“All gymnasts are tall and skinny, they only care about winning, and they are all perfectionists”, is what I hear when people talk about gymnastics. When I tell people I’m a gymnast they always say “You’re too short to be a gymnast” or “How can you get yourself to flip when you are so close to the ground?” Also they always just assume I am very competitive or all I care about is winning. They also assume that I am a perfectionist. These are common stereotypes I hear the most about gymnastics.
The first stereotype that I hear is that all gymnasts are tall and skinny. A lot of the Olympic gymnasts are short. Shawn Johnson was an Olympic gymnasts and won gold in the 2008 Olympics. She is only four feet and nine inches. Also Gabby Douglas was
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When you are performing and competing as a gymnasts winning isn’t everything. For instance, when I would perform or compete on uneven bars if I was just happy with finishing my routine and not falling off the bars. Bars was my worst area in gymnastics. Almost every gymnasts has this area they dread but have to do. In this area if you didn’t win it didn’t matter as long as you did your best. Also just advancing in your skills is what matters to a gymnasts not winning. Another thing people say is all gymnasts are perfectionists. This is also a false statement. When being a gymnast you can’t be a perfectionist because if you are then every skill that you do won’t ever be good enough. Even the best of the best don’t do every skill perfectly. Gymnasts do spend a lot of time on one skill but that doesn’t mean that they are perfectionists. Many different components go into just one skill. For instance, doing a backflip in gymnastics you have to jump at the right time you have to tuck your legs in at the right time and point your toes. In many of the skills it is timing and it is very rare you go out there and do a performance completely perfect. To be a gymnast you can’t be a perfectionist because doing your best has to be good enough, otherwise you will constantly be down on yourself. For me when learning a new skill just landing on my feet makes me feel good. Then after I land it I worry
The human race is comprised of a plethora of shapes, sizes, colors, and figures. Some of these images are regarded as ‘distorted’ in dominant culture, but these distortions are what makes every person unique and should be celebrated. Stereotypes, whether positive or negative, take these ‘distortions’ and assign behavioral attributes to them. This assumes that all persons who meet a certain set of physical requirements behave in a similar way. Due to the diversity of the human race, this outcome is highly improbable. Despite this, stereotypes are often used to describe a group of people, usually amplifying a negative trait that may not b...
“Gymnastics taught me everything- life lessons, responsibility and discipline and respect.” -Shawn Johnson (Former Olympic gymnast). In my interview with Franchesca Hutton-Lau I found this quote to prove very true to her. Franchesca Hutton-Lau, often called Frankee by her friends and teammates, has been a gymnast ever since she was five years old. In my interview with her, she enlightened me on her struggles, experiences, lessons, and successes which she’s taken from this treacherous sport. Chesca, as I call her, has a very different life from the average high school student.
Certainly, there are some stereotypes that may be true, but do not apply to all persons. In my case, the stereotypes I experienced about my ethnicity and my gender, they do not show the truth about me, and they do not affect me, but I learned that I should not label someone without knowing them or even without proofs. Anyway, stereotypes are endless, and have become commonplace in our
“Success isn’t given. It is earned. On the track, on the field, in the gym. With blood, sweat, and the occasional tear”. Track and Field is one of the oldest sports invented. Track involved athletes competing in numerous events against one another to see who’s the best. With track and field comes misconceptions of the sport, which leads to people making stereotypes for the track athletes. A stereotype is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. A misconception is a view or opinion that is incorrect because it is based on faulty thinking or understanding. Many people have misconceptions of track and field, because many don’t see it as a sport, or believe it is just running. Once someone brings up
Stereotyping can happen in numerous ways; one very cruel way of stereotyping would be stereotyping a person for being overweight. People often stereotype others because of beliefs they have learned from their parents or on their own.
not be true at all. Although stereotypes can be funny it does not mean they are all true,
From my experience I conclude that these stereotypes or misconceptions have harmed many athletes.These stereotypes did not show up from one day to another, people for decades have been starting up new stereotypes. I, myself have bumped heads with others because calling people names is a negative thing. I am sure others would not like if strangers came up to them and said something negative it would bring them down. Male cheerleaders are so positive and optimistic. My understanding is clear depending how a person is grown determined their point of view. If they grow up as in blue is for boys and pink is for girls, most likely they are not going to be as opened for certain things, such as boys cooking, or males as cheerleaders, or girls working. I have a cousin who is part of a cheer team in Ceres, Ca. The experience knowing someone who is part of this group is nice, but so many people are really judgmental. People call him gay and other rude things just because he does what he loves to do which is cheering for his team. In my experience this puts me so mad because it should not be like that people should not judge another for what they love to do or how they dress. Everyone should just mind their own business and not hurt others with they're rude words. Others say he is not manly enough or smart enough just because as in their point of view male cheerleaders
As a society we have the ability to change the ways in which our elite gymnasts are learning gymnastics. We need to redirect the teachings of the coaches and the parent involvement in order to achieve a atmosphere in which gymnasts can explore, learn and gain gymnastic abilities in which they feel they can handle. “ Over the last 20 years there have been many publications on coaching as it relates to sport psychology or sport pedeology. No theoretical framework, however, exsits for explaining which factors are most important in the coaching process and which relationships among these factors are most significant.” (Cote pg.1) I propose that we create an environment with a stress on healthy dieting, good exercise and less strenuous workouts. Not an environment where winning is the prime concern. There are man...
In Amy Moritz’s article, “Cheerleading: Not Just for Sidelines Anymore,” also explains this by saying, “For decades, female athletes were relegated to the sidelines - physically and metaphorically speaking. The cheerleader, the girl who looked pretty and cheered for the boys, became a symbol for many women's sports activists and second-wave feminists of the place athletically inclined females occupied in the sport world” (660). This quote from Moritz proves that the students and administration in my high school didn’t come up with these stereotypes by themselves and it also explains how cheerleaders are stereotyped as girls who only cheer for the skirt and for attention from males. This quote ties into my thesis because these examples are how the students and administration in my high school think of us. The Lake High School Cheerleading team is breaking this stereotype by cheering competitively. In this competitive routine, we have to tumble, dance, cheer, jump and sometimes stunt to music for two minutes and 30 seconds straight without stopping. To be able to do this, we condition daily, go to private tumbling classes to improve our tumbling skills individually and as a squad, and we also practice many times during the week to perfect the routine. It takes great athletic ability to be able to perform a
There are so many risks cheerleaders take that can be worse injuries in some cases then football players. Which leads me to one of the worst stereotypes. Cheerleading is not just a female sport. Guys usually choose football or basketball over cheer but that doesn't mean a guy can't cheer. The main stereotype is if you're a guy cheerleader you're gay or you can’t cheer if you're a boy. It’s true that majority of cheer teams are girls, however that does not mean boys cannot join. It’s actually a big help if a boy is cheering because stunts will be stronger. Finally, the weirdest of them all. In most movies the head cheerleader is the most popular and is a snob but in real life it's not a fact that if you cheer you a snob. It's true some girls can be snobs at times but it's not just in the cheer
According to the Author Shankar vedantam Article How a self fulfilling stereotype can drag down performance.” Stereotypes is a highly simplified,general and exaggerated type of representation they are also can be negative”. “Stereotype could be positive or negative anytime your grouping race or individuals together and make a judgment about them without knowing them, this is an example of a stereotype.” “Stereotyping is the defined of over simplified attitude people hold toward those outside one's own experience who are different”. I made a google form to find out what people think more than 80 percent of kids taking my survey are 15 year old the other 20 percent was a 14 year old. Mostly 60 percent are female the other 40 percent are males.
Seth: that guy who was a cheerleader at Palmyra High School. Seth is this amazing, caring guy who is a flawless cheerleader but is intelligent, shows courage, and is a great leader. Seth has accomplished so many things in his life involving cheerleading. It seems like he knows every single detail when it comes to cheer leading, he is never scared to do anything, no matter how risky it may be, not to mention, he really is a fantastic leader. “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” -John C. Maxwell
According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, stereotype is defined as, “something conforming to a fixed or general pattern; especially: a standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group and that represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment.” With any community stereotypes is sure to follow. Undoubtedly, snowboarding is no different, the stereotypes that snowboarders are recognized by are, we are all rich, we are all stoners, and we are all reckless skiing down the mountain. As far as stereotypes are received, there is some truth but not the whole truth.
Stereotypes are a big problem in our society. It puts labels about how a person should act or live according to their sex, race, personality, and other facts. This could affect individuals who perhaps like different things or do different activities, but feel ashamed of doing so because of stereotypes. Stereotypes like all men like sports or women are not as
It is often mistaken that in order to be successful, one must be a perfectionist. However, these people fail to realize success can be achieved despite their compulsive striving for high standards. Frankly, there exists evidence that proves given similar levels of talent, skill and intellect, perfectionists perform less successfully than their non-perfectionists counterparts. Perfectionists have this notion that mistakes should not be made and mistakes made will result in them as a failure or a dreadful person for letting other people down. This method of thinking forces the fear of failure on perfectionists thus causing a lot of stress for them and disappointment as they are not able to meet their...