Enlight 21

Masculinity Expected in Sports

Author: Nicole Lee | Category: Human Rights | Date: 08-01-2021

Theroux’s sense of sports is very similar to what I think is the stereotypical male sport. The first thing that I agree with him on is that it’s very hard for one to be a gentleman, but also at the same time be an athlete. I believe that this is because in masculine sports, people are expected to be competitive and rowdy, like other teenage boys. The coaches want them to fight to be the winner, which is the opposite of what a gentleman would supposedly be like. People expect those that play sports to be really competitive and athletic, and they look down on people that can’t really play sports, which is something that many think are expected of boys. Another thing that I agree with Theroux on is that high school basketball teaches most people how to be a poor loser, and that the manly attitude that is expected of men playing sports is toxic. The only thing that I don’t really agree with Theroux on is they seem to be “a little more than a recipe for creating bad marriages, social misfits, moral degenerates, sadists, latent rapists, and just plain louts” (Theroux, 167). I think that high school sports only starts the chain of toxic masculinity, but most of the work is done by others’ pressure that is put on men after they go on with life after high school.