The Reflection Of A Social Class In Sports

Abstract: Society is affected every day by many different kinds of sports.  These sports often govern society's way of life.  People all over the nation turn their TVs to sporting events, such as golf, during the weekends.   Scott Stossel states that "more than six million Americans enjoy watching golf on the weekends."  Parents  use sports as a teaching tool for their children.  Kids learn teamwork and discipline from team sports programs and  sports have also helped many students with their grades.  Kids who want to compete in school sports are taught to keep their grades up or they won't be able to play, but the greedy coaches and schools often look around grades to keep their "star athletes" in the games.  Adults have

Sports are something that everyone in the world, regardless of age, sex, or nationality, can enjoy. Whether it's a child playing in his first t-ball game or a professional athlete swimming in the Olympics and everyone in between, sports can connect almost everyone. Fan support and overall devotion for athletic competition has raised professional athletes to superstars and national icons; Super Bowl Sunday is a national holiday to some, and sports are one of the largest moneymakers in the economy.

Athletics had relative importance in pre-industrial Britain mostly taking place at traditional fairs and festivals. For example a wake was seen as a great social occasion whereby mainly the lower class men would compete in events such as stick fighting, running, climbing a greasy pole and wrestling. These activities were seen as ‘athletic’ events and were an opportunity for the lower class men to show off their power and strength to the women. In addition women had the opportunity to take part in events such as smock races. Festivals and fairs such as these would take place on church holy days such as Easter and were seen as a chance for celebration and enjoyment. Prime examples of Festivals such as these include the Much Wenlock and Dover

Sports have been apart of society since the beginning of written history. Sports have also been separated in genders for centuries due to the physical and mental uniqueness of both genders. People take pride in sports. In some families and to communities sports are imbedded in their social infrastructure; it is very important to their identities. Sports are very tradition based seasonal, rules, and even attire. This has made rituals in sports very easy to pass down from generation to generation. Even though times and society has changed rules, traditions, and conservative individuals have not. There is one particular case in the world of golf that illustrates this point perfectly.

In our society sports are a very important social construction. As sports continue to grow, they are becoming more integrated into the major spheres of social life. Sports have become an entity, due to the fact that they not only create entertainment and jobs; sports have become a huge platform for various causes. Sports are extremely important to our society and have very powerful influences. Though experiences vary from person to person, most people have some sort of experience with sports. I personally have experienced sports more from the spectator and participant stance, and have been impacted from each perspective a great deal. Compared to sophomore safety, Jamal Adams my sports experience has been very different from impact and perspective.

Throughout generations, social mobility has become something everyone wants to attain in their lifetime. Through social mobility comes a better and more stable life. There are many ways to achieve maximum mobility, which include getting a higher education and reducing risk in your life. There are also a lot of myths towards this concept that has been portrayed by the media and one of the myths is the social mobility gained by a person playing a sport. Americans in today's world believe that sports are the path we should take to have full financial and social flexibility. Examples leading to this conclusion are obvious as we see kids from poor areas escalate their nobility and capital through their abilities to compete in sports. From the million-dollar contracts and endorsement deals, the ideology behind being an athlete is that your social mobility will rise, but many statistics will prove otherwise. Although it is possible for athletes to gain revenue and fame, the overall ideology of sports of gaining maximum social flexibility from being involved in a sport is a myth.

Looking through American history, we see that sports has been used to conserve and show off the social order going on at that point in time. They [sports] was and is used to show off one's masculinity, to show off one's racial superiority. Tools like discipline, cooperation, strategy and rigor allowed the superior elite to use sports as a way of prepping businessmen, military member or industrialists. While African Americans, Japanese and other oppressed minorities to aim for equal treatment on and off the field.

Socioeconomic status (SES) is the combination of social and economical measures of a person’s work experience or of a family social and economical position in relation to others. The socioeconomic class is divided into three categories: upper class, middle class, and lower class, which is used to describe the three areas a person or a family. From each category, the person’s income, education, and occupation can be assessed. Sports provide many benefits. It brings people together, keeps them healthy, and teaches people values that are used on and off the field such as mental/physical toughness, teamwork, dedication, discipline, and hard work. Sports participation is influenced by the way people live, where they live, what country they live in and what socioeconomic status they fall into. Sports can be a way to identify what social class a person or family may fall into. The purpose of this paper is to show the relationship between socioeconomic status and access to sports. The paper will first go over the background of socioeconomic status, discuss why participation in physical activity is more prevalent with money and what actions should be taking in order to help low-income individuals/families become more involved in physical activity.

Asian people are under-represented in America. There isn’t very many of them in sports. Only 1.9% of people in the National Football League(NFL) are Asian. Only 2.1% of people in Major League Baseball( MLB) are Asian. Worst of all Asians only make up .2% of the National Basketball Association(NBA). Asians are even underrepresented in pop culture. White actors often play the roles of Asians in movies. In the movie Ghost in a Shell The main character Motoko Kusanagi was played by Scarlett Johansson. In the movie Star Trek Into Darkness, the main character Khan Noonien Singh was played by Benedict Cumberbatch. Asians aren’t just underrepresented in Hollywood, they are also underrepresented on television. The television series Fresh Off the Boat is the first prime-time sitcom, in 20 years since All-American girl by Margaret Cho, to feature an Asian American cast. In the United States, we have more than 50 million Asians but they are criminally underrepresented in sports and pop culture. Many Asian kids grow up and don’t have many famous people of their same race to look up to. These kids go through their whole life with nobody to look up to.

No matter what is your social class, everyone can participate in sports. Social class can determine which sports you play. For example, according to sociologist Thomas Wilson, the people who make up the lower class are most likely to play football and boxing, and the upper classes are most likely to play golf and tennis. The upper class are most likely to attend sporting events, and when the lower class attend sporting events, it is usually a boxing or wrestling match. Additionally, better-educated people are more likely to attend sports events, which relates to the higher educated you are, the more money you will make, and it will be able to spend on leisure. Furthermore, speaking from experience no matter what is your social class we all cheer for the same team whether it is in the nosebleed seats or courtside or even at home.

Sports participation is something that is looked at closely in todays society because of the amount of participants there are in sports today. Social classes and participation is heavily influenced by the way people live their lives, where they live, what country they live in , and perhaps most importantly, the socioeconomic class they may fall into. In some understatements, sports may serve as an identifier of what social class a family or individual may fall into, simply by looking at who we are dealing with and what sport this individual may play. As a student in a sport sociology class we find trends in countries worldwide when comparing certain sport involvement and social class. Throughout this essay I will have three arguments that will support my point about social class and participation in sports. My first point will be how economic resources affect the middle-class, second will be how social capital affects middle-class sports, and lastly lower-class and participation in sports.

Throughout the countless fields of sports sociology, there is always something that can be brought upon by changing primitive norms and creating new ones. It seems that several topics discussed in class could ideas on where to begin changing certain aspects of sports. One idea that has been sparked goes hand in hand with one of the concepts discussed in class, sports and politics. But how do sports and politics interact, one way is the political feeling of a certain nation affects every aspect of the country.

Sports are a way of bonding. People of all races are brought closer together through sports. Groups will gather at games or in front of a TV to enjoy a few hours together. But things are different on the other side of the TV. In every sport athletes are stereotyped and discriminated against which puts people in groups based on the color of their skin. This form of seclusion in sports leads to segregation amongst races.

The gaining popularity of sports globally, as well as the economic weight and political resonance that comes with it, makes it mandatory for sports to be included as a sub discipline of sociology. Currently, sports are regarded as one of the international phenomena that has developed from the previous perception which considered it as a recreational activity. Sports is now an integral part of the social and cultural fabric that has contributed immensely to addressing some of the social problems as well as a source of economic empowerment. The contribution of sports has immensely contributed to a myriad of factors such as the political movement that was witnessed during the anti-apartheid campaigns in South Africa. Besides, sport has also been used in changing the perception of the modern world evident by the intensified interest and emphasis that has developed over the years. The following section offers an in-depth analysis of the sociological development sports has made in the society as well as some of the intrinsic factors.

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