Monday, January 28, 2013

What's The Problem?- Dan Pesato


After reading through this article, I have decided to focus solely on the Sports and Masculinity section. This article was very thorough, but I feel like this section spoke to me more than any other. Athletics are a comfortable companion to power. This section states that there is chemistry between sports, politics, and business. Organized sports enforce a male power structure that reaches far beyond the field. Organized sports support a form of sex segregation that has been a hot topic throughout popular culture over the years. This section of the article seems to touch on the history of sport between males and females. This topic is brought up throughout social media and studies every year. The article states that practice and institutional rules first sort players as male or female, and that some people challenge sex discrimination in sports, but most “accept the status quo.” I never really thought of this before, but this made me truly realize that people actually do look over the fact that in some situations, women are actually discriminated in sports. Not so much today, but it still does happen.
This article challenges how we think about organized sports, as fans, parents, and participants. Athletics are a big part of American culture and it seems right to accept what is presented. Title IX may have gotten more women involved in sports, but it will never fully even the playing field. I find all of this very interesting, because I feel that this isn’t something people think about on a regular basis. Most people feel it is not necessary to focus much attention on fixing this issue. I believe that this is the true problem when it comes to sport discrimination.

2 comments:

  1. Dan,

    I completely agree with you when you talk about how Title IX has helped with sex discrimination but there is still a long way to go. In my opinion, it seems as though, from a society’s viewpoint, that women are the ones that have to continue to grow their sports to the public. Personally, I feel it cannot just be the female gender that tries to end sex discrimination in sports. Males also have to play a vital role in creating equal opportunities between genders. With both genders working together, I feel that will create a better perception to the public’s eye, and thus will help us, as a society, continue to work on creating equal opportunities to everyone in sports.

    -Tyler Jester

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  2. Dan and Tyler,

    I'm glad this article made you think more about the topic of sex discrimination in sport. I especially like what Tyler wrote: "Males also have to play a vital role in creating equal opportunities between genders."

    Dr. Spencer

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