Sport Post

For our discussion of gender, sport, nationalism, and the rhetoric of sports. While you watch, think about how Jenner frames her experiences in terms of the language of sports. Can you connect the vocabulary and ideas presented in lecture to Jenner's speech? How does she seek to persuade and connect to her audience? Pay particular attention to the various aspects:

·      Sport as a common language

·      Sport as a diversion and escape

·      Sporting subcultural practices

·      Sport as a business 

·      Teamwork

·      Building character and confidence

·      Fairness (fair play, being a “good sport”)

·      Strategic planning

·      Maneuvering

·      Stratification of sports is decided in economic terms and therefore social status

·      Athletes are commodities

·      Encourages hard work to get ahead and achieve monetarily

·      Encourages conspicuous consumption

·      Is a vehicle to advertise goods and commodities

·      Embodies the rhetoric of winning or losing

·      Creates imagined opponents

·      It creates dramatic conflicts that are resolved, which people can vicariously live through

·      It acts as a cultural resource to connect to other people

·      Vicarious involvement  

     Ritual and pageantry

·      Fans take “sides”

·      Patriotism and nationalism is inflected into the practices of the game

·      Sport teams are (often) segregated in terms of gender

·      Sport is a site of common ground across ethnicities and cultures

·      Sport is a site of gender indoctrination

·      Athletes are often seen as role models

 

ESPY Speech of Caitlyn Jenner:


 http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/espy-awards-caitlyn-jenner-accepts-arthur-ashe-courage-32482615