Essay on jock culture

Gender classification is a predominant topic within today’s sports and is most broadly understood through the portrayals of sports media. Through overt and covert ways, sports media has continued to promote a masculine representation of sports (Millington & Wilson, 2010; Messener, Duncan, & Jensen, 1993). By understanding the way in which sports media portrays sports, one can recognize how masculinity has dominated the world of sports. With the aid of two unique studies of sports media, this paper will critique the way in which media has effected the gendered depiction of sports.

In the essay “Jock Culture” by Robert Lipsyte, the author explains the lifestyle of jocks and how there are two different types of people in the world. Lipsyte has very good points in his essay that the author mainly agrees with the essay but the author also believe there are few points that the author also disagrees with. The author believes that there is jock culture in today’s world. Although it seems like people are beginning to change. Jocks are not beginning to act like jocks anymore and people are evolving.

One mother whose son participated in youth sports, says “...a couple of boys from his team did not make the roster of the new team. They just sat there while the rest of their old teammates screamed with joy. This made me sick” (Sultz, et al, edmontonjournal.com, February 15, 2017). This quote means that her seeing the other players from her son’s previous team not make the cut made her feel awful, especially since they just had to sit there watching their old teammates be excited over making the cut. “Seventy percent of children leave organized sports by the age 13,” according to research by the National Alliance for Sports. This means 7 out of 10 players quit sports by their early teens and never return. According to Edmonton Journal students start to skip games and practices and also stop the sport overall. They state “Their self-esteem is shaken. Time spent being physically active is reduced – no more practices and games. Cutting also deterred athletes from future participation in the sport” (Sultz, et al, edmontonjournal.com, February 15,

A prominent reason why high school sports is detrimental to academic accomplishments of students is because of how sports act as a powerful distractor to education. When a student starts to play sports in school, their mindset shifts from being focused on learning to now focusing on improving at their sport of choice. Sports are just another thing that consumes the time and attention of people. This simple fact clearly presents a problem because it means less effort can be dedicated towards academics. A perfect example of how sports teams magnify this effect of reducing academic effort is presented in the article “Why Student Athletes Continue to Fail” when it explains “Tight-knit student athletes will seek ways of fitting into a culture that they perceive as neglecting academics (by defaulting into majors of dubious merit and spending less time doing homework), knowing that their habits are observed by teammates” (Oppenheimer). Clearly, this statement demonstrates that school sports create an environment where students feel pressured to adopt a callous attitude towards academics. Since sports teams form a strong bond between the members of the team, the impact of peer pressure is emphasized because each student wants to behave like the others simply to feel connected to the group.

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.

Sports of old were merely competitive activities rooted in heroism and romanticism. Sports activities today, however, have no such innocence or simplicity. Currently in America, the activities that make up our sports culture is not only the competitive events themselves but the processes and issues that underlie and surround them. Entwined in our sports culture is the giant business of mass broadcasting. Indeed, sports and the media go hand in hand like peanut butter and jelly, like Mickey and Minnie, Darth Vader and Luke. They are intertwined and depend on each other to continue to grow. Sports media includes television, radio, magazines, newspapers, books, films, and, now, most importantly, social media devices provided by the

In this analysis I will cover the different aspects of sport subculture and what it means to be a recognizable member within a group. I will give examples of what it means to be a part of such subcultures. For example, shared ways of dressing, group status and credibility, as well as some of the groups norms and rituals. The specific group I will discuss will be my basketball team and the role I play within it. Because my team is at highly competitive level, our norms may be unlike to other teams’ especially those of less competitive teams. Each and every team has their own culture and practices, and it is through these that they identify themselves as being different from other teams along with giving them an identity and a

Ott, B. L. (2012). Unnecessary Roughness: ESPN’s Construction of Hyper Masculine Citizenship in the Penn State Sex Abuse Scandal. Cultural Studies. Critical Methodologies, 12(4), 330-332.Link

In Chapter 10 of Religion and Popular Culture in America, Joseph L. Price attempts to show sports as an example of popular culture as religion, because of its ability to shape the engagement of their fans and the fan’s environments. Although the majority of fans do not see sports as coming close to being a religion, Price gives several compelling reasons as to why sports are religion.

When stopping to look around at the abundance of “friend groups” and cliques I couldn't help but notice how well worn and clichè they are. The quote unquote popular boys and jocks were stereotypically unnecessarily rowdy and were discussing the oh so important topic of … you guessed it football. “ Lamar Jackson is a total bada** . I knew he was gonna finess the heisman”. Of course they were swearing about sports. So original. A couple tables over and entire four long rectangular tables are filled with boy with broken hoop dreams. These boys know anything any everything when it comes to sports but were unfortunately to small short, weak or unathletic to make the cut . These boys have a better chance of being on a part of a professional team than the jocks. As an marking PA or something along those lines of course. Your typical cool asian girl are eating their home packed sushi with anime and Japanese designs all over there chopsticks. The cheer girl sit

This Article, is from the Sociology of Sport Journal, title “Learning Lessons in Tee Ball”: “The Reinforcement of Gender and Status in Kindergarten Sport”. The article was written by Melissa A. Landers and Gary Alan Fine University of Georgia (1996). The article describes how “status and gender roles can become reinforced at the earliest stage of organized sports” (Landers & Fine 1996). The data collected was done “through field notes that the authors took during participation” (Landers & Fine). The children that were being observed were “between the ages of 5 and 6”. There was a total of 24 children “13 Caucasian boys”, “6 Caucasian girls”. “4 African American boys”, and “1 Asian-American boy” all this children were from “working-class and middle class families” (Landers & Fine 1996).

them themselves… Jocks acted boorishly on occasion. Sometimes jocks were a little more aggressive with girls than good manners permitted… Parents believed that this behavior fit within the boundaries of “boys will be boys.” (Loc.

A sport is an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment. Sports originated in early history as males only, and was often used to see which male was more dominant. In today’s society sports have a different meaning and is played by both genders, but still holds a mentality of superiority. In this essay, I will be arguing the Social Constructs of Masculinity in Sports in the language and the actions used when performing these activities through both genders and how some actions are acceptable for one gender and not for the other. Using Laurel Richardson’s article Gender Stereotyping in the English Language, and X: A Fabulous Child’s Story by Lois Gould. The article and story will help distinguish the use of words in our society and how they are incorporated in sport and how the actions of a person that does not fit the social standard faces repercussions for their actions.

The “dumb jock” stereotype we’ve all heard it used before and for some of us have even been called it. However in recent surveys across the United States has found that student-athletes grades are generally higher than

One of the biggest complaints about interscholastic sports is the belief that sports take focus away from academics. Amanda Ripley, journalist and author, elaborates on this very issue. She provides many examples of the ways that sports play a negative role in American schools, and how she believes that they are the reason to blame for the shortcomings of American students: “Sports are embedded in American schools in a way