see on the gridiron every Sunday, we get baseball cards and toys that fire off foam bullets at our friends/younger siblings as we make our way to becoming men who are conditioned to be tough and emotionless, with exceptions made for competition. The Bob Knight part of the Global Sports Matters article came to no surprise to me. Not that I knew anything about Knight, but the culture inside of college sports has been questioned for ages. The fact that Knight put his hands on players multiple times is disgusting and only progresses the toxic culture in men’s sports that has upheld an obscene standard for decades.
The reason for these beyond frustrating methods are old ways of thinking that have plagued the world since its inception. Men are supposed to want to fight people, kill deer and pound beers (rhyme not intended) while women are supposed to be homebodies that take care of babies and clean things. Where in that are women supposed to like sports? That’s not very girly of them. Hilarious right? Well it’s the way that decision makers treat their audience in the 21st century. Women are not an audience that is kept in mind, sports and how they are advertised are catered to the masculine crowd.
Kleen, Brendon. “Why Masculinity Persists in American Sports.” Global Sport Matters, 29 June 2021, https://globalsportmatters.com/culture/2021/06/11/american-sports-nfl-perpetuate-manhood-toxic-masculinity/.
Narizhnaya, Khristina, and Nolan Hicks. “Adams Says It's Time to Let Women Play pro Baseball.” New York Post, New York Post, 11 Mar. 2022, https://nypost.com/2022/03/11/eric-adams-says-its-time-for-women-in-mlb/.
Sparks, Adam. “Vanderbilt Football Player Expelled for Sexual Assault Was Allowed Back on Campus, around His Accuser.” The Tennessean, Nashville Tennessean, 2 July 2020, https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/college/vanderbilt/2020/07/02/vanderbilt-football-player-charles-wright-expelled-sexual-assault-title-ix/3247667001/.
Sports have reflected and reinforced traditional binary understands of biological sex and gender due to the lack of representation and appreciation of nonbinary and gender fluidity. When people think of athletes, ones mind would think of a strong, fast, tough, and aggressive player- all stereotypical masculine qualities.This creates an obstacle for women and gay or gender fluid men who aren’t able to feel equal to men in sports. One reason for this is because of sports media. In the article, “Lesbians Won The Women's World Cup,” Shannon Keating discusses the discrimination we see especially in Women’s Soccer. In 2019, the USA Women’s Soccer Team won the FIFA Women’s World Cup France again the Netherlands. Abby Wambach ran to the stands at the end of the game to kiss her wife Sarah Huffman and Getty Images posted a photo of them. Unfortunately, Getty Images captioned the photo “Abby Wambach of USA celebrates with a friend”. This led to many people making memes giving offense to lesbians. Keating stated that “In the years since, the queerness of the US women’s national soccer team has only grown more visible — so visible, in fact, that it’s pretty much impossible for even the densest of straight people to ignore (Keating)”. I believe that women should not have to feel uncomfortable kissing other women, especially after a win as incredible as the FIFA World Cup. Furthermore, we rarely see gay men in sports, especially hockey according to the article, “Why There Are Few Openly Gay Athletes In Men's Professional Sports,” by Joe Hernandez. Especially in hockey, you are supposed to be astronomically tough, coordinated, and fit, which makes it hard for players of different sexualities to feel accepted in such sports when their is such stereotype. Although there are cases where gay players are excepted by their teammates, not everyone is supportive. Hernandez stated that, “After Michael Sam became the first openly gay athlete to be drafted into the NFL in 2014, then-Miami Dolphins safety Don Jones tweeted "horrible," resulting in penalties and a suspension” (Hernandez). I cannot believe people would react like this, but unfortunately some people are just careless, especially in sports.
ReplyDeleteSports and athletes are very influential in shaping social views on sexuality and gender. In the article, “Sexuality and Gender Perspectives on Sports Ethics,” Christine May discusses gender, sexuality, and inclusion in sports. May stated that “More than half of gay, lesbian or bisexual sport participants conceal their sexuality from their team/club and report feeling unwelcome. Gay men are most likely to feel unsafe and less likely to play team sports” (May). A lot of this comes from discriminatory comments in the locker room which we discussed in class Tuesday. I don’t think that anyone would want to come out in an environment where they clearly are not going to be accepted those making such hurtful comments about their sexuality. Overall, sports have reflected and reinforced traditional binary understands of biological sex and gender due to the lack of representation and appreciation of nonbinary and gender fluidity and Sports and athletes are very influential in shaping social views on sexuality and gender, especially athletes in “locker room talk”.
ReplyDeleteHernandez, Joe. “Why There Are Few Openly Gay Athletes in Men's Professional Sports.” NPR, NPR, 21 July 2021, https://www.npr.org/2021/07/21/1018404859/openly-gay-athletes-in-mens-pro-sports-few.
Keating, Shannon. “Lesbians Won the Women's World Cup.” BuzzFeed News, BuzzFeed News, 15 Sept. 2021, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/shannonkeating/megan-rapinoe-womens-world-cup-finals-champions.
May, Christine. “Sexuality and Gender Perspectives on Sports Ethics.” Sport Australia, https://www.clearinghouseforsport.gov.au/kb/sexuality-and-gender-perspectives-on-sports-ethics.