Both examples reference sports as a way for men to exude masculinity through violence. Katz remarks that “Because violence establishes masculinity” which, on a personal note, is a bold statement, “Because violence establishes masculinity, if these guys (athletes) use traditionally ‘female’ products, they don’t lose their masculinity. Rather, the masculinity of the product – and hence the size of the potential market – increases” (356). While this statement may be very well true, Burstyn takes a different approach to looking at male violence and its connection to sports. She classifies three types of men and clearly shows their relationship to sports and violence.
1. Soccer Hooligans: these men show their masculinity through their association with a team. They are violent and tend to be associated with alcohol. Their dedication and loyalty to the team, the gang, gives them the chance to show male dominance over other teams, gangs, that threaten their territory. I instantly thought of the World Cup between France and Italy when France’s star player Zidane head-butted the Italian Trezeguet. This clear example of violence which could have easily been viewed as terribly wrong and out of line for a class athlete. However, the French culture and the soccer hooligans of the time embraced his actions even creating a song about Zidane’s infamous headbutt: Coup de Boule. Although it is hard to directly translate the exact words, they are at the bottom of the blog if you're interested. The verb rater which is used frequently in the song is directly translated as spoiled, but depending on the instance in the song, it's definition can change. In one sense it can talk about how terrible the Italian is playing, but in another sense it can talk about how much Zidane owned him by headbutting him. Basically, the idea behind the song is: Look how awesome Zidane is for headbutting our rival. Sure, people can see it as terrible and sponsers aren't excited about it but we are and so is Jacques Chirac. Let's celebrate that awesome headbutt!
2. The second type of man is the black super-athlete. Burstyn says that after such amazing male black leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr and Malcom X passed away, “successful black athletes took on an important role in the process of identity construction, becoming powerful collective cultural mentors” (204). These men can greatly influence the black culture because of their prominent status in society as a role models. Although she mentions that this is an extension from the civil rights movement and steps in the right direction, she believes that the playing field is still not totally equal in relation to race and athletics.
3. With such masculinities strongly presented in the mass media, Barstyn next turns to its effects on homosexuals. Since the soccer hooligans and black super-athletes and the like are all considered masculine because of the absence of feminine traits, she wonders where that leaves masculinity to be found in homosexuality. She discusses how differently men can behave when on the field in uniform versus off the field in regular clothes and the social norms that are accepted with each. She also talks about the changing image of gay culture in mass media; however, “the existence of a gay movement [has not yet] changed attitudes to ‘femininity,’ and hence to homosexuality, in the mainsream of sport” (217). As times progress, things will change, but for now, she notes that in gay culture, men will continually spend hours on end working to obtain a premier male form to counterbalance their masculinity with the ever imposing femininity that society is placing on them.
Coup de Boule Lyrics: In English:
Attention it’s the dance of the Headbutt !
(Headbutt, Headbutt)
Head butt to the right
(Headbutt, Headbutt)
Head butt to the left
Let’s go blue! Go! (The French refer to their team as the blue)
Zidane he hit him, Zidane he knocked him, Head butt!
Zidane he hit him, Zidane he knocked him, Head butt!
Zidane he hit him, Zidane he knocked him, Head butt!
Zidane he hit him, Zidane he knocked himThe rival, it was bad
Zidane he hit
The Italian wasn’t going well
Zidane he knocked The referee saw it on the TV
Zidane he hit
But the hit was spoiled (ruined)
One simply must laugh (Exactly, one must only laugh well)
Zidane he hit him, Zidane he knocked him, Head butt!
Zidane he hit him, Zidane he knocked him, Head butt!
Zidane he hit him, Zidane he knocked him, Head butt!
Zidane he hit him, Zidane he knocked himTrezeguet didn’t play well
When he played, he spoiled (was bad)
He made it all collapse
The hit ruined that
Marthez did nothing to stop it (I'm not sure who Marthez is, but apparantly he didn't do anything)
This is nevertheless complicated
The sponsers are mad
But Chirac speaks well of it
Zidane he hit him, Zidane he knocked him, Head butt ! 4x
Attention it’s the dance of the Headbutt
(Headbutt, headbutt)
Headbutt to the right
(Headbutt, headbutt)
Headbutt to the left
(Headbutt, headbutt)
Headbutt before
(Headbutt, headbutt)
Headbutt after
(Headbutt, headbutt)
And now penalty
Watchout it’s going to pull
One, two, three…. It’s spoiled!
Zidane he hit, Zidane he knocked (4x)
When you want a good laugh
Zidane and Trezeguet
The hit that spoiled it
Zidane and Trezeguet (2x)
And Trezeguet...and Trezeguet...and Trezeguet guet guet
Trezeguet (Headbutt, headbutt)
and Trezeguet (Headbutt, headbutt)
and Trezeguet (Headbutt, headbutt)
and Trezeguet (Headbutt, headbutt)
Trezeguet
No comments:
Post a Comment