Sport, Society & Me

My childhood was filled with activity.  I tried basically every sport when I was a kid: tennis, softball, golf, soccer, swim team, and dancing.  All of these I played on/off except soccer and dance.  These two were a constant activity all throughout my childhood and all the way through high school.  I grew up with the same soccer team and the same dance girls.  While the soccer field held a great importance in my life, the dance studio became a second home to me.  My teacher and my peers were like family; friendships that I still value today.  I am currently a dance major and dance almost every day of the week. Dancing is my passion and acts not only as a therapeutic exercise, but also allows me to express who I am.  

According to Eitzen, sports can be argued to play both a positive and negative role in US society.  First, Eistzen states that sport "is a fantasy--a diversion from the realities of work, relationships, and survival" (3).  The author goes on to say that "sport mirrors society" sharing "with the larger society the basic elements and expressions of bureaucratization, commercialization, racism, sexism, homophobia, greed, exploitation of the powerless by the powerful, alienation, and ethnocentrism" (Eitzen 3,4).  Through different lenses, both of these statements could be positive or negative.  A positive approach to these statements offers the argument that a small diversion from the realities of today's chaotic world is healthy and needed.  If American sport does mirror American society, by observing the positive and negative outcomes of sport, steps can be taken to correct what is wrong and better what is right.  On the other hand, through a negative study of these two statements, one could argue that American society indulges too deeply into the fantasy of sport.  This leads to overly-spirited and malicious fans who seek to harm opposing fans.  To agree that "sport mirrors society" in the ways listed above, is to agree that American society as a whole is negative.  Whether positive or negative, sport is an integral piece of American society.  

There are specific athletes in American society that are valued and respected while others are less valued and less respected.  For example, a professional football player is highly valued and respected simply because the NFL is well funded and it is a popular sport in American culture.  But a professional dancer, however, is less valued and less respected because the funds are low and is not widely popular.