With Australia’s marvelous beaches, well known culture with swimming and gold medals won through the Olympics; it is expected to have a high participation rate within swimming events. However within the last three year participation rate within the swimming carnival decreased by ten percent within Wavell SHS, it seems to question where swimming actually lies in the future. But let’s focus more on the root cause of this, Figueroa’s framework focuses on five levels of equity and personal participation towards a sport, in particular swimming. To view such an issue on a well-known topic we look at the constant misconceptions with teenagers and their body image and low self-esteem within modern day society and the influence of society, culture and media on teenagers. And though it is a universal issue, not only faced in sports but life in general, we take a look into where most teenagers, such as myself, start to progress in the early stages of low self esteem thus creating the issue of participation in sports and swimming carnivals.
High School, a place where most talents are revealed and where opportunities are offered/ taken, a place that determines young Australians views towards sports, and the on-going process of producing young Australian athletes. However with the young teenager’s misconception of what an athlete “looks” like they start to compare their self image to that of what the media portrays, which is your typical skinny, lean and handsome/pretty model. This causes a low level of self confidence within an individual as this is focused on the individual level. The cultural level of Figueroa’s framework plays a big part in upbringing of an individual into society. With Wavell’s culture typical stereotypes that continue to...
... middle of paper ...
...eve that this method would work because, like the Netball and Rugby League excellence programs, it would create a culture and personal group history within the school, and with a little bit of work society as well.
In conclusion, the decrease in participation towards swimming runs deep within Wavell State High and society due to the different upbringing of most cultures within the school, and with the low self confidence of most students and their self image, it only adds on to the increase of the decrease in participation rates. However if, as stated, a culture was created within the school and society through the establishment of an excellence program for swimming and the addition of a small portion of fixer uppers there would be, in my belief, an increase in participation rate for swimming in between different cultures and both HPE classes and Swimming Carnival.
With 600,000 people across Australia who have participated in aerobics at one point in time, it can be manifested that aerobics is one of the most marginalized sports within the country (Ausport, 2000). With such a marginalized sport, there are many stereotypes that are associated with just the word aerobics. This is explored through the survey that was conducted and was answered by the students at StAC. Many of the stereotypes that are believed in society are that aerobics is a sport dominated by females and that it more of a dance class. This report will evaluate the possible influences that have shaped students’ perceptions using Figueroa’s Framework and Maslow’s hierarchy. Aerobics is a form of physical exercise that combines rhythmic aerobic exercise with stretching and strength training routines with the goal of improving all elements of fitness (flexibility, muscular strength, and cardio-vascular fitness) (Balbach, 2013). It is usually performed to music and may be practiced in a group setting led by an instructor. It can clearly be seen that with music and a fitness instructor leading the class that many people may have these common stereotypes fulfilled. Figueroa’s framework explains the concepts of equity, access and equality through the 5 levels constructed by Professor Figueroa (Crossley, 2013). Another significant piece of evidence held in this report is Maslow’s hierarchy and is the theory involving the psychology of human development (Macleod, 2007).
The ideal images of female athletes presented in the films for this class have had a strong connection to the images of ideal women in society in general. Like the ideal image of women, there are many variations of the ideal image of female athletes. While Dare to Compete tracked the evolution of the role of the real female athletes, the feature films we watched presented varying views of the ideal female athlete, which has been different in different times and places.
Within a community is a sense of unity, which for many is brought together by the young athletes of the community. In his article “High School Sports Have Turned Into Big Business,” Mark Koba of CNBC highlights that within the last thirty to forty years high school football has escalated into a highly revered tradition in which not only communities, but highly successful corporations have begun to dedicate millions of dollars towards (Koba n. pg.). This highlights the status of sports within the community and may explain part of the reason schools would favor sports over other programs. Because sports programs can often turn over big profits for schools, they tend to dedicate most of their excess funds towards sports, and rely on sports programs to create large profits for the school. When school administrators see how much sports unite, excite, and benefit the school, they develop a respect for sports and consider it a necessity to provide a good sports program for their students and community. Also in his article, Koba quotes an interviewee named Mark Conrad who is the associate professor of legal and ethical studies at Fordham University 's school of...
Athletics in American schools have always been controversial for many reasons. Some of these reasons include health concerns, safety precautions, and academic significance. Daniel H. Bowen and Colin Hitt wrote an article titled, “High-School Sports Aren’t Killing Academics” to present the factors of positive correlation between success in athletics and academics. I believe that athletics in high schools not only benefit students socially, but also academically.
Gatz, Margaret, Michael A. Messner, and Sandra Rokeach. Paradoxes of youth and sport. Albany: State University of New York, 2002.. 12-13.
High school sports are approached with clashing opinions. Some of these opinions are positive, and supportive of athletics. “Athleticism, among many activities, offers teens a physical outlet to exert their troubles, anger, emotions, and other feelings” (Chen 1). This can be observed in nearly all of the football players in Friday Night Lights. This can also be noticed in the world today. “Athletics help high school students understand their own abilities and talents” (Chen 1). This piece of evidence is very accurate when describing high school athletes. Sports can make a high school student humble. As can be seen by the preceding information, high school athletics can have a positive impact on a student’s life.
The greatest influence on my life has been my family. Thirty-eight family members over four generations have graduated from Cal, fourteen as athletes, with two in Cal’s Hall of Fame. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life when I was little, and that desire never changed. My athletic identity started to form at a very young age due to my family’s strong influence and their athletic connections. According to Mead, young children form their initial self-image based on engagement with their significant others. I grew up with athletic parents and grandparents, two older brothers and all guy cousins. With a very close-knit family, living only 5 to 10 minutes away from each other door to door, all I did when I was young was go to sporting events. From these individuals, “we learn the basic knowledge of our society, and we internalize this knowledge as a coherent set of expectations, feelings and attitudes” (O’brien,...
“I’ve often wondered what it would be like if we taught young people swimming the same way we teach sexuality. If we told them that swimming was an important adult activity one they will all have to be skilled at when they grow up, but we never talked with them about it. We never showed them the pool . . . but when they asked a question about how swimming felt or what it was about, they would be greeted with blank or embarrassed looks . . . Miraculously, some might learn to tread water, but many would drown” (11).
Over the years the perception of women in sport has changed considerably. In this course we have viewed several films all dealing with the depiction of female athletes in an attempt to gauge society's current perception of women in sport. I will briefly summarize each film and the main themes of the films before providing a description of the female athlete which I will infer from commonalities between the films.
There are many repercussions that are projected upon both men and women when they enter into a sport that typically isn’t thought of as gender appropriate. Some of those cultural and social stigmatisms may be abandonment by your peers, and friends questions regarding your sexuality, and even in some cases criticism as to how you are living your life. In some cases, it may lead to you not being accepted by either group, theone whose norems you are not following, of as well as the one with whom you are trying to get involved. This paper will address all of these issues and how these seemingly negative situations can, will, and are, leading to growth. It will also discuss how this is a situation where repercussions are not just in the sports arena, but is prevalent in everyday life, in areas far beyond that of sport.
In some ways, women today face more pressure to be perfect than ever before in history. The feminine ideal of the past has been replaced by a new face — stronger and more independent, but under no less pressure to conform to society's expectations than her predecessors. Today's woman must be all that she was in the past, and more. In addition to being beautiful, feminine, and demure, she must also be physically fit and academically and socially successful. It is no longer appropriate for a woman to depend on anyone, for that would imply subordinance and inferiority. Instead, woman must fill all of these roles on her own. Although achieving independence is an important step for women, it brings added pressure. This is especially visible in films about women in sport. These women experience these pressures at an intense level. They are expected to be phenomenal athletes, and are not held to a lower standard than men. However, they must also be beautiful — if they are not, they face the possibility of discrimination. Added to this is the pressure that they are representative of the entire gender. Films about women in sports show the intense pressure on female athletes to fulfill all aspects of the ideal woman.
One of the theories behind this gender inequality in athletics is due to the strict traditionalism of society. “Society does not like to see women in roles that go against the norm of what a woman ‘should be” (Rodriguez). A woman is expected to carry on traditional feministic traits that include being sexy, delicate, passive, graceful and essentially powerless. “Nowhere does the word ‘athletic’ appear on that list” (Rodriguez). These female athletes are not just exceeding in a sport that they play, they are tearing down the barriers that have always left women on the outside of the world of professional sports. The idea of a strong, athletic woman gives many people an uncomfortable feeling because it is not seen as an attractive trait or loyal to traditional characteristics. This unaccepted view of athletic women has led to unjust stereotyping. If they participate in a sport that is not perceived as feminine, women are often stereotyped as being lesbian. Women who do not fit the cultural definitions of femininity run the risk of being labeled a homosexual. Societal expectations are restrictive and seem to refuse to view the athletic talents of women as acceptable behavior.
Dealing with the issue of sport and ethnology, three major factors come to mind; prejudice, racism, and discrimination. These factors span across gender, ethnic, racial, religious, and cultural groups. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss how these factors have played a part in the evolution of sport in our society. The first issue tackled in this paper will be racism in sports, followed by prejudice and discrimination.
Sports programs have been an integral part of all schools. They support the academics of the school and therefore foster success in life. These programs are educational and help produce productive citizenship. They help students experience and build skills that may help them in their future, like interpersonal and time management skills. Education may kindle the light of knowledge, but sports help to maintain the proper physique. Sports are also an important means of entertainment and a use for energy after long hours of study. Sports increase a student’s performance not only in the classroom but also in their life.
Many theorists have long reported that paying attention to school culture is the most important action that a leader can perform. Impact of learning is mediated through climate and culture of the school and is not a direct effect (Hallinger and Heck 1998).