Campbell-Conclusion

I found this class to be very interesting and enjoyable. I learned a lot from my classmates and I think that we engaged in some very good discussion. I always find talking sports fun because everyone always has varying opinions, and I think this class added to current sport discussion at a much deeper level. I always find that talking with people and engaging in topics when different opinions are involved is useful. Learning different sides and understanding where other people come from is important in our society. Not everyone has the same opinions and I think this is what each of us can take away from the semester. We are able to understand another person’s perspective or reality and accept it while not agreeing with it completely. This is not only useful, but also practical because we are all going to face people and situations in the future where we do not agree and we need to be able to understand the other side of an argument.

I think the topics that interest me the most are the topics that cover socially constructed ideas of masculinity and femininity. I think the dialect that can occur and the analysis of popular culture that we have done is enjoyable. It also is something that is so relevant and constantly adapting in sport. Even looking at the wide range of topics that this covers from Caster Semenya to the Body Issue, the construction of gender in our society is vast. I think there is so much more to learn and discuss on this topic as well.

This was the first time that I kept a blog. I was a little apprehensive at first writing for everyone to see, but obviously I quickly moved beyond my fears. I think it is nice to see what other people write. I think it changed how I interpreted the readings. I had my own opinion and view of the articles, but then I would read how Yannick understood the article and I would gain more awareness. I just enjoyed creating the blog. I think the most important thing I will take away from this class is my understanding of how sport works in society. It is much deeper than just organized games. There is an importance and a precedent that sports provides in our society and I think this class really helped me to understand that better.   

Joey Durant - Conclusion

As a first-year grad student, and a returning BGSU Sport Management undergrad, this class at first seemed like it would be largely identical to the Sport & Gender class I took in undergrad. However, I was pleasantly surprised by much of the class being different from my prior experience. I enjoyed our in-depth analysis of race in sport, something that was not covered in great length as part of Sport & Gender. As a sport fan, particularly one that did not come from a disadvantaged background, it was enlightening to discuss the role that race plays in sports and the role that sport plays in the lives of many disadvantaged people. I also enjoyed our discussion of sports in other countries, as I don't have a lot of experience in that area but am a fan of European soccer.

An article I found to of particular interest to me was the discussion comparing the US vision of the Super Bowl to other international sporting events. I was surprised at the viewership of events like the Cricket World Cup and CFL Grey Cup being much higher than that of the Super Bowl, and really enjoyed getting some insight on the matter from Yannick and Andreas. Having both of them in our class was another highlight of this class for me, as I enjoyed hearing their opinions from an international point of view that often differed from the majority of our class.

Keeping a blog each week helped me focus on the important details of each assigned reading, and I believe it forced me to dig deeper in to the readings to find those details. I also found it useful because I was able to see what others were finding in the readings, and what their opinions were on the topics. Each blog entry allowed me to see what others found, which often led me to see things that I hadn't seen in my original reading of the article for that week. I could then go back and find that information to get a better understanding of the information.

In my career, this class will most importantly give me a better understanding of the hardships that many of the athletes I will eventually be working with have gone through in order to get where they are. This is a great appreciation to have in order to be better at working with athletes and understanding them as individuals, not just what many perceive as "privileged" to play a sport as a career.

Maddy Amon- Conclusion

As a criminal justice and sociology major in undergrad I was never exposed to a sport and society class so when I saw that it was offered this semester I was very excited. In undergrad I was usually focused on theory and mostly criminal processes. My sociology classes were based around criminology and the justice system. being able to put my undergrad interest together with my graduate work made me very happy. I am glad I took this class and was able to expand my view of sport in our culture.

This class really opened my eyes to how influential sport is to our society. I really enjoyed discussing the cultures of the students in our class who are from another country. I believe that having them in our class really benefited me. (From this class I really realized how narrow minded I have been). Seeing and hearing how sport in America is portrayed to those not from our country was extremely interesting. I learned a lot about soccer (futbal) and how culturally it is integrated into a country.  

I enjoyed our weekly readings. They were interesting and sparked good conversation and discussion in our class. I believe that as a whole we were able to dissect difficult topics. having students from all different backgrounds really made our conversations interesting and informative. 

Being assigned to write and Epiphany was one of my favorite things about this class. Learning how to write about one of my experiences that has seriously shaped who I am today was challenging and I really enjoyed the process. It helped me grow as a writer and as a human being.  Discussing my experiences and putting it into words for another person to experience was scary and rewarding at the same time. I really enjoyed this assignment.

Markula's (2001) article, Beyond the Perfect Body, really resonated with me. Body image is a huge issue in our society and after seeing my sister suffer from a eating disorder it is an issue that hits home for me.  I never thought about fitness magazines as an issue, usually people mention magazines for fashion and beauty as the problem. But now I really can see how fitness magazines are creating an image of a fit body that is difficult for most people to accomplish.  Seeing images over and over can really take a toll on a reader. 

Keeping a blog was something that I had never done before.  I liked being able to read what my classmates were saying about a topic and discuss with them through comments.  It was pretty nerve-wracking for me to post blog entries because the idea of having everyone read what I am writing was a scary thought. I got over that at the end of the semester and enjoyed the feedback i got in the comment section.

I will take a lot from this class to my future career. Mostly in the way of looking at sport a bit differently. Seeing how much our lives are impacted by sport really shows how my fututre work in sport will be beneficial. 

I'm glad I was able to take this class with all of you and i want to wish everyone luck with their future classes and job pursuits! 

Maddy Amon

Yannick’s Conclusion Post (December 9)

I loved being in this class, and I have definitely learned a lot in the past 15 weeks. I have been interested in issues related to sports and society in general, and topics related to the construction of gender in particular, ever since I took Dr. Krane’s class on gender, sexuality, and sport in the spring of 2014. Taking Dr. Spencer’s class on sport and society has definitely helped me to develop my interest in these topics further and to get a more well-rounded picture of scholarship done in this area. In my introduction post for this class, I stated the following:

In this course, I hope to learn the basic theoretical concepts that illustrate the relationship between sports and culture/society. I hope to do more work on the construction of identity through and in sports. I am also planning to apply to PhD programs with a focus in cultural studies of sport, and I see this class as a good way to prepare myself academically for these programs.

Today, I can definitely say that this course has provided me with a strong theoretical foundation to explore issues related to sport and society in the future. Because my main research interest focuses on the construction of masculinity in sports, I particularly liked our readings related to this topic. Also, I have developed a strong interest in the relationship between sports and the construction of nationhood throughout the course of the semester. Of course, I especially enjoyed the article we read about soccer patriotism in Germany. However, I also enjoyed reading about sport in the context of the construction of other nations (U.S., Australia, South Africa). One topic that I did not think about at all before taking this class was the importance of the Super Bowl in American identity. I really liked reading about the Super Bowl, and I am thinking about doing my dissertation on the construction of gender (or masculinity, if I want to be more specific) in the Super Bowl broadcast.

This blog was a great way to share my thoughts with everyone and to hear what other students have to say about the topics we covered in class. At times, I wished that more students posted on the blog. However, I really liked reading everyone’s comments in response to my blog posts, because they really made me think about the topics we covered in more detail. The insightful comments from other students in the class not only helped me to understand their position better, but also helped me reflect on my own thoughts about each topic.

This class (along with that of Dr. Krane) has further sparked my passion for scholarship on issues related to sport and society. I am now determined to pursue a PhD in Media and Communication and to make critical studies of sport an area of emphasis. I want to continue to examine constructions of identity in and through sport, and I feel like this class prepared me well to do so. This class has also showed me that as a scholar in this field I do not view myself as “just a scholar”, but rather as a scholar activist. I want to use my future scholarship to create more understanding of individuals participating in sports and to create a more inclusive sporting environment for all participating individuals.

Finally, I really loved being able to share my own culture with the rest of this class. It was great to share my experiences as a participant in sports in Germany with all of you. Thank you to all of you for making this class so much fun! Feel free to add me on Facebook if you want to stay in touch.

-Yannick

https://www.facebook.com/y.to.the.annick

December 2 - Durant

After reading Markula's article for class, and reading several of my classmates posts, I would like to post something a little more opinionated. Although I do agree with Markula in his assessment of popular media and advertising portraying the "ideal" body as skinny, often thinner than most of us are capable of being, I also want to point out the value of leading an active, "fit" lifestyle. America is reported to be among the most obese countries in the world, and I don't particularly think that is a stigma any country wants to carry. I don't think people should strive to be like the models (female and male) that they see in magazines and TV ads, but I do think that the idea of a "perfect body" could be tweaked for the benefit of overall health in our country. Using more realistically "fit" models could begin to remedy the negative psychological impacts of the unrealistic "skinny" models and start to implement more positive body image "goals." Using models with a more attainable, realistic look could influence people more to eat healthier, exercise more, and get healthy the right way rather take drastic measure to achieve drastic results. Hopefully, this would create a healthier America rather than the society that has grown accustomed to taking diet pills and starting starvation diets in order to look like Abercrombie models.

I understand that everyone comes in all shapes and sizes, and that applies to myself as well. My point in my post is that regardless of the shape and size that you come in, you should still be concerned with your health and your fitness. Getting in shape, losing a couple extra pounds, and just going on a run or having a good workout all can have a good impact on a person physically and psychologically. Worrying about how skinny the Victoria's Secret model on page 4 is compared to you doesn't make you feel good about yourself, and doesn't get you any closer (not that you should want to) to looking like her. We need to tend to our own health, not simply "get skinny" by any means necessary.

December 2-Campbell

I found Markula’s (2001) article to be so relevant to a few things that are happening in our society today. The article discussed how a women’s body image is socially constructed through fitness magazines. I would argue that not only is femininity constructed in fitness magazines, but rather in almost all forms of media. Photoshop has become the most used medium in advertising and modeling. The ideals that women are held up to are not the norm for everyday people that we see on the street. Mainly because the people that are being shown in the media are being altered to look perfect or unblemished.

I think when companies use programs such as Photoshop it creates problems for people. They are trying to live up to these ideal standards of beauty and they feel that they are never going to attain that level of perfection. So we see people crash diet or develop eating disordered behavior. People try so hard to achieve what they see in magazines and TV that they lose sight of what having a healthy body looks like. There are several new ads that promote the fact that they do not use Photoshop. While I think these are great I think they need to develop some variety in the models they select. Not every female in America is a size 0. I am not saying that we should have obese models, but I think having varying sizes could help to buffer the body image issues within our society. What also would help is not labeling sizes “plus size.” Most recently Calvin Klein posted a photo of a plus size model, the backlash sparked a debate because the woman appeared to be of a very average size. When people hear the word “plus” they assume large, fat, overweight etc. If we are labeling normal people sizes as “plus” in advertisements the message being sent to society is that small is normal and normal is fat. When in reality this is not always the case.

While this article discussed women’s body image issues I think it is also important to note that men also face a socially constructed idea of how to look. Men in magazines all look like Hercules, but we know that the majority of men do not have bodies like Hercules. Our society also does not talk about how men’s body image is constructed. We only ever really discuss how women are affected by magazine ads. Barbie has always been a hot topic for the construction of femininity in our culture. It could be argued that GI Joe is the same for men. They are told to be big and muscular and if they are not then they are not manly enough. Body image, as a whole, is skewed for both men and women in our society and we not only see it in magazines but also in the media and even children toys.

Maddy Amon- Body Image December 2 2014

I really enjoyed reading Markula's (2001) article Beyond the Perfect Body.  I believe that our society revolves around body image and many women and men are suffering because of it.  Magazines such as Shape, Self and the New Weekly have simple intentions of showing women healthy ways to achieve a healthy body. However I believe that unintended consequences are largely at play here.  Having pictures of fit or "skinny" women throughout a magazine can really take a toll on the reader.  Constantly seeing images of "how they should look" ultimately leads to Body Image Distortion (BID).

While these magazines are promoting a healthy life and often times promote healthy body image they are not helping their readers with the pictures that are placed throughout the magazine.  As someone who has never been  "skinny" by magazine standards I can relate to this. Media is constantly telling our culture what is popular and what is healthy.  They do not take into account how American's are veiwing themselves and the negative consequences the pictures of fit bodies is having on thier readers.

I really like what American Eagle and certain other companies are doing in their no retouching campaigns. While yes they are still using attractive faces it shows that all bodies are different and helps promote accepting self.  I also think Dove does a good job with this type of campaign.  My mind pops to a video that I watched with the BGSU volleyball team last year.  It shows that how negativity we see ourselves yet strangers have a more positive view of us.  I think that there needs to be more campaigns like this because eating disorders are a huge issue especially in sport (both men and women).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=litXW91UauE