{"id":1568,"date":"2017-09-18T10:35:42","date_gmt":"2017-09-18T15:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=1568"},"modified":"2017-09-18T10:35:42","modified_gmt":"2017-09-18T15:35:42","slug":"asserting-masculinity-through-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2017\/09\/18\/asserting-masculinity-through-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"Asserting Masculinity Through Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by Fighters Hub, Flickr CC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sports fans and non-sports fans alike gathered in bars and family living rooms to watch the boxing match of the year between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor last month. In the weeks preceding the match, McGregor, who is white, received widespread criticism for <\/span>taunting Mayweather with racial slurs<\/span><\/a> such as, \u201cDance for me, boy\u201d and boasting to black female fans that he is \u201chalf black from the bellybutton down.\u201d His slurs fueled racial tensions, leading many fans to support either athlete based upon racial identity, despite Mayweather\u2019s previous allegations of domestic violence. Social science allows us to address the complicated way that race, masculinity, and sexuality collide in sports culture. <\/span><\/p>\n

Race and sexuality also influence male performances of masculinity within sports. Ben Carrington argues that male dominance in early organized sports relied on presumptions of white superiority and black male emasculation. Consequently, black men have traditionally used sport to assert masculinity, resist racism, and advocate for civil rights. <\/span><\/h5>\n