Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Control Through Homophobic Sexism

Basketball was my sport from middle school until college. I played on three teams year round had season tickets to the WNBA Connecticut Sun and lived for UCONN basketball . I'm a typical product of my hometown Storrs, Ct. Guess you can say I was obsessed. Where I am from basketball is the norm for boys and girls yet I grew up recognizing that I was a tomboy when on the court in my long 'boyish' shorts and slicked back pony tail. Perhaps 'tomboy' is the childhood precursor to Griffin' term, 'mannish lesbian'? In middle school I definitely tried to accommodate for this image by dressing more 'feminine' during school hours. Silly little girl I was. Griffin points out a shift from promoting a feminine image for sports to one that promotes a heterosexual image. I think it is important to recognize that the feminine image is an integral aspect when promoting a 'heterosexual image'. They are closely linked and reflect the interconnected relationship of sexism and homophobia.
Griffin says the mannish lesbian is a stereotype used as a scare tactic against female athletes for going against the sexist and heterosexist status quo. I love her ability to draw out a real world example where homophobia is used as a tool for sexism. Many people often question why women's sports are not supported and valued equally to that of mens. My sports crazed brother would tell you he enjoys women's basketball more than mens because it is often played as a team cohesive sport (yes he is generalizing) where as men's basketball thrives on the athleticism of superstars. This reflects his personal opinion which is no more valid than anyone else's but so few people ever watch women's basketball close enough in the first place to have an opinion. The point is I think there is something to be said about the role of homophobia in recruiting and choosing to be a spectator. It's taboo to watch and enjoy women's sports. The reason being because female athletes are constructed as "mannish", "lesbians" and even "mannish lesbians". This rhetoric is imposed on individuals and is reflected in the language used to talk about athletes resulting in the stereotyping of entire female sports.
For example, where I grew up softball was the sport all girls dropped in high school because it was the 'lesbian' sport. Yet, ballett is a sport that is free from homophobic stereotypes because it produces the feminine body. It seems as if the sport does not matter at all but the body the sport produces is what is trying to be controlled by sexism, heterosexism and homophobia. I think if not already American culture is very close to reproducing the revolution Anne Crittenden writes about where women, "will inherit the essential source of human self-confidence-pride in and control over a finely tuned body" (114). Yet, this version of a revolution reproduces fat shame, classism and does not do enough to address a status quo desire to control and construct the feminine body. Her revolution only shifts the hierarchy it does not dismantle it. I believe in Griffins arguments but I think it is often hard for us to recognize homophobia and sexism and linked. Why is this and is it even possible to address them simultaneously?

1 comment:

  1. I share your same experience with basketball, people often assume my sexulaity just because I tell them that I am a basketball player. What I think would also be interesting about this connection between sports and feminine sexuality is maybe the pressure of a woman to fill as if she has to fufill the stereotypes which are upon her, to simply convince those spectators that she is perhaps good at her sport. I feel like in some cases female athletes may feel a ddesire to act or propose themselves of a more mannish manner so that people can take them seriously. This would suggest how much of an affect society has on female athletes; so much that we absorb the stigmas and stereotypes which devalue who we truly are.

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