Sports Toxic Masculinity - Seeing it on Screen (4)
The mid 20th century was about winning a war with patriotic strength and finding new opportunities. After the victory of World War II, people wanted to forget about the tragedies they faced during that time. There were a lot of movies about war that came out that helped create the ideal man, a man who would fight for their country and be a patriot, this is also how athletes became seen.
Athletes were playing sports for their country, and their fans could cheer on their favorite teams or even watch movies revolved around sports.
These movies and sports games replaced the tragic scenes of war and filled people with a new team to cheer for. Films all usually included a variety of sports including; baseball, car racing, bowling, golf, billiards and football. The movies would cultivate to their audiences that sometimes the athlete does not always win, but they will win at life in the end.
The masculinity traits found in them were that they always got the girl they wanted, they were the ones looked up to by many and that they sometimes had downfalls with maybe abusing alcohol or even drugs. A majority of the films are focused on the determination of the protagonist to get where they wanted to be no matter the cost of anyone else.
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For example, in the film, The Hustler, the main character is a pool playing god who goes from table to table and wins. But, his fear of losing gets the best of him and he gets into trouble. But, he falls in love with a woman who is an an alcoholic prostitute. Their journey together is rocky with money problems and his girlfriend killing herself, but he ends up making the right decision and being the bigger person.
Masculinity was defined in these movies as even if their actions have terrible consequences, somehow it always works out for them in the end. Movies and TV would create strict gender roles that society would be held to, and men seemed to get off the hook more than not.
The rigid mind set was forced on the young boys who were told to be a man at a young age and that feminine ideals were not masculine. The gender roles were set and there was little to no grey area. Woman stayed at home and took care of the house and children, while men went to work and brought in the money and expected dinner on the table in time for the next sports game when they got home.
Athlete characters in movies such as The Hustler, cultivated that actions toward a women could lead to her suicide, and that the crave for money could lead to a lot of horrific things, but he ended up okay in the end. WHY? Because he was a man he was able to do all of these things and still end up okay?
Men saw how athletes were seen as gods in real life and now as actors in movies, so a lot of men thought that they should act like what they saw on screens. The norm became that though actions may have consequences, at the end of the day, movies cultivated the idea that it will all work out in the end no matter what you do.