Are You Ready?

When I was eleven years old and I heard the words "Are you ready?" I couldn't help but get excited. I knew one thing and one thing only Degeneration X (a team in the WWE) was going to go to the ring and kick ass. Did I think it was real? No I didn't. Hence the word entertainment. I knew there was no possible way a guy could have a sledge hammer hit him in the face and the next week he be perfectly fine to wrestle again. However, when I was little I thought it was awesome that you could run someone over with a car or sneak attack someone and take there title away from them and not have to worry about getting into any major trouble. As my grandpa would say "It was a soap opera for guys."

First hearing that statement I didn't understand it. But, thinking about it after reading this article it makes sense. Any person I know that watches soap opera's, like All my Children, are women. My mom can't get enough of it. And when you watch WWE it is all about masculinity. Girls dancing almost completely naked, constant violence, and the competition to all ways be the best. It may not intend too, but has away of teaching kids into what a real man should grow to be. I'm not saying we should all be able to bench 300 hundred pounds and run around in tights and try to become the next champion. It just that the WWE puts a stereotype of what a man should be like. Here are some links that show what they think is male humor and how you should treat someone if they mess with you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHhNbxTrBck and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEHUmALGha0&feature=related

Going back to that eleven year old me, I thought it would be a great job to become a wrestler. So much so that me, my brothers, and lots of kids from my school would go to the park or to a friends trampoline or even recess at school and wrestle. There is a part in the article that mentions the six important messages being that real men are aggressive and violent, men settle things physically, a man confronts his adversaries and problems, real men take responsibility for their actions, men are not whiners, and finally they are winners (Soulliere, 2006). Being little I would agree with that this makes you a man. Of course, I didn't know better. Yes, sometimes there is a time where standing up and fighting should be the right thing to do. But, really wouldn't the bigger man be the one who walks away from the fight. Just because someone accidently runs into you doesn't mean you should have to challenge them to a steel cage match.

They Must be Testing for Steroids. Right?

So this class wasn't kidding when it says its about sports and gender. After reading the article "The Gender Trap" I couldn't not believe the recent history of athletes that had questions determining whether they were male or female. If you told me, "Did you hear that such and such got tested?" I would immediately think that they were being tested for steroids. However, the article picks out many moments where women athletes where questioned in the Olympics for well not being women. They were suspected of being men or having male chromosomes. Until I read this article I had no idea that there was so many cases and that the Beijing Olympics even was evaluating athletes.

After looking at the cases, I felt bad for just about every women. The exception was Dora Ratjen because it seems that she was all for cheating and winning the gold for Germany. It's pretty bad that at the time she didn't even want to share a shower. However, it was hard for him to say no if the Nazi's were making him enter as a woman. I'm sure the consequences of him saying no were not pretty. The athlete I felt worse for was Edinanci Silva. She was born with two different organs and decided to be woman. She has surgery and accepts herself as a woman and truthfully if someone wants to see them self as a woman or man then it should be accepted. She was allowed to compete as a woman and to have Natalie Jenkins call her a he was unacceptable. To me that is just a sore loser. She took a test and was proven to be a female, so Natalie really needs to be more mature in that situation.

The problem that I have with the testing is how humiliating it is for the athlete. The tests will not be conducted on every female athlete, but will be required if serious doubts have been raised about an individual competitor (Saner, 2008). When I read this I was not pleased. I don't think they should test every female, but do a random test on every other or something. If I was a female and was tested and knew I wasn't a male it would really hurt my feelings. That's basically saying there is something wrong with me. The testing method should be random or at least tell athletes it was. The media and fans are all going to have comments if they know a female is being tested to see if she may indeed be a male. Thus, the testing results should be kept more secret between the athlete and the Olympics. Making it an open issue isn't necessary that is only humiliating the athletes reputation even more.

Introduction

Hello to all! My name is Nick King and this is my first time ever blogging. I was born and raised in nice and sunny Albuquerque, NM. The green chile there is amazing! That is defiantly the one thing I miss the most, other then friends and family, since I have been in college. I'm currently a Junior at Bowling Green State University. My major is Sports Management and I will be minoring in Journalism. But, after taking some classes I might also want to minor in marketing. I love sports! I have watched football on Sunday's since I was a baby. I have recently gotten into baseball more. It is just kinda hard to keep following because being a cubs fan is not the easiest thing. I wouldn't wish this misery on anyone else's team. Really! A hundred plus years. Someday I would like to broadcast or write about sports. It would be pretty awesome if I could do it for the cubs or my favorite NFL team the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, when it comes to living. I think there is no better place in the world then Nashville, TN. Not only for the green grass, the love I have for country music, but the hockey team there. I have played hockey since I was seven years old. I was a starter all four years in high school. We even one the state championship my Junior year. Thus, if I could work for the Nashville Predators, that would be a dream situation for me.

There are thousands of athletes I enjoy watching. But, if there was only one male athlete that I could see perform; it would have to be Kobe Bryant. I remember watching Jordan a little when I was growing up. And thought how unbelievable some of the things he was able to do. I also think to player in the NBA will ever be able to be as great as Mike. However, I think Kobe is pretty close. I have also been able to follow more of his career then Jordan's. I mean 81 points is just crazy. The last thing I thought he needed to do to be up there with Mike is to win a ring with out Shaq and he was able to do that. And for all those LeBron lovers. In my opinion until he can when some rings, I can consider him one of the greatest of all times. An here are some reasons why Kobe is great http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSKyFg6mKBg&feature=related

The one women athlete I would enjoy seeing is Serena Williams. Simply because of the intensity she brings to tennis. I never really watched tennis. But, you can bet if Serena was playing I would sit down and watch. Her fire to win the game is outstanding. I hate losing and when I see the passion someone else shows when they are down, I really can relate with that.

I'm expecting great things from this class. I have heard nothing but wonderful things about our teacher. The main reason why I'm glad I took this class. I like the arguments we have had in the class thus far and can't wait for more of them. Finally I also look forward to blogging more and letting the rest of you read them. God bless!