Whilst speaking about Nora Ephron’s essay “A Few Words
About Breasts,” I came to a few realizations. Dr. Williams asked us about a situation
where there was a distinct gender difference. On my quiz, I described the times
when I go shopping at Victoria’s Secret and there are men with their
significant others. The topic of conversation then moved to how men and women
are “supposed” to fulfill their gender roles in society. In my opinion, I wrote
that when men have longer hair or have their ears pierced, it makes them
instantly more feminine. Why should I have the right to decide how a man’s
style should be?
After
class, I could not let go of this conversation. I began to think of how my life
does not necessarily fulfill a woman’s gender role in society. Like I have said
before, I love sports. I want to pursue a career in the sports industry because
it is what I love. I am fascinated by what goes into a sports team brand name,
staff, and players. Confucius once said, “Choose a job you love, and you will
never have to work a day in your life.” I wholeheartedly believe this quote.
Sports have been an interest of mine for so long. Working in the sports
industry would be a dream come true, and that is my ultimate goal.
From
my experience, not every woman loves sports as much as I do. My roommate has
nicknamed me “Sports Center” because I keep her up-to-date on football and
basketball scores. My passion for sports has not come easy. When I entered high
school, I tried to talk about sports with my guy friends. They were not
receptive at first. They teased me because I did not have much knowledge yet,
but I had a lot of passion for learning the game. Slowly, but surely, I started
breaking into my friends’ conversations more and more, and thus, I began
breaking my supposed gender role. They would come to me with statistics and
information, especially about my beloved Kansas Jayhawks basketball team. My
obsession was known throughout my small high school. When I was announced for
Homecoming court, they revealed who I was by describing my fanaticism for KU. This
one moment helped me see that people understood and respected my love for
sports. I was no longer “that girl” trying to impress the boys with her sports
knowledge after watching one hour of Sports Center. I was “the girl” that loved
college football, college basketball, and everything in between.
Coming
to TCU, it has been easier to pursue my passion for sports and to break my societal
role as a woman. I am involved with the Sports Networking Club and Carter
Ambassadors on campus. To this day, I still love shocking boys with my knowledge
when they are speaking of a specific sports team or player. It is so satisfying
knowing I can keep up the conversation and even provide the other person with
information. My ultimate dream is to manage a professional sports team. I cannot
wait to see the look on many men’s faces if that ever happens.
Abby, I can absolutely relate to your post. I love sports too, as I have grown up my whole life playing them. Similar to you, people often give me a weird look when I ask them how their March Madness bracket is doing or start to discuss why the Big 10 is overrated, not expecting this kind of conversation from a girl. I wonder if our obsession for sports has to do with the environment we grew up in? Since my mom and a few other females in my family were D1 athletes it was expected that I too would play and come to love sports despite being a girl. These norms were broken in my family a long time ago, as I-a passionate football and basketball fan-have continued it. This article also reminded me of a sports related English class I took last semester that focused on sports argumentative writing which I think you would really enjoy!
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing. I too left that class bothered that these roles are actually a thing and that I can think of ways to make a woman more masculine. I am very happy to read that you want to pursue a career in sports (sports are awesome) despite the fact that sports can be considered manly to some people. It saddens me that people will attribute your knowledge of sports to watching one episode of Sports Center. I think the underline lesson of that class was to show us to look at people for who they are, not who we expect them to be.
ReplyDelete