On April 29th, 2013 Jason Collins publicly came out as gay in a cover story for Sport Illustrated. This feat marked him as the first male athlete from one of the four major sports leagues in the US to publicly announce a homosexual identity. Jason received wide-spread support not only from the basketball community, but from almost everybody. The only backlash he encountered was critique on Christian lifestyle from a few high profile conservative people.
Why did it take this long for a sports player to come out? Will this inspire others follow in his footsteps?
Men's and women's sports have always been highly homosocial settings. While more same-sex intimacies are accepted in these settings (such as patting each other on the butt, hugging), homosocial settings strive to reinforce homonormative values. These "gay" actions are ok as long as it is assumed that no one actually IS gay. Sports are also highly competitive and "masculine". Players are constantly competing to be the strongest, most "manliest" player. Michael Kimmel, in his artile "Masculinity as Homophobia" would argue that being gay in the sports world is looked down upon because stereotypical gay traits are "feminine" and un-manly. Thus the players constantly police each other to reinforce their own sexuality as well the other players. Michael Messner experienced this policing as a kid and discusses it in his "100% Straight" article. Messner found himself attracted to his friend Timmy on the basketball team, but felt as though he had to prove his masculinity by being physical with Timmy. Like Michael, most male athletes probably feel some level of attraction or bond to the men around them even though they identify as straight. Considering Messner's definition that masculinity is policed as the absence of femininity, If an athlete were to show any signs of these "gay" feelings, they would be less of a man considering Messner's definition that masculinity is policed as the absence of femininity. Thus, these relationships are more of a "bromance"in the New Homosocial setting like that which Romesburg argues in "Holy Fratrimony"
This sexuality policing exists in many other homosocial spaces. One such space is the hip/hop industry. The rap scene is one that pushes away homosexuality and causes men to secure their sexuality by demonizing women. Only last year has the industry begun to show signs of acceptance with artists like Frank Ocean publicly coming out. Do you think it is more difficult to navigate the rap industry as a gay male?
Back to Jason Collins. Jason stated that one of the major reasons he decided to come forward with his sexuality was the emotional toll he faced after the Boston Marathon bombing. If the bombing had not occurred, would Jason have come out? Possibly not and the NBA would remain without a gay leader. Thankfully due to his courage and leadership, future athletes will feel less threatened by these heteronormative policing in homosocial structures.
Ladies, due to sports being a typically "masculine" activity, how do you feel these policing effects differ in female homosocial settings. Additionally, there have been prominent female athletes who have come out as lesbian, yet they have received less media attention. Do you think this is a factor of women's homosexuality being less "important" or is it a intersectional issue in which gay men get more attention because they are gay?
Hey Matt, thanks for this post, it is an important issue and very timely. I think the connection you made to Kimmel’s article on homophobia was important because I really think it gets to the heart of the issue of why there are so few “out” athletes, particularly for male sports. If homophobia truly is the fear of being perceived as gay or feminine, as Kimmel argues and I agree with, then of course gay male athletes will stay in the closet. Our society puts a lot of pressure on men to be hyper-masculine, so if a man comes out then his male privilege and identity in society is going to be threatened. Also, I liked the brief connection to made to the lack of gay identities in hip-hop, and to answer your question, yes, I think it is very difficult to exist in hip-hop as a gay man. Like sports, it is a very hyper-masculine space that places a lot of emphasis heterosexual sex and male dominance so I think Kimmel’s conception about homophobia applies to this industry too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading it Michelle, and thanks for being my first reply :)! I think you did a great job of summarizing and analyzing my article. Thanks for addressing my connection to the hip-hop world as well, I wish more people would have talked about that. I would love to sit down with Kimmel and discuss this with him!
DeleteHi Matt, I really enjoyed reading your post. I have a few issues with the media's portrayal of Jason Collin's coming out. I think the portrayal of gay women in the media is completely different. For example, here is a link to a buzzfeed article that includes the professional female athletes that have been out for decades:http://www.buzzfeed.com/jtes/female-athletes-have-been-out-for-decades! I think Collins has received a lot of attention for being the "first openly gay athlete" in the professional sports world, however, I do not think it is fair to make this claim when so many women have been out for a greater amount of time. I see that society still is less comfortable with gay women out in the media, and it is almost assumed that women partaking in such a highly masculine sports are gay that the media does not focus on this issue as much. However, while I am happy that Collins has set the mold for hopefully other men who can soon feel comfortable coming out in such a masculine sports world, I do not think the media needs to capitalize on this issue any further, as ultimately, why should your sexuality matter. Especially for Collins, a player that was not very successful in his career and was likely not going to get picked up by any teams for the next season, now, if he is not picked up by a team, that team will be labeled homophobic. I think this is a very interesting social issue.
ReplyDeletethanks for the link to that buzzfeed article! I was looking for something like that! Further, I completely agree that the media needs to lay off the issue a little. While the coverage is great to give inspiration to closeted boys and men around the world, too much media attention can have backlash or negative consequences.
DeleteHi Matt, I really liked your post because this is something I don't think most people think about on a daily basis. As we have seen with the boy scouts, In very heteronormative, homophobic settings, it is very difficult for homosexual boys to reveal their sexuality out of fear that they will no longer be viewed as masculine. We discussed in class however, that these same places have in fact been named breeding grounds for homosexuality. Perhaps this is the same thing happening in professional sports. Perhaps not only are they scared they will no longer be viewed as masculine, but their million dollar paychecks are at stake which perhaps deters them further. I am hoping that Jason Collins will inspire others to come out as well. As to your question regarding if women police eachother in the same way, I think we kind of do. I mean girls love to gossip but in a sense it is cool to see other girls succeed in sports. It is interesting however that they are still usually able to retain their female identities outside of sports wheras it is harder for male to retain their masculinity outside of female activities.
ReplyDeleteThanks Shuray! I like the double standard issue you brought up at the end of your reply in which it is harder for men to retain their masculine identities outside of feminine activities.I didnt think about this aspect when I wrote the article. I think this is a problem of gender ranking and that women doing masculine things is "good" for them whereas men doing feminine things is bad.
DeleteHey Matt, Thanks for the post! I agree that it is really interesting to look at the dynamics of sports teams and what is considered acceptable behavior. These groups of men are all spending large quantities of time together and engaging in behavior that many would consider intimate but these behaviors are only acceptable if the individuals are not actually homosexual. Do you think that Jason Collins coming out will change the dynamics of the NBA or the level of acceptance for homosexual athletes? If homophobia is the rejection of anything feminine, do you think he will have to work harder to prove himself as a strong, masculine player?
ReplyDeleteI think that homosexual has already been widely accepted in the NBA, most athletes do not care about sexual orientation and Jason shows how gay men can be just as athletic and competitive. However, i think there will still continue to be an argument against gays in a team setting because it affect team "morale", which was a similar argument used against Dont Ask Dont Tell.
DeleteMatt, I am very glad that you chose to look at men and women in the sports world. This is often gone unnoticed a lot of the time and people do not take in consider that male and female athletes can be homosexual. I found it very interesting that not many people in the sports world have come out publicly being gay or lesbian, but I can see how it would be very difficult to do this particular thing. Being in the public eye and admitting that you have feelings for someone of the same sex, you face many harsh criticisms and people will start to view you differently in the locker room and on the court, field or ice. I find this very saddening because people should be able to show their true colors and express their feelings to someone if they feel these certain things. I hope that more and more people will begin to come out publicly in the sports world so that when these things do start to happen more and more, it will not be made such a big deal.
ReplyDeleteThanks Brea! I do think that this will start a snowball effect in which many professional sports athletes will come out of the closet in the next few years and it will finally be an acceptable thing. However I think that how the team is affected by this act will continue to be a problem for a while longer
DeleteGreat Blog Matt, I'm glad you chose this topic! I can't believe that he is the first male to come out as gay in the sports world, I believe there are some that have retired and then came out, but it is very interesting that it is such a struggle to be gay and also play sports professionally. I saw an interview with Jason and he said the main reason he didn't come out sooner is because he thought it might affect the team, and his teammates. I think although he got a very positive response, and I hope this will encourage other to come out and feel they have a safe environment to do so, I did see one cartoon that I thought had a negative connotation about Jason's coming out : http://gamechangerslive.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/gcl-tebow_collins-cartoon.png I think this is just very unnecessary backlash to the brave act that Jason did. I think it is a great thing that he is getting a lot of positive attention for the media, but maybe in a few years more people will come out and it will not be such a big deal.
ReplyDeleteI have seen that cartoon before! and it does bring up a big topic about how the media handles his coming out. The main argument against this cartoon would be that homosexuals are a repressed group while christians are not - they don't have any less rights in this world and they are not socially forced to keep there religion a secret. Good point though!
DeleteMatt, your post proves a very good point that within social institutions such as the sports industry or the music industry, other players, singers, and celebrities police each other within these homosocial spaces by allowing certain homosexual behaviors to take place as long as they are not behaviors connected to actually being homosexual. I really liked they way you stated this when you said "While more same-sex intimacies are accepted in these settings (such as patting each other on the butt, hugging), homosocial settings strive to reinforce homonormative values. These "gay" actions are ok as long as it is assumed that no one actually IS gay."
ReplyDeleteIn this sense, I feel this is the main reason it is so hard for athletes and celebrities to come out about their homosexuality because if there are actually homosexual, they would be viewed differently and would be isolated from the rest of the group in the sense that it would no longer be appropriate for them to participate in the typically accepted homosexual behaviors because their peers won't view their behaviors as innocent and harmless anymore, but instead, will associate their homosexual behaviors with being sexually interested or attracted to them.
Beyond the isolation, these homsexual declared athletes and celebrities will lose their image or have their image compromised in the eyes of others. For male athletes, in particular, their image as hyper masculine, strong, tough, athletic men will be lessened and they will now be viewed as more feminine in comparison to their straight fellow athletes.
I think females suffer from this same compromise in image if they come out about their homosexuality, but it happens in a different way. Women are already viewed as feminine so instead of being viewed as more feminine, they are viewed as more sexually driven and sexually active due to their "abnormal" sexual attraction to females. For example, within social institutions with homosocial spaces for females such as women's sports teams and sororities, women who are homosexual are viewed as overly sexual and thought to be sexually attracted to all the girls within the homosocial space simply because they are attracted to girls. In this way, a woman can face isolation by the other women distancing themselves from the homosexually declared female in efforts to avoid perceived sexual advances.
Hey Brenda! Thanks for the reply! I'm glad you liked my comment on the same-sex actions within a sports team! I was hoping someone would talk about that! I completely agree that the "team bonding" experience would fall apart if someone came out as gay and those actions were no longer innocent. It something I had to experience on many sports teams.
DeleteHey Matt. I really liked your article. I am a huge hockey fanatic and I wonder if its partially to do with the masculinity behind the sport (In fact it is probably a huge reason I watch hockey. I often joke that I am going to marry a hockey player). However, I do support gay marriage an acceptance of any sexuality, so why should it matter so much that sports are a manly thing? I strongly applaud Jason Collins for coming out and showing the world that you can be gay and still be good at sports. The NHL also recently came out with a program called "you can play". This program supports gay atheletes and makes NHL more inclusive. I am very pleased at the achievements that the nhl and Jason Collins are making.
ReplyDeleteThere is definitely gender policing among the female community. A lot of gender policing happens in elementary school. We are taught by the media and our peers to act a certain way. When I was little I loved sports and wanted nothing to do with the color pink and dresses. When I went to middle school, I started wearing dresses and watching romantic comedies. I think I changed from being a tomboy to being a "girly girl" because I was ready to grow up. But maybe, there were some social pressures to give up sports and start cheerleading instead.
If I had stayed a tomboy I know that I would have been made fun of by my peers. For instance, people often joke that playing softball is a lesbian sport. Even though I played softball all throughout high school and was never made fun of, that was still a social norm that was at the back of my mind. I hated this stereotype! Now I wonder why this stereotype has been perpetuated. Maybe it all has to do with masculinity again. Maybe, softball is considered a masculine sport so those who play it must be lesbians right? Ugh it frustrates me so much that sports have to be a mans realm. What's wrong if girls like sports too?
In response to your last question, I do think that people still think that masculinity is power. This is why a gay man might be applauded in the media where as a female lesbian would not.
Thank you for the detailed reply! I really enjoyed the personal insight you gave. Especially when you talked about the point when you went from tom boy to a cheerleader. I agree that is it very frustrating that sports have to be so masculine. I wish more people would watch female sports. They can be just as competitive, however when women act competitive and masculine they are seen as a joke in a lot of cases.
DeleteMatt,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post because I have heard about this topic but really did not know much about it. I think this post relates perfectly to the double standard that exists between men and women. While it is a great step for a professional male athlete to announce publicly that he is gay, it would not have been newsworthy had Collins been a woman. There have been and are many lesbian professional athletes, and it has been acceptable for some time. I believe that because sports are so competitive and masculine that when women participate in them it is natural for them to become masculine in a sense that they end up liking women. Men on the other hand feel pressured to carry on the hetero stereotype that has been created for them and therefore have a harder time being openly gay while trying to compete at the top level.
I really liked your comment that lesbians are more accepted in sports because they adhere to more masculine standards like competitiveness and liking women. I never thought about that when I wrote this! good point! I also believe there is more focus on men because of the hierarchal gendered unbalance.
Delete