Blog #3: Soccer in Gender and Pop Culture

Blog #3: Soccer in Gender and Pop Culture

I have always been a big fan of professional soccer, as a kid I remember waking up on the weekends at 4 or 5 in the morning to watch my favorite teams play on TV. Looking back at it, I now realize what impact that soccer had on me as a kid. Looking at these world class athletes compete I noticed some attitudes that I thought were necessary to be a man. The competitive nature and aggression that players had on the field was the thing that stood out to me the most. I thought that it was necessary to always be competitive and to always try being the best at anything. Holding such a high standard is not necessarily a bad thing but as a kid I thought it was manly if I was competitive and aggressive. As I grew older my competitive attitude went down and I realized that I don't always need to be the best in order to be manly.

Another message that I got from following and admiring these professional athletes was the idea of having a lot of money and having a nice body was the best way to attract women and be happy. I noticed that these athletes had supermodels as girlfriends and that they always had exotic cars or lived in mansions. Seeing the lifestyles of these athletes made me want to have the same thing. It made me think that in order for me to be happy I had to work hard to get a lot of material things. Even though i'm still a big fan of soccer i'm more aware of the underlying messages that sports try to convey. It's interesting to look back on your childhood and notice the impact that things have had on you.
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Comments

  1. UnknownDecember 3, 2018 at 2:38 PM

    I think it's very interesting how important soccer played a role in your upbringing. I really appreciated the parallel you made with how soccer affects your gender expression. I think its a super important parallel that needs to be addressed.

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  2. AnonymousDecember 3, 2018 at 2:49 PM

    As a child I used to think I would not be happy in life unless I became a professional athlete. It is safe to say this came from seeing all the pictures of the kushy lifestyle these athletes live. Then as I grew older I started to understand that happiness comes from within and is something that money can not buy. Great post I very much related to this.

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