Sociology of Sport Assignment 6 PDF

Preview

Summary

Assignment 6...

Description

1. I definitely agree with Coakley’s suggestion of combining the Olympics and Paralympics. If the Olympic Movement advocates for gender and race equality within the Olympics, then they should also advocate for the inclusion of those with disabilities. If the Olympics had the same opening and closing ceremonies, as well as athletes from both the Paralympics and the Olympics competing together, it would truly be inclusive for all (Coakley 424). In addition, I agree with counting medals by the percentage of population per country. Doing this ensures that the countries who don’t have as many athletes to send to the Olympics but still do extremely well in comparison with other countries that have more options in terms of highly skilled athletes Coakley (425). 2. I feel as though there are two options for the future of the Olympics. One is if we continue the way we’re going, and the other is if we are able to make social changes. If we continue the way it is going, it’s highly likely that athletes will be able to use steroids and compete with artificial strength and agility. This is due to the fact that the Olympics’ current slogan is “Faster-Higher-Stronger” (Coakley 424), yet many athletes are reaching their full potential. If athletes continue to strive for that slogan, rather than a different goal, steroids and other substances will most likely become commonplace. Striving for above-human strength in the Olympics will also create more distance between the Olympics and the Paralympics. There will also probably be increased nationalist rhetoric around the distinct countries involved in the Games. Based on the trend of right-wing politicians being elected around the globe, as well as a deepening global political divide, the Olympics are likely to become even more fiercely competitive and foster personal divides between athletes for political reasons. The other option is if we are able to socially reform some of the aspects of the Olympics/global politics. If, as Coakley suggests, we change the Olympic slogan from “Faster-Higher-Stronger” to something like “Health-Unity-Peace” (Coakley 424), then athletes no longer have to strive to be better than their physical capacity and therefore steroids and other substances can remain illegal in the Games. This scenario also makes it easier for the Paralympics to be integrated into the Olympics. In addition, if the Olympics can focus the competition strictly on the ability of the athletes and not so much on country loyalty, then that can help reduce the nationalist rhetoric. A reduction of the nationalist rhetoric can also stem from a change in the Olympic slogan. 3. The testing for female Olympic athletes described in Coakley is absurd and extremely discriminatory. This quote alone from the text essentially sums up the unfair and absurd nature of female testing, as Coakley states, “When women have unique anatomical, mutational, or biochemical advantages, they are seen as deviant and freaks of nature; but when men have them, they are seen as “superman” and wonder of nature that inspire our sense of human potential” (182). This quote explains in a nutshell all of the testing procedures done to women and not to men in the Olympics over the years. Disregarding the pure discriminatory nature of the testing, it also forces women to be defined by the amount of chemicals and hormones in their body. Even if a women is an amazing athlete yet produces a little more testosterone than “normal” she may be barred from the Games. In addition, as we saw with the case of Mokgadi Caster Semenya, the IOC had also based their testing off of physical appearance, again forcing women athletes to fit in a certain “feminine” box that the IOC and other viewers (especially rich white ones) held. The IOC regulations about Transsexual and Transgender athletes are restrictive and

unfair. Requiring a surgery that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars excludes many transgender athletes who cannot afford it. In addition, the IOC requires two full years of hormone therapy rather than the NCAA which only requires one. These regulations also point out the age-old stereotypes about what defines a “man” and a “woman” and forces athletes, even those who defy the binary definition of gender, to comply with the two traditional genders (Coakley 205-206)....