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Section One: The Fundamentals
A) Keywords
Exercise 1:
Briefly (in 100 words or less) define one of the keywords in the padlet (including one that you. may have added yourself).
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This is Moya Bailey’s term which refers to the “unique visual violence against Black women seen in popular culture”. This is referring specifically to what happens to black women in terms of a combination of anti-blackness and misogyny. For example in sports this is represented by black female athlete’s accomplishments being minimalized while slander and controversies get the spotlight.
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B) Representing Race
Exercise 2: Notebook Prompt
In about 50-70 words, consider Joel Bervell’s question: why do we feel the need to extrapolate the athleticism of one Black athlete to all Black people when we do not do the same for white athletes?
Try to think of examples when this happens, making sure to reflect on your own positionality.
| We feel the need to do this because of society’s continued othering of Black athletes and reliance on stereotypes. This most likely happens when black athletes win against white ones. I think we should extrapolate athleticism of all athletes (like Phelps’ natural abilities of double-jointedness or lactic acid production) but also the external factors as well such as coaches and trainers. Applying both lenses that society uses to learn how success may have been achieved.
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C) Gender, Race & Sport
Exercise 3: Notebook Prompt
What are some strategies for resistance that Rajack and Joseph identify in their article as a means of pushing back against and resisting misogynoir?
| Using ICT or information and communication technology to share accurate information on identity can help prevent misogynoir. Also through correcting assumptions, misogynoir can be resisted. Through athletes publicly correcting assumptions made by the media, misogynoir can be prevented directly in some cases. It is also up to the media itself such as the news to get the proper representation of athletes in order to prevent and disrupt misogynoir and improper representation. There are also those in the media that are showing intolerance towards this behaviour of misogynoir and expose those that are displaying this behaviour and correcting the misrepresentation. With today’s technology we can prevent and expose this behaviour. Unfortunately there are still those who will continue to display this behaviour online and in the media, and will have opposing representation. This is a complex topic and to properly cover it will require a proper skillset and knowledge of these issues to provide an accurate representation of identity. Without the proper knowledge they could further the harm of misrepresentation in the media of these athletes. Overall public access to the correct information is important to prevent and diffuse misrepresentation in the media, but we must ensure that these portrayals are true or you risk furthering the harm caused by misogynoir. Using trusted sources or even having the athlete’s own words can help with having the correct representation.
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Section Two: Making Connections
A) Athlete Activism
Exercise 3: Padlet Prompt
Do athletes have a responsibility to use their platform for social change? Why or why not? Please remember to record your response in both the padlet below and in your Notebook.
I believe athletes are not responsible for using their platform for social change. While they do have the opportunity due to their popularity, they aren’t necessarily responsible for this. There are many using their platform for the betterment of different social causes in sports, which is an excellent use of this opportunity, however, this is not technically the ultimate responsibility of an athlete. If you have the chance to make or promote positive social change as an athlete then it is definitely important to take advantage of your position in society. Otherwise, not every athlete has this responsibility.
B) Athlete Activism & Feminism
Exercise 4: Complete the activities
Exercise 5: Notebook Prompt
What do the authors of the article call for as a way of challenging how mainstream sports journalism privileges neoliberal feminist concerns? (100 words max.)
| by disrupting what the usual sports media contains and expand its boundaries to beyond mainstream media and journalists. This will provide multiple perspectives outside the central male point of view that sports media seems to be fixed on.
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C) Corporate social justice
Exercise 6: Padlet Poll
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In Favour: I think there is a responsibility for sports leagues to support social justice movements such as Black Lives Matter. They have such an influence on society and can be a wide reaching platform for something as important as social justice. They can spread awareness and show support to not only their fans but also their athletes through the recognization of these social movements and concerns. This also shows care for the people and not just a concern about money and popularity. I think the fact that the NFL shows little support to these movements is incredibly disrespectful towards their fans and players, exposing them and what they truly value.
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Section Three: Taking a shot
Module Assignment (submit as part of notebook and separately through Blackboard mini assignment #1 portal)
In the show Colin in Black and White, a miniseries depicting the early football career of Colin Kaepernick, one of the initial ways Colin speaks out is by braiding his hair like his sports hero Allen Iverson (Mangan, 2021). After doing this he gets backlash from the community around him such as his coaches and some resistance from his parents (Mangan, 2021). We also see the real Colin Kaepernick as the narrator, who states “some will say the system is broken. I’m here to tell you it was intentionally built that way” (Mangan, 2021). When looking at the poor treatment of Colin by his coaches this reminded me of the ignorance discussed in the article about Kaepernick himself, as it explained the lack of response from the NFL to any social justice issues (Khabbaz, 2021). Colin choosing his own hairstyle instead of listening to everyone else is also similar to his choice to kneel during the anthem for BLM despite later getting rejected by the NFL. He made his choice despite what other people say, because he knew it was the right thing to do and it was his choice to make a statement about what he believes. The choice to have his hair represent his favourite black athletes is one of the ways race informs the representation as it shows how intensely people had reacted to something as small as a hairstyle. His statement above is also a callout to the way people are constantly mistreated not just in sports but in society and that it wasn’t built to benefit them. This shows us that these leagues like the NFL don’t respect their players and the BLM movement, this tv representation shows the disrespect and mistreatment black athletes have and continue to face when playing sports. We also see how intertwined sports are with social causes and how important it is to bring awareness to these issues.
References
Khabbaz, R. (2021, January). Sports and Social Justice. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2021/01/sports-and-social-justice
Mangan, L. (2021, October 29). Colin in Black and White review – Kaepernick drama will take your breath away. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/oct/29/colin-in-black-and-white-review-kaepernick-drama-will-take-your-breath-away
Feedback/Errata