Analysis Of Don Sabo's 'Pigskin, Patriarchy, And Pain'

In the article “Playing With Pain” by Michelle Crouch, published by Scholastic SCOPE, in December 2015 and January 2016, is about how when you specialize in one sport, you put a lot pressure on yourself to do well and be the best you can be, but some consequences can be life changing.

Patriarchy is a social system where men dominate and govern most of the world’s economical, educational, familial, health, political, and religious systems. This political social system that insists that males are inherently dominating, superior females, has been taking it toll on different demographics. To maintain dominance, men exude their sensitive, inferior “masculinity” through various forms of psychological control, manipulation, violence, and terrorism. The subservient role-playing woman has to orchestrate to patriarchal chime by being nurturing, obedient, passive, and weak

In Don Sabo’s essay “Pigskin, Patriarchy, and Pain”, Sabo’s central claim states that society’s pressure synthesizes males to accept and conform to pain, whether that be external or internal with an underlying message to walk away from conformity. At the beginning of Sabo’s essay, Sabo mainly speaks about the external pain of his back, which started when he went out for football when he was only eight years old in the interest of changing his physical appearance. While beginning at the age of eight, Sabo played until the end of his NCAA career, which ultimately, turned out to be the result of Sabo’s spinal fusion surgery, and also was the result of Sabo being “one of many men who got swallowed up by a social system on male domination” (86). The system that Sabo commonly refers to is also known as patriarchy, which teaches kids to not only enjoy the pain, but to inflict pain too. These teachings, according to Sabo, is the pain principal, which includes taking our anger out on other people and “limits our emotional expression (86). Another part of these teachings include taking pain, and to take women, and take their place (87). Through all of this information, Sabo is trying to make the inference that our Patriarchy system is corrupted and unfair. Women in this system are at the bottom of the totem pole, and are even considered a prize for enduring the pain. This patriarchy system doesn’t only exist in sports, but it also exists in the military, business world, and in the

Author Don Sabo, of western Pennsylvania, is sitting down to write and as he writes he makes it very clear to begin his writing with the liberation of what was once to him an intense feeling of pain (82). Sabo played football at the age of 8 until the age of 30 as his career had ended in this brutal sport. He describes the physical pain of getting punched in the gut several times, the breaking of bones, and the ultimate destruction of his spinal column; which in the end had forced him to have “’spinal fusion’” surgery (82-84). This surgery freed him from the physical suffering of his past and opened his eyes to the pain principle. Don Sabo, author of “Pigskin, Patriarchy and Pain”, argues that Western Culture, based primarily on male patriarchy,

Psychology impact of sport injuries is a topic no one hears much about until an athlete is injured and goes through it himself/herself. High school athletes as well as professional ones both are exposed to injuries at any time, the impact of this injury might be the same. Getting injured is devastating for most athletes, what they don’t hear much is how bad it can get to them mentally. Depending on the injury, some athletes are able to return to the sport, others are not so lucky. When they are affected emotionally or mentally, it does not only affect them, but their team, the fans, and even the coaches. In most cases, these injuries and the rehabilitation process are often followed by psychological consequences which can impact the athletes’ well-being, as well as their chances of returning to their sport. The importance of sport psychology will be discussed throughout the paper to give a better understanding on how it affects athletes when dealing with a sport injury. Being aware of the psychological symptoms, as well as knowing how to avoid the effects could make a difference on someone. As well as knowing how important rehabilitation is when wanting to return to the game as soon as possible, if probable.

All of the publicity that is attained by success, and the possibility of this success, places a great deal of pressure and stress on these young single-sport athletes. This stress and pressure takes the fun out of some sports. Youth sports are becoming serious and based more on winning than on having a great time and learning good sportsmanship. Adu points out the winning mindset of athletes in this day and age when he says, “Teams will do anything to win the game. My coach told me to expect that going in and that is exactly how it was. . .I felt like everybody was out to get me” (Goodall, 2003). This

As many people know, sports are dangerous. However, most coaches and spectators say things like, “tough it out” or “no pain no gain” to these players. But if a player plays with

Continuing to brain wash the young men today with the “sports is a mans world” mentality only helps to repeat the cycle of nearly oppressing women in the industry. It keeps men feeling secure when it comes to their masculinity, yet making a woman’s fight for respect a never ending struggle.

“Why Parents Should Let Their Kids Play Dangerous Sports” is a persuasive essay written by Jeb Golinkin expressing the risks and injuries that occur in many sports. However, Golinkin also expresses the necessity of sports and how they help teach teamwork, sportsmanship, toughness, and competiveness only learned from collective team sports. “…Powerful athletic enterprises has very real costs for the participants who deliver the thrills” (Paragraph 2, Line 7-8) is part of a statement from Golinkin where he is establishing that injuries are a fact when participating in sports. He states a couple of particular events in the history of sports where injuries have caused permanent injuries and even death. The cases of serious injuries were expressed and had heartfelt concern behind them in his report, however, he defends these dangerous sports by further stating benefits that are gained from participation. There is a quote from Barack Obama where he expresses his a strong opinion on football by saying, “If I had a son, I’d have to think long and hard before I let him play football.” (Paragraph 6, Line 2-3) Golinkin finalizes his opinion in his conclusion by explaining that he believes one’s child should be able to make their own decision to play sports.

You are supposed to play through pain. You are not supposed to cry. We are taught that early on in the game as kids. Tough sport. Brutal sport. It’s like the gladiator. People want to see the big hits. They wind up on Sports Center. And as a player, you don’t want to admit you are injured.” One thing this men are bred for are is hitting and hitting harder than the person on your left and your right, but this hard hitting come at a

Since the introduction of organized team sports into American culture, numerous sports have stepped into the limelight for certain periods of time but none have stuck around as long as football has. Just as with everything else in life, football has had it’s fair share of drawbacks since its invention in the mid-19th century. Despite the drawbacks and criticism football has faced, its role and influence on American culture between the 1890’s and 1930’s far outweigh the negative aspects of its past.

Research for this paper is gathered from several different articles discussing the many different aspects of psychological and sociological effects of individuals. These effects targeted specifically are studied using athletes that are or have at some point suffered from some kind of sports injury. Shpigel(2012), discusses how the injuries of society’s “heroes” could lead to a sociological downgrade in the involvement in sports in the future. On the other hand, Weise(2010) discusses how the sociocultural can affect the risk of injury as well as response to injury and recovery after injury. However, the initial psychological thinking of individuals about their surroundings falls under the same article. In regards to psychological aspects of

In the article "Understanding Patriarchy” by Bell Hooks, the ideology of patriarchy is presented to her audience while she explains some of the basics of feminism and how they relate to current challenges to gender roles. Hook begins the article by establishing her relevance to the topic by giving specific examples of her childhood living in a patriarchal home. She explains in detail some of the occurrences growing up in an isolated area in a home with patriarchal views and how they affected her. Hook then transitions into her professional life as a feminist and shows her views on patriarchy, gender roles, and gives a possible solutions to the societal issues brought about by patriarchy. The relevance of patriarchy is brought to the forefront in this article addressing the cultural denial of patriarchy by society. Hook explains how children growing up even in single parent families or non-patriarchal families still get patriarchal ideologies from the world around them. Approaching the end of the article Hook begins to go into detail on the impacts of patriarchal views on both men and women. Hook references patriarchy’s impact on gender roles. She pleads for the acknowledgment of patriarchy and its harmful effects on society and focuses on its effects on males. Hook concludes by giving a solution to the ill effects of patriarchy, stating it must be taken seriously, and addressed by men and women alike.

Throughout the history of the world, patriarchy has been rooted into the very essence of our lives, shaping our thoughts and actions. Patriarchy is present in virtually every society and unfortunately is the underlying problem to most violence in the world, particularly violence towards women. Patriarchy exemplifies the misogyny that has been ever-present since probably the beginning of every society. Whether it is discrimination towards women, lack of equal rights, or

The purpose of this paper is to explore patriarchal values that reinforce violence towards women in intimate partner relationships. This paper argues that patriarchy and the social construction of masculinity reproduce male violence against women. The following sub-issues that that will be discussed are patriarchy, capitalism, the religion of Islam, and the construction of masculinity and femininity. All the sub-issues encompass patriarchy values which allows inmate partner violence.