Masculinity and Sports- Gender in Society

“There’s no crying in baseball” (A League of Their Own). These are the famous words from Tom Hanks when he screams at one of his female major league baseball players for crying. Tom Hanks continues yelling at the baseball player by saying, “Rogers Hornsby was my manager, and he called me a talking pile of pigshit. And that was when my parents drove all the way down from Michigan to see me play the game. And did I cry?” (A League of Their Own). That line of the movie shows a perfect example of just one of the masculine identities males construct in organized sports. By portraying what a “real” man should be like, males put on a “mask” (‘Tough Guise’) to hide their humanity. According to the ideal male they should be,”… powerful, physical, strong, independent, tough, and respected” (‘Tough Guise’). In sports a “real man” would never cry if their manager yelled at him or if an injury was to occur. Men are taught to keep those “feminine” emotions inside and only show that sturdy masculine side. Two of Robert Brannon’s themes say the norms for men and the way they should behave is defined as, “No sissy stuff,” and “Sturdy oak/Male machine.” No male wants to be called womanly, bitch, wimp, soft, or a wussy. Giving off that “anti-femininity” makes it so males do not have to open up to their emotions, weaknesses, or sensitive side. With no emotions to show, men can become “inexpressive and independent,” making them sturdy due to their emotional composure and self-control. And when it comes to sports it is important to have that self-control of emotion and that lack of femininity brought into the game, otherwise that masculinity mask falls into the cracks and as men say, “You are acting like a woman.”
While emotions are thrown to the waist side in sports, some boys join sports just to feel a connection with other people. Although they are not talking about their thoughts and feelings at a slumber party like girls would do, boys instead join organized sports to feel a sense of unity with others by throwing around a pig skin or kicking a soccer ball with teammates. “For the boy who both seeks and fears attachment with others, the rule-bound structure of organized sports can promise to be a safe place in which to seek nonintimate attachment with others within a context that maintains clear boundaries, distance, and separation” (Messner). Some boys that come from broken homes or are orphaned often find companionship in sports. For example Messner interviewed a 32-year-old man who was orphaned at the age of nine, he said, “…just playing with all kinds of different kids in the neighborhood, it brought what I really wanted, which was some kind of closeness. It was just being there, and being friends” (Messner). Labeled as a Jock the masculine identity comes automatically. Being part of such an elite group brings out that “The Big Wheel” notion (status and achievement). Suddenly that persona of being tough and strong comes out, behavior of risk taking, and that feeling of success and power.
Boys also construct masculine identities in organized sports because of their parents, brothers, uncles, or even by their communities. In the article “All-American Guys,” Homecoming was a huge celebration for the people of Glen Ridge. The football Jocks of the community seemed to be worshiped by their peers, families, and friends. For example, the athlete’s older brothers would come back into town just to talk about their glory days back in high school and watch their younger brothers play. But with all the excitement, the pressure was astronomical for the players. In order to hide their insecurities and doubts, some of them developed “Jock swagger.” Once again putting on a mask, the Jock swagger was to serve three purposes for them, “It compensated for their limitations as athletes by allowing them to pretend they were stars. It was a distorted exaggeration of how they thought dominant men –real men – were supposed to behave. And, conversely, their defiance of authority may well have been a disguised growl of resistance against being programmed to conform to the myths nurtured by the community” (Lefkowitz).
Looking at lower and higher status backgrounds and races in sports it seems there are some similarities and some differences between the classes. They both seemed to have received influences from male role models, and were given praise and acceptance from family and friends for the natural ability to play sports. The differences lie within the communities and opportunities that are given in each class and race. In Messner’s article he gives an example of a 48-year-old black male using sports as a survival mechanism within his poor community, he says, “Sports protected me from having to compete in gang stuff, or having to be good with my fists…People would generally defer to you, give you your space away from trouble” (Messner). While in a higher, white status community, young boys are not pressured to choose between a gang or organized sports. For example a 33-year-old white dentist who use to be a three-sport star in high school said, “I thought it was small potatoes. And sure, that’s nice in high school and all that, but on a broad scale. I didn’t think it amounted to all that much” (Messner). With his middle-class upbringing he was able to see that on a “broad scale,” being a three-sport star was not his ultimate future, but was shown that there were many other options other than organized sports. For example, in Messner’s article he talks about a young black man whose main interest was music and not football, but in the end his future led him to be a professional football running back. He said, “I wanted to be a drummer. But we couldn’t afford drums…he was just trying to make ends meet” (Messner). Considering his circumstances one thing he could afford to do was play football in the park with friends and family. Like most boys who grow up with socioeconomic limitations, sports seem to be the “savior” or the “outlet,” which is why their masculine identities are centered on sports, unlike white middle to upper class boys see it as one option for a masculine identity, but also have a range of other choices to pursue.
Many boys follow in the footsteps of constructing these masculine identities, but what about the problems that comes with putting on this “tough man” act? In the video ‘Tough Guise,’ it shows through statistics that violence is accepted as a part of masculinity. For example, “99.8% of rape crimes are committed by men, 95% of child sexual abuse is committed by men, and 85% of murder is committed by men” (‘Tough Guise’). These examples show that violence has flooded the definition of masculinity and has caused crime issues in men. Not only are these men hurting women and children, a lot of the crimes happening between men hurting other men. Specifically this kind of violent behavior occurs if men see another male not “living up” to what a man should really be. By pin-pointing the ones who steer away, or do not fit the criteria of the “real man” (gay, poor, minority), males make sure that it is known they are not living up to their expectations with the use of violence. With no way to emotionally let out any feelings or thoughts, the pressures seem to pile on males to be that “tough guy,” because without some shred of that masculine identity, most men would say, “You are just another woman.”