Schultz

="What Would Johnson Say?" (Feb 14, 2010)=
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For my entry, I will be discussing how sports (specifically basketball) could be talked about when it comes to patriarchy. The reading I am going to use is from Allen Johnson, “Where Are We?”. We look at the world and see every day things happening: “men” going out and working for their families. When our grandparents were kids, that’s how it use to be, but now you see more women being the “top dog” of the family and making the money to support their family. In basketball, there is also patriarchy; specifically when it comes to male dominance and male centeredness. Basketball is dominated by men. When you turn on your TV and flip to the ESPN channel, what do you mainly see? Men in the breaking news or the highlights from recent games played. You barely see women’s basketball, softball or volleyball being highlighted. Men are also usually in the breaking news of some scandalous thing happening also (like Tiger Woods or other unusual news). We always see how all the men get into the specific “Hall of Fames”. Are there any types of “Hall of Fames” for women’s leagues? NBA seems to get more recognition than the WNBA. Plus seeing that the NBA was founded in 1946 while the WNBA was created in 1996 shows that patriarchy shown in those years until a breakthrough came about. When ESPN started, there probably weren’t any women sports anchors. And now there are quite a few that focus on certain sports. This is focusing on the obsession with control. This also includes how there are so many men that are coaches and there aren’t many women who coach. In the NBA, there isn’t a single woman who coaches. That could mean that the players would rather be controlled somewhat with a man coach than a woman. Like Johnson says in his reading “Men are assumed (and expected) to be in control at all times, to be unemotional (except for anger and rage), to present themselves as invulnerable, autonomous, independent, strong, rational, logical, dispassionate, knowledgeable, always right, and in command of every situation, especially those involving women” (pg. 14). If men weren’t “in control” of us women, they would be called names such as “henpecked” or “pussy whipped” (pg 15). It seems like men were suppose to be in control of women all the time. But now, we have women going to their high paid jobs while some fathers are the stay at home parents. We seem to very slowly be breaking the habit of our societal patriarchy. Will the oppression of women subside? No one will ever know until it happens. ​
 * "What Would Hassel Say?" (March 7th, 2010)**

When it comes to us women, we seem to usually get the short end of the stick. It shows in pretty much all the sports being played. It shows in a lot of the movies being made. When it seems that the women are the top dog in a movie, there is always something to shift it. Like in //Monsters vs. Aliens,// the plot is covered up on the cover of the movie. It makes it look like an action flick for younger boys that don’t have a woman lead character. If it was about a woman/girl for a lead role in the movie, younger boys wouldn’t want to go to see it. They have to think of the younger boys before the girls. Like in movies, sports have a similarity to the guys over the girls theme. You mainly see men in high positions like coaches, referees, assistant coaches, and owners of teams. In the NBA there isn't a single woman that owns a team. The only exception is when the owner of the Detroit Pistons (who was a man) died and his wife took over the team. In movies, it is pretty much the same thing: directors, producers, and characters. Yes, there are a few exceptions when the women are on top, but it isn’t as common as the men being on the top. In the movie //Monsters vs. Aliens// there is the main character who is a woman (Susan aka Ginormica) and then there are her little monster sidekicks that are presumed male. In this movie, it is opposite to what we normally see. We normally see the man on the top of the ladder rather than the woman. Like the author Hassel says “Ultimately, it is Susan who issues orders to her male-coded monster companions about how to defeat the threat, how to protect the innocent citizens, and how to conduct themselves in “heroic ways,” a gender reversal that later contributes to the gender confusion within and without the film.” (Hassel pg. 13) When it comes to sports (mainly focusing on basketball), we see more men coaching and more male refs. More men are positioned at higher levels of careers over women. We may see men getting jobs over women and that may be because the people voting him in are all male or mostly male. Males usually are the ones to get the higher paying jobs rather than women. It just seems that patriarchy will never subside in our world.

​ "**What Would Schrum Say?" (March 14, 2010)**

Women have never been seen as one’s to have high status. Instead, we were seen with fashion sense and pretty. It seems like we are looked upon if we don’t keep up with the new fashion and to look pretty all the time. The image I have in my mind about women are the men coming home from work with an apron and cooking dinner with make up on and their hair done. It seems like women are judged on appearance and not their brain. No wonder why not many women don’t get many high paying jobs or high importance jobs. Comparing sports (mainly basketball) and women/teenage girls begins with some things; how it seems that women were “popular” when it came to magazines or more focused on getting women’s attention rather than men’s. It is almost a contrast with sports. Looking at sports, we barely see any women being talked about in the news (maybe Danika Patrick or when some “important” woman gets hurt or big news pops out). But when it comes to magazines and gossip, women are the first to be talked about. Women are talked about when it comes to the worse dressed at last night’s big event or if they got some kind of plastic surgery. We tend to only see the outside of these famous people. As in the reading from Kelly Schrum, she says “As in Kett’s book, most twentieth century literature on boys emphasized education, work, independence, rebellion, and financial responsibility. The scant literature on female adolescents addressed issues of behavior, appearance, and relationships and idealized teenage girls for their domesticity and dependence on consumer goods to alleviate feelings of inferiority” (138). This says that when people read, they see how boys compare to girls and that the boys are the “bread winners” and the girls stay at home, look pretty, and are well mannered. Just like in basketball, we see that NBA players make more money than WNBA would ever make. The reason why there is WNBA is probably for the women to “equal” the men in some way. The WNBA is rarely shown unless ESPN shows some sort of video clip that was outstanding. Also in the WNBA, the women don't really care about what they look like or what the new style is in basketball. They probably don't care because they are rarely shown on TV. The only thing that is different is that there is a woman WNBA Commissioner (who is like in charge of all the teams and decides things for the whole organization). There are also less teams in the WNBA than the NBA (12 women teams compared to 30 men teams). Women will always be looked at and only see the outside and not what’s on the inside. Some people just don’t see how women can make a difference in the world and how they can also run a business or be a top dog of something. Women will always be the pretty ones, some even trophy wives. Some women seem to just go with the flow and let their roles take place.

​ There are many topics to discuss when it comes to being sexist. The two topics that will be discussed in here are sports and the new rave of Harry Potter novels and movies. Being sexist may be wrong, but sometimes it may also make sense (like in a novel). WNBA isn't really a phenomenon because it's basically a branch off of the NBA. In sports, we see the sexist issues come out. Men’s basketball began in 1891 while women’s began in 1892. It may only be a year difference, but it took time for women to start up playing. It may possibly be because women weren’t very active and mainly stayed at home while the men went to work. It’s not just the players; it also involves coaches, assistant coaches, referees, owners of teams, and a lot more positions. Viewers of basketball rarely see a woman coach unless it is for women’s basketball. There is rarely a woman referee unless they ref for a woman’s game. It seems to be that women are “second best” when it comes to important things. In my life, I have never seen a WNBA video game (which means women must not be "important" enough or something). We look at all the men sports and all of them come across at some point masculine. In the WNBA or even other girl's basketball, it is seen more as endurance testing and seeing how long someone can stay in the game. When I was in high school basketball, we ran alot to make the other teams tired before we were. We also weight lifted to make us stronger when it gets a little physical. Now in Zipes reading, it states “Mary Jane Smetanka, the journalist who was writing about my work with fairy tales, asked me at one point what I thought about the Harry Potter books, and I replied that I felt they were formulaic and sexist” (pg 1). Looking at the novels and movies, I see that it could be seen as sexist since the main character is a male and he is the “hero” of the series. He has a “side kick” that is a girl but also another “side kick” that is a male. The first movie and novel don’t seem to have as many women roles. But as the series moves on, there is more diversity in gender and race. Some say that there isn’t anything sexist about the Harry Potter movies, but when the main characters are mainly male and they have more powers than the female characters, to me it shows that the novel or movies are sexist. Yes, the author wanted it to catch the eyes of young boys, but shouldn’t a girl get a lead role also? Topics like sports, novels, movies, jobs, and even the little things like kids books can be sexist. Men are looked to be masculine and smart while the women are pretty and feminine. They usually get different roles and stick with what would be in real life or close to it. The man is the hero and the woman is the caretaker of the family. Will women sports ever be on top of the men’s sports? Why do authors always seem to have some type of sexist story?
 * “What would Zipes say?” (April 4th, 2010) **

“What Would Beavis and Charles Say?” (April 11th, 2010)

When it comes to technology, it may seem that guys have more knowledge about it but there are a few girls that could outsmart some of the guys. Guys seem to have a head start on technology like computers or other electronic things. Maybe it’s because of the computer games or gaming systems that they play. How many girls do you see playing “Halo”, “Call of Duty”, or “Turok”? Not many. I call myself a person who is “friendly” with technology. When I was young, I would always play the original Nintendo with my brother, dad, and my cousins. When we would have a family get-together or birthday party, there was a 95% chance we would play video games. As time went by, the systems got more advanced which meant that we also had to get use to the new controllers and graphics. Beavis and Charles states in the reading that “This domestication of computer games, she argues, allowed girls greater access to game playing because it “fed into girls” existing “bedroom culture”” (pg 358). Video and computer games are like people playing sports. Usually guys tend to be the ones to come up with all the sports and the rules for the sports. The guys were the ones to play the sports first, coach the sports first, ref the sports first. Then as time went on, women started playing, coaching, and refereeing. Once women got use to the sports, they kept playing them. It is just like with certain technology like video games; once you get use to them, you want to keep playing them as much as possible. Sports have also have changed like technology has. Some rules have been changed and stretched. Like in the NBA, the players are allowed six personal fouls instead of five. The rules for when a free throw have also been changed (where the players may stand). In the video game world, I have never seen a basketball game that deals with the WNBA or some type of girl's basketball. Just because some girls and women don’t play video or computer games, doesn’t mean that they are bad at them or anything. Maybe they just have better things to do (since women were the ones to be cleaning the house and making the food). Women were the housekeepers while men went to work and then did fun things like play cards with the guys. This kind of goes back to patriarchy with the women being the ones to take care of the house and children while the men go to work and do what they want.

When you are shopping for a toddler or a child who is in grade school, you tend to buy things that would normally fit what they would play with; girls play with dolls while boys play with Tonka Trucks and G.I. Joes. Parents want their children to make sure there is a line between little boys and girls, even though there are those times where a girl may play in the sandbox with trucks with the other little boys or the boys will play house with the little girls (at least for a little while). Now does this mean that because guys play the physical sport of basketball that girls should play something more “feminine” and something that isn’t so physical? Just because women are saw as petite, cute, and not as muscular as men doesn’t mean we can’t do certain things. In earlier years, women were seen at home taking care of the children and doing chores around the house like cleaning and cooking. Now, we see women working hard in factories and doing the same jobs that men do. Just like in sports, we see men playing very physical sports but then also seeing women getting into the sport also (ex: rugby, football, basketball). Women weren’t seen as petite and short anymore. Now we see women actually starting to dunk! This year a freshman on the Baylor Bears women’s college team was 6’8” and she could dunk with no problem. Now I’m 5’4” and I can’t even touch the back of the backboard! It shows that there could be a couple more players each year that are tall like her and can dunk with no problem or are five inches taller than all the other players on the court. Guys aren’t the only tall people on this planet that can be physical. Women are just as good at being physical as guys are. Like Inness says in the reading, “They appear every bit as tough as their male comrades and every bit as ready to do battle” (pg 76), women are just as good as guys at physical sports. “From early play, children learn that men and women have different duties in life” is what Inness says on page 79. We may have different duties in life but women and men can also do the same things like sports. Like some people may say, it doesn’t hurt to try it.
 * “What Would Inness Say” (April 18, 2010) **

“What Would Inness Say?” (April 25, 2010) Sports can be expensive, especially when you have a child or children in a sport or multiple sports during high school. While I was in high school, there were many expenses that came with playing sports. When little girls are young, they usually want expensive products like dolls or even expensive extras for the dolls. After a while, it can get expensive for the parents. First of all, the shoes; volleyball and softball weren’t bad because I would reuse my shoes but in basketball, my shoes would wear out fairly quick. Then, there are the team shirts and sweatshirt orders that the coaches hand out. When I was in high school, volleyball and basketball were the least of my worries. I was into softball the most. Softball can be expensive! You buy the glove and the shoes. Then sooner or later a ball and bat bag with a few balls. Then you want a bat of your own. And since the sport is played outside, you need the clothing to make sure you’re comfortable (like Under Armor long sleeve t-shirts, sliding spandex shorts, or socks). Just like sports, things like dolls can become expensive. In the reading, Inness tells us that she could purchase all five American Girl dolls which would cost her $82 each. Who in their right mind would pay that much for a doll that would later on be something left in a box and passed down possibly to other children or grandchildren? These dolls were set for the upper-middle class parents who could pay that much for a doll if they were willing to spend that much for their little girl. As Inness points out in her reading about money and the American Girl dolls, “They are far beyond the wallets of many parents” (pg 169). Just think, you are in a store and you have your little girl with you. She spots the American Girl doll and she screams that she wants it. Do you get it for her so she will stop the fuss or derail her and lead her to something more in your budget range? Most parents would tell her that she can ask for it for Christmas or her birthday, that’s the easy way out. With also having those types of dolls, come the extra things like other clothes that she wants which brings more expense to the doll. Having a child is never easy, especially with keeping them happy. But buying them everything that they want isn’t a good thing. The American Girl dolls may give the girls role models, but the dolls are just a little part. The parents and girls around them (I think) have more effect on growing, learning girls than dolls.

Every community has different activities they like to do. In the communities where it’s mainly African American, you can see young girls playing with a jump rope and young adults playing basketball on the local basketball court. In white neighborhoods, you might see baseball or a few basketball games going on. Those little girls playing with their jump ropes are singing songs that were passed down by sisters, cousins, or mothers. Sometimes they don’t know what the songs or sayings mean, but do it because it is what they do. In basketball, parents who have played the game will more than likely have their children play also (or some kind of sport). Just like mothers who have played their jump rope games, they pass down what they know and have learned from their family. My dad played all the sports he could in high school: football, basketball, and baseball. When I was young, my brother started playing little league baseball, so I started playing little league also. I went to most of my dad’s BABA baseball games and watched him play while sitting near my grandpa being the score keeper and announcer. I was raised around sports. In middle school, I started playing volleyball, basketball, and softball. In high school, I was always into sports. Just like every family, things are passed down. We watch the movies where the movie is set in an African American neighborhood and they show kids playing on the streets, little girls jump roping or doing hand clap games. There is a sentence in the reading by Gaunt that says “Blackness is often defined by one’s dance card rather than one’s race card” (pg 5). We see guys who are white and “act black” and who hang out with black friends. I think that is what the quote is saying; you don’t have to be “black” necessarily to do things. Like it says, you can dance like an African American and be classified as one. The one thing that I wonder about is if African Americans are appalled when they see other races doing the activities that they made up or started. We all play activities that may have been made up by different people, but nothing ever stops us from doing those activities.
 * “What Would Gaunt Say?” (May 2, 2010) **

At a young age, girls are shown that looking good is important. Mothers go shopping for the cutest outfits for their two year old daughter that can barely say any words. Shouldn’t mothers let their daughters pick what they want to wear? Once the daughters get older, they tend to make their own decision on what kind of clothes they want to where and where to get them. Then the mothers really have no control or little control. Basketball was a man’s sport at first. It is a physical game and isn’t a game like volleyball where you are on separate sides. It gets physical with all the hands and nails that women use. Sometimes it gets out of hand and girls make their own battle and then get ejected from the game. One instance is when Baylor's Brittney Griner punched Texas Tech's Jordan Barncastle during a women’s college basketball game. Women aren’t supposed to be that physical and throw punches. Brittney Griner was punished and suspended for a few games. The one thing that doesn’t come across strong is the “fashion” sense in basketball. The only things that may be some influence are the shoes the players wear and all the “gear” they put on (head bands, pads for elbows, etc). I was the sporty type of girl and still am. My mom always bought the “cute” clothes when I was young, but I would always want to go to my dad’s baseball games. A lot of mothers are influenced by commercials or ads in the paper. Lamb and Brown state in their reading “They tell your daughter---at an age when she needs to feel big, try new things, and widen her reach---that how she looks is more important than what she can do and more important than racing to the corner or rolling down the grassy hill as fast as she can” (pg 14). The marketers try to influence parents as much as they can. It is also easy for the young parents to be influenced because they want their child to look cute when they take them out. Older parents that have had a few kids before probably don’t worry about how their kid looks because of all of the hand-me-downs from older sisters, brothers, or cousins. Every parent wants their first child to be the cutest looking kid in the area. ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">“What Would Lamb and Brown Say?” (May 9, 2010) **