Sportsiology » gender

Wherefore Art Thou Ladies?

Sociology Sports Girl — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 06:14:03 +0000

Often we forget that March Madness is not just the Men’s basketball bracket but that women play championship basketball too. They also play football (and sometimes not in their underwear), hockey and…I guess…softball. And yet, women’s sports, professional or otherwise, are often ignored, made fun or subordinated to men’s sports. Are we so intrenched in our gender roles that we can’t see women in roles that don’t fit our expectations of their gender? Is this why we will accept women in sports such as gymnastics and swimming? Because they are more delicate and ladylike? Or is it that we have been socialized to believe that some sports belong to men and others to women and anyone of the opposite sex attempting to play them is an imposter?

Let me ask you this. If basketball had been a woman’s sport before it was a sport for men, would we then think that men had bastardized this sport and taken this once wonderful thing and made it violent and ugly?

Good Boys Don’t Cry

Sociology Sports Girl — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 02:46:20 +0000

I can’t sign off today without commenting on Crygate, as Eric Spoelstra named it (for some reason). First, I have to say that I am surprised that Coach Spoelstra said anything at all. He could have very easily made his point by just saying that his players were emotional after the game. That would have been enough. But he said it and now it’s out there.

So the question obviously arises as to whether the comments since directed at the Miami Heat are a result of our perceived gender roles. I’ve heard people bring up the fact that the NBA is, to use every related cliché I can think of, the No Boys League and, as we all know that boys don’t cry, there should be no crying in basketball. Is it because these players are supposed to be tough and manly, because that is how they have been socialized and how our expected gender roles tell us that men should act? Or is it because it’s too early in the season and not an important enough reason for tears…yet?

In making fun of the Heat, other players are able to reinforce their own masculinity. Correspondents also have used odd comparisons to the tears they shed after visiting a children’s cancer ward as a way to give the Heat space for their tears. Other people, like Kobe Bryant and Mike D’Antoni, simply stated that crying doesn’t mean anything, it doesn’t challenge your masculinity, you have an emotional reaction and sometimes tears are part of that. So, what do you think? Nature vs. nurture?

Breaking Through

Sociology Sports Girl — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 04:15:54 +0000

When we think of places where women have faced a glass ceiling, wrestling probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But, girls are not only reaching some of the levels of boys but are competing against them. This year, Iowa has two women in the state championship and even though ESPN reports that Joel Northrup’s religious convictions forced him to default rather than compete against one of the girls, Cassy Herkelman, its good to know that some headway is being made in this sport.

Apparently, only California, Hawaii, Texas, Washington and Tennessee have leagues just for girls. The other states require mixed groups. Is this the future of sports?

UPDATE: Both girls lost in their first fight at the state level