Culture can be distinctively defined based on gender and race within different groups
Those differences are socially meaningful expression that is audible, visible, or tangible or that can be articulated. Our use of body is shaped by culture. The sport's industry shows a particular influence on our body according to gender and race. In the twentieth century, the changes within the body's socialization determine a matter of education, which is mostly taught through advertisements. Therefore, the more materials we have, the more we are able to educate. Our society has involved the body structure and its socialization as well. It is known that advertisements teach us
how our body has an important impact on our self and develops all the stereotypes based on the kind of body we have.
How does Blacks and Whites are visualized in the sports industry?
Blacks are visualized as more aggressive, strong and athletic, compared to the Whites who are seen as more delicate and soft in the sport's industry. I also have to specify that there are a lot of pressure on any gender or races within our society. But this idea sometimes becomes controversial. In contrast, the image' of females changed within the sports' industry in which the females are seen as strong and shaped.
The idea of Goffman on gender advertisement, its attribution and other traits
He believes that models in advertisements are taught to pose in order to attract people by not being alarmed of what they see. Advertisements use our cognitive response in which we are most of the times not aware of what we really see. Goffman makes his point very clear by saying that "we are consuming society, but we do not simply consume products, we also consume signs" (Goldman, 1995, p. 126). We are living in a visual age in which we are bombarded with pictures from morning until night. For instance, we open our newspapers at breakfast, we see photographs of men and women in the news, and raising our eyes from the paper, we encounter the picture on the cereal package. Leaving our house, we pass billboards along the road that try to catch our eye and play on our desire to smoke, drink or eat. This demonstrates clearly how much we use our sight in our society. Hence, advertisements use our cognitive responses through our visual sense.
The image of Women has changed in the sports industry
Studies ascertain the presence of sexual differences as well as advertising messages in the magazines. The male body is considered very "rugged individualism" (Hardin et al, 2004, p. 342).The women' body tend to be kept inside the box, however, in the sport industry, women are seen as very strong and shaped. There is an hegemonic power and advertising serves a primary role in its maintenance. This gender difference is being avoided in the sport industry but the hegemonic power is still present between races such as Blacks and Whites.
Society as a Mirror
There is an important message sent to young adults especially Black ones, through the sport's industry advertisements because a lot of Black famous people participate in this industry 'ads. Furthermore, "sneaker's companies routinely use celebrity Black athletes, like Michael Jordan to held a position and market their premium brands (Wilson and Sparks, 1996, p.400)". This means that the more people can relate to the advertisement the more they will consume. There is an impact on the Black youth which pushes them to only become athlete; in a sense it is positive, but in another sense it is not because they make them have very limited career prospects of collegiate and professional sport.
Men are as pressured in the industry of Sports
Men are as pressured in the industry of Sports
There are a lot of expectations for men in sports even if they face pressures to meet an unrealistic ideal body and may engage in unhealthy strategies to increase body size and muscularity. Body images are very important for male athletes since they need to maintain their masculinity. During sports seasons, they have to participate in face to face interviews, and they have to perform advertisements for their sponsors which demand many physical and psychological efforts.
Good article!
ReplyDeleteI love the fact that you stressed the negative impact that the overexposure of Black celebrity athletes in sports advertisement can have, especially in the market of high-priced sneakers.
I will say however that I felt that the article was a bit short. I would have loved to read examples of how Blacks are portrayed as "more agressive, strong and athletic compared to Whites who are seen as more delicate. This has never been so more true than whith respect to the quaterback position in the National Football League. Samuel G. Freedman explained it perfectly in the following lines, it would have been insighful to report his sayings in your article.
"First, quarterback is surely the most cerebral position in sports. So, for a mid-century America still largely convinced of black intellectual inferiority, no black athlete could possibly play the position. Second, the quarterback is, to use the cliché, the “field general,” leading troops and giving orders. In an America that saw the role of blacks as following commands, and certainly never delivering them to whites, no black player could possibly lead a team. Finally, to be a quarterback is to possess those ineffable traits of character—work ethic, poise under pressure, resilience after even a devastating mistake. But black quarterbacks were invariably described as “natural athletes.” While that term may sound like a compliment, it evokes the venerable racist iconography of blacks as animals: monkeys, apes, jungle predators, all of them operating on mindless reflex alone"
Maybe focusing on Black/White and Male/Female in distinct articles would have allowed you to cover both topics with more depth.
All in all, I've enjoyed reading your article and I will share. Keep up the good work!
Thank you very much Jeremie! I actually made a deep research with the examples of how Blacks and Whites are portrayed in the industry of sports. However, I believe that it would have been better to make a short article in order to attract more readers. I could make another one which will talk about the examples of how the chosen races are portrayed in the sports industry. Again Thank you! Happy that you've enjoyed it
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