Hegemonic Masculinity On The Bound Summary

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In his article “Hegemonic Masculinity on the Mound: Media Representations of Nolan Ryan and American Sports Culture,” Nick Trujillo, associate professor of communication studies in California state university, examines various print and television representations of Nolan Ryan to show how male athletes are replicated in American culture and society. Trujillo also presents five features of hegemonic masculinity namely: physical force and control, occupational achievement, familial patriarchy, frontiersmanship and heterosexuality; thus exploring how mediated sport have reinforced these features.
Hegemonic masculinity can be defined as the “culturally idealized dorm of masculine character” (Trujillo, 290) where the society defines what it means to be a man, subordinates women and marginalizes gay men. This article focuses on Nolan Ryan and how the media has presented him to the public.
Trujillo’s article makes valid points about mediated sports and masculinity. He analyzes Nolan Ryan based on the five features of hegemonic masculinity. He doesn’t make assumptions about Nolan Ryan as he examines over 250 articles from popular newspapers and magazines, over 100 news reports and 30 advertisements …show more content…

He was described as a “power pitcher” and this in turn confirmed the power of the male body. I am of two minds about Trujillo’s claim that “force and competence” have defined men as power holders and women as subordinates. On the one hand, I agree that men have been defined as power holders and this is because nature has provided men an advantage (physical and other areas) over women.On the other hand, I’m not sure exactly if recent events in the world can justify this claim as male dominance has been questioned successfully by feminists. Also, with the existence of education and jobs for women, it is safe to say that male domination has lost its grip on the

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