Sports Stereotypes Essay

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Stereotyping is common among humans. Some would even say that it’s part of our nature. We stereotype people constantly and often find ourselves associating people with different groups, athletes among the wide variety of highly stereotyped [groups]. We are often associated with lack of effort in school, being overly confident and outgoing, and sports being the only thing that matters to us. My class did a survey on the students and staff at Dinuba High. The dominant grade level interviewed was ninth grade, predominantly female. Many correlate themselves with being students, athletes, and teenagers. Thirty-four [43.6%] of the overall interviewees identify with being an athlete. I am also an athlete, and agree when it comes to saying that being called stupid, dumb, or “not all there”, hurts. This is one of those stereotypes that I don’t think many people realize to be hurtful, it’s just something to say about all athletes. In order to play sports we have to have good grades. So if we are “dumb” and don’t care about school, we can’t play. Scientist Jocelyn Faubert studied the effect of sports on those who do…show more content…
Granted, most athletes are very outgoing, but not all are. In fact, I personally know some athletes that were very quiet the first time I met them. It took almost the entire time we played together for them to come out of their shell. Some athletes main reason for joining sports is to make friends. On the website livestrong.org, there was an article on how participating in school sports provides a sense of belonging and being part of a team or group. The article goes on to say that sports also help kids learn about “considering the interests of your teammates and to practice mutual respect and cooperation.” This shows that sports help those that participate to have stronger social skills, but that doesn’t prove that all athletes use those skills in their everyday social

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