Final reflections

My perceptions of US sport before this class was that sports overtake our society and are very prevalent in our lives. I have gained a new perspective on things such as women in sports and the sexualization of women in sport, which I find fascinating. I enjoyed the movie we watched that addressed this, and it stuck out the most to me this semester. I look at sports more critically than I did before, which I think is important. I will definitely will use the information I learned in this class after I leave. Sports are important and we must look at them through a lens.

Sports Page #14

The movie Training Rules establishes the prejudices shown through women's college basketball in the NCAAs. In the documentary, Jen Harris is kicked off the team at Penn State due to her coach, Rene Portland, not allowing lesbians on the team. This caused complete chaos in the sport of women's basketball and had many other women step out to say that they were discriminated as well. This brought to light that sport is not a safe space of LGBT athletes, because many athletes began to speak out about how they had the same thing happen to them. Even though most teams are okay with it, it is the stigma that comes along with it that make it a not safe space. Recently in the media, more players on men's teams have been coming out about their sexuality and the media has made such a large production about it. I think it would be difficult to create a more inclusive culture in American sport. It first has to start with society and the branch off into sports. Due to the fact that many more states are voting yes for gay rights, this affects the American sport. If LGBT feel accepted in society, then this will carry over into other aspects of their lives.