Although,
it was a surprise to many, Swoopes didn’t receive the hatred or criticism that
we would see if a male athlete released the same statement. The reason I
believe that a male would be tormented more than Swoopes is because I believe
it all has to do with how society views athletes differently based on gender.
Male athletes are viewed as tough, strong and athletic players who are tough
and fearless. People would look at them thinking they cant be tough if they
were gay. On the other hand, females are seen to be more consistent,
fundamentally sound players who aren’t idolized for their strong physique or
toughness. If a man comes out and says he’s gay, well then it ruins his whole
image of being a “man” in his sport. The reason society thinks that is because
of another stereotype on the way they view gays. Society believes that all gay
men are skinny, weak and girly. Therefore, a male athlete would get tormented
if he were gay because everyone would automatically view him as a stereotypical
gat, even if it were Ray Lewis. That’s just how our naïve and cruel society
works, thinks and acts.
Like
I mentioned above, society views athletes, both male and female as if they
should play a certain way. If you look online you will see a numerous amount of
articles and videos on people criticizing Brittney Griner, for the lone reason
of, “she plays like a dude.” People cancel out her accomplishments and fame by
arguing the fact that she doesn’t play like a typical girl should. In men’s
sports, you get crushed and booed if you don’t play tough and physical. Then
you’re viewed as ‘soft’ or a ‘sissy.’ And if you didn’t play tough or fearless,
a coach would not tolerate it and force you too be tough, as we all saw in all
the leaked footage of Mike Rice physically hitting players. All of these
opinions are coming from people who watch the game and don’t play it. Yes, I
know it seems cruel and naïve, but they are entitled to their own opinion
because without them, sports would not exist.
The only way they
can overcome all the hatred and criticism is to block it out, continue to play
their way and succeed. There is nothing that will drive a hater crazier than
for them to see someone or some team they hate win. For instance, Brittney
Griner blocked out all the bad publicity and played the way she always has.
Although many people hated it, they grew to respect her because she kept her
mouth shut and dominated day in and day out. There will come a time when people
realize their stupidity and look back on how special she really was as a
player. Because last time I checked, in sports the objective is to be great and
you conquer that by your own unique style of play.
Although
it’s not to the extent of racism, there are very many similarities between the
two issues. Back in the day people would automatically think African Americans
couldn’t play sports or do anything for that matter. White’s didn’t know, but
they didn’t give them a chance to prove themselves and they just viewed someone
for what society thought. Today in sports, we do the same thing to a certain
extent. Even though it might be true that it’s less competitive, there is never
women’s sports covered on any sports channels and if it is, it’s a big game
where they have no choice. That’s because we believe women can’t do what men
can do, just like we thought blacks cant do what whites do. But there will come
a day, similar to the day Jackie Robinson had his first major league game,
where a women will stand up and take on a man. Even though she might not win,
she will be a symbolic figure for women by showing her courage on behalf of
women’s sports. Then people look at this thinking; wow maybe women can be tough
too.
On
this day, men’s sports are far superior in the eyes of society and media just
like in the early 1900’s when whites were far superior to blacks. Jackie
Robinson had the courage to break the color barrier and change the lives of
African American’s forever, who’s going to break the gender barrier and make a
change for women?
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