In this weeks reading by Nick
Trujillo, the main focus surrounds masculinity in sports and how Nolan Ryan is
the perfect example. Not only is Ryan considered the perfect male athelte,
Trujillo expresses how the media considerds the former all-star as a perfect
male in general. The basis of the story surrounds one term; Hegemonic
Masculinity. The term as to Nick Trujillo can be considered as a connector of
masculinity to toughness and competetivness, the subordination of women, and
the marginalization of gay men. Nolan Ryan is arguably the best pitcher in
major league history and with no “off the field” issues, all writers made him a
hero; what could be considered the final time writers portrayed an athelte as a
hero in stead of searching for dirt.
As these writers also
portrayed Nolan Ryan as the best man in sports, they highlighted the role of
women; the roles they highlighted were of ill-nature. Described as houswives,
sexual objects, and care takers of chldren, it is obvious that the majority of
the news rooms were men. With the mindset that women’s role in sports
surrounded cheerleading, spectating and being advertising images, men were
heavily favored by sports writers in every newsroom. What these men did were
outrageous and did whatever they could to express the role of male dominence as
a whole.
With Nolan Ryan’s prominence
throughout the United States, and his “perfect hegemonic masculinity”, sports
writers forced it upon readers to become more like him. This came at a time
where homosexuality continued to be considered wrong, and of course, women were
considered the “other” part of the population. Throughout the years we have all
seen change, however the role of masculinity in the newsroom is still shown in
spurts. It may not be to the extent as it were with Nolan Ryan, but the
newsroom is still run by a majority of white male writers (keep in mind, Nolan
Ryan was a white American).
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