Monday, April 15, 2013
Wesley Hall - Homosexual Men in Professional Sports
Billie-Jean King, Sheryl Swoopes, and Martina Navratilova are all prominent female sports figures. Billie-Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs and won the Battle of the Sexes. Sheryl Swoopes was the first female athlete to have her own shoe named after her. Navratilova has won more tennis titles than anyone on the planet. Also, they are all now openly gay. Do you know what happened when they came out? Nothing significant at all happened to them. Their teammates didn't disown them. Their wins and championships were not vacated. They didn't turn fellow players gay or anything stupid like that. They may have been criticized by right wing bigots but they bother everyone. They may have even lost a few sponsorship dollars but what is a little bit of money to superstars like these? My point is, some prominent lesbian athletes have come out and faced the scrutiny. Now, it is time for the males to get through the intolerance, ignorance, and homophobia like these women did. For them, it's time to man-up or in this case woman-up.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree with that. All of the females athletes who are homosexual have came out and nothing has happened to them. They didn't lose any respect from the other players or their teammates just because of that. They are still the players they were before they came out. I think that if a male athlete would come out the same thing would happen. The players and their teammates would still respect them and treat them the same way as they do now.
ReplyDeleteJeremy Shay
I agree with you with almost everything you said. The only problem I have with this is the fact that beibg a lesbian is a lot more accepting in sport today because it is so prominent. Before I transferred to BG, I went to Bluffton University where over half of the softball players and the coach are openly lesbians. Nobody had a problem with it and it was accepted. I do not think this would be the case for a men's team. If a men's team had half of their players gay, it would spark up a lot of controversy. It unfortunately would be all over the news and I think teams would not want to play them. This is where the problem lies. I have no idea why people are more accepting of lesbians in sport. being gay is the same thing and their is nothing wrong with it. Even though most people did not have a problem with Martina Navratilova being a lesbian, I think people would have a problem if a superstar like Michael Jordan was gay. I feel that a group of players need to come out of the closet for the process of society to become accepting of gay athletes to occur. This is a long process, but over time, I think it can work.
ReplyDelete^ Tad Margolies
ReplyDeleteWesley--
ReplyDeleteI find your blog post very interesting. I would have to say that I agree and disagree with your stance. There is no doubt that I believe that it is time for men to take on the battle and be open about their sexuality. It will not be easy though, by coming out as a gay athlete you are being open but are taking a huge risk for your career. Though these steps for society as a whole are monumental, there are various important pieces to this process. I do believe that the scrutiny that lesbian athletes face is more intense than you state. For example, when Billie-Jean King was “outted,” her life was changed overnight. The sponsorship support was completely gone and her friends left as well. I do understand this this is just one case and there are others to compare too. In the end, I hope men do start openly fighting homophobia in sports.
-Alex Solis
Wesley,
ReplyDeleteAlex is correct about Billie Jean King losing a lot in endorsements. During her career, she was the first female athlete to win over $100,000 in a year, and overall, she won nearly $2 million. But she had endorsements that went away after she was outed by Marilyn Barnett. Martina Navratilova, despite having the best record of any woman tennis player, never earned anywhere near the endorsement dollars that Chris Evert did. Evert portrayed the stereotypical, "emphasized" femininity that is more popular with society. Whether or not Sheryl Swoopes lost endorsement dollars, I doubt it was as significant, but she came out at a different time.
Dr. Spencer
Wesley,
ReplyDeleteI agree it is time for these athletes to be open. I cannot say this is easy. Everyone knows that even in our society being homosexual is still not readily accepted. I think the hardest part for most does not know what will happen to their professional career. I also think the sport matters. It should not be easier to come out the closet for a sport like tennis but I feel that it is. May be due to the sport being individual based also. But the point I am making is that it takes time. Having women come out the closet is still significant. Men will soon follow up and make the stand. I think within the next 5-10 years we will have our first male major sport star (nba or football) come out the closet. When that happens many will follow along whether it is to defend him or come out with him.
Greg Gantt