Stereotypes Of Masculinity In Sports

Masculinity is defined as Possession of the qualities traditionally associated with men. “Handsome, muscled, and driven, he's a prime example of masculinity" contrastingly femininity is defined as the quality of being female; womanliness. “She celebrates her femininity by wearing make-up and high heels" both of which are contrasts, men being admirable and positive yet women are perceived to be materialistic and false

Homophobia is a massive issue in the modern game the frequent use of derogatory words and chants from fans can intimidate fans and even players after some have massively damaged their careers after coming out for example Graeme Le Saux, an England international left-back, had to put up with homophobic taunts even though being
married with children. These accusations started due to his “unladdish hobbies” which included antique collecting, and his university background he admitted contemplating quitting the game its self out of humiliation this has a detrimental effect on the sport as players are scared to be themselves creating this perception for aspirers that you need to be someone else to make it. Although there have been many campaigns battling this one was a large number across the footballing world wore rainbow laces a strong ideology of the gay community in hopes to abolish this homophobic atmosphere over professional football and say how it doesn’t matter who you are off the field on the field we are all the same

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Portrayal of gender issues by the media such as inequality is a real problem even though the productive progression of women sports and female athletes and the growth in woman sporting icons to be role models has increased, the perception of these women has a overwhelming sense of objectification contrastingly to sports predominantly played by men and male athletes.
Although there has been substantial growth of the recognition and popularity of women’s sport, female athletes are still degraded to be second best to their contrasting male athletes that are illustrated by the media to be superior and the attention is focused on the body of the female objectifying her rather than emphasising her athletic ability and skill . This injustice of inequality will continue until the media its self-changes the perception of men and women and shows them to the same and just as competent as each
other.

culture can have massive implications on sport one being religion, religions such as Christianity means players may not want to or believe they should play on Sundays as in the bible it’s a day of rest this can lead to lack of opportunity’s for players and teams not wanting to continue playing these players as it can be seen as lack of dedication and commitment. The Muslim religion can also make it hard for performers, through the period of Ramadan Muslim people fast this will of course have a detrimental effect on an athlete’s body when performing as they won’t have enough energy from food to continue playing meaning fatigue will occur sooner and their performance will suffer. Clothing is also a contributing factor to limiting a person’s activity, Muslim women are not allowed to show skin therefore when performing in sports such as swimming its extremely hard therefore blocking that sport of to a community

Racism is another issue in both the past and cometary game.
There are many campaigns from organisations like the “give racism a red card” and “say no to racism” supported by both players and football federations yet it is still a major issue that continues to let players shy away from the sport because of there ethnicity. Racism takes the form of both players and fans, Luis Suarez is a popular name and a controversial one to say the least after racially abusing Patrice Evra for being black it was the turning point for many players and fans in one game in Italy Kevin price Boeteng and team mates left the field within the first half after racist chants were shouted towards the player the game was postponed. Another example where Chelsea fans. They racially abused PSG supporter on the underground during the home champions league fixture it was caught on camera and had huge coverage this isn’t just detrimental to the perception of the sport itself but it can also isolate and intimidate fans from watching and enjoying the game as they feel inadequate or inferior due to their ethnicity again shying them away from the game and even sport in general .initiatives to address racism in sport such as give racism the red card have been around for a while after being established in 1996 and uses high profile names and the status of football as a mouth piece to educate fans and the world about the problem and whist doing this reducing the problem
significantly