The mismeasure of masculinity: the male body, ‘race’ and power in the enumerative discourses of the NFL Draft

Deconstructing the Myth of the Monolithic Male Athlete: A Qualitative Study of Men’s Participation in Athletics

“…To the extent that male and female sporting events were different enough, theories of masculinity could be used to explain the normative motivation for participation in organized, team sports, and the benefits of personal (male) character that were believed to accompany participation. However, prescribed and rigid adherence to gender roles (Adams 1993;Schacht 1996), the belief that injury and violence to the body reinforced natural masculinity (Messner 1990b;White et al 1995), and the expectations that athletes display (exclusively) heterosexual interests and behavior (Griffin and Genasci 1990;Hekma 1998;Pronger 1990) led to a very singular and specific interpretation of masculinity (Fitzclarence and Hickey 2001;McLaughlin 2004;Oates and Durham 2004;Schacht 1996). For example, morphological outcomes (e.g., a muscular physique) associated with athletic skill and physical fitness are perceived as highly desirable by boys and men alike (Frederick et al 2007), and some males assume the experience of physical pain and physical injury are inherently part of the male athletic role (Young et al 1994).…”

“…, Firebaugh 1989;Ignico 1989;Mills 1997). Interpretations of available research suggests that males become involved in athletics in an effort to live up to the societal expectations placed on them as boys or young men, and use team membership as a mechanism for realizing agentic goals, reifying a definition of masculinity through sports (Halvari 1991a,b;Lenzi et al 1997;Oates and Durham 2004;Mills 1997;White et al 1998). Alternatively, females use athletic involvement and team membership as an opportunity to forge new relationships and, through these relationships, achieve communal goals (Benton 1998;Borman and Kurdek 1987;Lenzi et al 1997; for an exception, see Theberge 1997).…”

“…However, the norms-both implicit and explicitand organizational structure of athletics rarely, if ever, follow feminist, postmodern, or poststructural ideologies. Rather, participation in sports and most definitions of "athletic success" descend from a hierarchal, top-down approach where there are winners and losers, an approach that characterizes the play of young boys (Maccoby 1995(Maccoby , 1998, dynamics of male interaction (Drummond 2002;Kidd 1990;Laitinen and Tiihonen 1990;Messner 1990a), and a dominant interpretation of embodying and displaying masculinity (McLaughlin 2004;Oates and Durham 2004;Schacht 1996;Wellard 2002).…”

“…Based on the work of Strauss (Glaser and Strauss 1967;Strauss and Corbin 1990), we asked men to narrate their experience as athletes as it related to two long-standing domains in the sporting literature: 1) the importance of self and instrumentality in executing an athletic role, and 2) the importance of othersspecifically, teammates-in their personal and athletic lived experience. A substantial interdisciplinary literature documents the study of athletes (see, e.g., Curry 1991;Drummond 2002;Firebaugh 1989;Klein 1990;Murphy 2005;Oates and Durham 2004;Pronger 1990;Sabo and Jansen 1992). Much of this literature is based on positivist epistemologies and quantitative research designs (e.g., Boyd et al 2002;Braathen and Svebak 1992;Curry and Weiss 1989;White and Zellner 1996).`Results from these studies often yield gender differences in these two domains, where males' interests in sports are reported to be instrumental or agentic and females' interests rests on communal relations (e.g., making friendships).…”

Competing Separately, Medaling Equally: Racial Depictions of Athletes in NBC's Primetime Broadcast of the 2012 London Olympic Games

“…Meanwhile, racial stereotypes percolated in other forms of sports media, ranging from racially unbalanced characterizations in the coverage of the NFL draft (Mercurio & Filak, 2010;Oates & Durham, 2004) to race-based media frames of Black males within NBA hip-hop cultures (Lavelle, 2010). As Mercurio and Filak (2010) conclude, there is still a "self-perpetuating loop" of bad frames and word choices (p. 69).…”