Showing posts with label sexism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sexism. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

When Sports and Social Issues Collide



Lately there has been a flurry of press about The Undefeated, a web site under the jurisdiction of ESPN that was supposed to provide an African American perspective on issues in the world of sports. It has been described as the "Black Grantland" and was to be headed by Jason Whitlock, but he did not prove to be up to the task. Lack of managerial skill on Jason's part is supposedly to blame, though I expect he begs to differ and will eventually do so publicly. In some way, shape or form The Undefeated will eventually become a thing that sports fans know and care about. Or else it won't.  Time will tell. This Deadspin article gives a thorough summary of the situation.


Depending exclusively on The Undefeated to maybe one day be the definitive "black word on sports" seems unnecessary. After all, I have been providing my own particular African American perspective for years. I used to do so when I had a monthly column entitled Sports Issues at the now defunct Suite101.com. I've contributed writings to a variety of other publications as well (e.g. - this John Amaechi profile), and plenty of my thoughts on sports/societal ills have been presented here at A Line a Day.




I invite you to browse. In so doing you'll find pieces such as:









Breaking News: There Will Be Race(ism)
Covid versus Sports


 What I'm saying is  - If you are interested in the intersection where sports and race and inequality talk meet up and you don't feel like waiting for ESPN and The Undefeated to get its act together, I'm here for you.  


Below you will find links to six older articles that addressed social issues such as racism and sexism in notable sports events.  I hope you take the time to walk down memory lane by reading them.  If you do, you'll find that what's old is often enough new again. Just recently for example, as Serena Williams drew close to a calendar year Grand Slam, there was much talk about the fact that Maria Sharapova has considerably more endorsements than her even though Serena has enjoyed a great deal more success on the court.  Years earlier I saw this coming when I wrote From Anna to Maria.   





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Monday, May 23, 2011

Sugar and Spice and Sports Fanatics
















































































In addition to Obama's presidency, another sign to me that the world is a better place today than my childhood is the significantly increased number of legitimate female sports fans
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I’m sure female sports fans, particularly on Twitter, face a certain amount of sexism about authenticity of their fandom. Here’s my theory…
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The biggest jerk of a male sports fan knows a woman is capable of enjoying & knowing as much about sports as any guy. However…
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Most guys as boys dream of being a sports star someday. Some know it’s just a dream from start, some think it may really happen for years
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When you grow up fantasizing about pro sports stardom (which I still do all the time, btw), it deeply invests you in fandom. You’re living vicariously
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Most women don’t come to sports fandom through quite the same route. Rarely envisioned themselves as pro QB for obvious reason
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So illogically or not, due to his boyhood daydreams a sexist dude will conclude his sports fandom is far more legitimate than that of any woman
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Does this mindset extend to women who are pro sports journalists and broadcasters and commentators? Yep, no doubt. Especially when they’re easy on the eyes
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Not that these guys don’t recognize a place for women in the testosterone fueled world of sports. That place would be on the sidelines and those women are called cheerleaders
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And as Penny Marshall taught us, women less interested in the condition of their nail polish than their sisters in estrogen do have leagues of their own. But the female fans of which I speak are not those drawn to the WNBA. I’m talking about those who root for sports played at the most elite level, and that means watching the guys
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There are men who will never truly accept/acknowledge the existence of women who live for highlight reels and walk off victories and knockout punches and thunderous dunks and bone crunching tackles and recitation of stats from memory as much as them
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But these dudes need to get over themselves and realize they now have more things to talk to more women about than ever before.
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Current stream of thought reminds me of a day when I was playing 2-hand touch with my crew as a kid and this girl wanted to play with us
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She ended up having an amazing game, not because she was so athletic, but because we were afraid to mistakenly touch girlie parts
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This girl was not very attractive. Only thing worse than being slugged for touching boobs is being slugged while deriving no pleasure from it
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I wonder to this day if she thought she was too fast for us to catch or realized the secret of her success.
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I watch and know A LOT about sports but concede A LOT of women in my tweetstream know more than I do. No knock on my manhood.
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Sports blogs that routinely show bikini clad women (which I personally appreciate in piggish fashion) to attract men probably alienate more potential readers than realized
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This is my second time blogging about women’s appreciation for sports. The first time I posed a question and learned that the answer is FOOTBALL
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