Sports Page #13

The media glorifies African American's in the media, when it comes to the idea of athletics. Society portrays African Americans as extremely athletic. This is also seen in Hollywood films such as The Blind Side, Remember the Titans, and Coach Carter. These films are predominately based on African American Athletes that usually overcome adversity and oppression. One in particular is Glory Road, which focused on a college team, which was the first all African American starting lineup in the NCAA National Championship game. Hollywood normally portrays African American Athletes as being a part of the lower socioeconomic class, but being very talented on the court. Another stereotype that it lives up to is that the main coach is caucasian, while most of the players are African Americans. In comparison to the documentary, Hoop Dreams, the athletes they follow are African American while the entire school they attend is primarily Caucasian. Sports confine African Americans to a specific stereotype that all African Americans are great at sports. This is an idea that society comes to, due to the fact that it is how it is portrayed in the media.

"You Throw Like a Girl": Sports, (Wo)men & the Gender Order II

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wkt0Q6p33fo

I was extremely taken aback by this commercial, due to the fact that it shows women athletes like they really are. It does not sexualize or use them as a product, which I enjoyed. The gendered messages shown in this commercial are that women are strong athletes, that can almost endure any obstacle, no matter how brutal. Men could be doing the same commercial with the same tasks and it would be considered normal, but the fact that women are doing it makes the audience think it is "out of the ordinary." This commercial also masculinizes the women athletes and shows them as a strong force. I do not believe there are any major consequences of these messages for young people. Maybe that in order to be a successful athlete, one must push themselves to extreme limits. In my opinion I do not see that as a consequence. I watched many commercials before choosing this one. Maybe because Under Armor is not a very feminine company, could contribute to the style of this commercial. Others I looked at were women athletes that used makeup or hair products that helped them perform better. This is where these women stereotypes come in and how people get the idea that women are sexualized in the media and treated differently than men.