Stereotypes

Why does everything need to be stereotyped? Once in high school couple of friends and I were playing basketball during lunch and this guy just comes up and starts calling names us like "beaner" and other stereotypical Mexican names too. Just because we look Mexican does not mean that everybody is. It also means that not everybody eats beans either. What I'm trying to get across here is that sometimes women are stereotyped as beauty queens, weak, and non-athletic. It is not fair for women to be stereotyped all the time because they play sports. Not all women have the same bodies and are athletic. Same as men there are men out there that might not be able to do a set of push-ups, pull-ups or complete a mile run it takes practice.
Sometimes I hear men saying all the time “Oh that guy is fast," "that guy this.... What about women can’t' they be fast? Women can be as fast as men too. I think society has just grown accustomed to these norms and stereotypes that it is really hard to treat something that is different as normal or acceptable. It is through what the media and society wants us to think and we sometimes take it as something that it is true. In the women in sport class when we talked about norms at the beginning of class, we discussed that society was is in this box and if you step out of that box it is like if someone committed a crime. That person that steps out gets scolded and gets treated differently.
The stereotypes are keeping society from creating social change in women in sport and other areas in society. It makes difficult to change how women in sport are viewed. The question is how can we make that change? Since it is deep embedded in our society it is difficult to get away from stereotypes like that. In addition, another time in class we watched a video about 8 year old girls playing soccer. These girls moved to the boys division for more competition. In one of the games the video showed that some of the parents from the other team were saying things like, "come on, they are just girls we can beat them.” What does that have to do? What if they are girls, can they not play against the boys and be able to beat them? They don't think that girls are capable.
I also would say things like "man you kick like a girl" with out thinking sometimes when played soccer. However, talking about issues like this made me realize that stereotypes like these and judging people by gender we sometimes do not even think about it that it affects that person. We can see how media and society makes it acceptable that we don't even think about when we say it. When in reality, there are women who can kick better and harder than boys. In the future I hope we can realize that stereotypes do affect people and women in sport as well as other areas in society and that we need to somehow change that.
Andres A.

Cindy Yorba: Blog #2, NIKE campaign

Cindy Yorba
kin 338I.S6

http://www.rm116.com/2005/08/nike_hearts_rea.html

I came across this while doing research for my awareness assignment. I believe Nick also mentioned these ads, just thought I'd let all you get a better look at the pictures and give you a chance to read what they say. In a way i feel that they are empowering to athletes and those who are more muscular, but I also feel that they are disembodying women into certain body parts. they are not seeing them as a whole, but by butts/ shoulders/ thighs/ legs; parts that are usually seen as sex objects or used to sell products. I find these ads to be contradicting, what do you all think?

AGENT ZENYATTA....

Throughout the whole semester, we have been talking about the struggles and challenges that women have gone thru in the past. In our second reading summaries, one of the reading that was included in that, was the story about the competitive WOMAN walkers who were doing so good that they were out performing most men. Little that we know, for the past three years, another WOMAN in sports is out making news.

Zenyatta, a 4 year old mare, has made huge splashes in the horse racing world in the past 4 years. Many have doubted what Zenyatta could really do and many people were not giving her all of the credit that she deserves. The reason for this, was because Zenyatta is a female horse and all of the race that she ran was against all the other female horses. All of that changed when Zenyatta entered in a Grade I race, which all of the other horses in that race were male horses. Zenyatta prevailed and won very easily. During Zenyatt's career, she had won both the Breeders Cup Ladies Classic (2008) and the Breeders Cup Classic(2009) ( a race that is only held once a year, where horses all over the world travel and compete). Last month, Zenyatta ran again in the Breeders Cup Classic (2010) to defend her crown as a champion Older horse. With a win in this race, Zenyatta would go down in history as the only horse ever to ever win a Breeders Cup Ladies Classic and two Breeders Cup Classic race. Also, with a win in this race, Zenyatta would also be the only horse ever to win 20 consecutive races. This feat was very unheard of and never been done by any horse, male or female. And Zenyatta was just about to do that......

Unfortunately, Zenyatta lost. Lost by a very narrow margin............ :(


Despite the lost, Zenyatta is still considered as the best race horse that this generation had ever seen. Although this champion did not come out as the eventual winner in this race, she left all of us a very important lesson. Women in this world, whether its in sports, work, or even horse racing, can be very competitive be successful on the same time. Lets give our women all the things that they deserve, and we should stop doubting their abilities.

Women competing in powerlifting and strongman training

I recently read an article on Elite Lifts that focused on women in the sport of powerlifting and strongman training. For those that are not familiar with these types of training, here is a little rundown. The sport of powerlifting consists of three lifts: the squat, dead lift, and the bench press. Strongman training consists of exercises that include: tire flipping, the "farmers walk", atlas stones, and the log press. In sports that are almost completely dominated by men, women are not usually looked upon as being the strongest weightlifters. With that being said, many women, such as Cathy Marsteiner and Harriet Hall, were both inducted into the USA Powerlifting's hall of fame in 2010. Both of these women held over 16 world records in their weight class and have a deadlift over 500 lb's, a squat over 600 lb's, and a bench press over 300 lb's. More than half of the guys in the world can't even fathom lifting that much weight! Many women have also recently been competing in strongman competitions, or correctly said strongwomen competitions. Despite the fact that these sports have been associated with masculinity, many women love the athletic challenge as well as the satisfaction to be competing in such challenging lifts and events. It mentions in the article that women want to be seen as strong, capable individuals rather than just pretty, fitness models lifting a weight a five year old can lift with two fingers.

Brian Montano

Kin 332I (tu-thurs) 12:30-1:45

Women in Other Countries

In class we have learned about the struggle to make female sports equal to men's. We have already established that women should be allowed to play. In other countries women are still fighting to be allowed to play. The Afghan national women's soccer team is competing in it's first international competition this week. In a country that has major events occurring, these women still find time to fight for what they want. These women face a lot of criticism and even death threats because of their desire to play soccer. Their only place to practice safely is in a NATO base with a helipad. They can only use it a few times a week and are frequently interrupted by helicopter landings. If they tried practicing anywhere else, they would be attacked because it is considered indecent for women. Some players even choose to play without their head scarves because they feel it is too dangerous to play with it on. These players love playing so much they feel it is worth taking the risk. Hopefully someday they will be allowed to play without any risks.
While we have been focusing on making sure women are treated as athletes and that they get enough media coverage, these women have been fighting to get a chance to play. These women aren't focused on getting television coverage. I do believe there needs to be more equality in sports for us but sometimes we need to stop and be thankful for how far we have come.


Sam H
KIN 338I Sec1

espnW

Link to ESPN-W --> espnW

"espnW is a destination for women who are passionate sports fans and athletes."

Recently, ESPN launched their new site espnW. The site, aimed at the female sports audience, is set up like a blog. The majority of the espnW team are women and consist of sports columnists, reporters, and former athletes. The subjects of the posts are not restricted to womens sports: a Dec. 6 post involved the Monday Night Football match-up between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets, one Dec. 10 post included briefs on Peyton Manning and Auburn quarterback Cam Newton, and another Dec. 10 post highlighted Brett Favre's supposed selfishness.

The side bar on the right contains the following:

- "Editor's Choice"

- "Most Shared" - the most frequently shared stories through Facebook and Twitter

- "What Matters" - links to stories from ESPN's main site and around the web

- "Games We're Following" - scores and a link to full recaps of the day's games

- "espnW Tweets" - espnW's posts on Twitter

- "This Week in Women's Sports" - historical facts in women's sports

- "Things To Do Near You" - local games, events, and competitions across the nation

On ESPN's main site, women's sports rarely make headlines--only under "More Sports" can one find a dedicated women's basketball tab. On espnW's page, there is a link on the very top that goes directly to ESPN's main site. On ESPN's main site, the only link to espnW is on the very bottom of the page, the last link on their mini site map. I personally do not see the need for a separate site for women's sports. ESPN is the "Entertainment and Sports Programming Network", which should encompass all sports, not just men's sports.

Daniel J.

KIN 338I - S6

James Harrison vs. NFL

As we all know concussions in the NFL especially helmet to helmet hits has been a new source of voodoo-like talk this season. Not only has the NFL started handing out heavy fines week after week. But, referees have been increasingly penalizing those heavy hits that we as sports fans love to see when we tune in to watch the game. One player that has been a primary contributor to the NFL in fines this year is James Harrison, linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Harrison has received over $120,000+ in fines this year all a result of heavy hits he has been known for in the course of his career. One of these incidents happening at the beginning of the year he was fined $75,000 for a hit on a Cleveland Brown's wide receiver. Harrison actually contemplated retiring from the NFL all in itself after the league handed out these fines. He has said in interviews that he feels that the NFL is out to get him and is using his as an example to show the rest of the players int eh NFL that they are serious with these fines. But, is this fair for Harrison? Is this a source of deviance by the NFL all in itself for handing out fines for something that the NFL markets with the heavy hits that these grown men are known for.

Corey Becker
Kin 332i TuTh 12:30

The Effects of Childhood Tomboyism

Chelseah Murphy

KIN 338I T/TH 930-1045

While I was writing my book review for our awareness assignment I came across an interesting study from the College Student Journal about the effects of childhood "tomboyism" on grown women. The word tomboy doesn't necessarily have a negative stigma in the United States. Girls who are considered tomboys are more likely to take on a masculine role rather than engaging in pretend play. According to this study many women who considered themselves as tomboys played sports. One hundred and twenty-four female undergraduates were recruited for this study from an online participation pool. Results from this study found that participants who were tomboys as children had higher self-esteems as adults. According to this study, girls who were tomboys growing up are more well-adjusted, good leaders and popular as adults. Slightly more than half of the women in this survey considered themselves as tomboys as child but stated that they grew out of it during or soon after puberty. Many girls who continue being tomboys into their teenage years are labeled as loners and don't fit in as well as their non-tomboy counterparts.

"Due to the social inequity of men and women" (Volkom, 2009) it is understandable why many girls want to incorporate some male traits into their actions. According to this article tomboys feel empowered by making male friends and by obtaining their respect. I think that this article was very interesting because I was a tomboy for a few years. I played basketball with the boys everyday at recess. I wonder if this affected the woman I am today.

-Volkom, M. (2009, September). The effects of childhood tomboyism and family experiences on

the self-esteem of college females. College Student Journal, 43 (3), p736.

In class we got into teams of three or four and had to come up with a map that had to do with females and sport. The team I was on, we chose to do females in the medias vs. males in the media and how difference in coverage. We showed how females were portrayed as feminine and how they had to up hold there profile as mothers and house wives, and the eating disorders. We also outlined their body image. Men were more advetised for their sport and not their body.

I thought it was pretty awesome how the other teams maped out similar things that differ between women and men. For everyone to be on the same page definitely means that we're learning and retaining what we've learned. Women equality isn't there yet but hopefully some day for our younger generation they'll be less and less discrimination and more comradery between sexes.

In the last class, we watched a movie called "Not Just A Game." This movied bought up several interesting facts about the current social beliefs of sports in American Society. It showed how, even though it is supposed to be completely separate, politics is deeply incrained in sports. The incorporation of Mass Media into the current set up of sports has created a cultural oddity that proclaims a belief in keeping neutral while it clearly does not. In class, we have talked aobut how the sports community is considered to be a "safe haven" from the worries of the outside world where people can lose themselves. This was a reason as to why people believe that sports are so popular. However, after watching the movie, we begin to realize just how much we are influenced by sports. One of hte examples given by the movie where politics was involved was Michael Jordan's hiding the Reebok insignia on his uniform. He was influenced by the politics of the media and advertising industries. He was a spokesman for Nike so wearing a Reebok jersy was something that he was unwilling to publicly do becuase it would cause problems for him and his endorsements. The book even has a whole chapter devoted to "Sports and the Media." It goes in depth into the implications of sports and media and even discusses whether sports could exist without the media.
In my opinion, media is automatically involved in politics. These politics may not be as blatant as "American politics" which is bi partisan, but they exist. The politics are all which band you wear and what things you buy. The belief that media is not involved with sports is an idea that people are fed by the media owners. The owners want you to believe that it is an escape from the world while, in truth, it is clearly not.

Charley Merrow
Kin 338I S3017

Different View on Youth Sports

Today in class we watched the film “Kick like a Girl”. After the film, the class discussed youth sports and our feelings about the film and the integration of gender in youth sports. It was surprising to me to see that some of the parents in the film were skeptical about a girls youth soccer team playing against boys on youth soccer teams. It was also strange for me to hear some fellow students comment that the integration of gender in youth sports should happen. I did not believe that the integration of gender in youth sports was even an issue. In my hometown most, if not all, of the youth sports are considered at least semi-Coed. Even when I was growing up and playing youth sports in my hometown, youth sports were organized. These organized youth sports could all be classified as Coed. Youth baseball and youth football were still considered boy sports, but girls could sign up to participate and were both allowed to and very able to play and compete with the boys. Growing up with that image of equality in sports makes it very difficult for me to comprehend that some organized youth sports separate gender still.

We have come a long way in sports since the passing of Title IX in 1972. However, the video today and some of the comments in the film and in our class discussion show me that there is still a long way to go to achieve equality in both youth sports and sports in general. I believe that the revolution of sport started in the 1970s has stalled; and that there needs to be a push for equality in sports before the role of gender in sports is perceived by society the way it was before the passing of Title IX.


Nick M.
KIN 338I Sec. 1