Et tu, Joakim?

Professional Sports are part of the Problem

         One of the most common male-bonding rituals is the viewing and discussion of professional sports. Sports are a part of many young boys’ lives from an early age. As they grow older, they are expected to participate in team sports as a rite of passage. Not surprisingly, many of these boys grow to idolize their professional counterparts. The National Basketball Association, the fasting growing American sports league in terms of popularity, plays a major impact on what’s ‘cool’ for young men. There are countless recognizable players whose skill on the basketball court has led them to become popular culture icons. Unfortunately, homophobia and misogyny are still prevalent themes in the league as its influence continues to grow. In the past few years alone, marquee players including Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and Joakim Noah have all been caught on camera using slurs that were either homophobic or misogynistic in nature. It is unsurprising that in a culture that is founded on the putting-down of others continues to perpetuate at the highest level. But, the problem here is that these players are seen as role models. When the ‘cool’ guys are doing it, the youth can be expected to follow.

Keys to being a man: 1) Don't be a gay 2) Don't be a woman

So, in addition to the inherent homophobia present in heteronormative assumptions, there is an equal amount of misogyny.

Another common aspect of a young man’s life is the strict understanding that it is not okay to behave like a girl. Even from a young age, boys are encouraged to not “throw like a girl” or “cry like a girl.” These are present in all male-bonding rituals, where a major part of camaraderie is feeling part of the “boys club.” Interestingly, it is often times socially accepted for a young girl to behave like a boy (“tomboy”) but a young boy acting like a girl will be chastised (“sissy”.) As boys get older, the words may change but the theme of the discourse does not. In addition to “faggot”, other words that are meant to cut deeply include “pussy” and “bitch”, which both seek to degrade by the comparison to women. 

'Fag Discourse'

Amongst many young men, ‘fag discourse’ is a prevalent topic of conversation. This term refers to the tendency to attack one’s masculinity by calling his heterosexuality into question. Words like ‘faggot’, ‘fag’, ‘queer’ and ‘homo’ are used derisively. Even in more innocuous situations. These words are used interchangeably in place of words like ‘lame’ or ‘loser’. This reinforces the notion to young men that being gay is ‘uncool’ and ‘undesirable.’ Men’s heterosexuality is aggressively interrogated throughout their young lives. Those young men that are not conquering women and proving their sexual interest in the other gender are considered weak.  

Let's talk about the problem...

Heteronormativity is a term for a set of lifestyle norms that hold that all people fall into distinct and complementary genders (male and female). Those who do not fit into that norm receive sanctions from society, whether overt or subtle, that seeks to punish and normalize those perceived as “others”. For many of these perceived “others” that do not fall neatly into the one of the two subsets, these sanctions can be very emotionally distressing and even in other cases, life-altering. Put plainly, heteronormativity is the assumption that all people are straight. In heteronormative assumptions, people of less common sexual orientation (lesbian, bisexual, gay, etc.) are non-existent. This is a type of symbolic annihilation. Heteronormative assumptions can negatively influence the lives of both men and women, but in this paper we will be exploring the impact on young men in particular.