Gender Roles and Homosexuality in Sports

Everyone has a gender. It is something we are born into, and has an impact on every aspect of our lives. It affects how we walk, talk, and act on a daily basis. What truly is gender though? Gender is what defines many facets of our culture, and differentiates the roles people take on as men or women. Today, most countries define gender as the genetic and biological traits we are born with. However, what if someone felt they were supposed to be the opposite gender of the one they were born into? That is precisely the feeling that transgenders have from a young age. The feeling of not belonging in their own body and wanting to be someone else. To make things even harder, what if they were also an athlete? Not only would they feel like they don 't belong in their own body, but the sports they want to play or already play would be affected. With that, this paper will look at and discuss eligibility in sports, equality in the locker room, and self worth both on and off the field for transgender athletes.

Up until recently a person could not be gay in the military. Homosexuals were honorably discharged from the military. In 1993 President Clinton attempted to change this tradition. He received much opposition from politicians, citizens and the military. The result was a compromise, a don't ask, don't tell rule. This meant that the military personal was not to inquire about sexual preference, and that service members were not to be blatant about their sexual orientation. Another macho activity is sports. Gay men in sport have not been accepted. " There is much at stake in maintaining the silence about gay men in sports and in discouraging gay male athletes from revealing their identities"(Coakley 234). To even talk about homosexuals in sports would threaten the system of gender classification. The fact is though there are homosexuals in sports and they are discriminated against. In the locker room athletes use anti- gay banter as part of daily life. Homosexuals in sports live in fear of the truth about their sexuality coming out. Although recently studies have shown that organized sports are becoming less homophobic. People in sports are becoming more tolerant of homosexuals. But the value of a homosexual athlete is of core importance. " Gay athletes with high human capital are much more likely to come out of the closet to their teams than are gay athletes with medium or low human capital"(Anderson 12). As homosexuals are slowly accepted

Let people not overlook that homosexuals both male and female face the same struggles when it comes to being respected in the field. After “coming out” they are almost alienated from the life that they may have known before. They lose all respect from people they previously considered to be friends. Leaving them alone in what was already a battle.

It’s hard to talk about things to people in fear of how judgmental they will be towards you, but it’s also harder to have acceptance in your community even when you are open about your sexuality. Michael Sam, the first openly gay NFL defensive end was drafted from the University of Missouri, and on draft day, in front of millions of spectators, he kisses his boyfriend on national television. It raised at heated debate between fans, athletes that were playing and retired, and also his newfound teammates. A media outcry ensued as people took to all forms of social media in disgust of what was just witnessed. In Michael’s defense, I could understand him being visibly emotional over what now has changed his entire life, but to go about it while

A singular and limited view of masculinity has hijacked professional sports, the NFL especially, and has led to a culture where many players cannot tell

Football is probably the most hyper masculine sports someone can be involved in. However, just Michael Sam’s being out is so helpful in taking apart the ignorance around homophobic stereotypes. It goes to show, a broader aspect

Just a few years ago Jason Collins who identifies himself as a man was the first professional basketball player to come out as Homosexual. Of course he faced some backlash and was called numerous degrading names similar to Ricky as River High, but was he less of a man because of this? No. The skills and athleticism he displayed every night on the court never changed following his admission, nor did the aggressive nature in which he played. Skeptics couldn’t fathom how a homosexual could play such an aggressive sport, even though he had an extremely long professional career. Jason Collins makes it apparent that the backbone of what defines a man according to the institutions throughout society does not posses any merit. Collins doesn’t appear to be a “sissy” or “untough” rather the opposite, yet the fact remains he is a homosexual.

Sports have always been effective in challenging the oppression of minorities by showcasing their talents and abilities and not dwelling on their differences. If a gay athlete is able to perform as well as straight athlete then the two are equal. Minorities face major amounts of inequality, however sports is one the few areas that minorities are offered equal footing.As well as being a tool for ending racial conflicts, it is also an influential stage that can encourage its audience to view the world through a different lens.Sports can be a very powerful avenue for change in society because of the number of viewers. Thus it is very common and effective platform to spread a positive and core message that not only has the potential to reach millions but also to change society. Sports are a reflection of a societies strengths and weaknesses. In Jackie Robison case, the racial prejudice and discrimination towards him was the reflections of the weaknesses in society at the

The question of sexual identity is asked to many professional athletes when they are first diagnosed with HIV or tested positive for the AIDS virus. Magic Johnson is a five time championship winner with the Los Angeles Lakers, awarded MVP three times, and played amongst the first nine Olympic All-Star teams (Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame). Despite these great achievements in his life, his contact with the HIV virus caused him to face much discrimination. Although Johnson’s source of the virus has been unknown, many people have “misconceptions of AIDS as an exclusively gay disease” and thought that Magic was homosexual because of his positive test (Stewart). During an interview with Arsenio Hall, immediately after admitting his

A weakness to Skyes’ article would be the fact that our society is very judgemental. Sports organizations fear the classification process of transsexual and transgender athletes into mainstream sporting events. Although most people will say they are for the equality of others, in reality many people in our society do not approve of transsexual and transgender people. These non-binary athletes may never be fully accepted into mainstream sports if sporting organizations continue to fret about anxieties these

Throughout the article, “George Huguely, Ben Roethlisberger, Lawrence Taylor -- male athletes encouraged to do the wrong thing,” author, Sally Jenkins makes it very clear that the article is not to “demonize scores of decent, guiltless men [male athletes].” To prove this point, Jenkins never once blamed male sports as a whole for the violence that occurs, but used specific examples of male athletes acting violent. For example, she uses Ben Roethlisberger’s sexual assault against a female to show that there is a problem that needs to be addressed. Additionally, she uses the statistics of Jay Coakley, which state “Certain types of all-male groups generally have higher rates of assault against women than the average [group].” Jenkins use of outside

The player will be rejected and accepted. Now if more people in the NBA was gay, they’ll feel free to say stuff then other sports will too then it’ll go from there. The more people will appreciate sport games and the more will start supporting them.

We tend to think that whether one ought to be retained in a particular job position depends on whether they are qualified for the job, rather than whether they are a generally decent person.  Suggesting that Tiger, Kobe, Magic, or Jordan should not be allowed to pursue their profession in virtue of their personal indiscretions would amount to a unique kind of discrimination.  From the standpoint of employment qualifications, one’s sexual behavior is usually an irrelevant consideration.

Research tells that sexual assault and assault rates among male athletes are higher than nonathletes and that is problematic. There are things about playing sports and being an athlete that might contribute to this such as a need for education. The research should that 54 percent of student-athletes admitted to at least one “sexually coercive act in their lifetimes such as sexual assault (Cara, 2016). Nonathletes however only had 38 percent still admitted the same. These athletes were also more likely to support attitudes toward men and believe myths about rape than the nonathletic. It should you there is a problem with athletes and assault or the number would be even for both groups. Researchers believe that this could be due to

In recent decades, homosexuality has become a growing topic in a society that was once taboo to speak of (Ref. p. 192). As social dynamic and views shifted, homosexuality became more acceptable and thus, a rising norm among individuals. This has resulted in many individuals finding comfort within their community to freely accept themselves and interact with other individuals without hiding their sexual identity.